This week my team (Coalition Delusion, racing in the B1 Development Lime division), took on 8 others in a points race slugfest in Urukazi. Everyone knew heading in that it would be a tough race. Could we survive in the front to the finish, while grabbing enough sprint points along the way?
Only time would tell. Here’s how our race unfolded…
Planning + Warmup
Our team had been chatting on Discord for several days leading up to this race. How could we best attack four laps of Fine and Sandy? Nearly all the race-winning points were in the 8 sprints, but we would also have to survive 8 repeats of the short, dusty Mech Isle climb.
We really didn’t know much about the other teams, either, it being a fresh division and we having only raced a TTT together.
In the end, we decided that the key was to stay in the front group for as long as possible (first priority) while also contesting as many sprints as possible (second priority). It was left to each rider how exactly that would happen.
I was already one dirty chai and a few pieces of Neuro caffeine gum into my day by the time I got on the bike at 9:35am, so I was nicely caffeinated. I’d also applied some PR Lotion to my legs, then I rode a 20-minute warmup, keeping the effort mostly zone 2, with a few spinups to get my heart rate up in zone 4.
After updating my name to include [Coalition] and changing to my chosen race rig (Pinarello Dogma F 2024 + DT Swiss disc), I headed to the pens. Let’s race!
Lap 1 – the Start
The 50 riders in our race started quite tamely, but that was expected. Everyone knew we would need every bit of power we could muster to hang on over 8x Mech Isle climbs and contest 8x sprint segments.
If you’re wondering what this course looks like conceptually, it’s this:
Captain Neil was on comms, keeping calm and carrying on, directing and giving atta boys.
As we crossed the wooden bridge to begin the first Mech Isle climb, I was well-positioned just a bike length from the front, giving me room to “sag” the climb if the group was pushing harder than I could hold.
Vanecht from the Belgian Zwift Riders team threw down a huge attack as we began, but I wasn’t going to chase that. Too much action up the road. Apparently others thought the same, as he stayed away, taking max FAL points on the Boardwalk Sprint before sitting up and rejoining the peloton.
For my part, I put in a hard sprint, but not a maximal sprint. 11th place.
The group slowed quickly after the sprint point, and I realized I had my first powerup: a steamroller. Should I hold it for the Mech Isle climb up the road, or burn it in hopes of getting an aero at the next arch? I decided to hold onto it.
On Discord, it sounded like teammate Chris M was already feeling the effort. We all told him to hang on as long as he could. In ZRL, every point counts!
The first Tidepool Sprint is where I realized I’d made a tactical error in holding onto my steamroller. Because it was clear that riders with aero (helmet) powerups had a huge advantage in the sprints, as they rode away from me quite handily and I crossed in 23rd:
I decided then and there not to make that mistake again. My new goal was to have an aero powerup heading into as many of the sprints as possible. If that meant burning a steamroller and suffering more on the Mech Isle climb, so be it.
Because I thought I could hold on up that climb, even though it was a hard effort. And sprint points were all that mattered. 39 riders left in front. On to lap two.
Lap 2: the Winning Move
As the race unfolded, we settled into a rhythm: go hard on the Mech Isle climb and sprint segments. Ride easy in between. Most of that in between riding was really easy, in fact. I kept finding myself poking my nose into the wind, even though I was only holding 150-200 watts!
On the Mech Isle climb at the start of lap 2, ZSUN rider T. Schippers attacked hard, chasing another rider who was even further off the front. I didn’t think much of it, and neither did most of the riders, it seemed.
But this was the winning move.
I came through the Boardwalk Sprint in 11th, without any powerup to assist me. I was starting to believe that I had the legs today to grab some solid sprint points, especially if I could land an aero powerup. And just like that, the Zwift gods gifted me one – my first on the day!
As we wound our way through Mangrove Maze, we noticed T. Schippers was growing his gap off the front, now 15 seconds ahead. Impressive. But still, I don’t think anyone saw it as a move that would last.
