EPISODE 3 😅 | Chasing Down A Dream | Zwift Academy

Episode 3 for Chasing Down A Dream |” Zwift Academy – airing on Eurosport and Discovery Plus from February 20th 2024.

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100,000 people started zift Academy and we’re down to just six three men and three women the general quality is extremely high if I just look at the numbers Anon is in the lead for now can Louis close the gap every Rider comes with pros and cons kti she has the best

Number she was faster for me it had to be Lara all right good morning um what we’re here to do today is to run through uh corn ring descending skills your handling of the bikes I do descending skills courses for pro teams Pro women Pro men’s what we’re looking to do is to

Bring your confidence up what we need to achieve or what we need to know is that you guys don’t need to be the fastest descenders in the world you just need to be confident and competent to be able to descend with a group but what will also Mark against you is overconfidence and

Cockiness so today we do the downhill Master Class why is that important you can put the best numbers in the world upper climb but if you can’t descend with the best it’s worth nothing so what we’ll do is I’ll ride down first just follow me look at my position my lines

Take that in once and just to add a bit of spice to proceedings The Descent was wet we cannot really push the corner so we didn’t want to risk okay mat are you now you yeah I’m going to sit uh fourth wheel so Mata Lou you go second and third and

I’ll sit to the back okay it’s a lot about confidence and the more you practice the better you get so the speed is fine guys we’re not looking for much more than that today the point I learned is just to select the shortest route on the road

Look at this corner you can see it’s not going to be super tight my Turning Point would be where it’s white white white white then you see a brick rope I’d be looking to pitch in there this is also very important that you get kind of feel how you lean the B

Your body how the road is where you have a lot of grip where maybe you need to be a bit more careful with uh the speed really tranquil to the bottom just chill all right this section is done all right well done everybody none of these three guys have

An awkwardness they all are capable in general they were all quite close together on descending level there is no one where we think of okay he will never reach the descending level that is needed to be a cyclist at world two level Antoine from a technical point of

View it was a really bad understanding of of the road condition the lines were were terrible and Anon Anon always comes into the wheel again on the wrong moment he’s like this in out in out very theatrical aggressive yeah and in a bunch everybody would be crazy with him

He was quite confident which is it’s good to have confidence on the bike but being yeah overconfident or yeah maybe also a bit cooky to say it that way yeah then it can be dangerous Mata actually each session he absorbed and his lines started to be good he flowed he apexed

Better of all of the guys I felt that Mata took instruction his demeanor is calm he takes takes things in Matia we can say he had just the best combination of confidence and skill Lou was the fastest one but Al but like the most out of control like I

Thought I was convinced okay this kid’s going to crash on this way down very stiff but he was determined to try and go fast but he’s cramped on the bike even very very tight and cramped if we have completed this descent L would been

On the floor before we got to the to the botom on the other hand we have to say he’s still the youngest guy he’s 19 years old it’s his second time with a bike in Spain so we can imagine yeah he probably did not do that much uh real desense

Already if you’re going to make a selection on on technical ability there wasn’t a huge difference between the one that will learn the quickest and his demeanor is Mata he’ll fit in I think Lou will get will get better that’s a bit a question what can he

Learn he’s he’s by far the youngest Louie I think would have would have potential for sure if we were going to base it on today I would choose I think mata mata Louie and Tom everybody needs confidence but there’s having being overly confident when you step into a situation like you

Guys have it’s it’s also not a good good thing next one they menu for the finals Was a Race on zift something that all of them are very used to and more than competent at okay guys a real zift race coming up zwift finalists I will ask you to

Protect our alpus in the king Riders as good as possible during the race try to bring them smoothly into the final yeah we have contact with the race radio so I will be your DS for this race okay good luck now we are at the real part of the

Climb and to protect our Al in Riders as good as possible through the course this is the zift academy zift race this is the steepest part of the climb here there go six 7% come on I try to stay with Axel Anon we need your help H so

Try to go in front a bit it looks like Lou and mat are doing their work to set the pace at the front but where is Anton we are on The Descent now it’s about 900 M then it’s flat picks up again and then we go through the reverse

Sprint maybe it’s the time to talk to uh Axel or Fabio how they are feeling just tell me if he want to attack I will do a lead out now it’s mostly descending towards The Punchy climb coming up so nearly now at the halfway point as we move through

The Italian Village Anon can you take care about AEL I do I do I care for Axel just 100 m or so we are going to be turning left and we’ll be climbing very shortly okay Axel is in a good position also try to stay in a good

Position okay this is it 900 M 5 and a half% come on Axel Rance is putting or trying to put the rest of the field to the sword here look at that 11.2 Watts a kilo come on there is an attack of Axel himself we try to protect them so if

Someone can follow we follow H keep setting the pace try to take him with you come on this is a very dangerous du her now moving clear Anon tried to do all you can for Axel Anton shifa one of our zift Academy finist he’s been tasked it appears to

Hit the front to try and bring back this dangerous jewy five G to go that lead has now been snuffed out and the man bringing them back is Mata gairi who is feeling good nobody should I go go go go let him go go ma he Gori now who goes

