Riders will follow the Knickerbocker circuit which will cover 54.9 kilometres with 942 metres of climbing.

The real-life roads of Central Park have been replicated in the online cycling programme with a constant flow of twists, turns, ups and downs.

However, Zwift has also added a series of fictional roads on the north and south side of the park which allow users to climb into the air.

The Knickerbocker route only utilises the southern sky road, with a gruelling 133m ascent at 16 per cent.

The winner of the men's and women's races will each receive the UCI Cycling Esports World Champions jersey which their avatar can wear on Zwift.

An equal prize of €8,000 (£6,690/$9,000) will also be given to the winner, while €4,000 (£3,300/$4,500) and €2,000 (£1,600/$2,200) will be paid to second and third place respectively.

Zwift hosted five different continental qualifiers for next week's races across Oceania, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas.

The top five finishers from each race earned a spot onto their national federation's team for the World Championships.

James Barnes of South Africa is hotly tipped for the men's race thanks to his incredible run of form in the Zwift Premier League.

He has finished first, third, third, sixth, first and second in his last seven races.

His compatriot Ashleigh Moolman Pasio is the overwhelming women's favourite as she is the defending champion.

In a bid to keep the competition completely fair, Zwift has sent the Wahoo Kickr V5 hardware to each competitor as they must all race on the same equipment.

Each rider has also been verified by the Zwift Accuracy and Data Analysis group which regulates the sport and confirms that results are legitimate.