- 2016 saw the first ever Canyon//SRAM Zwift Academy
where women from all over the world competed
on Zwift for the chance to win
a pro contract with the squad for 2017.
Now the winner on that occasion
was Leah Thorvilson from the USA
who impressed so much she's back in the fold for 2018.
And 2018 is why I'm here as very soon another
talented rider is going to be awarded
a pro contract for the forthcoming season.
It's why I'm at the Canyon SRAM training camp
here in rather snowy Koblenz in Germany
to find out exactly who that is going to be.
(intense music)
2,160 women from all over the world
enrolled on this year's Zwift Academy,
which involved a structured programme
of group rides, races, workouts, over a six-week period.
That number has now been whittled
down to just three finalists: Siri Hildonen from Norway,
- It will be life-changing but it will be racing
and I love to race, so that will be fun
and actually be a part of a team.
Tanja Erath of Germany,
- Yeah, I mean, it would obviously change my whole life,
I guess, I would have to move and I would
spend my time with cycling and racing,
but it would just be a dream come true.
- And American Bri Torkelson.
- For me, I've simplified my life, and, like, that's
why I work at a bike shop; I want more time on the bike
and that's all I, like, want to do.
Like, that's what I love,
and this would be an opportunity
to be surrounded by the best people
to make me the best cyclist I could be.
(intense music)
- Now before we see what is exactly
going to await our finalists, let's have a quick chat
with last year's winner, Leah Thorvilson.
Leah, it must've been an absolutely incredible experience
to spend a year with Canyon-SRAM
of course now you got a second year as well.
- Yeah, I can't believe it! (laughs)
It's still, you know, it was surreal
at the time that I won, I was literally speechless,
which you don't find me often,
but the coolest thing I've ever done in my life
and I just, I am so blessed to have had this experience
and really looking forward to a second year
hopefully to see, hopefully the year that's behind me
will translate into a bit more
successful year this year on the bike.
- As well as being monitored and assessed by team management
and their potential future teammates
on how they interact and cope with
being part of a team on a day-to-day basis,
the three finalists face three set challenges
designed to determine who has got the potential
to take it to the next level, focusing on strength,
on-bike skills, tactical awareness and application.
(funky music)
So Barry, we're here, the first real test
for our three finalists is a 30-kilometer
race on Zwift on the figure of 8 course.
It's not just about first across the line, though, is it?
- Yeah, no, the main objective in this race is to find out
how they approach the race, find out, you know,
where they sit in the bunch, their positioning,
their forward thinking of what,
their anticipation of what can be next, and, yeah,
and the end of the day we actually just looking to find
the racer in each of these, we're looking for a racer.
- Can't wait to see what goes on.
- Thank you, me too.
- The tension is palpable here in Koblenz, for round one.
Five seconds now to go of this race,
and they are off, here we go!
Big power straight away, this is incredible!
536 watts, 700 watts in the left there from Tanja.
Can they sustain it?
(rapid tempo music)
We're 12 kilometres in and Tanja, Bri and Siri,
well, they thought they were racing in complete
and utter isolation, but they couldn't be more wrong.
Because, the entire Canyon-SRAM
squad are watching from the sidelines.
(squad members laugh quietly)
Tell us what's going on, we're 12k in, we've seen
some fireworks but there's not
much between them at the moment.
- Yeah, Tanja made a brave move in the beginning
riding with a couple of the men and then got dropped.
She had to fight, obviously made another move as you can see
there a group here, we can see Tanja doing 305 watts.
A really nice big group going, working together.
We're really keen to see what happens and what they can do.
- Same here.
(pumping music)
With about 3 and a half kilometres to go now
Tanja has opened up, well, a quite incredible
probably unassailable lead, but it's a real
tight battle for second place.
(pumping music)
Well we're now inside the last kilometre of this race,
and it is Tanja who has got a big lead now.
She is gonna take the victory but it's been very,
very tight between second and third.
What a thriller this has been!
(pumping music)
200 metres to go, come on all the way, all the way!
(crowd cheers) Who's gonna take it?
- [Crowd Member] Go, go, go, go!
Is it gonna be Siri, is it gonna be Bri?
It's gonna be a photo finish on the line!
Who's gonna take it?
Ooh I can't even call it!
It was a photo finish.
(crowd member shouts)
So, Barry, that was a comprehensive
victory by Tanja, but a thrilling finish
for second place, a photo finish almost.
