Registration opens today for Zwift Academy 2024. Now in its 9th year, Zwift Academy continues evolving even as it remains the most popular worldwide talent ID competition for cyclists.
This year, Zwift is more focused than ever on the talent ID aspect of Zwift Academy. They’ve expanded the entry window so riders can compete at peak fitness, and removed the shorter workouts from the program.
Read below for complete details on Zwift Academy 2024, including everything you need to know if you’re chasing the pro contract!
Table of Contents
Intro to Zwift Academy
For those unfamiliar, Zwift Academy is an annual event that serves two purposes.
First, it’s a worldwide talent ID competition that has placed multiple riders onto World Tour teams. Zwift Academy activities qualify top riders for additional rounds of testing, with one woman and one man being selected for pro contracts for the upcoming cycling season.
Second, it’s a global training program for cyclists. All Zwifters are invited to take on the Zwift Academy workouts and races. You’ll build fitness and push yourself to the limit racing against others, even if you’re not a pro contender!
New for 2024
All of this year’s changes are centered around Zwift Academy 2024 being much more focused on the talent ID side.
No Short Workouts
Zwift Academy 2024 has the same graduation requirements as 2023 (6 workouts and 2 races), but there are no short workouts. This means every graduate will have completed the initial qualification requirements for the pro contract contest!
Zwift says, “This year’s Zwift Academy is focusing on uncovering the best talent and the in-game content reflects that. The tests and challenges truly measure athletic capacity and will find the undiscovered talent that the Academy is famous for. And for those who aren’t quite ready to turn Pro, the tests and challenges offer an unparalleled opportunity to experience World Tour level testing, giving everyone an insight into their fitness levels and abilities.”
On-Demand Workouts Only
Past Academies have allowed participants to finish workouts as group events or on their own schedule (on demand). This year, workouts will be on-demand only.
UPDATE: Zwift added group workouts to the schedule. See upcoming group workouts at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024.
Date Changes
Last year’s Academy began on November 6 and ended on December 17. This year, it begins much earlier (August 5) and runs through November 3. Zwift hopes this much larger window (three months) gives riders the flexibility needed to participate in the talent ID competition at peak fitness.
Canyon Aeroad Bike Giveaway
This year, one random Zwift Academy graduate will win a Canyon Aeroad bike, painted in Zwift Academy 2024 colors! (We’ll post an image here once we have it.)
Workout Details
Zwift Academy’s six workouts will be available on-demand in your workout folder.
- Pro Potential Prologue (58 minutes)
- Purpose: Combined effort with free ride to test if participants are candidates to be “pro level”
- Data points: 30 seconds, 1 minute, 15 minute free ride segments
- Power Push (70 minutes)
- Purpose: Challenge Zwifters’ sprinting power and measure their glycolytic capacity by replicating a real-world bunch sprint.
- Data points: x3 30 seconds free ride segments
- Fatigue Factor (59 minutes)
- Purpose: Challenge Zwifters’ max aerobic power in both fresh state and fatigued state.
- Data points: 3-minute and 5-minute free ride blocks
- FTP Overload (58 minutes)
- Purpose: Challenge Zwifters’ physical tolerance with efforts over and under their FTP. No free ride segment.
- Data points: Heart Rate variability
- Breakaway Blitz (64 minutes)
- Purpose: An attack replication to challenge Zwifters’ glycolytic capacity and identify riders with high sprint power who can punch and recover quickly.
- Data points: x3 20 seconds and x3 40 seconds free ride segments
- Grand Finale (66 minutes)
- Purpose: Challenge Zwifters’ sustained aerobic power with induced fatigue and identify those who can still finish with a strong finish line sprint.
- Data points: 10 minutes and 2 minutes free ride segments
In a late addition to the Academy, group workouts are also available. See upcoming group workouts at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024.
Race Details
Race 1: Hill Climb Challenge
- Route: Ven-Top
- Dates: Aug 30-Sep 8 (make-up events Oct 28-Nov 3)
- Length: 30 minutes, no drafting
- Purpose: Simulate a climbing TT race to identify riders who can finish a high-intensity 30-minute climbing effort.
