T HE G A ME’S GONE
The first British eRacing champ cheated to win. Why are cyclists so compelled to cut corners?
My initial reaction to finding out that Cameron Jeffers, victor of the inaugural British Cycling eRacing Championships in the spring, had cheated on his way to winning was to wonder why so many racing cyclists, of all persuasions, resort to the dark arts to gain the upper hand. From the industrial-strength doping of prospective Tour de France champions to anonymous amateurs loading up on banned gear to win nothing more than regional produce in gran fondos, riders across the spectrum too easily plumb the depths in pursuit of money and salve of ego.
It’s easy to scoff at Jeffers’ infraction. And many have. Just to recap, he used a bot to automatically ride the necessary elevation (50,000m) within Zwift, the game used by British Cycling for its eRacing Championships, to win the ‘Tron’ bike - the fastest bike in the game. He then used this bike at the Championships, beating his competition (who were all on the same bike). Shortly after his victory, British Cycling received a tip off that Jeffers had acquired the bike illicitly, kicking off an investigation that saw Jeffers stripped of his title, banned for six months from racing (indoors - and out!) and fined £250.
In the house of horrors of doping controversies, you’d be correct in thinking that Jeffers’ crime is low in the register. He’s hardly been caught on video with a needle in his arm, like beleaguered Nordic skier Max Hauke was earlier this year at that sport’s World Champs apparently mid-blood dope. He’s not added a motor to his bike, or bribed a competitor for the win. Looking at it one way, he’s hacked a video game. He’s hit left, right, left, circle, triangle on his joy pad and become invincible on Mario Kart.
But that would be ignoring how big and lucrative e-sports are becoming; eRacing in cycling is still in its formative phase but there’s been enough interest and hype to suggest it will cement its place as a legitimate new strand of bike racing. Just before the Jeffers news broke, Zwift and cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, signalled their intention to create the first UCI Cycling Esports World Championships in 2020.
“There is a particularly exciting opportunity through e-sports as we look to attract a younger audience to cycling,” said UCI president David Lappartient. “Together we have an opportunity to support a fitter youth, through the creation of a new sustainable sport.”
That the first winner of the British champs has been stripped of his title is not a good look, or start. I was at the finals at BT Sport’s studios in Stratford, another in a long line of bike races I’ve invested time in watching someone win only for it to be chalked off. The new winner, James Phillips, must feel a bit like Andy Schleck did after he was awarded the yellow jersey of the 2010 Tour de France well after the fact when Alberto Contador was hooked for clenbuterol. Then again, that eRacing isn’t yet taken all that seriously by a good proportion of the road-race watching public might perversely be good for Jeffers’ career, the story boosting the profile of a largely unknown British rider. Ignore the fact that he cheated to win the bike - on a level playing field, he outmanoeuvred some British cycling heavyweights on the day. In a 15-minute video giving his side of the story, Jeffers, already a prolific YouTuber prior to his newfound infamy, admitted his mistake but questioned both the procedure that led to his ban and the enforcing of the rules of eRacing. And he has a bit of a point: eRacing is still so new that its governance overlords are making it up as they go along. Every day users of Zwift fiddle with their true weight to make them climb faster in the game, and hacks of the like Jeffers used appear to be routinely deployed. Bike racing has always seen cheats. In the digital era, we’re just finding new ways to do it.
JOHN WHITNEY FEATURESEDITOR
The longtime Cycling Plus staffer offers his take on all the comments and controversy on the frontline of the cycling scene
“Bike racing has always seen cheats. In the digital era, we’re just finding new ways to do it”