Zwift has just released the list of 10 finalists for the Zwift Academy Road programs – 5 women and 5 men. These riders will now be competing for a spot with a pro road team for the 2021 season!
Drumroll Please…
The 5 finalists competing for a spot with CANYON//SRAM are:
- Neve Bradbury, Australia – 18 years old – 55th ranked woman on ZwiftPower
- Nicole Coates, UK – U23 rider, 77th ranked in UK
- Eva Marie Hering, Germany – 27 years old, 12th in 2020 Germany Nationals Road race
- Kate McCarthy, New Zealand – 25 years old, 5th and 4th in 2020 New Zealand Nationals Road race and ITT, respectively
- Natalia Franco Villegas, Colombia – 25 years old, rider with Team Twenty20
The 5 finalists competing for the contract with Alpecin-Fenix are:
- Damien Clayton, UK – 28 years old, pro rider with Ribble Weldtite
- Jochem Kerckhaert, The Netherlands – 20 years old, 25th in 2020 Netherlands Nationals Road race
- Oliver Moors, UK – 24 years old, pro rider with Ribble Weldtite
- Jay Vine, Australia – 25 years old, 5th in GC for 2020 Herald Sun Tour
- Lionel Vujasin, Belgium – 31 years old, 12th ranked on ZwiftPower. Lionel rides for Canyon Esports and is one of the most well-known racers on the platform
Announcement Videos
What Next?
The 2020 Zwift Academy Road finals will run from December 13-19th. Unlike previous years where the Zwift Academy Road finals were held at team training camps, the 2020 finals will be held entirely remotely with each finalist in his or her home location. The Zwift Academy coaches at Dig Deep Coaching as well as the team coaches will be analyzing all performances of the finalists.
Though COVID has reshaped the structure of this year’s finals, the virtual format presents a new opportunity to bring viewers closer to the action than ever before and take a peek behind the scenes! Each finalist will be shadowed by a videographer as they show us their home roads, undertake their final tests, perform workouts, and of course race both onboard their Tacx Neo 2T Smart Trainers on Zwift, and outdoors.
Not only will the finalists be judged on their data, but they will go ‘speed dating’ with their prospective new teams. It’s important for a professional rider to gel with their teammates. The contenders will face daily challenges, with special guests dropping in via video link to encourage the finalists and share last-minute motivation. The finals will culminate in a live final show hosted by ex-pro Matt Stephens and streamed on Saturday, December 19.
A Banner Year for Zwift Academy
According to Zwift’s press release, a record-breaking 125,000 riders took part in Zwift Academy Road this year. Wow!
Best of luck to the 10 finalists!
Congrats to the finalists!
Dang, I must have come in 6th in men’s and just missed the cut.
Congrats to everyone who made it!
I’m suprised and happy that there are riders in their late 20s and early 30s on there. I thought there everyone would be 23 and under.
I thought so too 🧐 good to see they have opened the door for us old dogs also!
so… a bunch of pro riders are getting a chance at a pro contract? I thought the point of ZA was to find undiscovered talent? The diversity of white people they chose is also incredible. 🤔 😞
What has their colour got to do with it? What are you suggesting? That somehow a computer game is now racist…..?? You know it’s done “blind”
Because I think representation matters, especially in the sport of cycling. Zwift publicly pledged to do better and be more inclusive of POC and minority populations. I don’t think the choices are made blind and only based on power numbers, it seems like they consider a lot of other factors. At least for the final winner, motivation, competitive spirit, personality, etc are all considered. I feel like they missed an opportunity here.
::compares zwiftpower profiles:: glad to know I was never even close to competing. The whole program was a ton of fun, though. Congrats to the finalists. I’d love to see how the sausage was made and zwift made their selections (though it’s obvious that these are very deserving individuals).
Guess I’ll have to mentally identify as a woman from now on to stand a chance among the women. On the flat that is.🙃
Always find the geographies interesting. 6 riders from Europe, 3 from Oceania, only 1 from the Americas!
Was never in competition for a contract but cant help feeling that this list of 5 guys is unfair on those riders promised a chance. 3 are under pro teams already. For me that’s robbed 3 amateurs of the chance, which was how it was advertised.
I’m confused how two pro riders were eligible for the finals. Why would they be competing for a pro contract when they already have one?
The terms and conditions for ZA Road prohibited UCI WorldTour and UCI ProTour team members from competing for the contract. Anyone on lower-level teams is allowed.
I think this is actually a good thing. Most “pro” teams below the protour level aren’t even paying a living wage, so it’s hard to even call them “pro” cyclists. Without this being a U23 team spot, it’s simply not realistic to expect some dude to jump from a low-level unpaid team into a ProTour team.
(Same goes for ladies, but it’s even more competitive on the men’s side I’d say.)
You’re right on that Eric, but in that case how has Neve Bradbury got in?
Clearly rides for a UCI Conti Team on the ineligible list https://www.instagram.com/neve_bradbury/
Best of all, they have deleted her page from their website!
But she won a race just this week for them..?
That’s a great question, Charlie. I’ve got no answer for ya! She certainly seems to be under contract with Roxsolt Attaquer, which is on the list of teams at https://zwift.com/p/za-2020-terms-conditions
Strange one eh…. throws a bit of a spanner on it all.
strangest bit is the ‘cover up’
Hi Charlie, Neve is only signed to the Roxsolt Attaquer NRS team as she is an U19 and cannot be signed to the UCI team.
Oh, fair enough then if that’s in the rules. Tho she was racing for them this week.
more strange that she’s been deleted from the team roster this week…?
The racing she competed in this week was not UCI racing, merely our National Series. She has never competed in a UCI race for us nor would she be able to.
The stage she won was in the NRS series, I might be wrong, but it’s not a UCI event. The team calling her up from the development team shouldn’t dq her, and would be a shame. Jay Vine also competed in the NRS and won 2 stages. Luckily he wasn’t involved in the horrendous crash on the final days racing.
Thanks Benjamin. We love to be able to give junior riders a chance to race our National Series, especially this year as no individuals were allowed. We’re so excited that she has been given this opportunity through Zwift Academy!
Hi Eric, Neve is only signed to the Roxsolt Attaquer NRS team as she is an U19 and cannot be signed to the UCI team.
Hi Sarah, Neve is only signed to the Roxsolt Attaquer NRS team as she is an U19 and cannot be signed to the UCI team.