- Yeah, I mean, it was really exciting throughout.
We saw Tanja take a early initiative to go
with the men's group, you know, a big risk in that
'cause you could blow up completely.
A little bit of risk and, you know,
which, we were sitting inside there going,
"That was too much," and then you saw the others come back
and then obviously the early risk made her,
put her in a better position on the climb
and she could benefit from the next group
and consolidated her lead, the other two kept on at it,
and, yeah, awesome to see them fight in the last sprint,
and, yeah, a really, really nail-biting finish,
and exciting racing, and...
- So let's give you some good information
some good insight into how these riders tick.
- Yeah, so I mean, obviously, as we started out
we wanted to look for the racer in them.
The unique thing is that, by clicking through the screens
we could actually see what's going on with their heart,
what's going on with their power,
and have an idea of when they produce it,
when they're investing in their effort
and when they're saving, and that was fantastic to see,
and puts a big spectrum, I like the input
from my riders where they were
interested in the numbers, seeing what they were riding,
what effort they were putting in.
Yeah, so, from a racer's perspective,
from the effort perspective, as you can see the numbers
are a fantastic info session and super fun to watch
and excited to see what the outcome will be
in terms of the overall picture at the end of the camp.
- Fascinating stuff.
(upbeat music)
So Ronny, this isn't your usual weather conditions
for a preseason camp, but of course it's
about the Academy riders today.
What are we gonna be looking for in terms of assessment?
What is the objective today?
- Our aim is to throw them into the unexpected
and the unknown, and see how they deal with it.
That was the aim of the, to have that,
fine of an academy programme here in Koblenz,
for using the bicycles that they aren't used to,
using an environment that they aren't used to,
and trying to find out how they find solutions.
- Sounds good, let's do this.
So a two-hour mountain bike ride in the snow.
We have some of the finest mountain bikers
and road riders in the world.
(sighs)
(funky music)
This will give an insight into how they cope
with anticipating the flow and movement of riders
as well as adapting their pacing and gearing to the terrain.
It's important they can do this while producing good power,
and handling their bikes skillfully and effectively.
(funky music)
The ride took us in a very hilly two-hour loop
in and out of the forest in the
stunningly beautiful Rhine Valley,
featuring fire trails which included
some very technical rutted and rooted descents and climbs,
all of which provided the ideal opportunity for Barry,
who was riding with us in the group,
to witness and assess the bike handling ability
of Siri, Tanja and Bri, in some
extremely challenging conditions.
It was also a lot of fun.
(funky music)
Well there we go.
That was one serious mountain bike ride.
That was cool wasn't it?
- Super cool, now we're nice and dirty.
- Absolutely filthy.
That's part of the charm, though, isn't it?
- Oh, tea! - Exactly!
- Yeah, time for tea!
Hot tea, good morale, snow, what is not to love?
(funky music)
The last challenge will determine
how the finalists cope with riding on the wheel
in a dynamic race-like situation.
First up, each of the finalists will take part
in leading out one of the Canyon-SRAM sprinters
before they, themselves, get the chance
to be lead out by a member of the team,
the objective being to study how well they communicate
as well as looking at their technique
on the bike and, importantly, how they handle
themselves in the bunch at speed,
in close proximity to the other riders.
(upbeat music)
The objective in this scenario is for the Academy riders
to look after and deliver their partner to the finish line,
whilst also dealing with attacks
from the other riders in a race-like scenario.
Siri will be with Pauline, Tanja with Tiffany,
and Bri will be leading out Hannah.
Alexis Ryan is the first to go, launching a big
move early on on the three kilometre gradual rise
to the line that will be used in each test.
Rather than chase her down immediately,
the Academy riders must show discipline, not panic,
and most importantly, look after their partner,
as well as trying to smoothly neutralise any lone attack.
Just as a domestique would in a real race.
The test will not only look at their bike-handling skills,
but also their ability to make decisions under pressure.
After the attack from Alexis was brought back,
following a solid effort by Siri to try and negate it,
it was the turn of former triple world champion
of cyclocross, mountain bike and road,
Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to go on the offensive.
Given her current good form, she soon opened up a gap
that looked difficult to close.
You can hear Tiffany instructing Tanja not to panic,
instead, to gradually try and close things down.
Pauline manages to stay out in front,
and a couple of counterattacks came
from Elena Cecchini and Alexis Ryan,
with Tanja doing a long turn to carry Tiffany over the line.
