Jason Osbourne weiß sich zu überanstrengen, sich zu verausgaben, nicht selten total. Powern bis er buchstäblich nur noch Sterne sieht – das gehört zu seinem ungewöhnlichen Athletenprofil. Seit vielen Jahren. Zu Wasser und zu Lande. Ob er am Ruder zieht oder in die Pedalen tritt. Ende Oktober hat Osbourne sich mal wieder so verausgabt, im Duell Mann gegen Mann gegen 19 Konkurrenten. Auf einer Bühne in Abu Dhabi, von Bildschirmen umstellt, von Lichtern umflackert, von Ventilatoren zur Kühlung umweht und von aufgeregten Kommentatoren umgeben.
Am Ende von insgesamt drei schweißtreibenden Fahrten war der 30-Jährige der Sieger der UCI Cycling Esports-Weltmeisterschaften. Der zweite WM-Titel nach 2020 für Osbourne (2021 holte er Bronze, 2023 Silber) in diesem wachsenden Radsport-Segment, in dem Velofahrer aus der ganzen Welt von daheim aus auf Plattformen trainieren und dort auch in Rennen gegeneinander antreten. Osbourne ist der erfolgreichste Protagonist in dieser noch jungen Sparte – und will künftig verstärkt auf diese digitale Variante setzen.
Olympia-Silber im Rudern 2021 gewonnen
Er hat nämlich vor Kurzem die zweite große, wegweisende Entscheidung seines Sportlerlebens getroffen. Die erste war, das Rudern aufzugeben und sein Glück auf zwei Rädern zu suchen. Das war nach der olympischen Silbermedaille 2021 in Tokio im Leichtgewichts-Doppelzweier. Osbourne zog es durch und erfüllte sich den Traum von einem Quereinstieg in den Straßenradsport auf höchster Ebene, der WorldTour.
But this late summer, the blonde boy followed his heart and did what very few professionals do once they have made the difficult journey into the squad of one of the top teams in the first category: he told those responsible for his team Alpecin-Deceunink that he had decided on his future no longer in cycling on the road, but in digital and on gravel. The next change in Osbourne’s athlete life is in full swing. In addition to the races on the MyWhoosh platform, the former Mainz rower and later street professional who lives in Offenbach now wants to find his place in the emerging gravel scene.
“I am grateful for the opportunity and the experience of racing in the WorldTour,” says Osbourne, who will now move to Girona to spend the winter and train. “But road racing wasn’t for me lately, I didn’t enjoy it anymore. The lifestyle is very stressful for often very little personal results.”
Shuttle services for the winner are hardly appreciated
As a career changer and newcomer, Osbourne was primarily intended to help out. Which he often did well with his enormously large engine, as they say in cycling jargon. Especially since he also took part in major races this year such as Paris-Nice and the Dauphiné Tour. But a long-term hip injury made it increasingly difficult for him to cycle under extreme strain. Which affected performance.
In addition, Osbourne was strange about the “great willingness to take risks” of many competitors in the peloton and the resulting accidents. The level of cycling “developed extremely” in the two years in which he was part of the team, as he says. When he was able to build up his form last year, including a high-altitude training camp, without being called up to racing at short notice, Osbourne showed what he was made of. At the Tour of Austria he came second overall and also left well-known mountain riders behind.
What did he miss about his former world on the water? “Rowing and cycling are team sports. In rowing, everyone in the winning boat is a world champion, but in cycling, the shuttle services for the winner are hardly appreciated. I know I have more potential than I could show.”
Drive for your own goals and success
Osbourne feels more comfortable when he is completely in control of his own sporting livelihood. Like in e-cycling and soon also in gravel racing, where there are much fewer team structures and hierarchies. “It’s time for me to ride again for my own goals and successes,” says the former world champion (2018) and European champion (2019) in lightweight rowing, for whom cycling was initially just a compensatory sport to build up the basic endurance for rowing work. In the year before the Olympics, Osbourne put himself in the spotlight of the road teams with his first world title in e-cycling.
He won World Cup gold for the second time in the style of a hardened champion. The championship in Abu Dhabi comprised three stages. And after the first, a 300-meter sprint, Osbourne was almost hopelessly behind – 18th out of 20 athletes qualified for the final. Before the second race, Osbourne knew “that I had to go all in and win solo if possible.”
Thought, done. Osbourne pulled away on the long climb, hammering up to 600 watts into the pedals for several minutes, collecting plenty of points and keeping the competition at bay until the finish. But for the world title, a strong performance was also needed in the final chase on a circuit that had to be driven four times on the fantasy course on the MyWhoosh platform. He had already identified a point for the second lap where he wanted to attack. Osbourne raced away with up to 8.5 watts per kilogram of body weight – and couldn’t be caught until the end. It was the successful beginning of his new transformation as an athlete: from rower, to road rider, to esports and gravel professional.
