MyWhoosh Championships 2026: $1m Prize Fund, and a Push to Double the Field

It’s an open event that former pros win. It’s still $1million.

MyWhoosh has announced the return of the MyWhoosh Championships for 2026, a seven-day virtual stage race scheduled for July, with a $1m prize fund split equally between men and women. The $-figure in the headline is the one we sit up and notice. The more revealing number is the one absent from the announcement: the size of the field. Here is a look behind the press release.

The 2025 edition drew around 650 riders from 47 countries. MyWhoosh has not published that total in its 2026 release, but the stated ambition for this year is to double the number of riders on the start line. For an event built on a seven-figure purse, a field of roughly 650 is modest, and MyWhoosh knows it.

The prize fund itself has not moved.

MyWhoosh ran the inaugural Championships in 2023 with a $1m purse, held no championship in 2024, and returned in 2025 with the same $1m purse. The 2026 edition is identical. What has grown is the reward for completing the series. Every finisher in 2025 received a kit worth around $500. For 2026, the finisher gift pack is valued at more than $700. Not bad.

The format carries over from last year.

Seven stages are run over a week, scored by cumulative time, with the fastest aggregate determining the overall classification. Nothing new there. Six categories are awarded prizes separately, a bit like the TdF, and prize money is awarded across the GC, sprint, and climbing competitions. The routes have changed from last year, drawn from a route library that MyWhoosh has expanded with new virtual worlds this season. Total distance and elevation remain close to those of the 2025 event, which covered roughly 440km for men and 340km for women.

The prize money itself is tightly distributed. In 2025, payments went to the top 10 individuals and the top seven teams in each category. Most of the 650 starters finished without prize money, which is why the gift pack matters more in 2026 than the unchanged purse!

Mywhoosh appears to take cheating seriously. Entry requires the Power Passport Test, a one-time verification of power and weight data. Riders who have competed in the platform’s Sunday Race Club within the qualifying window are generally exempt.

What is MyWhoosh?

MyWhoosh is a free virtual cycling platform funded from the United Arab Emirates, which puts the $1m purse in a particular light. It functions as PR spend rather than a self-sustaining prize pool funded by 3rd party sponsors and media rights.

Thinking of entering?

Go for it!

However, the prize money is realistically out of reach without a high level of form, so the gift pack and the experience of a week-long stage race are the practical rewards for your love of virtual cycling. Whether MyWhoosh reaches its target of doubling the field will be the measure of the 2026 event, and the July start lists will tell the story the prize figure does not.

Frequently asked questions

Why does a free platform offer a $1m prize fund?

The purse is marketing. MyWhoosh charges nothing to use and is funded by the United Arab Emirates, so the $1m does not need to be recouped through subscriptions or entry fees. It buys attention and pulls competitive riders onto the platform. It also gives MyWhoosh a flagship event to build a calendar around. The same logic explains the platform’s wider expansion, which now includes rowing alongside cycling. Zwift funds itself through subscriptions and has grown by acquisition. The contrast in strategy is a useful thing to watch.

Can an amateur win the MyWhoosh Championships?

Realistically, the prize money goes to former professionals and dedicated esports specialists. The 2025 men’s champion was Michael Vink, a former UAE Team Emirates rider. The women’s title went to Mary Kate McCarthy, who races virtual events year-round and reportedly earned around $148,000 from MyWhoosh across the season. The Championships are open to all, and any qualified rider can enter, but the top categories are contested by people who train and race indoors at a high level. A genuine amateur entering the sharp end of the field should ride for the experience and the finisher gift pack rather than a payout.

How does MyWhoosh keep the racing fair?

Two mechanisms apply. The Power Passport Test verifies a rider’s power output and weight before they can compete, addressing the most common form of manipulation in virtual racing: inaccurate or favourable data. Separately, MyWhoosh runs an integrity and anti-doping programme during the Championships and describes it as a first of its kind in virtual racing. Treat that claim with some caution, since performance verification already exists across the sport. For the wider picture, see our coverage of anti-doping in virtual cycling.

How do you enter the MyWhoosh Championships 2026?

Register through the MyWhoosh events page once registration opens, then complete the Power Passport Test if you have not already done so. Riders who have raced the platform’s Sunday Race Club within the qualifying window are generally exempt from the test. Complete the verification early so you are eligible for the first stage. The seven stages run across a single week in July.

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID