Say goodbye to the days when becoming a pro meant you had to start riding in elementary school or grow up in a cycling hotbed like Boulder, Colorado. Starting in March, , one of the top women鈥檚 pro cycling teams, will begin talent scouting on the indoor social cycling program, .听
Last week, Canyon-SRAM racing team announced a partnership with Zwift鈥攖he multi-player gaming company that allows cyclists with indoor bikes to compete against others around the globe in a 3D-generated world鈥攖o identify riders with raw talent. During a live virtual ride with Zwift users, Canyon-SRAM rider Tiffany Cromwell said her team would use the virtual riding medium to unearth fast women, with the top qualifier earning the opportunity to ride alongside her in 2017.
鈥淭he development pathways for female riders don鈥檛 compare to the men鈥檚 side of the sport,鈥 says Cromwell. 鈥淏ut rather than swim against the tide, we鈥檙e shaking things up. Cycling鈥檚 stars possess extraordinary physical attributes, and we鈥檙e confident one or two of those rough diamonds are out there to be unearthed on the Zwift platform.鈥
Aspiring racers will need to join the trials program, dubbed the Canyon-SRAM Racing & Zwift Academy Project, through their membership聽on Zwift. Once onboard, they will face a series of tasks, including group rides and structured training programs, that will be used to identify riders鈥 physical attributes and potential. Because Zwift allows wireless transmission of power and heart-rate data, Canyon-SRAM staff will be able to single out the strongest riders. Throughout 2016, coaches will cull the field to a final selection of three athletes, who will then compete on virtual鈥攁nd eventually real鈥攔oads for the opportunity to become a pro in 2017.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a marketing gimmick,鈥 says聽Zwift CEO Eric Min. 鈥淶wift is a global, reliable, and data-driven platform. And with tens of thousands of users, we鈥檙e confident we can be a development platform for professional cycling.鈥 Min adds that he was gratified when Canyon-SRAM came to Zwift with the idea, but not surprised. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on a similar concept for some time,鈥 he says.
It鈥檚 too early to know whether the program will prove聽fruitful, but Canyon-SRAM聽racing director聽Ron Lauke聽is bullish about the concept. 鈥淭he world is full of young cyclists with raw talent that we may not be noticing,鈥 he says. 鈥淥f course,聽there are other criteria to becoming a pro cyclist, like attitude, bike handling, and a good tactical brain. But without an exceptional engine you won鈥檛 get too far.鈥
If the program works, the implications for professional sports like cycling are huge, as it means a much larger聽prospective talent pool for teams to mine. But even for the average rider, with no hope of ever making it big, innovative programs like this one on Zwift presage the day when fans and laymen might ride alongside some of the biggest names in the sport.
Details of the Zwift Academy Project will be rolled out over the next few weeks on both Zwift鈥檚 and Canyon-SRAM鈥檚 websites. Would-be applicants have just enough time to get set up on Zwift and sneak in a training block before the competition begins.