Cycling is a sport imbued with lycra-clad fraud. It has been from the beginning, and stay that way to this day. So much so that cyclists, even if they are stuck and virtually participating in their sport still fraud.
As this wonderful Overloper story sum up, many cyclists took part in the race Zwift lately, and the Pikachu face amazes, they become violating the rules, albeit in new and captivating ways.
Zwift is a game where you ride an actual exercise bike and then reflect your speed and actions on the screen. Unlike things like this, you may have already tried at the gym, Zwift is a real game, with competitors and tracks and graphics, and looks more like something you would play on the Switch than the gym.
Earlier this week, Zwift’s “Performance Verification Board” imposed a six-month ban on two of the best drivers in the competition. Israeli rider Antonina Reznikov was caught editing her data to make her performance on screen 32% faster than her actual step, while German rider Selma Trommer was caught doing the same thing for a 9% boost. Both riders initially disputed the Council’s findings before later bending over and saying: yes, ok, we cheated.
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And these are just the latest two. As Bicycle tips report, Zwift has been struggling with fraud for some time, especially during the pandemic, as professional cyclists, full of sponsorships and a need to be seen performing well, flock to the competitions of the race.
To his credit, Zwift has been working on capturing these cheats, as evidenced by the fact that … these two were caught? But hear, given more than 100 years of historical precedent, the problem lies perhaps less with the game and more with the players.