After the recent few winter months of riding on Zwift, one great way to test the fitness is through an FTP test. Watch as one Zwifter tackles a ramp test!
We’ve also chosen videos covering indoor cycling news, the discontinuation of the Zwift Hub One, a newer category B rider’s race recap, and a race recon.
Ramp Test Number One, First of More to Follow!
After a couple of years of not having done an FTP test, Linda Messinger, Zwifting with Granny, decides to do a Ramp Test on Zwift. Watch as she tackles the dreaded FTP test. Note: Hit the subscribe button to help her get to 1000 subscribers!
Indoor Cycling News
Shane Miller, GPLama, gives an update on all of the latest indoor cycling news. This includes a range of topics like the UCI’s introduction of smart trainer testing, the new Wahoo Kickr Core One, a recent Zwift game release, and more.
Were We Duped By Zwift? The Hub One Has Been Discontinued!
Following the discontinuation of the Zwift Hub One, lots of Zwifters were left frustrated, questioning whether their purchase was right. Team Saunders shares their thoughts on the situation and shares their story with the Zwift Hub One.
Zwift Racing in Category B – What is possible for the new guy?
As a newer category B rider, Georg attempts a category B race as part of Zwift’s Race Like a Champ series. Can he hold onto the lead group?
Zwift Loop de Loop New Route Recon
Get a preview of the Zwift Games Loop de Loop course from none other than Erik, Don’t Get Dropped Cycling. This is one of the courses that will be used in the upcoming Zwift Games.
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In the Drops Episode 40: Guest Eric Schlange from Zwift Insider
Episode 40 of In The Drops saw the return of the OG team, including Andrew ‘The Paceline’ Hudson and featured special guest, Mr Zwift Insider himself, Eric Schlange!
We looked in awe at Eric’s beautiful new bike, and heard about his visit to Eric Min’s home and what he learned about the future of Zwift. We admire the Gold Trons, both real and virtual. We discuss the new routes coming in and all the fun surrounding Zwift Games. Nathan takes over the Inside Line as he’s surprised by the appearance of a volcano in the middle of a TTT. There are velodromes and white outlines, the possibility of Zwiftin’ Cider and Lance being Lance. The show crescendos with Eric’s wish list of 5 things to improve Zwift!
Don’t miss the quiz, where we find out if anyone knows more about Zwift than Eric…
Speed Tests: Rubberbanding (Keep Everyone Together) Mode in Zwift Meetups
UPDATE: Zwift greatly improved their banding algorithm after this post was published. To see current “keep together” test results, read the updated post.
How does Zwift’s “Keep Everyone Together” logic work? I’m not entirely sure, but after publishing speed test results for rubberbanded Club events many Zwifters said “Keep Everyone Together” mode behaves differently in Meetups than Club events!
That seemed goofy to me… why would Zwift have two different Keep Together algorithms? I knew I had to run some tests to see if the rumors were true.
In addition to seeing if rubberbanding behaves differently in Meetups than in Club events, these tests were also done to answer the question do rubberbanded speeds in Meetups make sense? Or are they too slow, too fast, or some strange mix of both?
The riders in these tests were 75kg in weight, 183cm tall, and rode Zwift Carbon bikes with 32mm carbon wheels. I timed the riders on the Fuego Flats Reverse segment since it’s flat and long enough to get a stable speed reading.
Test 1: A Pair of Bots
This first round of tests used just two riders in a Meetup event with “Keep Everyone Together” mode enabled. Here are each rider’s power outputs, segment times, and average speeds.
Rider 1
Rider 2
Time
Speed (kph)
300W
300W
10:19
41.06
300W
225W
10:55
38.8
300W
150W
10:56
38.74
300W
75W
10:56
38.74
300W
10W
10:56
38.74
225W
225W
11:42
36.2
225W
150W
12:09
34.86
225W
75W
12:09
34.86
150W
150W
12:37
33.57
150W
75W
14:10
29.9
Observations
The first thing that stands out here is how much faster the riders moved compared to a banded Club event. Here’s a comparison table:
Solo Rider
Banded Meetup (2 Riders)
Banded Club Event (2 Riders)
Club Event (4 Riders)
300W
40.23 kph
41.06 kph
32.58 kph
40.19kph
225W
35.95 kph
36.2 kph
28.72 kph
150W
30.81 kph
33.57 kph
26.12 kph
Looking at these comparisons, it’s clear that the riders in the banded Club events were moving much too slowly, while the banded Meetup is pretty close to accurate. (Two riders holding 300W in a banded Meetup are just slightly faster than a standard event with 4 riders holding 300W.)
