April 14/25 11:39 am - Noah Ramsay Interview

Posted by Editoress on 04/14/25
 

Noah Ramsay has become the latest Canadian man to join the European pro road peloton with his signing this season to Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team. Noah was a winner in the 2024 Zwift Academy to earn a pro contract.

So far this season, he has raced the Olympia's Tour (UCI 2.2) and Region Pays de la Loire Tour (UCI 2.1), with the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkiye (UCI 2.Pro) next at the end of this month.

Canadian Cyclist: You had your first race recently in the Olympia's Tour; how was that?

Noah Ramsay:  The Olympia's Tour is a 2.2, so it was mostly development teams and Continental teams. I'll race Pas de la Loire, which will be a 2.1 and that will have a couple of WorldTour teams. That one I'll race with the Alpecin WorldTour team. [Note: Noah finished 16th overall]

But regardless of the level, it is still a change from what I've been doing. The first stage was a time trial, and the second was a bit hectic. I went in the break for most of that day until I had back issues, so it wasn't until the third stage that I really experienced the chaos of racing in the Netherlands.

CC:  What stood out for you racing at this level?

NR:  I guess in mountain bike you position yourself going into technical sections. Road's the same, but with stages being up to 200 kilometres you have to study [the courses]. I didn't remember the parcour throughly, so on these flat stages I couldn't remember what sectors I had to be at the front or move up; how to position myself in the crosswinds and that maybe sometimes it was better to pull in order to not be shelled out the back. It was honestly just positioning throughout the race. Going into certain sectors you were always fighting for position, which made it really chaotic and there were a lot of crashes. I was lucky to make it through everything, even though I got caught up in a couple of crashes.

CC:  What made you decide to get involved with the Zwift Academy?

NR:  I knew I had good [power] numbers and I had one friend tell me that I should do it. I did want to possibly switch to doing road, so I did the testing they put on Zwift - the six workouts and the two races. And then I did a few interviews after that [with teams] when I was sent to the Finals. It was really down to me wanting the opportunity to race road professionally, and a couple of my friends convincing me that I should take the chance to do it.

CC:  Obviously, it's a big change going from mountain bike to road, but also going to Europe; it's sort of like jumping into the NHL. From your perspective, what is it like getting involved with a team like Alpecin?

NR: The Europe part isn't that new to me; I'm quite comfortable with the culture and the living ... I've raced here for the past four years on the World Cup circuit [cyclo-cross and mountain bike], so the discipline is the main change. One of the biggest changes is having people take care of the logistics for me. At the races I just have to wake up at a certain time with the day plan, eat a certain amount of food that I'm told to, to fuel for the event ... I'm still getting used to that aspect of it; that I'm not taking care of things. And that when I'm not riding, I'm pretty much sitting in my hotel room. It's just getting used to the change on race week.

CC:  So you've had some meetings with the team to discuss your program, I assume? Do you have an idea of what they expect of you, what your role is, what you are going to be doing?

NR:  Not really. Working with the team I just have a block of four races until the middle of May; three stage races to start, each getting harder. And then a one day in New York. The next two races [Loire and Turkiye] are with the WorldTour team and the New York race with the development team. I don't think there is any pressure to perform; we'll get more of an idea as the season goes on. I might get an opportunity in the third one [Tour of Turkiye] to race for myself, and then we'll see how I can perform at the professional level. I think we're just going with the flow in the early season and then we'll regroup from there and plan the rest of the year, and set some actual targets for the second half of the season.

CC:  You are starting with three stage races - does this mean the team sees you as more of a stage racer?

NR:  I believe so, but I think they still see me as having a role in the one day races to help the team succeed. I think I can gain a lot more experience in these stage races early on, with so much racing condensed so tightly. I think it's just about learning early on about how the game works, how I can help my team mates.

CC:  You say that they've got you scheduled through mid-May - any idea about later in the season? Are we going to see you at Road Nationals, for example?

NR: I'm not too sure about that yet. I'm going to have to talk with the coach and see what the goals are, especially since the travel is quite tough, going back and forth. We'll see where the form is at by then. If I have a chance to compete for the jersey at the Elite rank, then I'll discuss that with my coach.

CC:  Alpecin obviously has more understanding of mountain biking because of Mathieu van der Poel; do you think that was part of why they were willing to take on a mountain biker?

NR:  I don't necessarily think so. I think I just in the [Zwift] test I just showed that I was a well-rounded rider - I could ride the bike extremely well and push great power, and repeat it. Which is what they are looking for.

CC:  It's obviously still early in the year, but you are missing the first Mountain Bike World Cups of the season, so do you still feel this was a good move to make?

NR:  Yes, I think so. I think I can really succeed at the road. Succeed not only individually but in the team aspect; I like that part of it too. I don't think I'm done with mountain bike - I won't race any this year, but the Olympics are still a dream and hopefully the team can help me develop enough of an engine that if I come back in a year or two to fight for points and the [Olympic spot], that I can actually compete with the other strong Canadians we have.