Tanja here really showing how powerful she is.
(upbeat music)
Race two will see the pros lead out the Academy riders,
giving a real insight into how well they can follow a wheel.
Add to the mix cold conditions and wet roads,
and this will be a stern test of skill and confidence.
Hannah Barnes will be paired up with Tanja,
Tiffany will deliver Siri to the line,
whilst Pauline is with Bri.
First to launch is Alena Amialiusik,
who immediately gets some daylight.
As Siri closes down the Belarussian,
midway through the group Bri loses the wheel of Pauline
and swerves off-road and into the verge,
only just keeping the bike upright
but losing all momentum in the process.
Up the long drag, former British road champion
Hannah Barnes piles on the pressure
and splits the group, but like glue
and looking remarkably composed is her partner Tanja.
The rider in third spot is Elena Cecchini,
while Siri fights to remain in contact.
With Barnes job done and the group decimated,
Tanja moves into the wind and ups the tempo
to the extent that Elena cannot hold her wheel,
leading Tanja to time trial the last 500 metres
to take a very convincing win.
(upbeat music)
But just how did our finalists fare
in the lead-out challenge this afternoon?
- The first round we could really see a lot
of communication from the riders.
We saw Tanja really rides really well
with her communication trying to help her athlete.
Obviously, we had Pauline really strong
and they couldn't do anything about her,
but then, swap it around and put the
responsibility on the Zwift finalists,
we saw the clear winner from there
in terms of that competition.
Hannah was really patient and lots of things were happening
and she had Tanja on her wheel,
Tanja was sitting really patient behind her,
trusting her, trusting her knowledge,
trusting her experience, lots of attacks going away,
but Hannah chose the moment to start
putting on the pressure, went to the front,
kept it nice and high and yeah, I mean,
they got rid of most of the riders,
and she could've just sat there
but that killer instinct took over
and she put a blistering attack in to take
the win solo, and well done to Tanja.
- So some great food for thought
when it comes to the final decision.
This is the final evening now of this
week-long training camp and there's nothing more
that our Zwift finalists can do apart from sit and wait.
Awaiting, of course, the decision on
who's gonna be a part of the Canyon-SRAM team in 2018.
Now, it's not just Barry, Ronny and Beth's decision,
of course, the new member of the squad
is gonna be an integral part of the team,
so who best to help that decision than the squad themselves?
And that is what exactly is going on behind me.
(dramatic music)
So guys, the moment has nearly come.
You've had a chat with the team,
obviously clearly and important process,
getting their view on how the three finalists
have kind of integrated themself within the team,
both from a physical and a kind of psychological perspective
but overall Ronny, what's your general impression been
on the quality of the three Zwift finalists?
- I think it has been a good selection
of the three finalists, they have different personalities,
different strengths, and we need to find out now
who we think fits in best, and but, overall
it's gonna be a tough decision that we have to make.
But there, yes there can only be one winner.
- And I shall leave you to it, and well, we only have
a few moments to go to see who is gonna be
riding for Canyon-SRAM in 2018.
(dramatic techno music)
2,160 women started out on this
year's Zwift Academy, and we're down
now to three finalists here with Kate from Zwift.
That's Siri, Tanja, and Bri.
But of course, there can only be one winner,
and that winner will be rewarded with a contract
for 2018 with the Canyon-SRAM team.
Barry, who is that not lucky, deserving person gonna be?
- Thanks Matt. Yeah, it's been a
exciting few days getting to know the finalists,
getting to know the person behind
the screen, behind the numbers,
but, as Matt said, there can only be one winner,
and the winner is:
Tanja.
(audience applauds)
(uplifting funk music)
- So Tanja, essentially, if you don't mind me say...
Welcome to the Canyon-SRAM family.
- Thank you.
- Silly question: How does it feel?
- Right now I'm speechless (chuckles)
a little bit, especially in English, um,
great feeling (chuckles) I'm...
actually, even feeling better than after my exams,
that's kind of strange. - Wow.
- (laughs) Yeah, but, yeah.
- I think that pretty much sets it into context,
there's not much more to say, I know you're gonna have
a fantastic year and what a team to be a part of.
I know you're gonna add to the mix, this team's a brilliant
team, and I think it's gonna be even better with you
as one of it's number, so, there we go.
- I hope so. - Now... indeed!
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