In this episode of The Virtual Velo Podcast, we sit down with Dean Cunningham, an elite cycling esports racer for Restart pb Alex Coh Coaching, event organizer, and outspoken leader in the community. Known for his no-nonsense approach and deep passion for the sport, Dean isn’t afraid to challenge the status quo. We dive into his cycling esports jou…

Cycling esports is evolving fast, and national federations are working to define their role in the sport. In this episode of The Virtual Velo Podcast, we sit down with Josh Peacock, Cycling Canada’s Director of Marketing and Events, to explore how the federation navigates this dynamic space. We discuss Cycling Canada’s philosophy on virtual racing,…

How does a women’s cycling esports team grow from just five members to dominating at both the elite and community levels in a few short years while remaining true to the inclusive motto: We are stronger together? In episode 65 of The Virtual Velo Podcast, hosts Chris and Emma sit down with Karla Williams, co-founder of Aeonian Race Team, along with…

In Episode 64, a special episode of the Virtual Velo Podcast, we’re bringing you an inspiring conversation with Cody McKay, founder of Project Heart, and our very own Chris. Both are passionate cyclists with a unique perspective—overcoming life-altering cardiac challenges to return to and thrive in the endurance sport they love. Cody, a 33-year-old…

In Episode 63 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, a true pioneer in the cycling and tech worlds, Frank Garcia joins Emma and Chris. As the founder of Improvement Interactive, Frank has built custom business software for industry giants, but his influence extends far beyond that. In the world of virtual cycling, he’s a visionary—having competed in one of t…

In Episode 62 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Emma and Chris sit down with elite cycling esports superstar Gabi Guerra to uncover her journey from a humble upbringing in Brazil to competing on the global stage. Gabi shares how skateboarding first sparked her passion for elite sports and paved the way for her to champion women’s representation. We expl…

In Episode 61 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Emma and Chris welcome NeXT eSports pb Enshored cycling team president Greg Abbott. The results for Abbott and his team of elite global talent are undeniable—multiple Zwift elite team titles, several national esports champions, and numerous UCI Cycling Esports World Championship finalists with top-ten plac…

In Episode 60 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris welcomes cycling journalist Aaron Borrill, an elite racer who has competed in multiple UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. Aaron discusses his role as Captain of the South African Esports National Team, the innovative ways Cycling South Africa supports cycling esports, and how their approach cou…

In Episode 59 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Eric Hill, founder of Project Echelon Racing and Echelon Racing Promotions. Eric has been a visionary in blending traditional cycling with virtual racing, supporting the sport and the veteran community through his groundbreaking initiatives. In this episode, we’ll dive into Project E…

In Episode 58 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Dirk Friel, co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Training Peaks, and Dr. George Gilbert, the creator of indieVelo, to discuss their newly formed partnership and the launch of Training Peaks Virtual. The collaboration combines indieVelo’s innovative approach to virtual cycling and espor…

In Episode 57 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma sit down with cycling esports’ new women’s World Champion, New Zealand's Kate McCarthy, for her first interview since her thrilling victory in the live finals in Abu Dhabi. McCarthy, the only community racer to conquer the elite esports stage, opens up about the emotional rollercoaster leadi…

In episode 56 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, host Chris catches up with Jacob Fraser from the UCI and Matt Smithson from MyWhoosh in Abu Dhabi as they gear up for the groundbreaking 2024 UCI Cycling Esports live event final. Set against the stunning backdrop of Abu Dhabi, this episode is essential listening for any cycling esports fan or enthusiast a…

In Episode 55 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma have a candid conversation with Olympic medalist rower turned WorldTour Pro Jason Osborne. In a heartfelt conversation, Osborne reveals that he’s happier now that he stepped away from Alpecin Deceuninck, free of the burdens of being enslaved by a joyless sport that is no longer worth the ris…

In Episode 54 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma sit down with Jacob Fraser, the UCI's Cycling Esports Coordinator. Fraser's journey from early involvement in cycling esports with platforms like Zwift and MyWhoosh to his current role with the UCI showcases his impact on the sport's rapid evolution. His insights shed light on the UCI's comm…

In Episode 53 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome the Danish Cycling Union’s Esports Director Martin Wang Hjørngaard. Denmark is the home of the defending men’s cycling esports World Champion, Bjørn Andreassen, and the second most medals in Cycling Esports World Championship history. The nation’s perennial success is no coincidence.…

In Episode 52 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Great Britain’s cycling esports superstar, Lou Bates. From a bustling corner of her Zurich hotel lobby, Emma found a coveted Wi-Fi signal and a short window of time. She’s there putting words to the action, calling numerous 2024 Road and Para-Cycling World Champions for the BBC. [Ple…

In Episode 51 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and guest host, cycling broadcaster Matt Payne, welcome 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship finalist, the USA's Hayden "Farmwatts" Pucker. He epitomizes the new breed of cycling esports racers making a mark on the sport through their youthful exuberance, competitive charisma, and drive to be …

