After a four-year break, another ICWW Online Cup finally took place.
The main goal was to give new nations the opportunity to experience their first real competition and gain visibility within the artistic cycling community.
Despite a few initial challenges — such as video call connection timeouts and the unexpected absence of one judge — the event ran smoothly, and we believe the audience barely noticed any issues.
The competition began with Mabel, a young athlete from Argentina, who performed at 7 a.m. in a public park in Buenos Aires since later in the day the area would be too crowded.
It was wonderful to see her smiling the entire time. We hope this positive experience will boost her confidence for her first World Championship in November. Her performance was nearly flawless, with only the saddle-handlebar stand causing slight difficulties.
Next, we switched to Kigali, Rwanda, where several teenagers took part. Things got a bit complicated, as we received updated evaluation sheets just minutes before their start. In the middle of their performances, we had to switch locations from a gym to an outdoor court — offering an incredible background, as shown in the pictures.
Although it was slightly risky at times, with bottles and balls occasionally flying near the athletes, the young participants impressed everyone by successfully performing advanced figures such as saddle-handlebar stand, handlebar-seat raiser, handlebar-seat raiser reverse, and many more. With more practice and a better understanding of the rules, they could soon compete at the World Championships with strong performances.
(More information about this social project in Africa can be found here: INSTAGRAM.)
After a short break due to the time zone differences, we continued with participants from Mexico. Unfortunately, the four athletes had several dismounts during their routines, especially before figures like the fronthang and handlebar-seat reverse.
The last competitor was Emiliano Cedillo Medina, the only athlete with previous competition experience. Emiliano lives in Brussels and performed from Ghent (Belgium) — the only participant on a real competition court inside a gym.
His performance stood out as the best of the day, earning him first place, and he is preparing to compete at the World Championship in November.
Overall, the ICWW Online Cup 2025 was an incredible opportunity for new nations to take their first steps in international artistic cycling. We hope to organize more online cups in the future to continue supporting emerging countries.
This was the first artistic cycling competition held outside Europe and Asia. Hopefully, in just a few years, we’ll see “real competitions” happening directly in these regions.
A big thank you goes to Heike Lauterbach, Enrico Krien, and Andreas Meier (judges), as well as Kay Lauterbach (IT support for judging software).
Mike Lauterbach (IT Coordination)
Gracia Sotomayor (Moderator)