- See upcoming Race 1 events >
Race 2: Summit Sprint Showdown
- Route: Duchy Estate (28.7km, 395m elevation)
- Dates: Oct 4-13 (make-up events Oct 28-Nov 3)
- Length: 9 Laps
- Purpose: Identify riders who can survive some hills with short recovery and still have high sprint power at the finish.
- See upcoming Race 2 events >
Graduation Requirements
To complete Zwift Academy 2024, participants must complete a total of 8 rides:
- All 6 Zwift Academy workouts
- Both Zwift Academy Races
Riders pursuing the pro contract will need to put in some extra work. See below for details.
Key Dates/Schedule
- July 15: Zwift Academy registration opens online and in game
- August 5: Zwift Academy begins
- November 3: Zwift Academy ends
- December 2024-January 2025: Finals produced
- February-March 2025: Finals broadcast
Unlocks
This year’s Academy has just two levels of unlocks:
- Finish 2 activities: unlock Zwift Academy 2024 kit
- Finish all 8 activities:
- Unlock Zwift Academy 2024 paint job for Canyon Aeroad frame (you’ll need to buy the frame, though!)
- Get entered into a giveaway for a Zwift Academy painted Canyon Aeroad bike
Pro Contract Competition
In this year’s Zwift Academy, women will compete for a one-year pro contract with the CANYON//SRAM development team, and men will chase a spot on the Alpecin-Deceuninck development team.
If you want a shot at the pro contract you have to jump (ride?) through some additional hoops. Here are the key rules for all riders who want to be considered for the pro contract:
Important Rules
Pro contract contenders must meet the following requirements:
- Be aged 18 years or older as of January 1, 2025.
- Graduate Zwift Academy 2024
- Ensure your height and weight are accurately entered into Zwift before you begin the program.
- Use a heart rate monitor for all Zwift Academy events.
- Use a smart trainer or smart bike with +/- 2.5% accuracy.
See the full list of requirements here.
Ready to Get Started?
Sign up in-game, or do it online at zwift.com/academy.
See all upcoming Zwift Academy events at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024
Questions or Comments?
Post below! We’ll do our best to answer any questions, and may reach out to Zwift HQ if you have queries we can’t answer.
I’m disappointed there are no group workouts. Hard to feel like you are participating in the Academy without seeing anyone else doing the same thing.
It’s definitely a shame there’s no group workouts for the vast majority of us that have no ambitions of turning pro. If they’d have said the group workouts don’t count towards qualification, only solo workouts, I’d have been fine with that. I’m guessing that participation will be much lower this year as a result
I’m with you. I look forward to this event, but will probably just skip it since these are solo events looking for the next pro. I’ll just keep doing the group workouts on Zwift.
Can you do the workouts in a meet-up?
The new format is quite a shift from the broad-base fun but challenging appeal of previous Zwift Academy events to a more elite-level serious endeavour. I will miss the shared suffering of the group events.
Don’t forget the usual question, “Should I do an ftp test before starting the workouts? And if so, what test should I use?”
I don’t really understand why Zwift is leaning in to the “talent ID aspect”, which has to affect all of … maybe dozens of people who have a realistic chance at winning? Meanwhile there is everyone else on Zwift, and it seems like these changes make Zwift Academy less attractive to us. No short workouts will lose a bunch of people who would prefer that. No group workouts loses a big social aspect.
Don’t forget how one rider came out of nowhere and snagged the men’s prize. There should be some kind of leader board for the top contenders. It would give us all something to watch as it unfolds. I just hope the top two from last year get into the finals this year.#gozn #gogg
I’m not exactly sure why, BUT I do know Zwift has found it increasingly challenging to run a relevant talent ID program that also works effectively as a training program for a community of 100,000 riders.
It’s probably much easier to separate the two.
One good example is the completion window. Zwift made it very large this time around, to give more access to top riders. (Otherwise, you end up with a disproportionate number of Aussies and Kiwis being in top form and ready to attack, while those in the northern Hemisphere are doing Z2/base training.) This is a great solution if you’re looking to get the maximum number of potential pros involved, but it’s a terrible way to motivate the community to get a training program finished.