In Episode 50 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Matt Smithson, MyWhoosh's Senior Director of Esports and Events. Before getting Matt's prediction for who will pull the rainbow-striped jersey over their heads, he shares MyWhoosh's unlikely journey to the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships Semi-Final, which took place on S…

In Episode 49 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24's Kristen Kulchinsky and Coach Josh Lipka. The reigning US National Cycling Esports Champion is on a barnstorming campaign in her first year as a real world cyclist, crushing the course record on every hill climb she entered, including an epic victory a…

In Episode 48 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma discuss the Zwift Community Elite 2024/25 season performance verification process changes with AthleteAnalytiX founder Bjoern Ossenbrink. Bjoern is a pioneer in the space. Beginning as a Zwift beta-tester, he progressed from community racer to leading ZADA, the Zwift Accuracy and Data Analys…

In Episode 47 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome elite esports cyclist Elyse Gallegos. The IRONMAN champion and mother to two young boys is proud to represent the USA in the semi-finals of the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship. Elyse shares her experience balancing family priorities while striving for personal athletic go…

In Episode 46 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Flamme Rouge Racing’s Richard Vale discusses the groundbreaking multi-platform MYTIKAS Games and, along with hosts Chris and Emma, explores the essential cycling esports news that all racers and fans need to know! The MYTIKAS games are the first cycling esports event to unfold across multiple platforms, fe…

In Episode 45 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, hosts Chris and Emma catch up with the Purdue University College of Engineering team of Prof. Jan-Anders Mansson and researchers Patrick Cavanaugh and Teal Dowd, who are leading the UCI's smart trainer homologation and data manipulation program. The group is currently in Lucerne, Switzerland, preparing to …

In Episode 44 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, hosts Chris and Emma welcome Andrew Richardson, Ph.D., a foremost anti-doping cycling esports research associate at Newcastle University, UK. The scientific review "Zwift's Anti-Doping Policy: Is it Open to Cheating?" published in the International Journal of Esports in early 2022 was one of the first to t…

In Episode 43 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, hosts Chris and Emma welcome the Aussie “Indoor Specialist” power couple Kate Trdin and Josh Harris. Josh held the World Record for the Beer Mile multiple times (four beers and four laps in 4:51), won the Zwift Grand Prix Epic Points Race, finished fourth in the 2024 Zwift Games Overall Championship, and t…

For Episode 42 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Emma welcome back indieVelo founder Dr. George Gilbert for the third time for their first time together as co-hosts. Quickly after the Apple TV release, which makes indieVelo accessible to a broad range of users and devices, he explains why "Watts Aren't Watts" when defining the future of virtua…

In Part One of Episode 41 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si welcome elite cycling esports racer and award-winning cycling journalist Aaron Borrill. "Captain South Africa" shares how Cycling South Africa supports their National Cycling Esports team as a unique cycling discipline and how he plans to help get his teammates ready for the 2024 U…

In Episode 40 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si welcome former Zwift employee Flint McInnis for an insightful, forward-thinking conversation on the state of racing on the platform. Flint, a Zwift competition team member and forum moderator, played a vital role in developing the Zwift Racing Score before being affected by Zwift’s recent rest…

For Episode 39 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, cycling esports pioneers Lionel Vujasin and Ollie Jones join the discussion with Chris and Si. Lionel made a splash with a thrilling win at the CVR Cup live event in Vancouver in 2018, while Ollie claimed victory at Zwift Academy the same year and went on to success on the road and beyond. Reflecting on t…

For Episode 38 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si journeyed over 8,000 miles to Long Beach, CA, the birthplace of Zwift Cycling Esports, to record live together for the first time. They had the opportunity to interview Brian Duffy, the 2024 USA Cycling Esports National Champion from NeXT eSports pb Enshored, and share a ride and insightful c…

In Episode 37 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris invite freelance cycling writer and multi-platform elite esports star Zach Nehr to a roundtable discussion. Don’t let the length of this episode scare you off. It’s packed full of exciting cycling esports news and inside information. Zach has jet-setted worldwide, competing in live esports eve…

In Episode 36 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, MyWhoosh's Race Control and Events Manager Matt Smithson gives the first look into the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship. The format, courses, dates, qualifications, and all the specifics the community has been anxiously awaiting. The MyWhoosh platform is the home of the World Championship for th…

In episode 35 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si chat with Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. She took time away from training camp with her UCI Women’s Continental AG INSURANCE – SOUDAL TEAM (AGS – BEL) to share what being the first UCI Cycling Esports World Champion on Zwift still and always will mean to her. Ashleigh is a purpose-driven athlete with…

The Zwift Racing League is quite possibly the largest community-based racing league in the world. Does it also have the most cheaters, cruisers, and sandbaggers? WTRL’s Martin Carew is here to say he’s doing things on his end, but can he and is Zwift doing enough? In episode 34 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si ask those questions and more!…

