Zwift Academy winner tells Tom Davidson about her journey from high-achieving student to a pro contract
When Alex Morrice graduated from the University of Bath this summer, she could have gone on to do anything she liked, but just a few months later she’d be signing a pro contract, having won the Zwift Academy competition.
Morrice excelled in her studies at Bath, achieving top marks in her Natural Sciences degree. Add that to a clean sweep of A*s at A-level, and the 22-yearold was stepping into the world with a rather enviable CV.
Her cycling palmarès was more limited, having only discovered the sport at university. “I played a lot of netball throughout school,” she says. “Then after one year doing that at uni, I kind of got a bit bored with getting injured, rolling ankles and everything.
“I picked up triathlon because there’s a lot of girls that do triathlon. Not many girls were in the cycling club, so I was a bit hesitant [to join].” That didn’t deter her, though. Before long she was heading out into the Cotswolds, dressed in the club’s vibrant yellow and blue kit. “I was pretty much the only girl,” she says. “They all kind of picked me up, taught me everything and now I’m carrying on into the world of racing.”
Once she’d finished her exams, Morrice put all her energy into racing with Brother UK-LDN.
“When I turned up at Lancaster [GP], no one was expecting me, this girl. It was the only race I did that was live-streamed and the commentators were like, ‘Not sure who this girl is. Her name’s Alex Morrice. We’re trying to look up her results, she’s done a few races,’” she smiles. “That was quite fu
