Indoor cycling platform MyWhoosh says racers must buy a new $789 Favero power meter, or be banned from winning prize money

MyWhoosh says the new Favero connection will be tested during October under SRC race conditions.

The race mode will auto-verify a rider’s power meter for SRC. It will be rolled out within a firmware update and an app update for users.

Up until this point, SRC competitors have been required to complete stringent power and hardware verification checks, including submitting a video to verify equipment setup to be eligible to compete.

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MyWhoosh says a properly set-up Assioma Pro pedal system operating the new MyWhoosh race mode, will automatically be accepted for power source verification for the SRC, which should streamline the process for users.

This news means that racers’ smart trainers will no longer be their primary power source for e-racing. The trainers will still be a controllable device for resistance and gradient simulation, but the Favero pedals will be the primary power source.

Cyclingnews spoke to elite racer Zach Nehr, who regularly competes in the upper categories of the SRC, to see what an SRC competitor thought about the changes.

Nehr was all for anti-cheating protocols and stringent verification, but cited some inconsistencies across categories, and explained that riders in lower categories are also winning healthy amounts of prize money.

‘That was big news to see’. Nehr said on the announcement.

‘I think that when riders are earning hundreds or thousands of dollars in prize money, we need to have the absolute highest levels of verification and anti-cheating protocol. If this is what MyWhoosh believes is the solution at this point, then I support it.

‘The bigger issue to me is that the new rule is only being applied to Cat 1 and Cat 2 riders, not cats 3-6. Those lower-cat riders are still earning thousands of dollars in prize money, which is a huge problem.

‘In my opinion, the prize money should be completely redistributed and only go to Cat 1 to eliminate these barriers and sandbagging, and to motivate riders to try their hardest to reach the highest level. In any other sport, only the top professionals make the money, not low-level amateurs making thousands of dollars annually.’