Zwift Racing League Week 2 Guide: Turf N Surf Points Race

The second race of Zwift Racing League 2024/25 Round 2 happens Tuesday, November 19, and we’ll be in the Makuri Islands for our first-ever ZRL event on the Turf N Surf route.

There’s much to discuss, including the route’s key sections, strategic options, bike choice, and a reminder of recent ZRL scoring changes for points races.

Hop on, tighten those toe straps, and let’s go!

Looking at the Route: Turf N Surf

The Makuri Islands Turf N Surf route has never been raced in ZRL. It’s essentially one big loop with two key climbs. Along the way, you’ll encounter two sprint segments, which is important to note since this is a points race.

All riders will be racing a single lap of the route for a total of 24.7km with 198m of climbing.

Let’s discuss the key parts of this route, beginning just after we blast out of the start pen:

Alley Sprint @ 0.7km: this is a flat and longish (480m) sprint, and you can see the finishing arch up the road for almost the entire effort. The tough part here is that it comes just after the race starts! First you’ve got the untimed lead-in from the pens (30-40 seconds depending on pace), then another 700 meters (~60 seconds) before you hit the sprint start line. Who will go long, and who will sit in and hope the pack catches the early jumpers? Powerup at arch: aero boost (helmet)

Don’t expect any action from the Alley Sprint banner (1.1km) to the base of the Festival Harbor climb (14.6km), as it’s just a stretch of flat Neokyo roads, the Slot Canyon descent, and more flats.

Festival Harbor Climb @ 14.6km (2.6% for 2km): this isn’t an official KOM segment, but make no mistake: the first major selection of the race happens here! This is a draggy, draftable climb (remember, it looks like you’re on dirt, but that’s just sand that rolls like tarmac).

Shisa Sprint @ 16.3km: while this sprint is shorter than the Alley Sprint (290 meters), you’ll have just finished a full gas VO2 effort up the Festival Harbor climb, so sprint efforts will be blunted, to say the least! Powerup at arch: aero boost (helmet)

Again, don’t expect any action from the Shisa Sprint banner (16.6km) to the start of the Pain Cavern (21.6km). This section is a twisty descent followed by flat or slightly rolling roads.

Pain Cavern @ 21.6km (3% for 2.1km): this isn’t an official KOM segment, but it’s the longest climb of the route, and it’s where the second major selection of the race will happen. This is a draggy, draftable climb, and the big moves tend to happen as you enter the figure 8 section.

Finish at Virtual arch: once you’re out of Pain Cavern, you’ve got 1km to go, and it’s quite flat. Did you save your aero powerup? Time it right so it runs out just before you hit that virtual arch shimmering in the distance, and you may just find yourself on the podium.

Read more about the Turf N Surf route >

Reminder: Points Race Changes

Remember: FAL and FTS segment points as well as finishing points changed last round for ZRL racers. Those changes are still in effect for round 2.

FAL points now go to the first 20 riders over the line (20-19-18…1 points, respectively). FTS points only go to the fastest 5 riders through the segment (10-8-6-4-2 points, respectively).

Finish points are now based on how many riders finish, but there are also new podium bonus points for the first 5 riders across the line. Example: if 60 riders finish, 1st place gets 60 points, 2nd place gets 59, etc. But podium bonus points are also awarded to the top 5 riders (10-8-6-4-2, respectively) so that 1st place rider would actually get 60+10=70 points for their finishing position.

See the ZRL scoring page for more details >

PowerUp Notes

Riders will receive aero powerups at each arch, and there are just two arches on this route.

Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.)

Sometimes you need to use a powerup to chase back on or avoid getting dropped. But for most riders, the ideal place to use your first aero powerup would be the Shisa Sprint, since it’s a points segment. And your second aero powerup would be best used in the finishing sprint.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

This route features two flat sprint segments, lots of flats and descents, two key draftable climbs, and a flat finish.

An aero bike will maximize your sprint speeds and let you sit in most easily on the flats, rollers, and descents that make up the vast majority of your overall mileage. The climbs aren’t very steep, meaning they are fast and draftable, so a pure climbing bike won’t give you any advantage.

Given the strong performance of the new Pinarello Dogma F 2024, it’s hard not to recommend it as the best pick here, coupled with the DT Swiss disc wheel. This setup loses very little (2 seconds in our ~50-minute test) to the traditional Venge+Disc combo, while gaining 11 seconds in our ~50-minute climb test.

That said, there are several options that will all perform well on this route. The Venge+Disc is the most aero setup available. The Tron bike is still a strong all-arounder. Will you pick a setup that helps you in your weakness, or one that emphasizes your strength?

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot) for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.

More Route Recons

Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

Zwifty Zwifter

John Rice

FemmeCycle Collab

(coming soon)

The Syco-List

Strategic Options

Points Distribution, Turf N Surf (1 Lap)

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants.

With FAL and finish points making up over 90% of the race’s total points, the message is clear: you want to do everything you can to stay in the front group, and there are three places (the two sprint segments and the finish) where a well-timed sprint can mean big points.

Here are some predictions of strategies we’ll see on Tuesday:

• TTT On the First Sprint: riders will try to go long on the first sprint, but if an entire team can jump off the front and stay away through the Alley Sprint arch they’ll mop up 105 points and have plenty of recovery time immediately following.
• Going Long On the First Sprint: barring a full team attack, some riders will try going long to take the first FAL points. It will require burning a match or two, though, if you want to avoid getting swallowed up before the arch!
• Big Attacks On the Climbs: puncheurs with high 3-4 minute power will be well-suited to put in hard digs on the Festival Harbor and Pain Cavern climbs, snapping the elastic for some riders and thinning the pack for that final sprint.
• Pain Cavern Breakaway: jumping off the front near the top of the Pain Cavern climb could be a winning move, especially if you can do it with a teammate who will share the work in that final 1km to the finish.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!