UCI embarrasses itself with affiliation to virtual cycling nonsense

[thelawnet]

Zwift is a virtual cycling game. Basically the cycling equivalent of indoor rowing.

Except that with indoor rowing you just buy a rowing machine for £1000 and you're done. If you're stronger than the other competitors you'll win.

Zwift has nonsense involving 'unlocks' in the manner of modern computer games, where you have to jump through certain hoops and you'll get better virtual equipment relative to everyone else.

In addition, you can make yourself much faster in the game by simply lying about your weight, so that the game thinks you are, say, 50kg, when you are actually 100kg.

It's a good training tool but as a UCI championship it's a joke.

Anyway, they've just disqualified their first champion because he unlocked a faster bike using an automated tool. The approved method was to climb 50,000 metres in the game, which isn't all that far, but presumably he was already a strong cyclist and didn't want to spend 100 hours cycling up a fake hill so just used a bot instead.

He's now banned from proper cycling racing, not just electronic nonsense, for six months, for this heinous crime.

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/cameron- ... qualified/

[Brucey]

there's also the issue of 'calibration' of your resistance. I'd be amazed if folk are not messing about with this, and how it is (or ever could be) scrutinised for 'official' purposes is a mystery to me. One of my chums had his home trainer go 'phut' and the replacement (from the same manufacturer) is, he thinks, different. At least that is what the changed relationship between pulse rate and power output suggest.

Virtual cycling?

-Virtual nonsense, more like.

Best regarded as 'a bit of fun' and an antidote to training in foul weather, I'd say.

cheers

[thelawnet]

It looks like qualification was done remotely, so people could cheat to qualify in the first place, but then the top 10 went into a studio so cheating wasn't possible then, except that they decided to have this virtual equipment nonsense rather than just giving everyone the same virtual bike.

[landsurfer]

Cycling involves going out in the foul weather .... and the nice weather ..... as i am about to do ... foul weather today ..

[mjr]

How does this embarrass UCI? Does anyone not yet know they'll work for anyone willing to pay enough? Even Epogen's maker is allowed to buy a race - if only they'd paid up before their product was banned.

[foxyrider]

How does this embarrass UCI?

more to the point - it wasn't the UCI but British Cycling! Please folks, check your details. Yes the UCI are talking about running a championship but this case wasn't it.

[mjr]

British Cycling are just a local branch of UCI. Very similar, except BC probably worse because they've bigger efforts in taking over and marginalising non sport cycling.

[foxyrider]

British Cycling are just a local branch of UCI. Very similar, except BC probably worse because they've bigger efforts in taking over and marginalising non sport cycling.

They are not a 'local branch' of the UCI, they are the UK's recognised international body who are affiliated to the UCI. They can and do set the rules for UK competition under their auspices which may or may not be similar to the UCI which is the self declared international governing body. In short, if you want to race internationally you have to comply with UCI rules but if you only compete in the UK its BC's rules you need to worry about. For better or worse, its the UCI that is recognised as the global cycling body so if we want to see cycling at, for example, the Olympics its them we have to kow tow to.

[100%JR]

I got bored of Zwift quite quickly.It just wasn't for me.I know people who no longer ride their bikes anywhere but in their "Zwift room" whatever the weather they Zwift.Some take it very seriously
Some folk are strange

[mattheus]

I agree with thelawnet - the UCI (and/or BC) look like fudging idiots here. As if Sock-length Gate wasn't laughable enough, at least that was about real performance issues!

This is a farce.

(I've nothing against peeps who enjoy Zwift, BTW.)

[Polisman]

It seems the UCI have too much time their hands and not enough 'issues' to spend it on! I wish I had their problems