Canyon-Sram delve into world of AI with new training and development partnership ahead of 2027 season

Canyon-Sram have announced an AI research and development partner for the remainder of 2026, with the German squad working with FasCat Coaching as they prepare for the 2027 season.

In what looks to be a first in the women's peloton, Canyon-Sram will use FasCat's CoachCat AI coaching platform to run an "AI-powered season review" on their riders to help prepare for the new season.

The team say that CoachCat can analyse riders' performance history throughout their career "to identify patterns and insights that might otherwise go unnoticed." The system is said to be capable of examining the effectiveness of training blocks based on several metrics, including heat, altitude, training load, heart rate, and sleep monitoring.

Canyon-Sram worked with FasCat in the lead-up to this year's Tour de France Femmes, with the company analysing their riders' historical data to generate predictions for the race itself and training and preparation beyond.

"WorldTour teams are sitting on a wealth of untapped data that could tell them exactly why a rider won or lost, and what to change. CoachCat finds that in minutes, not months. Working with Canyon-Sram lets us prove at the highest level of the sport what our AI does every day for the athletes on our platform," said Frank Overton, founder and CEO of FasCat coaching, which has been in business since 2003.

The team will take on a new look for 2027 as leader and Tour de France Femmes runner-up Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney leaves for Lidl-Trek. Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig and Tiffany Cromwell are also among the notable departures.

Lucinda Brand, Steffi Häberlin, and Georgia Baker lead the incoming list, while young German talent Antonia Niedermaier will take Niewiadoma-Phinney's leadership role at the year's biggest races.

"We are always looking for new ways to understand performance, and AI analysis of a rider’s full history is a natural next step," said Canyon-Sram performance director Dan Fleeman.

"FasCat’s AI analytics give our performance staff a fresh, objective look at what has driven each rider’s best results and where we can build for 2027. We have enjoyed exploring this together.”

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