ATHLETE PATHWAY
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Junior Cycling Academy to World Tour
Mackenzie Coupland
CDF Junior Cycling Academy • National Road Series
Mackenzie’s pathway developed over several years. She progressed from the CDF Junior Cycling Academy (JCA) into CDF’s National Road Series program, gaining experience as both a developing rider and a member of a performance-focused racing team.
During that period, Mackenzie developed her understanding of race strategy, teamwork and the demands riders face on and off the bike. The connected support of CDF and Exercise Institute helped her build confidence in her ability while retaining the enjoyment and team culture that had been central to her progression.
Her move into the Women’s World Tour completed a pathway that began five years earlier in the JCA.
Liv AlUla Jayco
UCI Women’s WorldTeam
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Long-term development to World Tour
Lucie Fityus
Joined CDF in 2020 • Four-year development journey
Lucie joined CDF in 2020 as a developing rider balancing serious cycling ambitions with the demands of an engineering degree. Her pathway was not built around immediate results. It was based on patient, step-by-step progression.
Across four years with CDF and Exercise Institute, Lucie learned how to train with greater structure, race with more confidence and trust a long-term development process. National and international racing opportunities allowed her to build her career progressively rather than being rushed into an environment for which she was not yet prepared.
That combination of education, consistent coaching and a supportive team environment helped Lucie progress from an early-stage development rider to her first Women’s World Tour contract.
Team Picnic PostNL
UCI Women’s WorldTeam
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Racing Program to World Tour
Brady Gilmore
Joined CDF Racing in 2021 • Domestic and international pathway
Brady joined the CDF Racing Program in 2021 and immersed himself in the training and racing environment created through CDF and Exercise Institute. The program gave him access to a purposeful race calendar while teaching him how to contribute within a team rather than race only as an individual.
Through National Road Series racing, Oceania competition and opportunities in Europe, Brady developed his racecraft, resilience and understanding of the professional habits required to keep improving from one season to the next.
His progression was built through consistent work rather than a single breakthrough. The habits and experience established during his early CDF years created a platform for the successive steps that eventually took him into the World Tour.
NSN Cycling Team
UCI WorldTeam
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Western Australian racing to ProTeam
Donovan Mackie
Joined CDF Racing in 2025 • Professional transition
Donovan joined the CDF Racing Program in 2025 after spending his earlier years racing primarily in Western Australia. His time with CDF focused on more than physical performance. He worked on becoming a more complete athlete capable of balancing training, racing, recovery and life.
Donovan’s progression was supported by the people behind the Unicorn Racing Team, who continued their involvement with CDF through Howden Insurance, alongside his work with CDF Sports Director Brad Hall and Exercise Institute.
At 18, Donovan secured an opportunity to move directly into a European professional calendar. His pathway reflects the value of surrounding a young athlete with coordinated coaching, mentoring, belief and practical racing support at the point when it matters most.
Team Novo Nordisk
UCI ProTeam
The Cycling Development Foundation Racing pathway aims to prepare athletes for professional sport, meaning retaining athletes is secondary to seeing them move on to professional ranks. Athletes selected for the CDF Men’s or Women’s Racing Team are coached and managed internally through Exercise Institute. This coordinated approach connects each athlete’s training, wellbeing, race preparation and long-term development; athletes entering these teams therefore cannot retain a separate external coach for their primary training program. The Junior Cycling Academy may continue to complement a rider’s existing coaching environment.
We provide opportunities for identified athletes who may require capital, financial, and developmental assistance in reaching the top tiers of their cycling capacity.
Capital assistance refers to items such as:
- Clothing
- Bicycles
- Equipment, such as helmets
Financial assistance such as:
- Access to a ProVelo Super League team structure
- Subsidised transport and event support for selected high-level racing opportunities
- Team training camps
- Logistical support
- Race entry
Developmental assistance such as:
- Access to research-grade testing and reporting facilities similar to those used at an institute level
- Access to multiple sport-science practitioners using current evidence-based systems to support athletes' physical, psychological and social development
- Coaching and training systems aligned with current scientific evidence to prepare athletes for professional-level racing and training. For instance, our coaching staff attend European-based coaching seminars alongside coaching and racing staff from World Tour teams. Combined with extensive elite-level cycling experience, this supports an effective athlete-development system within a cycling framework. Read more about our high performance coaching and support team, headed by Brad Hall .
The above, combined with a strong corporate-governance model in which the board oversees the actions of the management staff working with athletes, means we are transparent and accountable for our actions. The CDF Racing pathway sits under the incorporated not-for-profit Cycling Development Foundation, which is managed by a board of six professional executives.
An athlete who is identified and interested in this pathway can participate in the program for a trial period to ensure the systems and processes are right for them. Selection considers age, development potential, racing experience, power data, race readiness, coachability and the athlete’s ability to contribute positively to the team. Under-19 riders are assessed in the context of their age and development stage, rather than on results alone.
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