Eight riders, including two Canadians, will take part in winter training camps with CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto Generation and Alpecin-Deceuninck, where they will compete for spots on the teams’ development squads for 2025.
The riders were selected through Zwift Academy, the global online cycling competition, which saw more than 100,000 participants this year. After months of testing, four women will train with CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto Generation in the Algarve, Portugal, while four men will join Alpecin-Deceuninck in Denia, Spain.
Women’s finalists – CANYON//SRAM Zondacrypto Generation
Emily Dixon (Australia) – A strong climber and one-day specialist, Dixon placed 23rd at the 2024 UCI junior road world championships and raced across Europe in Junior Nations Cup events with Team Australia.
Emma Ochoa (Australia) – An all-rounder who won Australia’s under-19 domestic road racing series in 2024. Ochoa also reached the podium at the 2023 Dirty Warrny gravel race.
Anabelle Thomas (Canada) – Alberta’s Thomas, a national junior champion, is riding for VZW KDM – Pack Cycling Team in 2025. In her first year as an under-23, she was ninth in the TT nationals and ninth in the crit nationals.
Tjaša Susnik (Slovenia) – A climber who has raced in top events such as the Tour de l’Ardèche, Tour de l’Avenir, and Tour of Guangxi with BTC City Ljubljana Scott.
Men’s finalists – Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team
Noah Ramsay (Canada) – Ramsay, who mostly mountain bikes, is a national team member—but turned some heads with an incredible win at the Tour de Via Italia, where he averaged 47 km/h solo, holding just under 400 watts for two hours.
Friedrich Klein (Germany) – A latecomer to cycling, Klein started mountain biking in 2020 and quickly progressed, racing in the Junior XC MTB World Series in 2023 before taking part in his first road race in 2024.
Elliot Bain (Great Britain) – A former soccer player who took up cycling in 2021 and began competing last year. An all-rounder, he is considered a promising talent.
Mattia Gaffuri (Italy) – Returning to the Zwift Academy finals for the second straight year, the climber was runner-up in the 2023 European climber’s championships and competed in the 2021 Giro Next Gen.
Future pros meet potential teammates. 🤝 Get to know the finalists competing for a spot on the @AlpecinDCK Development Team.
The race for a pro contract kicks off…
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