Former marathon runner Josh Harris set for cycling's Esports world champs

The 32-year-old competed in the marathon at the 2017 world athletics championships and in February will take part in the UCI Cycling Esports world titles - something he described as "completely unexpected".

"This is just such a cool bonus," Harris said.

"I think of getting this opportunity and getting an AusCycling kit and I just picture it next to my world champs marathon kit up in the man cave, like once it's done ... I can say that I've represented Australia in two different sports, which is awesome.

"This is the highest level that there currently is in Zwift, so just being there is awesome - to be honest I'm just having a lot of fun with it."

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The relief school teacher and running coach is able to compete from the comfort of his own home using Esports program Zwift. He explained how it all works.

"You have a smart trainer, which connects up to your bike, that when you pedal the bike that shows your power," he said.

"Zwift - the game itself - bases its physics on somewhat real calculations of what it would be like outside at that power.

"And then at the top level, you need to have one of the top smart trainers so things are all verified, you need to have an external power meter, which backs up the data that your trainer shows."

Harris qualified for the world championships at the continental qualifiers last month, with his focus on Esports cycling coming after a foot injury flared up.

He's competed on road before - riding in the 2019 Tour of Tasmania as well as the Tour de Singkarak in Indonesia, discovering he had power but lacked the skills.

"When you're on the trainer, someone like me can just go as hard as I possibly can, without worrying about people around me or technical skills and that kind of thing," he said.

"There's something about being on the trainer that you can just go so deep, you're not going to crash or anything, you can push yourself so hard - I don't think I've ever pushed myself as hard in running as I have the last few months on Zwift.

"It's super fun to be able to race people, if you go into a race right now, you got to race people from all around the world."

February's event marks the third edition of the world championships, with three members of the women's team - including two-time Tour of Tasmania winner Justine Barrow - having ridden at each one.

Harris is the sole debutant in the men's team, which features defending champion Jay Vine, who also won two stages of lucrative on-road race the Vuelta a Espana.

The world championships will be an elimination format over three races for the first time, with 100 starters being whittled down to 30 before going down to 10 and then to a winner.

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In preparation for the championships, Harris has been doing at least two hours a day on Zwift.

"After coming from a real endurance background with marathoning and stuff, Zwift races are super intense and short term and I've had to really work on my short-term power, so sprinting and short efforts and stuff like that," he said.

"The focus is to just continue to work on some of those things that are important for the success in Zwift racing and I think with a few more months, I'll keep getting better and better.

"Because the races are a bit shorter, you don't need to be putting in the 30-hour weeks that the pro cyclists are doing so I'm sitting somewhere around the 14-hour week mark."

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