The Mackay-born ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast rider Bogna lined alongside four other Australians vying for the chance to ride as a professional in Europe and won his way through the final selection process, announced via a reality television-style Zwift Academy show over five episodes.

The arduous qualifying process saw 150,000 riders attempt the Academy process, with the final group of five men and five women whittled down from the crowd to compete in the finals in Mallorca, Spain.

“Alex outperformed over the whole week in general,” Kristof de Kegel, performance manager at Alpecin-Fenix, said in the broadcast announcing the winner on GCN. “The first days were still a bit hard to judge because the level of the riders was really close but the last two days Alex really made a difference and if he can make it at the end with all the pressure and all the eyes on you.”

“I have been coaching Alex since 2018, and he has incredible potential. I always knew it was just a matter of time when he gets a chance and shows who he is”, says his performance coach Jakub Novak.

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United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) presents our performance coach Jakub Novak the order of Ikkos on behalf of Alicia Dana, a medalist from the Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020.

The Order of Ikkos is a medallion award symbolizing excellence in coaching made available to all individual U.S. Olympic and Paralympic medalists as representing the athletes’ achievement as an Olympic or Paralympic Medalist.

“I’d like to take this opportunity and thanks to Alicia Dana and USOPC for putting your trust in me and giving me the opportunity,” Jakub Novak. 

The order of Ikkos: Ikkos of Tarentum is the first recorded Olympic coach in ancient Greece. Ikkos won the pentathlon at the 84th Olympiad in 444 B.C. and later became known for his coaching ability as he led two fellow Tarentine athletes to gold medals in the same event.

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