After an easy recovery day, I was looking forward to hitting a longer, harder Zwift race for today’s effort. Scrolling through the events list, I couldn’t find a race that was exactly what I wanted – so instead I signed up for the Sydkysten/KST Race which would be held over two laps of the Greatest London Flat route.
Being on a flatter course was a good thing for me, although the Greatest London Flat route always kicks my butt when we hit the rises through the park section. Happily, this was a double draft event, which works in my favor over those rises as long as I could hold a wheel.
The only downside was that all the categories were starting together, which meant I would be starting hard and holding onto the A’s as long as possible. Not my preference, but without another race that fit my schedule, I decided to give it a go anyway. Because what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?
The Warmup
I started my race prep the same way I always do – a couple pieces of caffeine gum and some PR lotion on the legs. I was running a bit later than usual, so my Tempus Fugit warmup was only around 15 minutes long. Shorter than my usual ~30 minutes, but I tried to convince myself that, since this was a longer race, perhaps a shorter warmup would be sufficient.
(Typically longer outdoor road races don’t start very hard – they often have a lead-in/warmup section, in fact, so a shorter warmup is permissible. In contrast, short road races start harder, so a longer warmup is needed. Unfortunately, that race rule only really works outside. Zwift races always start hard!)
With just a couple minutes to go, I clicked to head for the London start pens. It had been a while since I last raced on the London map. Let’s race!
The Start
The clock hit zero, and the race started hard. I averaged 336W for the first 5 minutes and 318W for the first 11 minutes. Then someone on the front of the pack pinned it hard on the false flat as we left the Classique’s red pavement. Our pack got strung out and gaps opened up – including one directly in front of my bike!
I was dropped. Time to assess the situation.
I had two riders with me: and A named Pollizzi and a fellow B named Nero. The three of us grouped up and began working together, wondering if we could stay away from the chase group that was doubtless forming behind.
This being a double draft race, I had my doubts about our ability to stay away from the chasers. As that group grew, its speed would increase. Our group of three, on the other hand, wasn’t getting any bigger. So I kept a wary eye on the time gap to the group behind.
Sure enough, that gap began to come down steadily. That’s when I made the decision to stay off the front of our pack of three – it was just wasted energy, after all. I could destroy myself pulling our group, only to be caught 5 miles up the road by the chasers. Or I could sit in and take it (relatively) easy, and get caught 3 miles up the road. I made the easy choice.
It was interesting to watch the rider names of the chase group as they came closer. There were definitely a small number of riders on the front, putting in the work. This included one zPowered B named “R. Hutter” who was pinning it at 4.5+. It also included two A riders, and a couple of B’s who would finish near the top in the end. As they neared my small group we joked about how we were going to let Hutter sit on the front and pull us to the finish. He never replied, but based on his power numbers for the next several miles, he certainly did his best! Thank you, sir.
At mile 10, 22 minutes into the race, we were picked up by the chase group. This pack of ~12 was mostly B’s, with one C (you’re not fooling anyone, “p.coulange”!) and two A’s. At this point, I should have checked ZwiftPower’s live results to find out how many B’s were up the road – but when I had done that in a race two days earlier, the live results weren’t working, so I figured they wouldn’t be today. (Note: I was wrong!)
All that to say: I wasn’t sure what place I was racing for at this point. The front of our group was 32nd place, and I figured there were probably 20-25 A’s up the road. That left several B’s probably in that front pack. With any luck some might get dropped and picked up by us, but chances were the podium was all up the road, never to be seen again.
I stayed off the front, because I knew three things:
- We weren’t going to catch the front group, which was stuffed with A’s and strong B’s
- I didn’t have the legs to attack and stay away from a pack of ~12, especially in double draft mode with 25 miles to go
- The gentle slopes of the park section were coming up, and I would need everything I had to stay with the group over this section
The Middle
The park section of this route can really be broken down into three climbs. Calling them “climbs” is generous – they’re really just rises in the road. Yet I’m always surprised by how hard they make my races! In fact, as far as I can recall, I haven’t survived this section in any of my past races. I always get dropped by some or all of whatever group I’m in.
We hit the first rise, just out of the Underground tunnel. I stayed seated, wanting to save my out of the saddle power for when I needed it most. I tried to stay close to the front of the group, too – benefiting from the double draft (we were moving at 24 mph, even on the climb) without being so far back that I could get caught out if a gap opened up.
It worked! I finished that first climb near the front of our group. Then it was onto the next climb, the smallest of the three. I maintained a good position there, enjoyed the slight downhill, then steeled myself for the last rise – the longest and toughest.
