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The Zwift Academy competition to win a WorldTour cycling contract has been running since 2016, providing multiple riders with a springboard into the pro ranks. The most notable graduate to date is Jay Vine, who won two mountaintop finishes at this year’s Vuelta a España.
The virtual training platform of Zwift is used by millions of cyclists worldwide every day in conjunction with smart trainers. The Zwift Academy talent identification system provides talented racers with a clear-cut opportunity to prove their worth and make the jump to the top tier of the sport with a contract on a professional team the prize for one talented male and female rider each year.
More and more riders train with power now, and as we are so often told, the numbers don’t lie. This lies at the root of the Zwift Academy process as a rider’s performances on Zwift can quickly highlight a special talent or huge cycling engine.
But pure horsepower alone isn’t enough to cut it in the world of pro bike racing, and that’s where the Zwift Academy finals come in. I spent some time out in Denia, Spain at the Zwift Academy finals which saw the finalists of the competition battle it out on the road under the expert eyes of pro team management and Zwift coaches to see if they have what it takes to perform – and win – in the real world.
The Zwift Academy finals this year were based at the Syncrosfera fitness and health hotel in Denia, Spain. The centre was founded by ex-professional rider Alexander Kolobnev and is regularly used by professional riders.
10 finalists in total were selected from the thousands who initially completed the Zwft Academy workouts and entered the competition. The Zwift Academy comprises eight workouts that any Zwift user can complete. Riders with pro aspirations also have the option to join the Pro Contender programme, which requires them to complete two additional workouts which analyse their aerobic and glycolytic capacity.
In the interests of accuracy and fairness, pro contender athletes also have to use a heart rate monitor and a direct drive smart trainer or smart bike. The best 10 riders from around the world were then selected to compete in the Zwift Academy finals for a professional contract.
The professional teams partnered with the competition are the Canyon-Sram women’s team and the Alpecin-Deceuninck men’s team. A small group of professional…
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