Esports-British Cycling eRacing Championships winner stripped of title

ByReuters

Published 04/10/2019 at 19:05 GMT

Oct 4 (Reuters) - British Cycling eRacing Championships winner Cameron Jeffers has been stripped of his title and handed a six-month ban for manipulation of pre-race data, the sport's governing body said on Friday.

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"Jeffers has accepted a specified sanction of a 250 pounds ($308.25) fine and a six-month suspension from all racing," British Cycling said in a statement on Friday.

"He has been disqualified from the event and the title has now been awarded to James Phillips."

British Cycling upheld a charge against Jeffers "related to manipulation of pre-race data to gain an unfair advantage via in-game equipment' in the race held in April.

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The 22-year-old Briton vowed to fight the charge.

"I'm financially and emotionally drained by the situation. I've employed a solicitor to fight my case just because... I know how hard I've worked," Jeffers said in an online statement.

The competition was held on Zwift and the online training platform's Esport CEO Craig Edmondson said it supported the actions taken by British Cycling.

"We are committed to utilising all the resources we have available to police competition at the very highest level and ensure fair competition," Edmondson said.

"We fully support the action taken by British Cycling in the case against Cameron Jeffers."

($1 = 0.8110 pounds) (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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