This rise I attacked with a combination of seated and standing efforts, forcing myself not to get “lazy” by drifting back too far in the pack. Happily, our chase group didn’t have the hard-charging strength that was certainly in the front group, so I was able to hold onto the wheels without going fully into the red zone.
We exited the park, and hit the ramp up out of the Underground. This is an interesting section to race, as it always catches someone by surprise. I’ve found the best approach is to hammer hard up the climb, then keep hammering until I’m up to speed with the rest of the group.
You can’t attack it easy. And you’ve got to keep pushing even after it flattens out, otherwise you’ll get left behind.
Someone in our group caught sight of a handful of B riders 2 minutes up the road, and the chase was on! I almost felt sorry for these lonely B’s, knowing the inevitability of the catch. Sure enough, we gobbled them up mid-Classique. The front of our group was now 24th place. Were the B’s in my group now competing for a spot on the podium? I didn’t know, but I decided it was quite possible.
The Finish
The second lap was uneventful – just chugging along in the double draft, employing the same tactics over the park rises that I used to good effect on the first lap. This final lap was largely a high tempo effort for me, meaning I wasn’t on the rivet, but it also wasn’t easy. I could have pushed harder, but there was simply no reason to do so, with no riders up the road within catching distance, and no way I could stay away attacking off the front.
Soon enough, we found ourselves back on the red pavement of the Classique for the final stretch. 33 miles in, 10 riders in our pack, and probably a B podium slot up for grabs!
Did I have a strong enough sprint to beat the other B’s in our group? This race wasn’t handing out powerups, so that was a non-issue. And I had sprinted this section many times, since we use the Classique Reverse route for Sprintapalooza occasionally. I knew it was a “slow” sprint, since it was on a false flat. I also knew I could conserve a lot of energy by staying in the draft, so I tried to maintain a position 2-3 wheels from the front, until just before the sprint start line.
Then I shifted, stood up, and went all in! I didn’t even look up until I heard the sound of my rider crossing the banner. 5th place in the B’s is what the results screen said – but 1st place had averaged 4.7 w/kg, so I knew he was out. 4th place then.
But wait… what would ZwiftPower say? That is, after all, where the final results live. I knew R. Neumann, the one B who was able to hang with the front pack, was a legit B on ZwiftPower. (I had looked at the start list before the race began, and he was the highest-ranked B.)
As it turned out, 3rd place finisher “G. Slb” was on zPower, and that wasn’t allowed on the B podium for this race (a pretty common practice). So I made it onto the podium… just barely. Third place in the final results, and second place Nero beat me out by 1/100th of a second. Well done Neumann and Nero!
See my activity on Strava >
See my activity on Zwift >
See race results on ZwiftPower >
Rider Types and Race Selection
Race winner Richard Neumann is an Austrian who rides for Kirchmair e-Cycling and appears to be perfectly suited for just this sort of race. He’s a bigger rider (89 kg) with massive 20-minute power that puts him right at the top of the B category, just under 4 w/kg.
That means he can sit in with A riders on a flat course and not even be fussed about having a weaker sprint, since he has no B’s left to sprint against by the time the race ends. Which is exactly what he did today. Smart race choice, sir!
Takeaways
My big takeaway from this race is it ain’t over ’til it’s over. Typically my mindset is, “If I get dropped from the front group, my shot at a podium is gone.” And that’s generally true, if you’re in a race where the categories are split up! But in a combined race like today’s, you may very well be racing for one or more B (or C, or D) podium spots from the chase group, as riders up ahead may eventually drop back to your group, or get DQ’d on ZwiftPower for various reasons.
So race smart from the chase group. That may mean pushing the pace on the front to help catch your competition up the road. It may mean sitting in and conserving energy, because there’s no way your group will catch anyone from your category. It may also mean attacking hard to drop some of your competition from the chase group, so you have a better chance at a high result.
Your Comments
What’s the best race result you’ve ever had from the chase group? Share your experience below!
I’m curious since you mentioned the rises on this course – do you lower the ‘trainer difficulty’ setting when you race, or do you leave it at 100pct? I know lowering the ‘difficulty’ doesn’t actually make you faster, but I wonder if it makes a difference if you ‘feel’ the rises less
I generally ride with TD around 30%. That’s where it was for this race.
it has been always my doubt !!!!
Hi Eric,
was an interesting Workout/Race. Unfortunately I am not so well prepared as you so I did a sprint at the end and was shorly disappointed because I lost it very close. In a second moment I realised that I won the race. So my lessons leared: Prepare better! Congrats also from my side for the Podium!
