ABU DHABI, Nov. 16 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Jason Osborne and New Zealand's Kate McCarthy defended their titles respectively in the men's and women's finals of the 2025 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships here on Saturday.
Osborne beat Michal Kaminski of Poland and Lennert Teugels of Belgium, collecting 564 points ahead of Kaminski's 493 and Teugels' 468. Osborne claimed the inaugural title in 2020, as well as in 2024 and 2025. He also secured a silver medal in 2023 and a bronze in 2022.
The German cyclist highlighted the difference between racing on a stage versus at home, emphasizing that winning the title remains the same. Since last year, the tournament has been hosted in a stadium in Abu Dhabi, with athletes racing under a new format on the MyWhoosh platform.
Although he led from the very beginning to finish first in all three races - mountain's verdict, puncher's playground and sprinter's paradise, Osborne still expressed some dissatisfaction.
"To be honest, I was not really happy with stage 1 because I couldn't put the same gap I had in the semis," Osborne said. "I wasn't feeling that great but on stage 2 I could really push on, and then it just got better each stage. On stage 3, I went on the front with Lionel Vujasin (Belgium) and we worked well together."
McCarthy, 30, collected 597 points in total to finish ahead of Brazil's Gabriella Guerra (525 points) and Italy's Francesca Tommasi (478 points).
She built up a big margin after a clear win in the first race, allowing her to ride solo and maximize her point tally in the Puncher's Playground race.
"I was pretty much completely done and had the points to take the title. So I was happy to see where they went to," McCarthy said.
Reflecting on her first experience with Esports, Tommasi, 27, said "I really enjoyed this kind of site. It's not like the road. It's much safer than a road." ■
