Zwift and Canyon launch junior team that aims to accelerate North American riders to men's and women's Tour de France success

The indoor training app Zwift is set to launch a men's and women's junior team for 2027, with the express aim of developing North American riders so that one may stand on the top step of the Tour de France podium within 10 years.

The team, which will officially launch later in 2026, does not yet have a name, but will be supported by Zwift, bike brand Canyon and clothing brand Pedal Mafia, with "sporting pathway and support" from other Zwift- and Canyon-backed teams, Canyon-SRAM, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Fenix-Premier Tech.

The team will field male and female riders from the United States, Canada and Mexico and plan to race in both Europe and North America, and has recruited former La Vie Claire rider Roy Knickman as sports director. Knickman previously ran the successful junior development team Lux/CTS until it shut down in 2022.

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The genesis of the new Zwift team seems to be borne out of North America's relative lack of success in the sport's biggest race, the Tour, in the 21st century and since the era of Greg LeMond and the tumultuous career of Lance Armstrong.

"It has been over twenty years since a North American rider stood on the top step in Paris, and we are committed to change that," said Eric Min, co-founder and CEO of Zwift [ed. - Floyd Landis was the last rider to 'win' the Tour, in 2006, but was stripped of his title].

"North America is one of the most important cycling markets in the world, but professional road racing has all but disappeared here. Standing up a world-class team is our answer. We are investing directly in the next generation of North American talent, and are doing so alongside partners who share our belief that this sport deserves a bigger future on this continent."

There are currently six men's UCI races in the United States and Canada, and five for women. There is a healthy calendar of criterium and gravel racing, but little in the way of a road racing pathway towards Europe, which is still the heartland of all of the sport's most important races.

"The new team arrives at a moment when North American road cycling lacks the visibility, fandom, and financial support it once enjoyed during the eras of Greg LeMond, Andrew Hampsten, and Steve Bauer, when their performances in the Tour de France lifted cycling into mainstream culture," a Zwift press release read. Lance Armstrong also had a huge impact on the popularity of cycling in the US, but leaves a complicated legacy after admitting to doping.

"With the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics on the horizon and women's cycling experiencing record growth (fueled in part by Zwift’s long-running partnership with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift), the founding partners believe the time is right to invest in the youth riders who will define the next decade of the sport."

More so than just sponsorship, Zwift's involvement will see the team built by Zwift founder Min, aiming at ensuring the team's long-term existence and success.

"Backed by long-term financial support from Zwift and private donors, the foundation is designed to fund racing, coaching, equipment, and athlete development well beyond a typical sponsorship cycle, eliminating the year-to-year financial uncertainty that has historically constrained programs like this one," the press release stated.

"Junior development cannot be a two-year experiment. It has to be a generational commitment," Min added. "That is why the long-term plan is to establish an endowment for our team. We are creating a permanent platform for North American riders, one dedicated to helping our athletes reach their full potential on and off the bike, and we plan for it to be here long after our first champion carries the Yellow Jersey into Paris."

The state of North American cycling

Despite Zwift's assertion that "North American road cycling lacks [...] visibility, fandom, and financial support", there are many North American cyclists having success in European road racing.

Both women's Olympic and world road race champions are currently North American – Kristen Faulkner and Magdeleine Vallieres – and Canada's Isabella Holmgren is establishing herself as a serious GC contender. That said, no North American rider has yet won a stage of the Tour de France Femmes.

On the men's side, Isaac del Toro has revived Mexico's standing on the world cycling stage with his Giro d'Italia podium and various other successes, and his compatriot Romina Hinojosa is representing Mexico in the women's peloton. Sepp Kuss is a Grand Tour winner and riders like Matteo Jorgenson and Derek Gee-West are some of the top stage racers in the peloton, all from North America.

Matthew Riccitello and Quinn Simmons are also shining on the WorldTour stage. At the younger end of the spectrum, North American riders like AJ August and Artem Schmidt have both taken their first pro wins this season.

Two North American teams are currently partnered with a WorldTour team, with Hot Tubes U23 development team working with Netcompany Ineos, and EF Education-Aevolo with their WorldTour counterparts. It is not clear how the former partnership may or may not continue, since Ineos launched their own U23 squad for 2026 and partnered with a British junior outfit.

Though the current North American talent in the professional peloton's is not in doubt. the new project seems to aim to make sure that the next Vallieres, Del Toro or Jorgenson has a clear way to follow in their footsteps.

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