For the first time, in 2024, Eurobike will pick its own virtual cycling champions via a combination of in-person trade fair attendance and virtual racing. The trade fair organising team notes that it is expanding its program towards the growing market for e-cycling.
At the 32nd edition of Eurobike show from July 3-7, 2024 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, cycling fans can take part in the show’s inaugural Virtual Hero series. Held on July 6-7, 2024, a women’s and men’s champion will be chosen.
Eurobike and Frahm Sporting/Cycle Cafe are organizing Virtual Hero as a new form of interaction for the trade fair audience.
“As a trade fair, we participate in the booming trend of e-cycling and are significantly increasing the performance aspect at our globally leading cycling event,” said Eurobike / fairnamic Managing Director Stefan Reisinger.
“With the racing series, we are focusing on sportier, younger target groups and see Virtual Hero as part of a rapidly growing area in our program.”
The Virtual Hero event is open for amateur athletes, but not for athletes with an international racing license and professional status. “We want to make the amazing world of e-sports and e-cycling tangible and to show at trade fairs that virtual cycling is real fun for everyone,” said Fiona Schröder, Project Manager at Frahm Sporting.
“It is explicitly an open format with the aim of getting a much broader audience to experience virtual cycling as an attractive, fun and healthy form of sport,” added Thorsten Frahm, Managing Director of the project partner Cycle Cafe.
Following a trial event at the Massif Games Convention in Frankfurt, the organizers of Virtual Hero will hold further qualifying tournaments. At Cyclingworld in Düsseldorf, VeloBerlin and Eurobike, visitors will register at the Cycle Cafe booth for free participation in the races. There will be men’s and women’s races, with four contestants each per heat, who will be connected to smart bike trainers. The audience will watch the competition on a fast 3.2km track through a virtual Singapore route.
The tournaments will produce winners who will qualify as the four finalists vying to clinch the title of Eurobike Champion. The grand final will take place on a virtual track across the outdoor area of the Frankfurt fair. The contestants will then take the stage in Frankfurt to compete for four 850m laps in a virtually recreated setting of Eurobike.
“The competition will be held in front of the Eurobike audience and at the same time at the peak of the cycling season – during the Tour de France,” continued Fiona Schröder. The men’s final is set for July 6th, and the women’s final for July 7th.
