How Neve Bradbury went from teenage Zwift Academy winner to 'world-class' climber in just four seasons

Four years ago, Neve Bradbury was still a teenager, preparing to start her first season as a professional after winning a contract at Canyon-SRAM through the Zwift Academy. In 2025, she's heading into her season opener at the Tour Down Under as one of the best climbers in the world.

But how did Bradbury go from racing the finals virtually in "a random Airbnb", as she recalls it, to the upper echelons of WorldTour climbing? With the strong power numbers confirmed, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto team manager Ronny Lauke credits her settling into European life and tackling races away from her strengths as key factors. 

The first two European appearances she made as a pro, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Scheldeprijs, for example, are races that couldn't be further away from her ideal terrain. Bradbury herself finds it hard to pinpoint exactly what's helped her actualise her potential but whatever the formula, it has certainly worked.

"It took a while, to be honest. You need to remember, she joined us when she was 18 years old," Lauke told Cyclingnews at his team's December training camp in Portugal. 

"She had to leave Australia and move away from her family, which I think can be pretty overwhelming when a young person comes to a different continent. You need to help that young lady become independent, to create a living on her own and not get lost in the whole wide world.

"It's something that psychologically can also be quite disturbing for some, others enjoy the freedom a lot. But then also, you adapt the training demand to the needs of a WorldTour rider and the highest level of this sport and then you keep developing.

"Sometimes we gave her races which were not her nature, in order to make her understand her weaknesses. We already knew from the beginning that she was a really good climber."

In Bradbury, Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto now have a top-level climber who can operate as key support for Tour de France Femmes champion Kasia Niewiadoma, as well as a future leader, having extended her contract until 2027.

"What she needed to work on was to become a complete rider. At some point, all the dots connected," continued Lauke.

"It doesn't work with everyone, sometimes a rider doesn't make this step mentally because she just cannot handle this pressure that automatically comes on the highest level of the sport, or being away from home for so long. But I think in this case, it has worked pretty well and all the predictions did work out. Through the Zwift Academy, we have found a world-class rider."

Bradbury has opted against racing at the Australian National Road Championships, which are currently ongoing in Perth, as she did in 2021, prioritising her limited time in Australia with family before racing her home stage race.

While she kicked off her breakthrough 2024 season with third place at the Tour Down Under, Bradbury isn't expecting to be as much of a contender in Adelaide come January 17, with an eye on bigger stage races in the European summer.

"In 2024, I had a big focus on Tour Down Under and UAE [Tour], but for next year, that's going to be different. My focus is a little bit later, so I'm using the Tour Down Under as training," Bradbury told Cyclingnews.

"I'm not expecting to win. I'll do my best, obviously, but I'm probably not going to be going as well as last time."

'Now that I have the results, I'm a lot more confident'

After showing signs of the power levels that earned her a WorldTour spot with 10th overall at the Giro Donne in 2022, Bradbury reached new heights at her third Giro in 2024. 

She not only won one of the hardest stages in modern women's racing up the iconic Blockhaus but did it in blistering heat, and ahead of world champion Lotte Kopecky and eventual Giro winner Elisa Longo Borghini.

"It was a really hard stage. At that point, I'd already had quite a good season already, so my confidence had built up a little bit throughout the whole season," said Bradbury. 

"There were a few races where I felt like they had maybe let me go. But then at the Blockhaus, that kind of solidified that they, maybe, didn't. I was just one of the strongest."

Bradbury, however, was still modest and shy in her demeanour as she reflected on her stunning ride.

"Actually, the main reason I made that move was because we had Antonia [Niedermaiers] so high in the GC, yeah. I have her to thank for that," Bradbury said. "Because it was like a no-risk, high-reward move and I had nothing to lose."

That confidence is growing, however, which should set off warning signals for many of the top climbers who'll have to go against her in 2025, with her Giro win and third-place finish also arriving after a stage win and second overall at the Tour de Suisse behind only Demi Vollering and second on GC at the UAE Tour.

"I'm really happy with the season. It's nice to reflect on such a good year, and it makes me motivated for next year, hopefully, I can do a bit more," said Bradbury back in December. 

"Now, I feel like I've stepped up, I have a presence to show in the races and I'm more of a marked rider for next year, but I'm excited to hopefully relish that and do better. 

"I'm a marked rider for a reason, so I just have to keep that in mind and use it as a strength rather than a weakness. Now that I have the results, I'm a lot more confident."

Bradbury couldn't reveal much of her planned calendar when speaking back in December, however, there is one race she's hoping to be at in 2025  – the Tour de France Femmes. 

Coming off the back of the Giro, Bradbury admits she and the team didn't quite get the transition exactly right, resulting in her being well away from her best at the Tour, which was worsened by an early crash.

"The Giro was my main focus for the whole year so all my energy went into that, and then I had a few weeks to recover and refocus again for the Tour de France, which was hard," Bradbury said. 

"I think because I was quite happy with the Giro, there were some things in training that, on reflection, weren't quite right in between the two tours. So I wasn't quite on form."

Of course, it was still a hugely satisfying eight stages of racing for Bradbury as her teammate Niewiadoma took a famous overall victory after surviving up Alpe d'Huez in the closest Tour de France, men's or women's, in history.

The Melburnian expects to be back in July 2025 as the Pole defends her title, and if the improvements Bradbury made in 2024 are anything to go off, she'll be right up there on the key climbing days. 

"It was still amazing, the Tour, having Kasia win the yellow jersey was insane. And I think I'll be there to support Kasia in defending the jersey [next year]."