Britain’s first Zwift cycling e-champion has been caught robo-doping to gain an unfair advantage at the March Zwift National Championship event.

22 year-old elite cyclist Cameron Jeffers (CyclingHub) has been stripped of his title, suspended from all cycling competition and fined £250 by by British Cycling.  Runner up James Phillips (Canyon ZCC) has now been awarded the championship victory.

British Cycling said it discovered a hack “related to manipulation of pre-race data to gain an unfair advantage.”

Jeffers has now admitted to using an upgraded “Zwift Concept Z1” virtual bicycle he acquired via a bot-powered simulation program that faked him riding for hundreds of hours at an elevated power level.

Normally it takes riders many months of intense riding to earn the Z1, which has in-game performance benefits over standard Zwift bikes.

After winning the championship Jeffers wrote, “This was a perfect example of how you make a plan. Work to that plan, and execute the plan. Thank you to everyone who has messaged me. I’M NATIONAL ZWIFT CHAMPION.”

He neglected to thank his robo-powered simulation program.

CEO of Zwift Esports Craig Edmondson said, “We are committed to utilising all the resources we have available to police competition at the very highest level and ensure fair competition. We fully support the action taken by British Cycling in the case against Cameron Jeffers.”

Zwift is partnering with UCI in 2020 to further grow e-sports competitive cycling, including holding an E-sports World Championship at a yet-to-be-determine date.

GFDN Worldwide 2020 Gran Fondo Calendar