Hagens Berman, Wiggins among pro teams set to race on Zwift

This article first appeared on BikeRadar.

Zwift has announced that four pro cycling teams will race in the first dedicated eSports competition of its kind in 2019.

The teams form the new KISS Super League, which was teased earlier this month. Now we can reveal that they are all UCI teams:

• Team Wiggins
• Canyon dhb p/b Bloor Homes
• Hagens Berman Axeon
• Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka U23

The first live race will take place at a launch event in London on January 23, 2019.

Axel Merckx, the owner of Hagens Berman Axeon, is enthusiastic about Zwift's support for domestic pro cycling in the US, Europe and Australia, saying that "professional cycling needs a shake-up from time to time," and that "Zwift is certainly capable of adding an extra dimension to bike racing."

Eric Min, CEO and co-founder of Zwift, has hinted that the company has a lot planned for next year, but he's not dropped any clues about what to expect.

What we do know is that in the next few weeks Zwift and KISS (the event organiser) will also be announcing additional men's pro teams, an elite women's league and amateur leagues. So stay tuned.