There were few surprises for the winner of the UCI Cycling E Sport World Championships for Men on Saturday night. Germany's Jason Osborne, freshly retired from the WorldTour's Alpecin-Desseuninck, won the final stage with a pogachar-like solo ride.

But there was a Pogachar-like surprise in third place for 18-year-old Kasper Boremans from Finland. He revealed at the post-race press conference that this was his second online race, surprising esports veterans Osborne and Lionel Vujasin, who were sitting next to him.

He added that he was only here because his coach told him to come for the 2025 road season.

A third place at the World Championships would be a career highlight for most of the riders in the race.

“I signed with Bahrain (Victorious), so next year I'll be a road cyclist,” he began. 'So it's not esports. I'm here because my coach told me to do this.”

His contract with the team runs through 2028. He will spend two years with Cycling Team Friuli Victorious (Bahrain Victorious' development team) before stepping up to the World Tour in early 2027.

He describes himself as “probably a climber” and says, “I'm a long climber, about 20 minutes, and I'm also good at short effort. I think I'm like Pogachar, I think I'm a player that packs a punch.”

The young Finnish rider is clearly a talented rider, and his results here confirm that, but before his podium in Abu Dhabi, his 2024 season included overall podiums in several well-known junior races: in October he finished third at La Philippe Gilbert Junior, and in June he won both the time trial and the road race at the Finnish Junior Championships.

Whether he can translate this into top-level Pogachar-like results remains to be seen. At least for now, because he still has to focus on his academics.

Returning to the topic of the bronze medal hanging from his neck, he doubles down on the coincidence that brought him here.

“It's winter in Finland, so I'm running on Zwift. I can't go to Italy or Spain because I still have school. That's why I'm doing this. My coach told me to do this.”

A comparison with Pogachar from earlier moves the conversation to his future goals: at 18 years old and with two years in a development team, the Finn is on a slow path to the World Tour, but the dream of winning the Tour de France is already on his mind.

“Believe in yourself. That's the most important thing. I think it's possible, but we'll see what happens. I want to keep my feet on the ground.”