The Tidepool Sprint on lap two was my first all-in sprint effort, as I had an aero powerup and thus, I hoped, a shot at a top-5 finish. I crossed the line in 4th. 47 points! And a steamroller, which meant I’d have one easier go up the Mech Isle climb, but another meagure finish on lap 3’s Boardwalk Sprint.
35 riders were left in the front group as we finished our second lap, with 1 additional rider (Schippers) 38 seconds off the front.
Lap 3
Monica came into the office just to document my sprint suffering…
As we made our way toward the first sprint of our third lap, we all began to understand the beautiful plan T. Schippers was executing. While we sprinted our guts out 4x each lap, sitting up in between to recover, he was keeping the power steady and slowly growing a gap on the peloton.
I certainly didn’t have the legs to bridge up to him solo. And it seems nobody else did, either. As long as he was riding within himself, he was going to win this race and land a huge points haul. Would that be what his team (ZSUN) needed to win? We weren’t sure, as we really didn’t know who the strongest teams were.
A 14th-place finish on the Boardwalk Sprint earned my team 37 more points, and more importantly, another aero powerup! I used that aero to grab 3rd (and 48 points) on the Tidepool Sprint, where I got another aero powerup.
It meant I would suffer a bit on the two Mech Isle climbs just up the road. But hopefully that meant I could finally put in a fast effort on the Boardwalk Sprint.
The Mech Isle climb at the end of lap 3 proved to be the one that dropped teammate Chris M from the front group. He’d done a remarkable job of holding on, though, and continued to soldier on in the chase group.
The front pack had been whittled down to 29 riders (plus Schippers well off the front) as we headed into our final lap. Five Coalition riders remained in the front group.
Lap 4 – the Finish
Several riders went surprisingly early on the final Boardwalk Sprint, but I wasn’t feeling spicy enough to follow. Still, I had an aero powerup, so I gave it a go, crossing in 8th.
Landing a steamroller powerup put me in a bit of a quandary. Should I hold onto it to ease my final effort up the dirt climb? Or ditch it in hopes of getting an aero powerup?
I decided to burn it – to literally trash it (so other riders wouldn’t see what I did). And it worked! I got 16th on the final Tidepool Sprint, well behind the riders with aero powerups. But I also landed an aero powerup myself, which I knew would be helpful in my finishing sprint, as long as I could hold onto the wheels up and over the final Mech Isle climb.
Three riders managed to get away off the front up that final climb, and I just suffered my way over it, making sure I didn’t get gapped off the back. My gamble had worked: I had survived the final climb, and had an aero in my pocket for the finish.
My plan was to surf the wheels until the final few hundred meters, and that’s what I did. I probably left it a bit late, but managed to cut through most of the group and finish 6th.
Watch the Video
Takeaways
The results from WTRL came in quicker this week, and we were stoked to see Coalition Delusion atop the leaderboard!
Just like we’d told Chris M, every point counts. Without his 159 points we would have lost to Atom Racing. That’s why you never give up in a ZRL race.
Of course, everyone on the team contributed in a big way, as you can see from our points totals above. You can’t win these sorts of races with just one or two outstanding performers. Well done, Coalition Delusion!
Personally, I was really happy with my result, as I somehow managed to be the leading points scorer for my team this week. While my average power for the race wasn’t anything impressive, 17 sprint efforts across 69 minutes of racing certainly emptied my matchbook!
I’m enjoying my ZRL races so far this year, more than I have in some past seasons. It’s fun to be in the mix, instead of just holding on for dear life until I get shelled off the back.
Lastly, kudos to T. Schippers for nailing the long breakaway, Jensie-style, and taking the overall win. It was a strategically brilliant move, and he managed to do it with a 319W (3.365 W/kg) average. Not surprisingly, he earned more FAL and FIN points than anyone else in the race (434 total).
Request: Realtime Points
This was a fun race. But it would have been so much cooler if we had real-time points results displayed in the HUD. Imagine the strategic elements that would bring into the race.
Please make it happen, Zwift!
Your Thoughts
How did your race on Fine and Sandy go this week? Share below!
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