UCI Zwift has announced a major change to the format of the 2023 Esports World Championships, with the men's and women's world champions to be decided not in a single road race, but in a three-race elimination series to be held on February 18.

The three races will be called "The Punch," "The Climb," and "The Podium" and will be contested on three separate routes. Each race lasts 25 minutes and the winner is determined in a 15-minute race on a criterium-style circuit. Gamification using power-ups will likely play an even bigger role in the race.

The UCI claims that the changes will "make cycling esports' annual flagship event even more exciting and spectacular."

The first UCI Cycling eSports World Championships were held at the end of 2020, with the men's event won by Germany's Jason Osborne and the women's by Ashley Moolman Pasio.

Australia's Jay Byrne took this year's title after signing a professional contract with Alpecin for 2021 through the Zwift Academy. Loes Adegeest of the Netherlands won the women's title. They won the rainbow jersey in a simple 55km Zwift NYC road race event after two and a half laps of the Knickerbocker circuit.

The new format will be a very different race and probably have very different winners.

The men's and women's peloton will consist of up to 100 riders who have earned the right to start through a qualifying system. In the punch event, 100 riders will race on an undulating 13.8 km course. Only the top 30 riders qualify for the next race; the rest are eliminated. [A special hill climb with a total length of 8.5 km and a height difference of 162 m with repeated hills. Only the top 10 finishers in both categories will advance to the finals.

The podium race takes place on a separate new circuit that includes a short climb, with one person eliminated at a sprint point signaled by an arch.

The three survivors compete for the rainbow jersey and the podium.

The final start list for the 2023 Esports World Championships will be announced early in the new year; Zwift and the UCI will again carefully manage equipment and athlete weights and performance with Zwift's ZADA power test and UCI rules to ensure a fair competition.

The UCI Continental Qualifiers for the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will take place this weekend on the Zwift platform, with riders competing for 25 qualifying slots for each gender. The continental qualifiers will follow the same new three-race format.

Last year, Adegeest earned a spot representing the Netherlands in the continental qualifier. And she did so with a surprise victory, dropping Moolman Passio on the final steep climb.

The qualifying races will be broadcast live on Zwift's YouTube channel. The women's race will take place on Saturday, November 12, 2022 at 15:00 CET. The men's race will take place on Sunday, November 13, 2022 at 15:00 CET.

"The new format of the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships is in line with our desire to continue to enhance and innovate our sport," said UCI President David Lapartiento.

." Our first two UCI World Championships for cycling esports were a great success." And now we have built up excitement with three separate events that will gradually eliminate members of the peloton.

The UCI chose Zwift to host the official Esports World Championships.

"We are excited to continue the innovation in cycling esports with this new multi-event format with the UCI," said Eric Min, CEO and co-founder of Zwift.

"Riders and spectators alike will be able to experience this new format at this weekend's UCI Continental Qualifier race. The race will be fast-paced and tactical. We hope to discover hidden talent here again."