Important note: we discuss Segment Battle Points several times in this post, but WTRL just announced yesterday (Monday) that SBP will not be used until race 3.

The first race of Zwift Racing League 2022/23 Round 3 happens Tuesday, January 10th. And it’s a doozy!

The Chain Chomper in Makuri Islands features tough back-to-back KOM climbs, and we’ll be hitting those climbs twice. Additionally, Segment Battle Points have been introduced for this race, adding a layer of complexity and effort to what was already a grueling and strategic race.

Let’s dig into the race, including an intro to Segment Battle Points plus tips for bike choice, powerups, strategy, and crucial segments.

Introducing Segment Battle Points

WTRL is introducing a new way of earning points this round, and it’s big news for ZRL racers! Segment Battle Points (SBP) are designed to keep everyone pushing hard on the intermediate sprint and KOM segments, no matter where you’re at in the race.

SBP works like this: your team members are ranked 1-6 using a secret algorithm from WTRL. This happens for all other teams as well, so all the #1 riders are in an SBP group, all the #2 riders in another, etc. You compete against the riders in your group to be first across the line and earn points on each segment.

To take a deep dive into Segment Battle Points, read All About ZRLS’s New Segment Battle Points.

Looking at the Route: Makuri Islands’ Chain Chomper

The distance math on this race is a bit challenging, but we’ll spell it out for you:

• The Chain Chomper route is 13.6km long
• It also begins with a 2.3km lead-in
• WTRL says the custom race distance is 23.3km
• This places the race finish 23.3-(13.6+2.3)=7.4km into the second lap, or right at the top of the second Temple KOM Reverse. The KOM banner is your finish line.

All categories will be racing the same route, for a total elevation of around 368 meters.

We’ll be contesting two KOMs and a sprint segment for points, hitting each one twice over the course of the race for a total of six segments. These segments are shown in the profile below:

You’ll begin with a slightly downhill lead-in to the Country Sprint Reverse. It will be hard for attacks to get away early on the lead-in with pack speeds high, but watch for riders with fresh legs to hit the sprint well before the start line in a bid for big FTS/FAL points.

Country Sprint Reverse

We hit the Country Sprint Reverse twice: once on the lead-in, and again at the end of the first lap. The segment is only 150m long, and has a slightly downhill lead-in, so it’s going to be fast! Expect attacks well before the start line.

Castle KOM

This 2.5km climb begins not long after the Country Sprint Reverse ends. It’s actually more of a two-part climb, with ~1.1 km of flat roads mixed in. Riders usually don’t get dropped on the first climb (across the bridge and twisting up through the village). Then you have a flat bit, and the real work begins as you climb to the castle. This is where the pack will stretch and snap!

Temple KOM Reverse

You won’t have much time or flat ground for catching your breath after the Castle KOM before the road takes you outside the castle walls and you hang a left onto the dirt Temple KOM Reverse.

The Temple KOM Reverse isn’t raced much compared to the Temple KOM. It’s shorter in this direction (1.9km vs 2.5km) and just a bit less steep (3.5% vs 3.6%). It’s a fairly steady climb that turns to a false flat in the final ~600 meters. Does it make sense to swap bikes for this dirt climb? See the “Bike Frame + Wheel Choice” section below…

Descend the dirt path from the top of the Temple KOM and hit the pavement to ride through the Fishing Village and descend through Village Onsen and back to the Country Sprint Reverse to begin your second (partial) lap.

This lap will end atop the Temple KOM Reverse, meaning the second Temple KOM Reverse climb awards both top finishing points and FAL points to the first riders across the line!

Read more about the Chain Chomper route >

PowerUp Notes

Riders will be awarded powerups through the KQOM and sprint banners, meaning we’ll get 5 powerups during the race. Three powerups will be given out at each banner:

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

This custom Chain Chomper route has an uphill (mostly) dirt finish, a flat sprint intermediate, and a paved KOM. What’s the best bike for this tricky course?

We ran some tests on the Temple KOM Reverse with three different bikes at 4 W/kg (75kg rider). Here are the results:

• Specialized Crux + CADEX wheels: 5:12.24
• Tron: 5:35.26
• Specialized Venge S-Works + DT Swiss Disc wheels: 5:36.79

What does this tell us? First, it tells us you definitely do not want to use the popular Venge + Disc combo, unless you’re only going for sprint points.

The gravel rig (Crux) is 23 seconds faster up the Temple KOM than the Tron bike. Is it worth swapping? Possibly.

