Zwift Academy Success Stories: Stefanie Held

Stefanie Held trains on her bike not only to build physical strength, but also mental strength. This Zwift Academy graduate knows the importance of both kinds of toughness.

Sometimes she needs both at once, like during her organized weekend ride at Willingen, Germany, in a mountain range. Held had signed up for 3 days of riding with a group of women that included a professional triathlete. On a particularly hard day with a lot of climbing, she fell far behind the others, but she kept going.

And she finished – 45 minutes later than the rest, but triumphant in her achievement.

“They were all astonished, as they had started to bet that I’d need to get picked up by car. This is what things like Zwift Academy and a lot of other events on Zwift resulted in for me,” says Held. “I learned to rely on my mind, to be resilient and just keep on.”

Zwift Academy is a community training program and talent search. As part of Zwift Academy Road 2021, participants are tasked with completing 6 structured workouts and 2 group rides. They’ll also get a measure of their progress with a baseline ride at the start of the academy and a finish line ride at the end. One man and one woman each year will earn a pro contract!

To learn more about Zwift Academy Road and to enroll, click here.

Held, who lives in Germany, joined Zwift in 2017. She decided to try Zwift Academy in 2018 after seeing an article featuring the previous year’s German winner, Tanja Erath. Held was nervous, but her excitement about learning new things and meeting new people won out.

Most riders, like Held, aren’t going for the contract. They’re joining for the training experience, the challenge, and the community.

“At that time I felt a bit lonely in Zwift, without a proper team, not knowing people,” she says.

That changed quickly. Held joined the Zwift Academy Facebook group (there’s one for women and one for men) and later became part of the Fearless Zwift racing team. She shared some of her own struggles and encouraged women who were struggling themselves. Soon they were celebrating each other’s victories! Held even started sharing some of her 9-year-old daughter’s cycling feats so they could cheer her on, too.

Training For The Mind

Held learned early in life that physical activity helped her get her mind off of problems, giving her a healthy way to cope with anxiety.

As she completed the Zwift Academy workouts, she realized that consistent structured training also helped her build focus and perseverance.

“I‘ve become more self-assured,” she says. “I’m taking less rubbish from other people… It is a way of working off the anxiety level by means of concentration and simply being active, especially HIIT (high-intensity interval training).”

In 2018, Zwift Academy participants were required to finish a couple of races to graduate (now they’re optional). Held was afraid to try it, and the way some racers talked – especially the men – intimidated her.

Finally, she signed up for her first Zwift race. To her surprise, she had fun! The women she raced with were encouraging and helped her push her limits. Held continued to join more and more races in Zwift, working her way from the D category up to C in fall 2020.

“With my third Zwift Academy, I see my strengths in TT and in mixed terrain with not too much elevation, like the Harrogate courses,” she says. “I’d classify myself as a puncheur nowadays.”

After getting a taste of competition, Held even decided to enter her first race outdoors – the 2019 EuroEyes Cyclassics Hamburg. She tried the 100-kilometer route but wasn’t prepared for the length and didn’t finish. She’s not letting that stop her, though! Held plans to go back, and that’s not the only goal she has in mind.

“I‘ll go for the 60 km and want to finish in less than 2 hours,” she says. “I’m playing with the idea of doing a long-distance ride of 250 km. And a longtime goal is the Ironman 70.3 in Duisburg.”

Understanding Yourself

“I like challenges. I‘ve always worked on getting better in my ways, so learning new things about myself is always a drive,” she says. “And meeting new people is a lot of fun.”

Held had already done some structured workouts before Zwift Academy, so she was familiar with this type of training. Her job as a physical therapist also helped her to understand the purpose of the different sessions.

What she learned most in Zwift Academy was about herself. As Held liked some workouts more than others, she started noticing her strengths. The data from Today’s Plan helped her get an even deeper understanding of what she could do and how she could improve.

As she started to understand herself more as a cyclist, Held also learned to have more trust in herself and her abilities.

“For example, knowing my FTP, I know how hard I can push up a climb,” she says. “My husband bought us power meters for riding outside, so as soon as spring, I’ll know how to pace myself outside as well.”

For those who may be new to Zwift Academy, Held understands feeling nervous or overwhelmed. She encourages them to keep going and focus on their own efforts.

“Don’t be afraid of the workouts. Just try your best,” she says. “You can always use the bias and put down your FTP. And don’t get intimidated by the posts of others. Everybody has preferences and strengths.”

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