Zwift’s biggest strength is that it’s a community cycling app. I’m not sure the majority of users get Zwift so they can ride alone at home & in the app.
Then again, I’m not a pro, don’t want to be a pro & I ride for fun & personal gains
I expect that most of us are a mixture of the two – I enjoy group rides, especially those with a regular group where you ride with many of the same people each time. But also real life messes with the schedule and I cannot always join the group rides that i want, so solo workouts are the best way to hit my training goals in the meantime, as i can jump on the bike when it suits me.
Given the extra time available to complete this programme, i expect that i will finish it and i will get my group-ride fix elsewhere. The two can dovetail.
“Zwift has found it increasingly challenging to run a relevant talent ID program that also works effectively as a training program.” FWIW I’d argue that Academy is not a training program, it is a series of benchmarking tests. There’s no growth journey or strategy built into completing the workouts. That said, it could still be fun for the community to see what their strengths are and how they compare to others. Not sure why Zwift hasn’t marketed that way instead.
I’ve often wondered about that “why” myself. In previous years, the text would say something like, “this workout is going to make you stronger at….” and I’d always laugh in my head at the idea of one workout done one time making me suddenly stronger at any one given skill. Sure, it tested those skills and, if done repeatedly as part of a structured training regimen, could lead to gains in those skills, but just doing it the one time to get a badge wasn’t going to magically make me a better climber or sprinter..
Last year I did the shorter workouts because I’m nowhere near the top riders(D). This year I’ll do all the workouts and races listed above because that’s all there is. Probably won’t be as much fun as last year but at least I’ll get some good exercise.
Workouts are based on your FTP, so you don’t need to be a top rider to do them! Just need the endurance to do a 1-hour workout.
So to complete race 1, you don’t actually have to finish the entire Ven-Top, just ride it for 30 minutes, is that right?
I don’t normally do races but I like to complete Zwift academy if I can. Definitely seems like more of a challenge this year for us cat D riders.
Yep! 30 minutes won’t even get you close to the top of Ventoux. It’s loooong…
I’d love to see someone complete it in 30 minutes 😬
If you do a workout (read: test) multiple times, will the best result count?
I would assume so. But I’ve just reached out to my contact at Zwift to confirm.
Zwift says yes!
Alpecin will as every year choose their winner from: “Oh you are the youngest? Sign here!”
Can’t help but think Zwift are losing sight of the inclusiveness that group events bring to us. I’m not excited to be riding indoors in August heat & alone.
Please bring back the fun elements of cycling. 😎
A new paintjob for the aeroad you say? Tempting
It is a cool one. And the new Aeroad is cool too. Not sure it’s cool enough for me to want to do the workouts (as I hate doing workouts and prefer to train by racing), but maybe.
What a shame! Z.A. last year was brilliant and I got a lot from it. But by losing the group WO’s then this is no longer a “Community” challenge event.
Needs an urgent re-think given the “community” responses so far ..
Could ‘community’ ride leaders create group workout rides using these workouts?
Good question.. are you in touch with any ? How do we reach out ?
Rhino race team have a Facebook group.
DIRT probably have something.
Maybe this thread will be seen.
Eric organises or has someone organise the Zwift Insider races, perhaps there’s scope there?
Hope so. I suspect there would have been a ground-swell by now by the movers and shakers to go fwd with a group WO option… 32,000 riders have already signed up for ZA according to my Home Screen…
So the usual 14year old kid who weighs less than a bag of sugar, puts his ebike on the turbo and runs away (rides away) with it!!
If that’s how you think Zwift Academy works… you don’t know how Zwift Academy works.
Hello there
Is there a way to do the first race at some later point in time? I won’t be around for those 9 days……
@Eric Schlange I did the Welcome Ride yesterday, and I’m almost positive they said there would be make-up dates for both races, but I can’t recall exactly what the dates were. It doesn’t seem to be mentioned in the FAQ (https://support.zwift.com/en_us/zwift-academy-faq-SkYLGuiDA), so maybe something changed?
Ok, let me see if I get this right. The vast a majority of your very loyal customers and probably many watching from outside Watopia can’t even begin to understand why you would eliminate group events for the academy segment. And then what’s more, you prolong the whole thing but minimize races to just one week?!? Wth? Are you trying to lose customers on purpose?!?
Well, I’m not trying to do anything except share Zwift news. I don’t work for Zwift or make these decisions.
That said, there ARE make-up races scheduled for Oct 28-Nov 3, Zwift tells me.
I agree with you that the group training and race schedules are very poorly chosen this year. It is almost impossible for a european customer to do the group workouts in the right order, they offer far too few workouts per day.
I stand corrected – there ARE makeup events for races. Oct 28 – Nov 3.
There you go. There’s hope after all 🙂 thank you.
Is the bike paint job the same as last time? The kit is clearly a bit different but hard to tell with the bike.
No, it’s new for 2024.
Is the paint job for the Canyon Aeroad 2021 ? … or for a possible new Canyon Aeroad 2024 ?
The latter. 😘
Ah cool … the new one shows crazy good numbers in your Scatter Plot 🤗 … do you know when it will be available in the Drop-Shop round about ?
Next update… should be Monday. Post coming out about it once the update goes out.
Ohhh, I thought,I get a real Canyon Aeroad 2024 in Zwift colors….😪
So Zwift have decided who ZA is for and it’s not the majority of their subscriber base. I get wanting to target elite-level riders with a talent-ID focused programme but surely there’s a less exclusionary way to achieve that.
For me, as a very non-elite rider, ZA offered a nice combination of measurable progression, fun and community. Now we’re left with TdZ and the Tour of Watopia for the fun and community, or Zwift training plans and FTP tests for progression. I’ll probably give ZA a miss this year – the workouts (or should they be called tests) aren’t relevant and I’m not that bothered about racing – and hope that Zwift offer something else for us amateurs.
Quick question, will the kits be available to purchase in real life and Secondly, will you guys be add more crit stages to crit city in the near future.
Doubt the kits will be available (I don’t think they have been in previous years). Crit City stages? There are a fair number of events already scheduled there:
https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/?route=Downtown%20Dolphin
https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/?route=Bell%20Lap
Last year I already had the feeling that the workouts were fully tailored to measuring fitness. This year it’s even clearer that the main goal is talent scouting and not improving fitness. But it’s clear that you cannot really do one program for both, we’ll see what Zwift will offer for normal riders.
The name “Academy” is maybe wrong for this – I would have expected more insight into training methodology from the name of the program, all I got was fitness tests without any useful feedback.
Personally I got a lot more out of the Fitness Jumpstart and Spring Training but I guess those were really the programs where I am in the target audience.
I looked forward to doing another Zwift Academy program since I’ve enjoyed the challenge of the previous ones, but as a 65 year old, 102kg, 2w/kg rider, riding up Ven-top is pointless suffering, and 9 laps of the Duchy Estate even more so. I would have liked to see more achievable goals for those of us not interested in playing Pro.
Sadly I think a lot of us “normal” riders will be passing on this.
The Ven-top race is only 30 minutes – not the whole climb
Race 1 was only 30 minutes but it’s Ven-Top at 100% Trainer Difficulty so not fun!
@Shane yes! I do NOT have climbing gears on my old 10 speed (53/39 and 12-30 rear) and 100% trainer difficulty really, really made me suffer on that race grinding it out at 55rpm with my piddly power. But, I did make it with a couple of short pauses to lower the burning in my legs. 🙂
Bummed that Zwift have decided to do away with the group workouts. I don’t usually take part in ZA but when I saw it announced I was actually looking forward to doing it this year specifically for the motivation of doing it in the group rides as I’ve been a bit directionless with training lately and burnt out on solo structured workouts. Really takes away a lot of the fun of ZA for the vast majority of folks who have no chance at a pro contract.
Also I go by JJ and for some reason ZI comment section doesn’t believe 2 letters is an acceptable length for a name. Quite annoying.
Just FYI, group workouts have been added to the schedule. See upcoming events at https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024
I have to think this format is due to available resources. While making ZA more community-focused is great, it might not be what Zwift can afford to offer this year. So the focus is narrowed to the goal of the program: Talent ID.