I don’t race but love reading your write-ups. Great job.
Hey Eric, as usual, great race perspective! I find that anything can happen in a longer race. Some days you feel like crap and you end up doing well. Longer races have less variables i find, If you ride smartly, you can eliminate bad choices as you do. I know I can ride hard in a short A race up to 24km but longer A races are telling so I go to B for 30km and longer. I tell my friends you have to go all in at the gun or you’ll be dropped presto. Then you have to settle in with a good , manageable group and start picking people off one at a time. Zwift requires a certain finesse that you don’t have outside. It’s taken a few years to figure out the nuances, but regular, disciplined training are same in or outside to see any success. The Hero side of me often says go for it , while the more reasonable side says ‘tranquillo ‘ and wait for that moment. I also vocally try to unionize the group around me to work together to maintain gaps and to pursue groups ahead. Fliers rarely win as in real life so no point in blasting out with 30kms to go. I’ve learned some good points from your race recaps so thank you! Keep up the good work! Hope to see you Saturday at the OCA series. There are so many new rules it may may worth it to visit the OCA site itself.
Another great “How the race was…” entry. I should be an expert on getting dropped, given how frequently it happens to me, but I learned a lot reading through your thinking here. Thanks!
3rd place finisher “G. Slb” was on zPower, and that wasn’t allowed on the B podium for this race (a pretty common practice)
not sure what you mean…did you intend to say “was not on zpower”
zpower – estimated power using a dumb trainer
zwiftpower – racing leader boards
zPower is what Zwifters call Zwift’s “Virtual Power” numbers generated by users on dumb trainers with speed sensors. They’re notorious for reading high, so many races don’t allow zPower riders onto the podium. Only filtered out by ZwiftPower, of course… Zwift lets them do whatever they’d like!
Awww, thanks for clarifying. Loving your race summary blogs. I really need to start racing instead of reading about it.
Another good race write-up. Pretty much how I saw it also. I was hoping the group would split at the start, that was a strong pace. Last minute sign up from me, so I had to check zwiftpower ‘live’ after it had all settled down after the split, hoping the front group wasn’t full of strong, legitimate Bs. Only a couple escaping, of which we caught one. The other guy was strong. As you say, perfect terrain for him. Well done to all.
I should have checked ZP live partway through the race. Would have been good to know the B situation up the road!
Great, informative write-up and insights. I’m learning a lot, quicker than I would if all I had to rely on was my own failures. You nicely explained how I managed to win my first B race this weekend, being a bigger B rider and the only legit B who managed to stick with the A’s in a combined category race. I ended up winning by almost 4 mins despite being dropped by the front group in the final 2km. Keep up the great work!
The best I’ve done after getting dropped is a 3rd place in a women’s Crit City race in A. Did two of those in a row, and on the second time, I didn’t start hard enough and realized I was stuck behind an unsprintable gap already 500 m or so from start, and decided to basically ITT it to the finish from there if needed, come what may.
The front group was maybe 20–25 riders at that point but it kept shedding riders constantly throughout the race so that towards the end there were so few riders left that they couldn’t keep up the pace so we caught them with one lap to go. No legs for a final sprint after that, but the other chasers were toast by the rollercoaster section, so I rolled comfortably to a 3rd-place finish.
In my experience this is not all that unusual in women’s races even IRL, the groups can get pretty small and often nobody in the front group wants to take the lead so the speed differential can work in the chasers’ favor.
Nice summary and a good read. Its hard psychologically when splits occur in a race but as you have shown some reassessment and smart tactics mid race and knowing the parts of the course that suit and those that don’t can still result in an unexpected podium and keeps bringing you back for more.
Eric, when racing do run two separate screens- one for Zwift, and one for Zwiftpower? I didn’t know that you could see placings live. I haven’t raced in a while, but reading your entry’s are giving me the itch again.
Great writeup again Eric. Me being a bottom B rider a podium is out of the question. Lately, I always start moderate, not trying to hang on with any front group because I will totally blow up eventually. Once settled in a chase group my goal shifts to being nr 1 in that chase group.
That makes for a good race experience although it would be really nice if Zwift would break up the race cats into smaller groups. Bottom and top cat B is a world of difference imo.
Always fun to read… thanks for all your great work here. I have a question regarding w/kg and reported power. In the images seen, the relationship between w/kg and power isn’t constant. Is this due to power being a rolling average and w/kg instantaneous, or is something else at play here? Thanks!
Yes. I do 3s averaging for my power, but w/kg is always instant. So the numbers don’t match.