Hi! I’m Alex Morrice, I’m 22 and I won the Zwift Academy last year and I have joined the Canyon// SRAM Women’s World Tour cycling team for 2023. I’m from Guildford in the south of the United Kingdom and I recently graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Chemistry with Physics.
The Zwift Academy programme is such a unique and special opportunity for riders like myself to enter the world of professional riding. The finals were a great opportunity to get an insight into the professional world and the tests were brutal, thorough, and tested us in different ways throughout the week. I would encourage anyone to take up the challenge next year!
I enjoyed watching the series in 2021 and saw it as a great challenge that was accessible to me, so I set my focus on that in 2022 once my road racing season had finished in England. I was absolutely thrilled to be chosen as a finalist and go and train in Spain for a week with some of the best riders in the world. I saw the week as a great opportunity to learn a lot about myself and my riding ability so channelled my nerves towards maximising my performance.
It was great to meet the other finalists and professional athletes and I was able to learn lots from both. Training in the professional environment and being filmed all the time was very new to me and I found the challenges really tough but rewarding. I was happy with how I rode during the week, and I’m glad that this was reflected in the team’s decision.
I was ecstatic to hear my name as the winner and could barely believe it was actually me! I wouldn’t have thought at the start of the week that this moment would happen. It didn’t sink in properly for a while, but felt very special on the flight home knowing I was going to become a professional athlete the next year, a dream of mine my whole life.
It has been a whirlwind since I signed my contract with the team! Now it is mid – February and I have already been on two team camps in Mallorca with the team, each 10 days long. I was quite anxious going into a new environment, but the team is very supportive and I enjoyed training and learning so much every day. It is amazing to train with some of the best cyclists in the world and I know I can now properly focus on reaching my potential.
I start racing with the team this month and I want to gain as much experience as I can racing at this level, taking advantage of any opportunities when they arise. I am excited to grow and understand myself as a rider and determine my skillset fully, whilst working with the team and achieving results as a team.
Keep an eye out for my next blog once I have started racing with the team and my journey progresses!
Alex
