Germany's Jason Osborne won the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championship with an aggressive, high-powered performance in the 22-rider live final in Abu Dhabi.

Osborne attacked in the strategist race and attacked again in the decisive all-out race to take all the points.

Belgium's Lionel Bujacin had scored points early in all three races, but Osborne closed the gap lap by lap in the all-out race. Osborne scored 40 points at the finish line to overtake Vujcin and take the rainbow jersey.

Osborn's aggressive strategy earned him a total of 177 points. Vujasin finished with 174 points, while Finland's Kasper Boremans took bronze with 164 points. 2023 World Champion Bjorn Andreasen of Denmark was fourth with 154 points. American Hayden Packer was fifth with 145 points.

Osborne won the first Esports World Championship in 2020 and has never been off the podium.

“I'm pretty tired and my heart is still racing. It was brutally hard, but we had some great racing today and I enjoyed it,” Osborne said.

“I didn't think the race format didn't suit me, but I've been getting better over the last few weeks.

The 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships will feature a new format that includes a timed “sprint” lap race, a hilly “strategist” road race, and a final “all-out” race of four laps around a 4km criterium circuit

Each race was held in the same format as the previous one.

Points in each race and at key points determined the 2024 world champion. The emphasis on points and the variety of race types made the 2024 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships much like an omnium on the track, with the intensity and pain of a British hill climb race.

The men's sprint race, like the women's championship, was a tactical race where the competition scores were determined by the time of the 300m sprint to the line. This was much like a Formula 1 qualifying race, with the fastest athletes winning and scoring the most points.

The U.S. had three riders in the 22-rider final in Abu Dhabi and showed their strength in the sprint race: early in the 15-minute time window, Neil Fryatt, Zach Neyer, and Hayden Packer jumped out together and used the slipstream to They set fast times. Other riders tried to improve their times, but were always unable to match them, and Fryatt took the top spot on the leaderboard at the end of the sprint race.

In the strategist's race, South African James Barnes attacked and defeated Ney in a sprint contest at the bottom of a 1.5 km climb to take 20 points.

On the climb, Jason Osborne showed his Esports skills with a strong attack. He won the sprint to the summit to take 20 points ahead of Belgium's Lionel Vujasin and Denmark's 2023 World Champion Bjorn Andreasen. Packer finished fifth.

Osborne pushed on the downhill and flat road to the finish. Osborne built up a 20-second lead and tested his rivals spread out behind him. Osborn was able to run away with the race and earn a valuable 40 points. Andreassen and Vujasin finished third with 38 and 36 points, respectively, while Packer beat Australian Josh Harris to fifth place, earning 32 points.

Osborne earned a total of 77 points in the strategist race to move into second place overall with 80 points. Vujasin took first place with 86 points and Packer was third with 72 points.

As in the women's race, the men's world champion was decided by a final all-out four-lap, 4 km criterium and a 12% sprint to the hilltop finish.

Finland's Kasper Boremans was the first to attack on the climb, taking 20 points, but Vujasin, Andreasen, and Osborne were close behind, taking big points. Vujasin topped the leaderboard with 105 points, while Osborne was close behind with 97 points.

Osborn again challenged the race and made a solo attack on the valley road. On the second climb, he gained 10 seconds and ran away with the lead, earning another 20 points. But Vujasin chased him down and sprinted to fourth place, earning 17 points and maintaining his lead by 5 points.

Osborne started the third climb with a 20-second lead, again gaining the maximum 20 points. Vujasin remained in fifth place, reducing her lead over Osborn to just one point.

As in the women's race, the final sprint to the hilltop finish decided the world title.

Osborne was clearly stronger than her rivals and was able to extend her lead on the ride to the base of the climb. Osborne went deep on the 12% climb, but Vujasin and the other chasers dropped out of contention. Osborne finished alone and flew through the air, knowing he had earned enough points to win the world title.