In Episode Thirty-Three of the Virtual Velo Podcast, on the day that virtual platform MyWhoosh and the UCI released details about the 2024 Live Cycling Esports World Championship Final in Abu Dhabi, Race Control and Events Manager Matt Smithson chose the Virtual Velo Podcast to speak publicly for the first time and make the announcement. Chris and …

In Episode Thirty-Two of the Virtual Velo Podcast hosts Chris and Si sit down with Project Echelon Racing’s Eric Hill. USA Cycling has just unveiled the plans for its third-annual Cycling Esports Nationals, and Project Echelon is returning to Zwift to put on the event. Eric has reached out to the cycling esports platform indieVelo for performance v…

In Episode Thirty-One of the Virtual Velo Podcast, hosts Chris and Si sit down with elite cyclist and Indoor Specialist Kristen Kulchinsky and her coach, Josh Lipka, to discuss her recent triumphs on the road. Kristen’s victories are not just a personal milestone but also a legitimization of the impact of indoor specialists in real-world cycling co…

In Episode Thirty of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si dive into some hot topics following attendance at the “This Season on Zwift” press conference. Here’s a quick rundown of what they discuss: Zwift is All-In on Racing: The duo breaks down what this renewed focus means for the racing community within Zwift and what changes racers can expect …

In Episode Twenty-Nine of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris discuss the news that hit like a bomb, sending waves of shock and “wuh?” reverberating through the virtual cycling and esports community. On August 17, 2023, the Union Cyclist Internationale (UCI) announced that it awarded the Cycling Esports World Championships to the cycling esports…

In Episode Twenty-Eight of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris sit down with cycling esports nice guy James Joseph Barnes. James’ passion for Zwift and cycling esports is palpable as he describes his ideals for elite racing, community integration, engagement, and the vision for the future. James shares insight through the perspective of an athle…

In Episode Twenty-Seven of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris sit down with cycling esports platform indieVelo’s founder, Dr. George Gilbert. indieVelo’s recent game update included Fully Customizable User Interface Functionality Support through Modding. Zwift’s former Cycling Esports Commission Chairman explains the technical foundation built …

In Episode Twenty-Six of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris pull back the curtain on the Olympic Esports Series with elite racer Zach Nehr. NeXT p/b Eshored’s Nehr was one of 16 athletes chosen to compete in the inaugural event in Singapore, June 22-25, 2023, etching his mark on cycling history. Rock Star treatment, autographs, media, rider (de…

In Episode Twenty-Five of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si and Chris sit down with cycling esports platform indieVelo’s founder, Dr. George Gilbert. Dr. Gilbert shares his background as a foremost astrophysicist, the coder of the global telephone network, and the health challenges that almost stole his life and athletic career. He gives the plain truth…

In Episode Twenty-Four of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Si asks Chris what he learned about the Zwift Play Controller and Beta Gaming Experience while attending the Zwift press conference announcing the new hardware. What does it say about the company’s path and the general state of virtual cycling and esports? The two explore the question while bringi…

In Episode Twenty-Three of the Virtual Velo Podcast, host Ken and Joy interview the DIRT 66-Day Nutrition Challenge winner, Shawn McAfee. Joy Murphy is a USA Tri-Level 1 Certified Coach, EnJoy Fitness founder, a regular contributor to The Zommunique, and the guest host of The Virtual Velo Podcast. The DIRT 66-Day Nutrition Challenge is a team-based…

In Episode Twenty-Two of the Virtual Velo Podcast, another installment of “Bridging the Gap Between Athlete and Avatar,” Chris and Si sit down with Zwift team NeXT Esports pb Enshored's Cyclist Richard Barry. Richard has toed the line as an elite cyclocross racer alongside big-time names like Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock. Yet he considers competin…

In Episode Twenty-One of the Virtual Velo Podcast, another installment of “Bridging the Gap Between Athlete and Avatar,” Chris introduces his new co-host, Si Bradeley. Together they welcome Team Great Britain and Wahoo le Col’s Zoe Langham, joined by her partner, and DS, Adam Thorpe.Zoe overcame a life-threatening congenital illness to stand on the…

In Episode Twenty of the Virtual Velo Podcast, our host, Ken, interviews Coaches Joy Murphy and Shayne Gaffney to discuss the rise of Artificial Intelligence-based tools for cycling coaching. Shayne Gaffney is the owner of GC Coaching and a pioneer in using Zwift as a tool to help train his athletes. He has developed many of Zwift’s training plans …

In Episode Nineteen of the Virtual Velo Podcast, another installment of “Bridging the Gap Between Athlete and Avatar,” Chris introduces Team Germany and Wahoo le Col’s Marc Mäding fresh off a podium placing in the 2023 Zwift Esports World Championship. It wasn’t a fancy cycling success story for Marc, who was 50 kg when anorexia and bulimia caused …

In Episode Eighteen of the Virtual Velo Podcast, another installment of "Bridging the Gap Between Athlete and Avatar," Chris introduces Jacqueline Godbe, the two-time US National Esports Champion, and the first American to step on the World Championship podium. Jacqueline is a Chemist, a Radiologist, and an extremely cerebral and introspective indi…