For the eighth year top amateur cyclists on Zwift’s virtual fitness and racing platform have been competing for in-real-life pro contracts. Now, from a field of over 100,000 Zwift Academy riders the competition has been narrowed down to just 8 final riders – 4 men and 4 women.

The women are in Algarve, Portugal competing at CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation’s training camp, while the men are with Alpecin-Deceuninck in Denia, Spain as they battle for professional contracts on each team’s respective 2025 development squads. The winners will be announced 8 March.

The four finalists competing for a spot with CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto Generation are:

Emily Dixon, 18, Australia – Emily excels in hilly one-day races having taken part in the 2024 UCI Junior Road World Championships, where she came 23rd.

Emma Ochoa, 18, Australia – Winner of AusCycling’s domestic U19s road racing competition in 2024, Emma also secured a podium position at the 2023 Dirty Warrny gravel race.

Anabelle Thomas, 19, Canada – Having previously ridden for Canada at four Nations Cup races, Anabelle already has a Junior national road title already under her belt. 

Tjasa Susnik, 22, Slovenia –  Tjasa is climbing specialist with experience at high-profile races such as the Tour of the Ardeche, Tour de l’Avenir and Tour of Guangxi.

The four finalists competing for a spot on the Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team are:

Noah Ramsay, 22, Canada – Noah’s career to date has predominantly been racing MTB, representing Canada at the U23 XCO World Championship in 2021.

Friedrich Klein, 20, Germany – Another up-and-coming MTB racer, Friedrich participated in the Junior XC MTB World Series in 2023 and started racing on the road just last year.

Elliot Bain, 21, Great Britain – Having only started cycling in 2021, and competing in Zwift Academy for the first time last year, the ex-footballer is an unexpected dark-horse.

Mattia Gaffuri, 25, Italy: Returning to the Zwift Academy finals for a second time, in 2023 Mattia finished second in the European Climber’s Championship and won the GFNY World Championship.

Photo Credit: Zwift

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