The men’s team known as Saris + The Pro’s Closet (formerly Team Indoor Specialist) has had much success racing together on Zwift. And now Saris + The Pro’s Closet has launched a women’s team of elite racers!
The women’s team kicked off their virtual season with a strong 2nd place result in the Team Time Trial at the Virtual Tour of the Gila and 3rd place in the all-women’s Tour de Boudicca. They are currently the #2-ranked women’s team on ZwiftPower.
Roster
- Jennifer Real (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): the most experienced Zwift racers on the squad, Team Manager Jenn was the US Zwift Nationals silver medalist among other things
- Anna Russell: (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile)
- Kae Takeshita (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): a long-distance gravel racer, Kae scored the top female place in the Gravel Power Ranking 2019 by PureGravel.com, and the female Gravel Rider of the Year 2019 by Groadio.
- Caroline Murray (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): British Cycling eRacing Championship Finalist
- Jasmin Welter (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): current Illinois Criterium State Champion
- Megan Rathwell (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): 2-time BC Provincial RR Champion
- Shanni Berger (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): newcomer from the Israeli National Team
- Polly Mason (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile)
- Christie Tracy (Bio) (ZwiftPower Profile): winner of multiple TX State, US Masters National, and World Championships in the Time Trial, Road Racing, and Gravel Disciplines. Christie has also set multiple Ultra Distance TT Course Records, often beating even the fastest male competitors!
Parity
Gender parity is an important topic in sport, and certainly much-discussed in cycling. Zwift riders in particular seem to receive more parity than riders in other cycling disciplines, due in no small part to Zwift’s efforts at gender parity from the beginning.
“It’s exciting to see eSports leading the way with parity in cycling,” said Jenn Real, 2019 Zwift USA National Championships silver medalist and Saris + The Pro’s Closet team manager. “As we see equal coverage and access for women’s teams in the virtual world, it’s becoming apparent that eSports can positively impact racing in the real world.”
In particular, Zwift’s live stream coverage of big races has been a huge marketing boon to women’s teams. Some have discovered just this season that Zwift racing brings them more coverage than they’ve ever had before!
This fact isn’t lost on team sponsors. “The value placed on equal opportunity and coverage for women’s racing in eSports was a major motivation behind introducing our first virtual race team,’ said Matt Heitmann, Chief Marketing Officer at The Pro’s Closet.
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