Published February 26, 2022 07:58PM
Loes Adegeest rode a smart race to win the second UCI Cycling esports World Championships ahead of Cecilie Hansen (Sweden) and Zoe Langham (Great Britain). Defending champion Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (South Africa) finished fourth but was active on all three ascents of the New York KOM.
The first ascent of the New York KOM was the first test for the peloton and a tough pace left a group of riders struggling to remain in touch with the peloton. Moolman Pasio was also pushing the watts over the steepest sections, putting pressure on her components early in the race.
A large group containing the runner up from the inaugural esports World Championships Sarah Gigante (Australia) and Zwift Academy winner Ella Harris (New Zealand) detached from the main peloton on the first climb. They were unfortunately over a minute behind when they started their second lap of the course.
Moolman Pasio led the pack into the New York KOM the second time around and used the steep climb to further reduce the peloton. By the descent, only 24 riders remained in the front group. As the peloton lulled a few riders took the opportunity to throw some attacks at the race. The American team sent continuous attacks off the front and eventually, Katheryn Curi managed to get up to a 16 second lead on the peloton.
Curi was brought back a few meters from the base of the final ascent of the New York KOM and Moolman Pasio went straight to the front of the race as the climb started. Cecilia Hansen, Zoe Langham and Adegeest were the only riders to hold on to Moolman Pasio who tried to distance herself with a Featherweight PowerUp but couldn’t escape the three.
In the final 200 meters, Adegeest threw down her Featherweight PowerUp and sprinted to victory ahead of Hansen and Langham.