Zwift Grand Prix Women’s Round 2 Recap

October 20, 2022

LAST UPDATED October 22, 2022

Here at Zwift Insider we’ve been reaching out to women’s Grand Prix teams, inviting them to write race recaps for each round. This week we’re featuring Wahoo Le Col, the team currently ranked 2nd overall who (as luck would have it) happened to win this round!

Here’s how each race unfolded, from the perspectives of each of the five WLC racers who took part.

Race 1: Nadia Gontova

The plan for the first race was to get as many riders into the top 30 as possible, which seemed also to be the plan for all the other teams since the first few minutes were a pretty mild pace. Even though the pace was slower than usual I could tell my legs were not quite prepared for what was to come when we hit the hills, and I focused on saving my energy.

The racing got fast going into the golden ticket sprint which fairly few riders contested, but I had to ramp up to 7/8 watts per kilo sitting in the pack. Then the race settled before hitting the first of 3 steep climbs leading to the finish. I positioned myself well near the front of the group and sagged the climb slightly to conserve some energy.

The second climb was also a full gas out-of-saddle effort and I focused on trying to maintain my position in the pack. Unfortunately as we got to the top of the climb I noticed the field splitting up the road and couldn’t get across the split before the descent. I sat in with my current group to try to maximize my points on the final climb of the race, knowing I wouldn’t make the cut for the next race. Luckily my teammates all rode the race perfectly, both conserving watts and holding good positions, and they all qualified for the second race!

Race 2: Kathrin Fuhrer

Hayley Simmons and Kirstin Kulchinsky attacked straight at the bottom of Fox Hill, but my goal for this race was to hold on to the pack as long as possible, staying comfortable being uncomfortable as long as possible. It was my only second race in the elite league of Zwift, but I knew it was going to be really hard and was ready to fight for the team. My teammates Lyndsey, Lizi, and Laura did a perfect job, trying to hold me in the pack. Unfortunately, I was not able to hold on to the leading pack over the very top of Fox Hill and obviously didn’t grab that golden ticket.

I was in position 25 with 2 other riders. On the downhill of Box Hill I was able to recover well, taking advantage of the draft of the other two. The goal for Leith hill was to catch some of the riders up the road to improve my position at the KOM/finish line and earn more points for the team.

I tried to pace the 6km climb of Leith Hill pretty steady, just above my FTP power. 13 riders were in the leading pack ahead of me chasing KK and Hayley. I was pretty much focused on what was happening behind me so I could hold the distance up to the riders behind me, so I didn’t realize that I actually caught up to the chasing group which gave me a real motivation kick again! I tried just to keep my pace up and wanted to finish strong. I finished on Leith Hill at position 20, which I am pleased with. The team effort overall was fantastic with 3 riders in top 10 and so we were ready with Lizi Brooke and Lyndsey Cassie in round 3.

Race 2: Laura Simenc

The race went easy from the start over to London center, where teammate Lyndsey Cassie said we were just riding by her real-life flat.

The first climb to Fox Hill started very early, just after 1.7 km from the start. Soon a small group formed of about 15 riders. I noticed I could hold my watts high on the steep parts even if the pace was very high, and 3 of us from Wahoo Le Col made the leading group over the first Fox hill climb.

The second climb up Leith Hill started with a long segment of not very steep climbing where I managed to hold on to the group and the pace was not extremely high. This was followed by about 6 minutes of hard steep gradient climbing to the finish line. I went hard, but held my own pace at the start, waiting to go all out until the last 2 minutes. I ended in 10th place, a few seconds behind the winner, and scored maximum points for the team.

I did not expect it would go so well for me, since I am not extremely good on the longer climbs but more of a punchy rider. So I was really happy about the outcome and happy to contribute to my awesome team.

Race 3: Lizi Brooke And Lyndsey Cassie

After hanging on for dear life on Leith Hill with Ironman fatigue still in the legs I was thrilled to even get to round 3. The course being flat and snappy would finally play to my strengths of recovering fast and being aggressive in small doses while others are still suffering. I knew I had more in the tank like a spicey micro burst session, as long as it didn’t last long!

Lyndsey and I have recently started road racing together in real life and. Coming from time trial backgrounds and having no experience in road racing (but plenty on Zwift) we’ve just used the same tactics and it always gets us into the breakaway together. It’s really bonded us into a team to know we’re always there till the end usually dictating the race.

During the last few sprints of Crit City Lyndsey was as she always is – feeling great most of the time! Our plan was to let her disappear off the front whilst the pack were still recovering. No one chased as it was directly after the last sprint when we all had fresh lactate in the legs. This is where Lyndsey can suffer the most.

Putting 20 seconds into us we are all doing as little work as possible to recover for this final sprint. Now the pain is real. 7 microbursts in, one more to go and the lactate is real. Movistar make a savage early move and there’s nothing I can do but match it in delayed motion. Too little too late! Was I disappointed? Absolutely not. I came into round 3 on survival and made it right to the end. Super proud of the team for digging in harder than ever.

What a series!