The Real E-Champ

Elevated to first place after the winner was disqualified, James Phillips is enthusiastic about the benefits of e-racing on Zwift.

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Second place. With time, it’s a finishing position to be proud of. In the immediate aftermath though, most rue the missed opportunities.

For James Phillips, though, the middle step on the podium at the inaugural British Cycling e-Racing Championships in March was greeted with satisfaction and no regrets.

“I was pretty happy. It was a surprise I wasn’t expecting,” he reflects.

Phillips was content because just four months earlier he had broken his leg and collarbone in a cyclo-cross race.

“I wasn’t on my bike until the end of December,” he reveals, “and it wasn’t until February that I sprinted without pain. I was racing on Zwift and getting beaten by people I would usually easily beat.

“I knew I had the potential to win but I wasn’t at 100 per cent. Weighing that up, and coming back from a bad injury, yeah, I was pretty happy.”

E-doping Over six months later, and Phillips was upgraded to first position. The first male winner of the British Cycling e-Racing National Championships, Cameron Jeffers, was found guilty by the national governing body of manipulating “pre-race data to gain an unfair advantage”.