Foldable Bikes Party: Zwift Academy transforms a rider from amateur to pro with Canyon//SRAM

Monday, 19 December 2016

Zwift Academy transforms a rider from amateur to pro with Canyon//SRAM

http://ift.tt/2hNrojk

Ever dreamed of going pro? For one woman, that dream just became a reality thanks to Zwift, Canyon//SRAM and her hard work.

After 11 months, numerous challenges and intense training, former US Olympic trials marathon runner Leah Thorvilson beat out 1,200 entrants to win a place on the Canyon//SRAM team for 2017 through a talent search programme run by online training program Zwift.

The Zwift Academy, a talent search programme run in partnership between the Canyon//SRAM team and online training program Zwift, was launched in early 2016 to identify cyclists with the potential to go professional.

Using an online platform such as Zwift is an interesting approach to identifying potential cycling talent, and in many ways was a gamble for Canyon//SRAM.

“Finding talent in cycling is a numbers game, in terms of casting the net wide and drawing performance data back in," said Jon Sharples, founder of TrainSharp and one of the judges on the Zwift Academy programme. "That’s what excited us about the Zwift Academy concept. Indoor training provides the accessibility for participants, a safe environment to train and a controlled environment to analyse data, then Zwift adds the social element build a community of riders and spur them on."