E-sports phenomenon Osborne speaks out about Alpecin-Deceuninck: "You have to jump whenever they want you to"

Jason Osborne, a former rower who won medals at world tournaments and became a phenomenon as an online cyclist, couldn’t make it as a road cyclist. The German former rider for Alpecin-Deceuninck suddenly hung up his bike in September. In the Virtual Velo podcast, Osborne shares strong words about his experience as a road cyclist.

After leaving road cycling, Osborne immediately focused on online racing again, with great success. Recently, he won his second E-sports World Championship in Abu Dhabi, having also won the first edition. "Today showed me that it was absolutely the right decision," Cyclingnews quoted Osborne after his world title. "I don’t want to say I hated my time in the WorldTour. It was a great experience, but it was time to move on to what I enjoyed most. And that is e-cycling. Despite all the suffering, I still enjoy the competition."

Life as a WorldTour rider didn’t suit Osborne. He found himself in a situation where he no longer enjoyed the sport. "I wanted to gain control over my life again. I was just in that spiral of not enjoying it anymore and wanted to get out. Since I made the decision, I've been a way happier person. I feel I regained my life. It was definitely the right decision."

Osborne earns well as an e-sports athlete

As a road cyclist, Osborne also lacked freedom. "You have to jump whenever they want you to," he said, taking a jab at his former employer, Alpecin-Deceuninck. "It always felt like, I wouldn't say slavery, but like they were in too much control." Osborne also felt like a backup rider. "It's at a point where it's not worth it. It's not worth the risk of crashing. I didn't like it when you got a call, 'Can you please do this race now?' and you'd just planned to go somewhere on a trip or whatever, and they call and say, 'We need you here.'"

Financially, Osborne might not be worse off as an e-sports athlete. With his world title, he earned nearly 14,000 euros. There’s also the weekly Sunday Race Club competition, where participants can earn a nice sum. Just a day after his world title, Osborne hopped back on his bike and won another online race from his hotel room, netting him another 5,500 euros.

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