So something is clearly different with Zwift’s “Keep Everyone Together” algorithm for Meetups vs Club Events. Interestingly, though, both types of events share the same odd behavior when it comes to having a “strong” rider pulling a “weaker” rider. The results above, just like the Club event results, show that times don’t change as the weaker rider’s power decreases.
That is, when Rider 1 is holding 300W and Rider 2 is holding 225W, they’re traveling at the same speed as when Rider 1 holds 300W and Rider 2 holds 75W. That’s strange. Shouldn’t groups travel significantly faster if the group’s average power increases significantly?
Test 2: Solo Rider
Next, I wanted to test if a solo rider in a rubberbanded Meetup still traveled as slowly as the paired riders above. So I created a Meetup with “Keep Everyone Together” enabled, but only had one rider join. Here are the results:
Rider 1
Time
Speed (kph)
1000W
60
300W
10:56
38.74
225W
12:09
34.86
150W
14:09
29.94
Observations
First, notice that the times for the solo riders matched the times when we paired up two riders, but one was doing less power than the other (see Test 1 above). That’s certainly not a coincidence. And it actually matches what would happen outside! That is, you would travel at the same speed riding alone at 300W as you would if you held 300W but had a weaker rider sitting on your wheel.
Secondly, notice that the solo rider times in this test are slower than solo rider times when in free ride mode. They’re not nearly as far off as my solo rider tests in banded Club events, but they’re still off.
The 1000W test is also interesting since it’s sort of a “max speed” test that shows if banded Meetups have high speeds impacted. In rubberbanded Meetup mode the rider reached 60kph, while in free ride mode the same rider holding 1000W reaches around 62kph. Again, much closer than the banded Club ride (where the 1000W rider could only hit 47kph). But still not quite the same speed as a free ride.
Concluding Thoughts
These test results clearly show that “Keep Everyone Together” mode in Meetups behaves very differently from “Keep Everyone Together” mode in Clubs. Specifically, banded Meetups are markedly faster than banded Club events.
And that’s weird, right? I can’t think of any reason why Zwift would want to run two different versions of “Keep Everyone Together.”
Do banded Meetup speeds make sense? Or do they feel too fast, or too slow? My hunch is they may feel pretty accurate for medium and high-strength riders, since pack speeds in these limited tests are mostly aligned with the power being done by the stronger rider. For that reason, speeds may feel a bit fast for low-powered riders, since they’re effectively being pulled along at the strong rider’s speed, even if they’re putting out next to zero power.
Nobody will be breaking land speed records with the current algorithm like they did with the buggy one in years past, but for sure a rider who can only hold 100W is going to set a lot of Strava PRs if they jump into a banded Meetup with riders who can hold 300W!
Because of this, perhaps Zwift should consider tagging banded activities as “gamified” when posting to Strava, so the activities don’t show up on leaderboards or count for PRs. What do you think?
Coming Up Next
I’ll be testing speeds in a group workout to see if the algorithm that keeps riders together in these events matches up with either the Meetup or Clubs “Keep Everyone Together” algorithm. For science!
Also, we’re working on banded Meetup and Club event tests on Alpe du Zwift, to see how rubberbanding behaves on long climbs. Stay tuned!
All About the Iceni Women’s Series Races Beginning March 5, 2024
The Iceni Women’s Series is back! This popular women-only race series is celebrating Women’s History Month with a racing challenge each Tuesday in March. Powerhouses and strategists from category A through D are invited! See all the details below…
About the Name
In case you don’t remember your Roman history, the Iceni tribe was ‘peacefully annexed’ by the Roman Empire at some point before 47 AD, though it was allowed some autonomy. When the King of the Iceni tribe died and Boudicca I became High Queen of Iceni, the Roman Empire saw her unfit to rule and invaded the region. Iceni then led a revolt against the Roman Empire and regained its independence, along with the independence of several other tribes.
This led to the subsequent formation of the Comhairle, an alliance of the British tribes. Iceni had a major say in Comhairle affairs and became an important center of trade, military, and leadership. A prime example of women pulling society together, right?
Categories and Registration
This series uses standard A-D women’s categories, and category enforcement will be used. Categories will start and race separately.
Each week features two different league times, which change slightly throughout the month due to daylight savings time. You will want to race the same league time each week if you are competing for the overall series win.
This year there are four distinct challenges over the month, with each week being a challenge in itself as riders look to maximize their series points.
This is one of the first major races on Sugar Cookie, a new route released by Zwift in October 2023, and the points in this race are tricky! The first sprint is FAL, but the second and third are FTS – so while the first sprint could encourage breakaways, the pack speed will be undeniably an advantage in the second and third sprints. To finish it off, the fourth and final segment will be FAL followed by 15km more of racing for finish points, including a short, steep climb around 20 km. Sprinters might have a chance to bag major FTS and FAL points, but will have a hard time with the 900 meter climb and furious racing after the segments are done. Prepare your strategies well for this one!
Intermediate Points :
Stoneway Sprint: top 10 First Across the Line (FAL)
Acropolis Sprint: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Sasquatch Sprint: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Woodland Sprint: top 10 First Across the Line (FAL)
Finishing Points: 75 – 1 points depending on your finishing position in your category.
Week 2 (March 12) 3 Mini races
Ready for some sprint-climb time? In this challenge, we’re adding a twist by featuring three short races for racers’ enjoyment. Be sure to choose bike equipment wisely, as drafting is disabled in the first two races.
Race 1 (18:00 & 23:30 UTC)Tick Tock (custom length, 2.3 km/1.42 miles) Drafting disabled. Finish points only – fast, flat racing for those with the ability to produce the highest watts
Race 2 (18:10 & 23:40 UTC) Bell Lap (4 laps – 7.9 km/4.9 miles) FTS points on each lap at the prime as well as finish points – racers will need to choose their strategy for this mini race carefully, as the segment points are fastest through, but the draft is still OFF for this race!
Race 3 (18:35 & 24:05 UTC)Cobbled Climbs (1 lap, 9.5km/5.9 miles) Drafting enabled. Finish points and segment points: FAL for Libby Hill, followed by FTS for 23rd Street. This is tricky, because the longer Libby Hill climb is immediately followed by 23rd Street, but those off the front after Libby Hill won’t benefit from that gap when trying to compete for FTS within a km!
Finishing Points: 50 – 1 points depending on your finishing position in your category on each mini race.
We are off to Yorkshire for week 3 with 2 QOMs and one sprint segment in play. Again, racers will have to think about their strategy for this course, as only FTS is up for grabs on the first sprint (right out of the gates, where everyone will have fresh legs), and then the Yorkshire QOM and Yorkshire Reverse QOM come within 5km of each other. Racers will likely target one or the other QOM. However, your strategy for this course might have to be dictated by the powerups that you get – with the anvil and the feather in the mix, each racer will have to adjust on the fly to get the most out of them.
Intermediate Points :
Yorkshire Sprint Reverse: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Yorkshire QOM: top 10 First Across the Line (FAL)
Yorkshire QOM Reverse: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Finishing Points: 75 – 1 points depending on your finishing position in your category.
The last challenge of the series takes us to France, where riders, once again, will need to focus on their strategy to score the most points. Two sprints and two QOM’s are in play, all in the back half of the race, with the first up being a FAL sprint! (Breakaway, anyone?) But if you miss the FAL points there, you’ll have a good chance at FTS only a few kms later on the Aqueduct with a bigger group. So what will you go for? FAL, or FTS?
Intermediate Points:
Pave Sprint Reverse: top 10 First Across the Line (FAL)
Aqueduct QOM: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Petit QOM: 75 – 1 points First Across the Line (FAL)
Marina Sprint Reverse: top 10 Fastest Through Segment (FTS)
Finishing Points: 75 – 1 points depending on your finishing position in your category.
Final Results
The winner of the series is the rider who has accumulated the most points in their category, in their league. Each time slot has its own league.
If you’ve been following this week’s Zwift Academy Final series from Eurosport, you know it’s been filled with highs and lows, thrills and spills, triumph and disappointment! Today, with the release of the final episode, the winners have been announced.
Congratulations to Maddie Le Roux (South Africa) and Louis Kitzki (Germany), winners of Zwift Academy 2023!
Maddie Le RouxLouis Kitzki
Full Press Release from Zwift
For the eighth year, the Zwift Academy talent identification and training program, in partnership with Alpecin-Deceuninck and CANYON//SRAM, has awarded professional contracts to two athletes who distinguished themselves above all others. South Africa’s Maddie Le Roux will join CANYON//SRAM Generation and Germany’s Louis Kitzki will join the Alpecin-Deceuninck Development Team. These two talented riders will add their names to a glittering list of Zwift Academy alumni, including Neve Bradbury and Jay Vine.
Maddie and Louis set themselves apart from more than 108,000 Zwifters who participated in the 2023 Zwift Academy. They were among the finalists – three women and three men – who were invited to their respective team camps for finals in Denia.