I will forever remember the 1st Academy, and the 2nd…. Back in the day, community members (including myself) lead the ZA group rides and workouts. Doing ZA as a broad community has always been fun and motivating to so many. Hard to believe it’s been 9 years already!
Those first years were so fun! As someone who rides for fun, it was great to ride with other women, connect, and challenge myself. Thanks for being one of the leaders!
Seems like no matter what Zwift does everyone complains… I applaud Zwift for making exercise fun by leveraging the dopamine hits gamers get to motivate us to work towards better fitness. Like all those laps up Alpe du Zwift to earn the Tron bike – genius! I hate hill climbing but Zwift got me good at it!
I’ve been Zwifting a few years now and I love it, and though as a larger 52YO rider with a rewarding day job that would never accommodate a pro contract, I’m still interested in this year’s academy for the challenge and I look forward to participating!
Thanks also to Eric for these articles and for patiently indulging the internet trolls!
Hmmmm…. so if there are no group rides, you choose your own route to ride the Workout on… any suggestions? You could really win/ lose based on the profile where the Free ride intervals fall….😬
That’s not how it works. Free ride intervals in works don’t revert to SIM mode (where you feel the gradients). They basically act like you’re on flat ground, so you use your shifting to give you the resistance needed to push as hard as you’d like. (It’s like the 20-minute portion of the FTP test workout.)
Doh! 🤦♀️ Thanks @Eric Schlange Not done an FTP test, I hate them 🤣 But I have done some workouts with Free Ride sections so I should know better
Are you 100% sure that free ride segments can’t drop you into SIM mode, Eric?
I recently created a workout with a free ride segment and it definitely put me in SIM mode, much to my surprise!
I suspect it may be something that can be configured …
Will there be a mission badge for this?
Far as I know, there haven’t been badges for past Academies. I could be wrong though…
If you continue after the 30 mins on Ventop will you get the course badge, if you’ve not got it before?
Not sure why I’m asking, it’s not something I want to do 😆
Yes.
Will race 1 be a race or a group ride? Zwiftpower doesn’t handle duration events very well, the results are essentially random but they can still get ranking points and feed bad data to zwiftracing.app.
These things might not matter to potential professionals, but they are important to many in the community.
It’ll be a race, but probably Zwift will change it in ZwiftPower to a group ride so ranking points aren’t given there because, as you say, ZwiftPower can’t handle time-based events.
ZwiftPower is become less and less relevant these days…
I saw this in the FAQs “You’ll see workouts have ‘Free Ride’ segments. These segments do not have ERG mode ON and are designed to let you push your limits as far as you can.” Does this mean ERG mode is on the rest of the time? Can you turn it off? ERG mode is the devil!
I do not see that the Zwift Academy workouts are available to start doing … what am I missing?
Non-drafting race up Ven-Top for distance. Hmmmm…new Aeroad 2024 with ENVE 7.8S to get some aero advantages on the lower stretches where it’s not as steep (as a fat C, I’m not getting too high) or all out climbing setup like the Aethos and Alpinists? The first 5-7 minutes up until the turnoff aren’t that steep, but the following bit is much less fun.
Eric: Where can we find the Data Points for each activity after they have been collected? Results aren’t in ZwiftPower or Companion.
Data would be saved to your Zwift Profile (so under Companion>Activities). You could also upload the data to whatever service you use to analyze your fitness (Strava, intervals.icu, XERT, etc…)
Hi Eric, will there be any feedback from Zwift Academy on how you performed for each interval/data point?
I don’t think so… you can just see those numbers for yourself.
Hey Eric….
Possibly a pointless question, but I am doing ZA because its fun to challenge myself to these seriously hard workouts and see how I fair. That said, it would be even better if I could see a “result” from my data. Obviously Zwift is somehow compiling the key data and quantifying it in a way to compare riders against each other. How hard would it be to see how you compare to the Zwift community once you complete all activities in something like an automated email?
Love the idea. No idea if Zwift has anything like that planned, though.
