ADELAIDE, Australia (BRAIN) — The new Canyon/SRAM Racing women's team is holding "tryouts" for a new team member via the Zwift online cycling application.
Starting in March, female amateur riders will be invited to tryout for a professional contract by riding Zwift in a winner-take-sall talent contes.
"Unfortunately the development pathways for female riders don't compare to the men's side of the sport," said team member Tiffany Cromwell. "But rather than swim against the tide, we're taking the bull by the horns and shaking things up with Zwift. Cycling's stars possess extraordinary physical attributes and we're confident one or two of those rough diamonds are out there to be unearthed on the Zwift platform."
Zwift and Canyon/SRAM staff are currently developing an initial series of tasks, likely to comprise of group rides and structured training programs, to identify the physical attributes and potential of riders who enter the program. The field will be reduced through 2016 until a final selection of three riders will compete on virtual and real roads for the opportunity to become a pro rider in 2017.
"This isn't a marketing gimmick. Zwift is a global, reliable and datadriven platform," said Zwift CEO, Eric Min. "We're truly accessible and, with tens of thousands of users, we're confident we can be a development platform for professional cycling. We've been working on a similar concept for some time so we were blown away when (Canyon/SRAM Racing director) Ronny Lauke suggested it to us."
