The Final Touches
For a race starting and finishing in my own kitchen, there were a lot of nervous final preparations to be made for the UCI Esport World Championships. My last training pushes were made on the weekend, putting the final touches on the good bundle of form I knew I had. I had my best performance of the season in the previous week’s Zwift Racing League TTT in terms of power (6.1 w/kg Normalized Power for 35 minutes) and our Finesse Wahoo team placed in the top 5 worldwide for the event including Premier League teams. That coupled with some good performances on the Worlds course in practice events gave me confidence leading in. All that was left was a collection of “little things” that had to be in order for the big day.
I took a rest day on Monday and an easy spin with some brief intensity on Tuesday to ensure I had fresh legs for what would inevitably be razor sharp racing. I was careful with my diet for the Tuesday weigh-in video to be submitted to the UCI within 24 hours of the start. There were technical setup details too: I purchased a USB extender cable to run my ant+ dongle right next to the provided Tacx Neo 2T trainer for optimal transmission and lower likelihood of ANT+ dropouts. Also, given that the Neo measures power output at the cassette, I had a new chain installed and carefully applied wax lube prior to minimize power loss (this actually saved me around 2% on dual recorded power).
From a performance standpoint there were some unique preparation aspects as well. With a 6:45 am PST start, I forced myself into bed earlier and earlier in the week leading up to try to reset my body clock for the earliest race of my career. Finally, I worked out exactly what breakfast, caffeine intake and fuelling would look like by racing a couple early morning practice events in the weeks prior.
The Plan
We had our final Team Canada meeting the afternoon before the event and laid out our plan for victory using our resources optimally. As it should be at an event of this level, it was all in for a podium result, not for a collection of individual placements. Our best chances for a result on the 80 second power climb to the finish were with strongmen-sprinters Pierre Andre Cote and Matteo Dal Cin. Those two also have great overall fitness and their odds to win would be highest if we could make the race hard and force other more pure sprinters to respond to attacks and chaos in the closing kilometres.
To accomplish this, we would deploy our more “diesel engine” riders (Charles Etienne Chretien, Lionel Sanders, and myself) to make coordinated pushes at pinch points on the final lap.
Go time
I didn’t expect the momentous, almost euphoric feeling that rushed over me as we took off from the starting pen. This was a real, big-time event in 2020 and I was there at the fore with the best in the world. It felt like the devastating misadventures of dozens of canceled races had come to an end and I had found my way back home.
But by the time we hit the first climb up the Reverse KOM it was all business. I actually flirted with disaster at that point, overenthusiastically pulling up on my pedals on the steepest section and unclipping for a moment. Luckily I had the reaction time and legs to rectify that and get back into the rhythm of the race.
It wasn’t a terribly hard rhythm through the first half but it was intense in its own way. The pack felt it was on a wire pulled to maximum tension, everyone jostling for position and waiting for the explosion to come. Zwift racing can create that feeling in a unique way, with every racer knowing one misstep, one wasted match can have them off the back and out of the race for good. In real life racing you can attack, get caught, dangle off the back and even into the caravan and make it back during a lull but everyone knew that wasn’t an option here.
The first real physical test was the Forward KOM after about 20km which required a stiff pace of 7.5-8.5 w/kg all the way up as riders fought to control position. After that it was back to the unnerving tension. I was counting down the kilometers until the Reverse KOM and our first coordinated team effort of the day.
Unloading
In the false flat final km of the Reverse KOM the wire began to fray and the tension turned into action. First, I followed a move from Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts which flowed naturally into our full team attack up and over the top. The object here was to put the pack under pressure and open up the race even if a defining split was unlikely.
The race returned to a moment of calm through the tunnels on Ocean Boulevard and then the action was on again as Belgium forced the pace on the ramp up and through the dirt sections. As a team we were at the front and mixing in the moves but ultimately holding back for our final foray of the day.
On this Worlds course the last 5km are unique in that you have the chance to deploy 3 powerups in close succession: taking one into the sprint banner, earning a new one and using it through the Esses and then gathering one more at the start/finish line before the final climb. Our plan was to use our 3 non-sprinters to do a team attack through this section, burn through powerups and potentially pry open a gap. Even if we failed in that we would at the very least create chaos in the bunch and let Matteo and Pierre follow wheels.
I had great legs at that point and when we opened up we created a gap immediately. I pressed hard over the first rise into the Esses and used my teammate Charles as a slingshot to gain more of an advantage. Unfortunately, Lionel was tired from a huge triathlon effort on the weekend and couldn’t quite stay on my wheel and our tactic lost steam.
I still pushed on, knowing this was the time to press the pace and make an impact on the race for the team. The strung out pack brought it back just before the start/finish but now the race was a bloc as we had intended.
The pack briefly lulled through downtown Watopia and I knew I had one more good effort in me. Our DS told me to hit it again, so I punched the pedals and got some daylight.
Denmark launched their train early to bring it back with just over a km to go and my job was done. The pace was furious and the pack disappeared up the road. I listened intently for the results as I clamored up to the line.
Matteo narrowly missed the podium and ended up in an excellent 7th. We had played our hand the best we could and I think everyone was happy with the result. In a hesitant race we put ourselves on the front foot and got the most out of every rider. You can’t ask for more than that and I couldn’t have asked for a better day to finish my 2020 season.
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