The first race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 is Tuesday, September 22, and it’s a race format we’ve never seen, on a route ZRL has never used!

That’s right: what makes this week most interesting is that it’s the first-ever Race of Truth, which is essentially a points race without drafting. This opens up lots of questions, which I’ll try to answer below. So let’s dig into the course, look at bike selection, talk strategy, and more!

Looking at the Route: Montmartre Mixer

All riders will race one lap of Paris’ Montmartre Mixer, for a total race length of 27.6km with 198m of elevation gain.

Broadly speaking, this is a rolling route full of slight descents and ascents, with back-to-back ascents of the Montmartre KOM featuring as the centerpiece:

Let’s look at how the route unfolds from a Race of Truth perspective:

• Lead-In to Lap banner @2.4 km: Collect your 250 XP bonus as you ride through the lap arch to finish the lead-in, then up the power as you head into the slight climb to the Lutece Sprint. You will have received a feather powerup in the pens, and it’s up to you to decide whether to use it before this lap arch (and thus collect the 250 XP) or save it for the climb up to the Lutece Sprint just up the road.
• Lutece Sprint @3.6km (150 meters, 3.5%): This is the first points segment of the race, and it comes after a bit of slack climbing, so you can bet riders will push hard before the segment even begins, to get into position for FAL points. You will pick up an aero powerup through the arch.
• Monceau Sprint @5.1km (300 meters, -0.1%): Use your aero powerup to maximize segment points on the fast, slightly downhill sprint. Pick up a feather powerup at the arch, which can be used on the kicker section of the tiny loop you’ll ride not long after the sprint, or hold onto it to reduce your sprint time on the upcoming Église Sprint, if you’re contesting that sprint.
• Église Sprint @8.6km (250 meters, 0%): Use your feather powerup if you want to maximize segment points. You will pick up an aero powerup through the sprint arch, which you’ll want to save for the Monceau Sprint, you need points segment. Before that, though, you’ve got some light climbing to do on your way up to the Arc de Triomphe. Up those watts to put time into your competitors!
• Monceau Sprint @12.9km (300 meters, -0.1%): Use your aero powerup to maximize (well, minimize) your sprint time, and pick up a feather powerup through this arch. You’ll definitely want to hold onto that powerup for what’s coming next!
• Montmartre KOM @15.1km (1.2km, 4.2%): The first of two times up this climb will see you with your freshest legs, so you might consider hitting it extra hard to maximize segment points. Even if you don’t go all in, you’ll want to push over threshold here, because applying the most power when you’re going the slowest is the way to turn in your fastest TT time. Pick up an anvil powerup at the arch, then use it on the descent. You might even want to sprint into a supertuck! Make sure you carry good speed into the start of the next KOM.
• Montmartre KOM @18.3km (1.2km, 4.2%): Second verse, same as the first! Again, you’ll want to increase your power on this climb, regardless of what position you’re in. But if you’re chasing FAL or FTS points, you may want to kick it up even more. Pick up an anvil powerup, and use it again on the descent, perhaps with a cheeky supertuck. Keep your speed high into the final sprint.
• Tchou Tchou Sprint @22.1km (150 meters, -0.2%): Keep hammering to keep your speed high on this slightly downhill short sprint. Pick up an aero powerup at the arch, which you’ll want to use downhill when you’re moving fastest and air resistance is highest. Remember, there is no finishing sprint for you to win… you’re just trying to turn in the fastest time!

The course ends at the lap banner you rode through at the end of the lead-in, and if everything goes as planned, you should get another 250 XP bonus at the lap banner, as long as you aren’t holding onto a powerup when you cross it.

Diving a bit deeper, the Montmartre KOM can be visualized as a 2-part climb. Click the 2D button below to see this clearly, and read the Montmartre KOM detail page for a more precise breakdown of the climb.

Read more about the Montmartre Mixer route >

Powerups

WTRL has assigned a starting powerup (feather), plus particular powerups to particular arches, as detailed above. You’ll want to use each powerup you receive before arriving at the next arch, since you can only hold one powerup at a time. Here are functional details for each powerup used in this race.

Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds.
Use at higher speeds (flats and descents). Everyone will be using this on the sprint segments, so you probably don’t stand a chance of a good result without it!

Anvil: makes you heavier for up to 15 seconds, so you can descend faster. The amount of weight added is based on a percentage of your body weight, and that percentage increases as riders get lighter. It won’t hurt you, as it only adds weight when the road is at a -1.5% decline or greater.
Use this on the Montmartre descent for an extra speed boost as you recover a bit from the KOM effort.

Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds.
Use on climbs, when weight matters the most. The first two feathers you receive should be used on short climbs you encounter before the next arch, but the third and final feather should be held and used on the Montmartre KOM.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

Although this is a non-drafting race – effectively an individual time trial – you cannot use a TT frame. WTRL says this decision was made because the time gap between un-upgraded and fully upgraded TT bikes is larger than the gap between un-upgraded and fully upgraded road bikes. And they’re right: TT bikes get ~49 seconds faster across an hour of flat riding, while road bikes get ~28 seconds faster. Bike choice here is simple, assuming you have access to everything: go aero.

So what’s the best road bike setup for an iTT points race on Montmartre Mixer?

First, a reminder that upgrading your frame makes a big difference. That ~28 seconds of time savings across an hour for road frames translates to ~6 watts. Read all about the performance improvements you receive from upgrades here.

But what works better on this course? What delivers the most points for you? Will the uphill performance of an all-arounder on the Montmartre KOM give you the advantage, or will a pure aero setup give you the edge? And how do segment points figure into your decision?

I did some test laps of the course at 4 W/kg. Here are the results:

• Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 with Princeton CarbonWorks 6560 Wheels
  • Lap time: 38:55
  • Montmartre KOM times: 3:05 and 3:02
• Cervelo S5 with Shimano DURA-ACE C99/Disc Wheels:
  • Lap time: 38:53
  • Montmartre KOM times: 3:07 and 3:04

Times are predictably close between the two setups. But if you’re targeting segment points on Montmartre, riding an all-arounder is probably the best option, since it trims ~2 seconds off the climb. But if you’re only targeting sprints and/or overall finishing position, an aero-maxed setup is the better option.

More Route Recons

Many ZRL recon rides are planned each week. If you’re unfamiliar with this course, jump into an event and familiarize yourself with the route! Find a list of upcoming ZRL recon rides at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.

Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. See those below…

Nathan Krake

Note: Nathan does a great job of outlining the various ZRL rule changes in this video, as well as discussing the new Race of Truth format. He also released a video entirely focused on this race, which I’ve included below:

Titanium Ben

J Dirom

John Rice

TacticalWatts

Strategic Options

Points Distribution: Montmartre Mixer, 1 Lap

Chart shows the maximum points a team of 5 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.

How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:

• Steady, Targeted Efforts: This is what most riders will do… or at least try to do. Like any iTT, keeping your power steady results in the fastest times. Riders will drop their power a bit on descents, and increase it as the gradients get steeper. Riders who believe they stand a chance at FAL and/or FTS will also put in extra hard efforts on the segments that suit them best. I’ve seen teams talking about “assigning roles” to riders for this race, and that’s really what this is. Strong climbers go for segment points on Montmartre, while strong sprinters target a specific sprint or three. Meanwhile, those who are just good at steady TT efforts keep it steady and chase high finish points.
• FTS and Chill: I don’t think anyone will fully embrace this strategy, but it’s interesting, so I wanted to mention it here. Normally, in points races, it doesn’t make sense to ride “easy” then go for FTS, because you’ll lose the pack draft and be unable to set a fast segment time. But this is a draftless race, which means a rider could simply spin along at zone 2, then put in all-out efforts on the points segments to earn max FTS points.
• Bagging That Sand: Lastly, sadly, there will be some riders in the B-C-D categories who watch their average power numbers closely to make sure they don’t exceed the category’s limits and get forced into a higher category. We see you, sandbaggers. And we say, “Shame, shame, shame…”
• Steering: It’s no small thing that this is the first ZRL race where steering is allowed! Steering to shorten corners can trim valuable seconds off your overall time, which is all that matters in an iTT. So riders will be steering in this event, perhaps more than any other!

Questions or Comments?

Share below!