I doubt they have it planned as well, but someone with some inside contacts could perhaps suggest the idea😉
This is literally what I came here to ask. I’m pulling relevant data points from TrainingPeaks and stuffing them into a google spreadsheet, with the thought that I’ll repeat the workouts a few times over the winter and see how the metrics change. But it would be instructive to see how those numbers compare to other old fat bastards such as myself.
Hi Eric, Do you know when the races will be starting?
Dates are in the post above…
Race 1 Dates: Aug 30-Sep 8 (make-up events Oct 28-Nov 3)
Race 2 Dates: Oct 4-13 (make-up events Oct 28-Nov 3)
I don’t see them in the events database yet, so I don’t think they’re live yet.
Thank you
Hi! If I want to take part in ZA, do I have to demonstrate that my body weight shared on my profile is real? For example, do I have to make a video of myself on the weighing scale?
If you’re going for the pro contract, I’m sure you’ll need to prove your weight at some point. But that would only be if you’re being considered for the semi finals or finals I would think.
Why can’t I find out when the first Zwift Academy 2024 race is? Thank you!
Because you’re not looking in the right place! 🙂 Here’s a link: https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024stage7
Why can’t I race? I started a race on Friday, but had to stop. I was on the small ring at the front and lightest at the back and only had a cadence of 45 on a 6% gradient. Exactly the same again today. At 1% the ‘brakes’ come on and I can’t pedal through it. So we had to stop again. After that I was able to ride Mayan San Remo without any problems at 4.2 wkg and cadence around 100 rpm. All routes are going well, except the Zwift Academy Race 😢. More people having this problem?
Yours is the first complaint I’ve heard of this issue. So my hunch is you’ve got a malfunctioning trainer OR it’s connected to another device that is controlling it.
The problem is not with the trainer. I use this every day and the problem does not occur during any workout (including Zwift Academy) and on no route. The problem did not occur on the route I rode this morning before and after the Zwift Academy Race. I was able to complete the route I rode afterwards at 4.2 wkg and won jerseys on the climb. The problem really only occurs in the Zwift Academy race.
I’d recommend reporting it to Zwift support then. Hopefully they can help you out!
The Races set your Trainer Difficulty to 100% [Minimum trainer difficulty : 1] as well as wheel weight and CDA amongst a few other parameters to make it a level playing field.
Hi.
I can’t find a race, of the Zwift Academy, scheduled at the time that I workout. Which I from 7.00 to 9.00 am (Mexico Time)
Race 1 events: https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024stage7
How many apply to the final this year?
Hey Eric,
Any idea if there is a way to find a schedule for the two races? I’ve done the 6 workouts but the races seem hard to come by. Do they show up on certain days or times?
Links are in the post above.
Race 1: https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024stage7
Race 2: https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftacademy2024stage8
Looks like makeup races aren’t posted yet.
Thanks for the Links! Unfortunately, there is currently only one event scheduled per race, and they are in the middle of the night in Europe. Any idea if it’s just too early for the full schedule?
I joined zwift in September and started doing the zwift academy workouts. Even though it goes until 11/3 there’s no way to complete both races as race 1 has no more scheduled dates. That’s a bummer.
There are make up dates. See details in the post above.
Just completed the second workout. I would like 5 minutes alone in a dark room with the twisted individual who came up with the 20min segment at 90% FTP after all the sprints. That was utter pain!
Looking to do Race 1 ventop in the catchup week – I’ve heard it’s auto set to 100% trainer difficulty, can anyone verify?
I’m late to the ZA, and am doing the make up dates for races now, but something I’ve noticed now that 1) the workouts feature more free-ride sections than I remember and 2) I have a Zwift cog/click is that I wish Zwift would remember the gear I was in during the free ride and not reset back to 8th gear. The delay between an effort, usually a ramp-up ending and then dropping to 8th gear in the free ride means a lot of wasted watts and time just spinning while I shift 10 gears to get back up to power. If not remembering the gear, if Zwift could allow you to choose the gear to start the free-ride in a few seconds prior or something.
Official ZA is over. Are we still get the unlocks by riding the ZA workouts from workout tab in Zwift?
Hi Eric,
just wondering if you had a chance to check your emails with the heading ‘Aussie in need’ sent on Monday 25/11. Would appreciate the help🙂