At the finals, all the finalists participated in challenges and races on the road as well as a Zwift race, met with coaches and team staff as well as joined the group rides with athletes from their potential future teams. Maddie distinguished herself by having strong power numbers and high-level race experience. Viewing this as her last opportunity to take her cycling career to the next level, Maddie approached each challenge with intense focus and a calm demeanor.
Adam Szabó, Team Director at CANYON//SRAM Generation says: “Maddie excelled in many of the challenges but where she stood out from all the finalists was supporting her designated leaders during the Zwift race. This moment was a turning point in the week, and we were sure this was what we were looking for in our team. We’re excited to welcome her to the team.”
“I’m excited to finally be able to share the news, it still feels unbelievable, to be honest, but I’m sure it’ll sink in soon,” said winner Maddie Le Roux. “It’s been a whirlwind since coming back from finals, but I am looking forward to joining the team in Europe and getting the season started.”
Louis impressed the coaching staff at finals with his raw talent, ambition and determination showcasing a huge amount of development potential. The youngest of the ZA Finalists, Louis took advantage of his exposure to the team’s coaches and the innovative talent identification opportunity Zwift Academy presents.
Kristof de Kegel, Performance Manager at Alpecin-Deceuninck says: “This edition, the finalists were the closest ever to compare on a physical level. Louis has the combination of a young age with the belief and awareness that his ‘weak points’ are only working points, which gave him the advantage over the other finalists. All three had massive physical capacities but Louis in our opinion the most workable profile in the long term.”
“The Zwift Academy Finals was such a unique experience riding with the team and getting to spend that time with the coaches, it is such a great way to really test if you can handle the professional cycling lifestyle,” said winner Louis Kitzki. “I am so excited to join the Alpecin-Deceuninck development team for the coming season, to learn from some of the world’s best cyclists, and hopefully follow in Luca’s footsteps!”
Maddie and Louis have been settling into their new teams since January. They’ve been enjoying riding on their specially designed Zwift Academy Canyon Aeroad and are looking forward to representing their new teams at the early season races.
How did you get into cycling? For my 27th birthday (I’ll be 29 in 2024), I wanted to make changes in my life to make it more… healthy after almost a decade of professional couch potatoing! My brother gifted me a smart bike as I always liked to ride a bike as a child. As riding near a big city alone can be quite dangerous with no experience, hence the direct entry to the Zwift world. In fact, I began road cycling a few months after! Quite a unique way into the cycling world.
How many years have you been racing on Zwift? I really began Zwift races a year ago.
Are you part of a virtual team? I am part of Foudre since the beginning and I also began to ride with Hexagone’s Women’s team a few weeks ago to learn the highest level of women’s Zwift racing.
What do you love most about racing? I love to lose myself in a race. When nothing else matters… I feel my body and my mind in a way that I can’t describe, they are there more than ever and also, it is like I am not myself anymore. And then, if I succeed to win the race, it is just a rainbow of very strong emotions. I love it! I also like to speak with the other racers/teammates in Strava/WhatsApp. I think we really push each other to become stronger and everyone is always very nice. I really like the spirit in Zwift, especially between women. We really root for each other.
What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)? I like scratch and points races on flat/hilly races! I like to show my raw power. I don’t really like individual TT and mountain races as steady power is not really my cup of tea. I think I’d like to do more TTT as the common effort and the strategy needed is really interesting.
What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series? I really liked the Zwift Women Racing series that occurred this past Spring/Summer. The Tour de Boudicca in the beginning of January was also great as doing 3 nights of racing in a row is not so common! The third one is the French FFC championships, we unfortunately have a very small crowd at the highest level of French women Zwift racing but I must tell you that the women that are there are world-class! The common point between those women’s series is that the field is very strong and it makes me want to work harder and become better.
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? When I won a sprint in the Boudicca series by 0.05s after a very bad launch! It was quite epic, especially with the broadcast comments behind! Also, even though I don’t go very often to « outside » races, a girl recognized me from Zwift as she saw broadcasts and my results. It was a real surprise, I felt like a star.
What is your favourite food to eat post race? Guacamole and waffles filled with chocolate.
What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race? Do not forget to buy a heart rate monitor. The beginning of a race is almost always very fast so brace yourself! Do not forget to warm up and fuel yourself. Even if it is a « short » effort (compared to outside races), you will need water and carbs! More importantly, to not hesitate to talk to the other women and ask questions! You can also join a team to share your pain… hmmmm… experience.
It’s the first L’Etape weekend of 2024, and hundreds of riders are already signed up for the big Main Stage event. Additionally, we’ve picked an eclectic mix of weekend events: a tough group ride, a women-only group ride, and two rides for a good cause.
