Nicola Rutzou
The finalists for this year’s Zwift Academy have just been announced, and two Aussies are in the running to win a contract with women’s pro team CANYON/SRAM zondacrypto.
Melbourne cyclists Emily Dixon and Emma Ochoa are the two Australians competing for the opportunity to join the CANYON//SRAM squad.
Zwift Academy is responsible for discovering two Aussies who are considered by many to be rising stars: Neve Bradbury and Jay Vine.
Dixon and Ochoa are two of four riders competing for the coveted position on the team. The other riders are Anabelle Thomas from Canada and Tjaša Susnik from Slovenia. Four men are also vying for a position on the Alpecin-Deceuninck squad, but no Australians are amongst them.
Following many months of testing, the four women head to the Algarve in Portugal to compete at the CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto winter training camp for a professional contract on the team’s development squad for 2025. Returning for its eighth year, over 100,000 cyclists participated in this year’s Zwift Academy competition, which took place between 5 August and 3 November.
The four women will integrate directly into the teams’ training camp and tackle a series of challenges – both on and off the bike – that will test their bike handling, fitness, and racecraft, as well as how they respond to trials and fit into each team. Some tasks will see the athletes working together with pro riders, while others will pit them against each other as they battle it out to see who comes out on top.
GCN will broadcast the finals in four weekly episodes. The first one aired on 15 February and can be seen here on YouTube. The winners will be announced in the last episode, broadcast on 8 March via GCN.
Learn more about the finalists, here.