Clear can go full and MAA the rest protect m yeah this is going to be some effort his lungs are going to be burning for the other guys no one leaves the bunch without one of us come on MAA 3 second Gap but kfuri incredibly he’s still clear he is finding something special

Here and they’re now opening up the TS the Sprint has begun Lance launches one it is T La who sweeps fast gaffuri as they head into the last couple of hundred meters James Barnes now moves through to the front gaffuri drops away but it’s beond Andreas who takes it on

The line front bars amazing ride by the world champion bold ride by gaffuri to lead out Axel LA but it wasn’t to be it is the world champion who takes the win it was not good normally we win races in the team H uh Louis and Matia really good Control

Job thank you for the complete race actually I would say Anon you were a bit hidden Lis and uh Matia they followed the instructions from the radio in a really good way I think Louis uh only 19 years old but he took a bit the lead in

The end he was uh talking to the others to help him to assist he really wanted to to win and and fight for the team which I liked I do I do I’m happy with what I did because I did the job I was sold to and uh I just pulled the whole

Day the whole race with uh with the other guy Luis and uh and then in the end when I found a little bit of a gap and I tried myself for the win and I did 3K solo and then I was caught with 600 M

To go so I think I did everything I could do and I’m I’m happy with that Ma been attack he was at the pooling J up overall it was 40 minutes at 5.2 wats a kilo so that was a real performance Kristof the ker was on the

Radio he said um that I should maybe conserve a bit of energy and then uh try to follow the text on the last climb Anon we need your help H so try to go in front a bit I encouraged Anon a few times hey Anon help your teammates he

Was always a bit in the back and we asked that over the radio a few times and he just stayed stay there for some reason which we don’t know there was a bit of uh misunderstanding maybe from my side maybe from his side I don’t know

Every single Rider needs to do his job to the fullest in the race that’s the only way the leader at the end can win the race it’s really important that he starts understanding this Anon had impressive numbers on the inside test but today he did not really put him in

The favorite position to say that way today I think I lost a bit but I would say I’m still maybe 70% sure that I’m going to win yeah everybody has to believe in the project and in the things we are doing so we do not want uh characters

That are too uh too strong on certain moments in the end we have to go out of the team bus with a plan and stick to the plan so girls finalists today we have uh descending assessment so we are going to assess your your skills and your Technique on the on the

Descend just listen to any of the instructions that Johnny has given you cuz he’s really the expert in this okay it’s always about technique first and then speed being able to relax you definitely save your energy a lot it’s like the Instinct that you learn from a very young

Age you can learn a lot but instinct is a really big part of it I think if you’re descending in a group that you might have to change some things and change some lines depending on if someone decides to dive bomb inside and things like this in Canyon tram racing we have some

Of the best descenders in the world and we’ve seen them put that to good use across the years it can be the difference between winning and losing a race trust me this this scope I’m not going to want to put anybody Under Pressure so just like just relax the

Most important thing just relax on on this uh we’re going down all the time all together justest on each so so I’ll be looking at the person in front with my eyes on but then I’ll be reviewing the video afterwards as well we know from the previous two days

And what we’ve seen that KY has skills on the bike they’re just not up to scratch off the other two finalists speed wise she was a little bit slower than than the other she doesn’t uh developed any bad habit so far just she doesn’t know how to how to do

It I guess it’s getting used to using a full Road and not not expecting a car to come the other way I think just instinctively it feels a bit scary Laura was a little bit pushing more as uh as she understands that she’s one of the of the best in descending so she

Wanted to maybe to impress us she was definitely uh wanting to show her best self there which it’s good to see she was able to do it safely it’s it’s not super technical because the curves are not really closed but it’s there wide but it’s fast Des sent so

Nice Maddie she’s been really practicing on the descending she does it in a safe way and she obviously knows what she needs to do if uh you had me do this maybe one or two years ago I would have completely freaked out to be honest but uh I’ve been really working hard on

This looking back now I can see the Improvement and that’s quite encouraging what I saw today was the vision using the road they had real good perspective on what was coming up Katie she’s clearly the least experienced of the group but her speed was nice it was

Safe and she didn’t do a lot wrong she’s definitely teachable and will improve no the whole the whole thing Lara was you could see was really Keen to put on a show and to ride fast and to get stuck in she did ride fast she was more

Determined to ride down the hill fast and determined to show that that she had speed I’d say Maddie was more relaxed in her approach she wasn’t as determined to have speed but the speed was there and the proficiency and ability was there as well so my takeway from from all three

Be very hard to separate uh Maddie and Laura you know it would be fractions Katie for sure was was the one who needs the most work but I wouldn’t say that she’s not able to to get to that level life is not easy for us right now um to try and make a

Decision we’re changing all the time who uh who we’re actually looking at every new person coming to a team needs a support to feel just comfortable just themselves cuz if you come to a team environment that is completely unknown to you you just feel stiff for

Me it’s like a family like I’m always super happy to go with with the girls and race with them and training camp for me it’s just a good time because we always have a lot of fun and uh the atmosphere is really relaxed between us no I’m joking so we’re going to just