The L’Etape du Tour de France series just launched this week, and the non-categorized races are proving very popular! This weekend is the first “Main Stage” L’Etape event, and competitors will take on a lap of Big Foot Hills (69.9 km/43.4 miles, 707 m/2,320′).
The Uber Pretzel (128.3 km, 2335m) is arguably Zwift’s toughest route, so if you want to grab this coveted route badge, doing it in a large group is a big help! The good folks at ENJOYYOURBIKE are hosting such a ride on Saturday, and there’s even a Discord channel to help pass the time.
Ladies, if you’re looking for a women-only group ride, this may be just the ticket. It’s the last ride in the “Tour de Her Spirit”, and it’s an open-paced 90-minute event on London 8 Reverse. Finish the event to unlock the colorful Her Spirit kit!
✅ Big Name Leaders ✅ Good Cause ✅ Beginner-Friendly
Join Tour de France stage winners Andre Greipel and Marcus Burghardt on a ride held “to set a sign of peace and international understanding in Europe and the world.” The ride’s stated pace is 2.2-2.5 W/kg, on the Makuri 40 route for 60 minutes.
Popular Canadian cyclist Kris Yip passed away suddenly in January, and this event is being held to celebrate “Kris’s legacy of kindness, sportsmanship, and inclusivity.”
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
Is it for a good cause?
Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!
The finals for Zwift Academy 2023 have just finished, and Zwift partnered with Eurosport to bring you a series of four episodes documenting the finals process.
Today the final episode premiered, in which we find out who won the competition. Watch it below:
We begin in Denia, Spain, where the men are paired up with pro riders for some VO2 intervals near the start of a 5-hour ride. Then near the end of the ride, they’re asked to do it again, with an all-out 4-minute effort! Ouch.
The coaches compare each rider’s 4-minute power numbers from a couple of days earlier:
Mattia
Anton
Louis
Day 1
7.22 W/kg
7.5 W/kg
7.15 W/kg
Day 4
7.41 W/kg
7.87 W/kg
7.44 W/kg
The coaches meet with each of the three men’s finalists to let them know their final decision. And the winner? Let’s just say it’s a happy birthday for him!
On to the women, who take on a ride just under 100km where they are tested in their various skills and endurance. And they end with a 5.2km time trial, where the coaches tell them they’re simply looking for the fastest rider!
Katy
Laura
Maddie
TT Time
11:11:20
11:23:59
10:53:10
The coaches meet with each of the three women’s finalists to share their final decision. But you’ll need to watch the video to learn who it is!
Wahoo Releases KICKR v6 and KICKR MOVE Firmware Update: Virtual Shifting + Race Mode Over BLE
Wahoo just released firmware updates for the KICKR v6 and KICKR MOVE, bringing two new Zwift-specific features to their flagship smart trainers: virtual shifting and race mode over Bluetooth!
With virtual shifting, your chain doesn’t move between different rear cassette cogs when you shift. Instead, when you click to shift using your Zwift Click or Play Controllers, the resistance on your trainer changes so it feels like you’ve changed cogs.
This is how smart bikes like the Wahoo KICKR Bike, Tacx Neo Bike, and Stages SB20 have worked for years (although they use their own shifters, not Zwift’s). Today’s update adds virtual shifting to the KICKR v6 and KICKR MOVE, bringing the list of smart trainers supporting Zwift virtual shifting to four:
Zwift Hub
KICKR Core
KICKR v6
KICKR Move
You don’t need the Zwift Cog on your trainer to enjoy virtual shifting. In fact, we would argue that virtual shifting is smoother and quieter with a standard cassette! All you need is a Zwift Click or Play Controllers and your updated KICKR trainer on Zwift.
Keep in mind that you won’t get virtual shifting capabilities if you pair your KICKR via ANT+. It must be paired via Bluetooth directly on your device, via the Companion app, or via your local network.
Race Mode on Bluetooth
Race Mode sends power data to Zwift 10x per second (10Hz), instead of the default of once per second (1Hz). This increased responsiveness can be advantageous in races.
Before today’s firmware update, Race Mode was only available if you connected your KICKR via WiFi or the Direct Connect adapter. Now, as long as you’re connected via Bluetooth, Race Mode will be available.
Updating KICKR Firmware
Installing new firmware is easy using the Wahoo app (available for iOS and Android). Just add your KICKR to your list of sensors if you haven’t already, then click it for details. Tap “Update Firmware” and follow the instructions:
What About Older KICKR Trainers?
Wahoo has said they’ll be releasing virtual shifting for KICKR v4 and v5, but we haven’t seen any hard release dates yet. Stay tuned!
