It could be an even more complex issue than in road cycling.
Image: Zwift
The topic of weight in cycling redefines sensitivity in a sport where performance is tightly bound to the interplay between gravity and body mass. The hidden, unhealthy obsession with being the leanest and lightest to win – once-pervasive in the men’s and women’s peloton – is being increasingly challenged through open discussion and awareness. Yet it still rears its ugly head in the modern cycling era.
However, in elite cycling esports, other determining factors of success, such as descending ability and positioning in the bunch, don’t come into play. Riders often view weight manipulation as the answer to performance gains, and the significant prize money on offer has elite cycling esports athletes weighing the cost-benefit weekly.
When outlining the weight policy for the recent 2025 US$1 million MyWhoosh Championship, the platform’s director of esports and game operations, Matt Smithson, made it clear that “Our goal with any weigh-in procedure is for riders to race at their healthy, natural, hydrated, and fueled weight.”
That may sound simple, but the need for a weight policy – to address the risks of weight manipulation and its impact on rider health, fairness, the sport’s public image, and the future – is anything but straightforward.
Do we need to talk about weight?
Just when the sport was moving on from the pressure to be light, Demi Vollering was asked whether she was too heavy to win the Tour de France Femmes.
Weight gapping
The insidious manipulation of weigh-ins in elite cycling esports has led to the emergence of a neologism to describe this practice: “weight gapping.” Loosely defined, “gapping” refers to weighing in at a lower weight than a rider’s normal everyday “walking around” weight – the actual weight of the rider at the start of the race – after implementing rapid weight-loss measures.
Simply put, when a rider weighs in at an artificially low number but then races at their actual weight, the platform calculates power against the lower figure. The result is a higher watts-per-kilogram (W/kg) value, which the virtual platform’s velocity algorithm converts into extra speed.
For example, if a rider weighed in at 51 kilograms after cutting 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) from their normal hydrated weight of 55 kilograms (121 pounds) – a gap which, sources indicate, is commonplace at the elite level – the “weight gapping” performance benefits are potentially profound.
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