WEEK IN TRAINING Alex Morrice

You'd have been forgiven for not recognising the name Alex Morrice when, shortly before Christmas, she was announced as winner of Zwift Academy 2022.

- David Bradford

The week: 10-16 October 2022

Location: Guildford, Surrey

Training for: Zwift Academy

The 22-year-old from Guildford in Surrey had only been racing since the beginning of the year, and until the summer was fitting in training alongside her university studies. As Morrice explains below, the past 12 months have been a whirlwind ascent from fourthcat newbie to World Tour professional. Speaking to CW from a Canyon-SRAM training camp in Spain, she took us through a week of pre-Academy preparation from the autumn.

How did you get into cycling?

I've always been sporty but didn't start cycling until two years ago, in my second year of uni. When the Covid lockdown [in 2020] meant I had to move home, I focused on running for a year. In my third year of uni [2021], I had a full-time placement with Morgan Stanley [the bank] and joined colleagues on Zwift rides, bought myself a bike and decided to commit to cycling.

In your first year of road racing, 2022, you finished second in the Lancaster GP and eighth overall in the Rás. That's fast progress!

Yes, I know! Starting as a cat-four rider in January last year, I won a lot of smaller races and realised I was doing well. It helped that I was coached by Dean Downing, who I'd contacted through the Zwift rides I did with Morgan Stanley. In my initial week working with Dean, he put me in a ramp test [Morrice's FTP was already 260W].

Was it difficult training alongside study and work?

Yeah, it was really, really hard, as I was in my final year at uni. I had to dedicate a lot of time to studying, which I had to fit training around. I did quite a lot of Zwift rides during the week but still went to the gym twice a week. In a way, I performed better on the bike, as it was an outlet for the stress from the studies.