March 8th is International Women’s Day and Zwift is honoring it with a week’s worth of events celebrating women and cycling, which include social rides, workouts, races, prizes.

On International Women’s Day (March 8th), Zwift will attempt to break its current record of the most female riders in a single day. Kristen Armstrong, three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, will take part along with pros from the Canyon/SRAM and Colvatita/Bianchi racing teams, industry ambassadors from Rapha, Trek, and Vaderkitten and Zwift.

Zwift will also launch a new womens only event feature within Zwift and unveil a special edition Women’s Week kit for participants. All races and events during the week will be broadcast live on the Zwift Facebook page and all participants will have the chance to win prizes from Zwift, its partners, and pro teams.

Zwift’s celebration of Women’s Day parallels its involvement with women’s cycling, which includes its talent search for Team Canyon/SRAM Racing using Zwift Academy, documented in a series of videos. In 2016, Leah Thorvilson (below) competed against 1200 other women from around the world to win a pro contract and race with the Canyon/SRAM racing team for the 2017 season.

Thorvilson was selected after completing the 2016 Zwift Academy season that included group rides and structured workout programs all done using the online platform, Zwift. This week she joined her Canyon/SRAM team and competed in her first UCI race in Belgium.

Zwift has confirmed it will be continuing the Zwift Academy for women cyclists for the 2017 season and continued its partnership with Canyon/SRAM racing for a UCI World Tour pro contract. Registration for the 2017 Zwift Academy will begin in June 2017.