Emily Dixon will step up from Canyon SRAM Generation to the Canyon SRAM WorldTour team for the 2027 season, signing a two-year contract that runs through the end of 2028.
The 19-year-old Australian completes a rapid progression through the team’s development pathway after winning the 2024 Zwift Academy and joining Canyon SRAM Generation for 2025. Her second season in Europe brought the results that showed she was ready for the next step.
Dixon won back-to-back stages at Gracia Orlová in April, then followed that with one of her strongest rides of the year at the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées, finishing third on the queen stage after the Col du Tourmalet and sixth overall.
Dixon turns development results into a WorldTour contract
The breakthrough at Gracia Orlová was Dixon’s first professional win. She won the opening stage from Orlová to Štramberk and backed it up with another victory the following day to Pustevny, turning what had been a promising start to the season into a clear step forward.
Her June performance in the Pyrénées carried more weight because of the level of the race and the terrain involved. Dixon finished third on the queen stage behind UAE Team ADQ pair Dominika Włodarczyk and Paula Blasi after a day that included the Col du Tourmalet, before ending the race sixth overall.
ProCyclingUK’s Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées final classification recap covered that result, while the Canyon SRAM Generation team history explains the development pathway Dixon is now graduating from.
From Zwift Academy winner to the WorldTour
Dixon’s route into professional cycling started through Zwift Academy. She was announced in early 2025 as the winner of the 2024 competition, earning a contract with Canyon SRAM Generation after coming through a field of more than 100,000 participants.
That first year was about learning the European peloton and building race experience. Dixon herself has admitted she was not fully satisfied with her 2025 season, but the improvement across 2026 was obvious. She finished sixth at the Australian road championships, fifth at the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry and seventh at La Périgord Ladies alongside her stage-race results.
The move to the WorldTour had been an ambition when she joined the development team, but not one she expected to reach this quickly. Dixon said the contract felt “very surreal” and described the promotion as another dream coming true after first getting the chance to race in Europe.
Canyon SRAM keep Dixon inside the same development structure
The promotion is also another example of Canyon SRAM using its Generation team as a direct pathway into the WorldTour squad. Dixon has already worked with staff from the senior team and raced in an environment built around the same wider organisation, reducing the size of the transition compared with moving into a completely new set-up.
Generation Team Manager Gosia Jasinska highlighted how much Dixon had changed across two seasons, particularly in her understanding of racing and her willingness to learn. The WorldTour team are also expected to give her time rather than immediately place results pressure on a rider who will still be only 20 for most of her first season at the top level.
That approach suits Dixon’s own objectives for 2027. She has spoken about wanting to become a dependable teammate first, learn from more experienced riders and contribute to a squad that is already used to racing for major wins.
Jasinska also believes Dixon can find opportunities of her own. Her 2026 results point towards climbing and selective stage races as the most natural terrain, with the Tourmalet ride the clearest indication yet of how well she can handle longer climbs.
A two-year deal through 2028
Dixon’s contract runs through the end of 2028, giving both rider and team time to manage the step into the WorldTour without forcing an immediate return in results.
For Canyon SRAM, the signing takes one of the Generation team’s strongest recent development stories into the senior squad. Dixon will start 2027 as a WorldTour rider less than two years after being announced as the Zwift Academy winner.
