The Virtual Velo Podcast p/b TheZommunique.com

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 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships...

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 restructuring. During the episode, Flint shares insi...

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 the early days of esports, they ponder why progre...

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 conversation with Jacob Fraser. Jacob, who has se...

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 events, including the La Vuelta Virtual ’23 in Mad...

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 the next three years, and Matt lets us know w...

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 goals and objectives that transcend cycli...

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!  Martin explains the built-in anti-cheating...

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 Si ask the questions the community has been wonde...

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 verification. USA Cycling’s Big Announcement: 🚴‍♂...

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 competitions. Key Highlights: Kristen’s Real-Worl...

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 moving forward. Zwift and Wahoo Make Peace : Chr...

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 platform MyWhoosh for the next three years. Ther...

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 athlete who witnessed the birth of online racing and i...

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 from the ground up to set the framework for th...

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)selection, technology, equipment, photo finishes...

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 about his time at Zwift and the circumstances b...

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 bringing up the recent departure of several members of...

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 contest focused on three daily values: Did you...

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 competing in the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Cham...

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 Cycling Esports World Championship podium severa...

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 and is a former Zwift Product Manager. Joy Murphy...

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 his body to shut down, landing him in the hos...

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 individual. Those aren't even the titles she's mo...

In Episode Seventeen of the Virtual Velo Podcast, another installment of “Bridging the Gap Between Athlete and Avatar,” Chris wraps up the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships with Winner Bjorn Andreassen and Legend “the wolf” Lionel Vujasin. The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat. Cycling is the most beautiful sport partly because of its razor-thin margins between success and...