Have a couple questions just to get to know you better dogs or cats cats but only because I’m allergic to dogs are you in relationship or currently single I’m in a relationship with my bike okay what’s your favorite type of music at the moment uh my motivational song is

Itala Disco If you could take one thing on an island what would it be peanut butter how you snoring I don’t think so I think I talk in my sleep though maybe it’s better no I don’t know someone that’s just good fun and really enjoys being there and is is a positive

Person and doesn’t kind of talk negative about anything and yeah that’s really a key thing in a a teammate you would say that you’re more like time trialist and allrounder yes I can also do uh climbs fairly well but I’m not like a climber maybe for the shorter climbs climber but

I’m learning to be better at descending I put climber because I’ve done well in zift races but I don’t know if that’s just because La for lack of tactics having a climb there’s less tactics maybe how would you describe yourself in three words committed if

Structured is a a word I suppose I like my routine yeah motherly oh nice I’m the one everyone usually comes to if they need help with something nice I would say uh energetic emotional also crazy because I always made up some weird stupid stuff for every year enthusiastic optimistic

Happy if you could race One race and win it this season what race would it be I would like to win one stage of to the France fam aex Swift aex swift yes I would really really like the P jersey in the toour of France f one

Day yeah that is the dream yeah good thank you very much that was fun thanks in the afternoon of day three the three finalists have to race a zift race okay ladies so tonight’s race is going to be what I Opia figure of eight

Of course so it’s a total of 29.7 KM and the five of you are racing as one team you’re racing against four Community teams also with five Riders so total 25 riders in the race the purpose of today is the Free zift Academy Riders your job

Is to work for the two Canyon tram Riders the key here was to see if they could act on instructions given to them by the team this wasn’t a matter of who’s going to cross the line first out of the team it was a matter of who could

Follow team orders and carry them out for those of you not familiar with this format we have the best of the best competing from their own homes wherever in the world they might live this is a straight up racing challenge racing as a team with zift as the parkour let’s go

Let’s go girls come on Katy H is just trying to Patrol Those moves up towards the front and all already a couple of riders starting to almost crumble can Maddy Katy and Laura execute the race plan as it develops over the radio do they have enough in their legs

In what is a true betim or Battle of a race here in watopia it’s move after move here as the zift academy finalist go up against some of the strongest Riders on the planet can anyone get away so I would like to see Katie Maddie Laura at the front I’m trying to recover

A bit K Hill not too far away but laru happy to set the tempo here 4.3 Watts a kilo is a decent Tempo don’t let anybody go away don’t let any any other go away they’re protecting Ricard a bound find who has come through the generation team join

The world tour team and become a grand to Stage winner and nasta colos overa who the winner this week will be joining on that generation team Med let’s go come across let’s go B has gone straight over the top what a mooved by the South African let’s go medy let’s go medy come

On Ricardo let’s just get ready let’s just get ready this is really starting to get to the crunch point now where we’re seeing lots of attacks now you can go now you can go let’s go let’s go look at that 10% we’ve got an attack where’s bound

F yes that’s it that’s it R that’s it come on come on ra come on ra the Tour of France fam aig’s with Stage wi he dropping just at the right time the featherweight power up she timed that one so well Aly Gardner the former British Hill Climb Champion has snapped

The elastic and she’s going clear ra power there what will the Swift Academy team do in response Katy Hill likewise she’s also been distanced from the front part of the group Katy Hill looks like she might have something left in the tank though as she makes her way back to the main

Bunch just wait just wait Katie just wait this is exceptional Katy Hill from dropping off the back to this fantastic group of riders she’s the only one of the finders still in this group let’s go R KY just follow just try to stay in the group looks as if finally

Guard that is going to take the win and she’s still managing to ride over 5 Watts a kilo come on Katie come on let’s go Katie we need to do the Sprint come on full now come on let’s push push push push push look at the power of Hill as she

Picks off Rider by Rider 300 M to go come on keep going there is the Finish Line come on Gardner is going to take the win fine eighth spot there by aswith Academy finalist Katy Hill a top 10 full of bonified hitters right there wish I had a snap would have saved

An awful lot of effort had I just kept up yeah we were really looking for commitment to the race plan both the coaches and Adam as the sports director had said a really clear plan for the Riders to follow MD follows MD follows every time he gave an instruction to

Maddie she did it 100% And in almost the perfect way I was really impressed with that I’m still glowing a little bit from that it was hard it was painful um but overall type two fun it was very hard but I tried my best to follow the instructions and to

Uh help as as much as I could Laura was doing also quite a good job but uh with Laura we find out that she was a little bit struggling with the with the pace and uh maybe with the fatigue Katie she tried to do what was being told to her

In the radio but it was a little bit erratic Katie is the most experienced um on Swift um but perhaps you know she was looking at it as that was her opportunity to shine so the pressure ultimately was on her if they were assessing ability to follow instructions

I think we all followed the instructions that we were given so box tick for everyone we’ve got three riders that would happily slot into the team it’s just trying to find the the best fit obviously we’ve got Lara and Maddie who have already raced at a relatively high

Level I don’t think either of them are the finished article there’s certainly room for them to grow but for Katie she’s much more raw and and fresh into the sport so her ceiling would be a lot higher