Zwift Academy 2024

Zwift Academy
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Zwift Academy is back for the 2024 season!

Zwift Academy is the top talent identification program in virtual cycling. Whether you’re eyeing a pro contract or testing your limits, Zwift Academy is the perfect program to chase your cycling dreams.

If you’re going for the pro contract, you’ll need to complete all six workouts and two races. This is a great opportunity to see how you compare to elite athletes.

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This year, Zwift Academy is thirteen weeks long and features six structured workouts designed by world-class coaches and two races to compete against Zwifters of your fitness level. There will also be the chance to win a pro contract along the way.

Starting August 5, 2024 @ 15:00 UTC, you’ll find all of the workouts in the campaign tile on the home screen or you can locate the six structured workouts in a “Zwift Academy 2024” folder on your in-game workout menu screen.

Both races will be available 9 times a day with Race 1 available August 30, 2024 - September 8, 2024, and Race 2 will be available October 4, 2024 - October 13, 2024. You can find the full schedule of the races in your Zwift Companion app.

Welcome Rides will be available starting July 15, 2024 and run until August 5, 2024. These rides will be group rides only and are not required to be completed as part of the campaign progress and is only for the purpose of getting you ready for what’s in store during Zwift Academy 2024.

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Looking to go Pro?

Up to five women and five men will be selected to advance as Zwift Academy finalists. To be eligible to advance, you will need to have completed all six long workouts and two races. To learn more about all of the requirements for the Pro Contender Program, click here. In addition, you will need to accurately weigh yourself prior to the start of Zwift Academy. We encourage you to update your weight each week for the accuracy of the data.

Throughout Zwift Academy, you will automatically unlock rewards as you progress. After the first activity, you will unlock the kit. With the completion of the program (six structured workouts and two races) you’ll score the bike paint for the Canyon Aeroad bike; which can be purchased in the Drop Shop after you have reached level 10.

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To learn more about Zwift Academy, you can check out the main page here or the FAQs here, for full program details.

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Really bummed Zwift has decided to do away with group workouts. Takes away a lot of the fun and community aspect that motivates the vast majority of people to take part in ZA. Most people have no chance of competing for a pro contract and can do solo structured workouts without ZA. Not having the community aspect as part of ZA is a real miss in my opinion.

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Yeah odd choice. Hard to imagine anyone interested in a pro contract is doing it through zwift.

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Will Race 1 work on zwiftpower? It’s a 30 minute timed event. Timed events usually end up with scrambled results on zwiftpower, leading to people avoiding them.
If Zwift can commit to ensuring the results are accurate it might help the community to not feel quite so left out.

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Continuing the discussion from Zwift Academy 2024:

Does anyone know if Zwift Academy 2024 will be posted on the ZCA Workout page like the 2023 Academy workouts? It would be great if we could add them to “My List” for scheduling.

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There are women-only events for the workouts fwiw. Which is a confusing choice.

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I don’t mind the lack of group workouts - I’m not much of a fan of those anyway.

Just give me the workout plan and I’ll get it done.

I’m only really interested in the bike colour scheme (the standard ones are bland), otherwise I would just keep doing my own riding and my own workouts which are getting results.

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I assume you mean it starts @ 15:00 UTC ? 3pm?

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Been wondering why I couldn’t see the events on the Companion app. Totally agree, I really enjoyed doing them the last couple of years, very very challenging but as a group ride it was encouraging to know everyone around you was struggling too, doubt I’ll do any of them on my own.

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My impression of the workouts this year is that they are mostly just power tests and not a plan for improvement. In past years the workouts were at least a good introduction for people new to structured training. But now you have workouts with things like 10 minute max effort free ride segment which a new rider won’t even know how to do because they lack the experience to pace it without a power target. 99%+ of the participants are not in it to qualify for a contract so it’s no longer a mass-appeal program. Most people should pick some other plan.

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Just saw this in the recent email from Zwift, you can schedule your own group workouts now.
We’ve included Zwift Academy 2024 workouts in the “Club Templates,” enabling you to schedule your own group sessions and bring your community together. Participants in these club events will gain campaign progress just as they would in official Zwift Academy sessions.

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Were the prior years’ ZA workouts actually a good training program? I would say that they never really have been. But, then again, that’s not really the goal, either (at least IMO).

I actually saw an interesting video on this topic the other day:

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Yeah I would say the last couple years were a good intro to using structured workouts, but not a great training plan. They were too short, promised too much, and enticed people who really need to do base training before the plan starts but they never mention that. But if it’s 100% ERG mode and has group workouts, then it’s an OK place to start and shouldn’t hurt.

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And those you’d just cruise through in zone two with no effort. In fact, unless you were really determined the whole lot you could just do with minimum effort to get the unlocks and do other, proper training plans for getting better.

I used to train with that guy in the video above years and years ago before he became well known.

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Thanks for the catch :slight_smile: The time was corrected this morning

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Following. There is supposed to be a 2024 ZA folder in workouts. I don’t see it.

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I can only see women’s rides for zwift academy? I like to ride in the open group as there are more riders, why can’t I see this?

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They’re not happening this year

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I believe you get to it through the Home Screen.

That’s where I have them.

I did the first workout 1.5 times due to a crash at 24 minutes the first time.

The free ride blocks are definitely good, you really have to push yourself and not just rely on erg mode setting the power for you. It’s good training.