New Zealand's Mary Kate McCarthy arrives in Abu Dhabi ahead of the World Championships.

In early October, after winning the second round of the Zwift World Series, McCarthy's authenticity was questioned. A notice from the race commissaire rescinded her result, citing “hardware failure.”

The rules state, “Riders shall be responsible for maintaining the accuracy of their equipment, including, but not limited to, zeroing or performing other calibration or offset procedures on their power meters and/or smart trainers immediately prior to competition.

In McCarthy's case, the malfunction “resulted in a significant difference between the trainer and the power meter for the duration of the race.”

After winning the World Championships, McCarthy said: “There were a few things this week that were beyond my control, and I think I proved that. But I put all my energy into this thing.”

According to Zwiftapp.com results, the New Zealand native has been on the podium at all four previous races. Adding the World Championship title would mean that she has won all four previous races.

She added, “Races other than this one have been part of my training. I just had to forget about them and focus on today.”

She added, ”I've been training for a while now, but I've had a lot of success.

Leading up to Saturday's cycling esports world championships, every part of the athletes' technical preparation is either completely out of their control or under close scrutiny by Maiusch and/or the UCI.

In the case of the calibration of the power meters and smart trainers, this was done exclusively by representatives of the competition organizers.

According to Jacob Fraser, the UCI's esports coordinator, each of the 22 Elite Justo Smart Trainers underwent “the most rigorous hardware testing ever done at a world championships in any sport.”

In addition, all 20 women's bikes and 22 men's bikes were turned over to the UCI 24 hours before the race. They were then installed in the arena, paired with the necessary computers, calibrated, and two dress rehearsals were held prior to the race.

Throughout the race, McCarthy posted the fastest sprint time in the first stage. On stage 2, he climbed the uphill with silver medalist Gabirella Guerra, and the two escaped on the downhill, earning double points at the finish.

On stage 3, McCarthy won the final sprint battle to build a small lead over Guerra.