The first race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 Round 1 happens Tuesday, September 16, and we’ll be in Watopia for a TTT lap of the never-before-raced Southern Coast Cruise route.
This route keeps us on Watopia’s southern coast for the entirety of the TTT, which is a nice change of pace. And yes, that pun is intended, because the rollers throughout this route will keep racers on their toes! Let’s discuss route details, bike choice, and all things TTT…
Looking at the Route: Southern Coast Cruise
Watopia’s new Southern Coast Cruise is an out-and-back (and out?) route that is 26.3km long, with 147m of elevation gain. The lap profile below makes it look quite pitchy, until you realize each climb or descent is only changing elevation by 5-12 meters! This course is best described as fast, but constantly rolling.
This route doesn’t have any particular features like long climbs or descents worth calling out. Or perhaps the better way to say it is: this route is full of short climbs and descents, and your team must remain constantly vigilant to maintain the ideal power levels to maximize speeds! (See TTTips below for more pointers.)
Read more about the Southern Coast Cruise route >
Speed Upgrades: Frame, Wheels, and More
This week, bike choice is easy: grab your most aero TT setup! The CADEX Tri is the fastest frame in game by a solid margin, and the new DT Swiss ARC 1100 DICUT 85/Disc wheels are the fastest wheels. If you don’t have access to that setup (level 40+) then see this post to determine the fastest TT setup available at your level.
Whatever you do, do not use a road frame. Because just like in real life, even a “slow” TT frame is much more aero than a road frame.
This round, for the first time in ZRL history, riders have access to two different speed-boosting upgrades. You’ll want to take maximum advantage of both, because your competitors will.
- Bike Upgrades: A fully upgraded TT bike will be ~50 seconds faster across an hour of flat riding vs the non-upgraded version. Yes, this race will be closer to a half-hour effort, and anyone who has raced a TTT knows that’s a huge margin. Read more on this topic >
- Lightning Aero Socks: These socks are unlocked by completing the Factory Tour Challenge, which was introduced in March 2025. Finishing it takes a lot of work, but the prize, the Aero Lightning Socks, will trim another ~12 seconds off an hour of riding. Read more on this topic >
Route Recon Videos and Resources
At the time this post was composed (Wednesday, September 10), the Zwift community hadn’t published any recon videos. Hard to blame them – the route wasn’t even in game until yesterday’s update, and it’s still event only.
I’ll share any recon videos or other resources here as I get them. Share in the comments section if you find or create anything useful!
TTTips
Successful team time trialing on Zwift requires a challenging combination of physical strength, proper pacing, and Zwift minutiae like picking a fast bike, understanding drafting in a TTT context, and getting your frame fully upgraded.
Flatter courses like this week give valuable seconds to teams with big pure-power riders who can keep their power high on the front while staying in single-file formation to conserve in the draft behind. Extra seconds can also be gained by pacing smartly, ramping up the effort on short climbs and recovering a bit once you’re up to speed on the short descents.
On a course like this week’s, I highly recommend all team members set their Trainer Difficulty to the same value so you’re all feeling the gradient changes similarly. (When one rider has it set to 100% and another 25%, the first rider may ramp up power much more than the second when a climb hits, tearing your group apart.)
Your goal in a ZRL TTT is to get four riders across the line in the shortest time possible. That means every team’s pace plan will differ based on the abilities of each rider. We highly recommend having an experienced DS on Discord directing your team, especially if your team contains some inexperienced TTT riders.
If you want to go further down the TTT rabbit hole, I highly recommend Dave Edmond’s Zwift TTT Calculator tool.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
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