• Swapping on the first time up the Temple KOM Reverse doesn’t make much sense, because you’ll need to swap back to a road bike before hitting the pavement again (which will cost you more time). That said, if you’re a strong climber chasing KOM points this may work for you, as long as you can make both swaps quickly.
• Swapping on the final run up the Temple KOM Reverse makes good sense, as a good swap may only take ~12s, meaning you’ll gain ~10s by swapping. (This gain will be greater for D and C riders, less for A riders.)

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot) for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.

More Route Recons

Many events are now being planned each weekend on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re unfamiliar with this course, jump into an event and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming Chain Chomper events.

Looking for a video recon? Check out our favorites:

Si Bradeley

Oli Chi

Strategic Options

Points Distribution, Chain Chomper

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in the race.

How will the race unfold, and what strategies will riders employ in the first race of round 3? Here’s what we predict:

• Country Sprint Reverse, First Time: Most or all of the Country Sprint Reverse FTS times will be set on the first attempt, as the pack will be largest and freshest.
• Castle KOM, First Time: Most or all of the Castle KOM FTS times will be set on the first attempt because legs will be fresh, the pack will be large, and the second time around most riders will be saving their legs for the finishing climb.
• Temple KOM Reverse, Second Time: Most or all of the Temple KOM Reverse FTS times will be set on the second attempt, as the race ends atop this climb and therefore riders will be pushing max efforts for finishing + segment points.
• Stay in Front: This was already going to be a hard race, but the introduction of Segment Battle Points means getting dropped from the front pack will lose you a lot of SBP, and the “spin easy then go hard for FTS” strategy is going to cost major points as well.
• Breaking Up Ain’t Hard To Do: This race will break up more than your typical ZRL race. If you’re able to track the other riders in your SBP group, you’ll be able to ride smarter. A good DS may be very helpful.
• Final Climb Swap: skilled bike swappers will hop onto their gravel rigs for the final climb, knowing it will trim ~10s off their climb time.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!

10 Tips for Sneaking Away in a Zwift Race

Most Zwift races end in a pack sprint – but it doesn’t have to be this way. What if you could break away from the pack and solo to victory?

It’s every racer’s dream.

Successfully getting away in a race requires a few abilities: namely fitness, timing, and smarts. We call it “sneaking away”, but it’s not like you’re invisible to your competition. Rather, sneaking away means you get away from the group without causing a lot of commotion, bringing only yourself or perhaps a select group of friends along. And if you do it right, in a large enough race, some riders will even forget you’re off the front!

Here are 10 tips for successful sneaking in Zwift races. Good luck!

#1: Know the Route

The better you know your race route, the smarter you can race. Course knowledge lets you take calculated risks, perhaps attacking on a certain climb because you know you’ll have adequate recovery afterward.

The two most important things to know about your Zwift race route are the locations of any climbs, and how the finish lays out. Climbs are important because efforts will always ramp up there, and you need to know how long and hard the climb is so you can dose your effort appropriately, especially if you’re planning an attack.

Knowing the finish is important because you need to know how to best deploy powerups and time your final effort. Is the finish on a long flat, a long climb, or something else? Do you feel confident contending against a pack of riders in a flat-out sprint finish, or will you fare better by sneaking away early?

For detailed route info, find the route on our Master Routes List and click for more info including Strava segments

#2: Use Your Slingshot

This technique is used in outdoor racing to some extent, but can be used to greater effect on Zwift because we can “ride through” riders ahead of us.

First, ease up on your power a bit to slide backward in the group, 5-10 bike lengths from the front. Then begin your attack from that position, benefiting from the draft effect as you accelerate. By the time you hit the front of the group, you want to be traveling fast enough that you rocket away from the pack, making it harder for them to respond quickly enough to grab your wheel.

#3: Don’t Signal Your Attack

The rider list on the right side of the screen displays everyone’s watts per kilogram, and if you hit 8.0 W/kg or higher your number turns orange. Experienced Zwift racers always have the rider list in their peripheral vision, and when orange numbers pop up, it gets their attention!

If you’re trying to sneak away (perhaps beginning with a slingshot maneuver), keep a low profile by staying out of the orange while you’re accelerating through the pack or off the front.

Another visual signal racers watch for is the out-of-the-saddle sprint. Much like the orange numbers, out-of-the-saddle sprinting is a sign that a rider is going hard, because the animation only kicks in when you’re putting out twice your FTP wattage or higher.

Lastly: be sure to swap your Fire Socks for something a bit more under-the-radar if you want your attack to go unnoticed.

#4: Know the Competition

Many of the elements that go into a successful attack are under your control, but some are not. Knowing who else is in your group, and how likely they are to follow your wheel or pull back any attacks, may help you determine if trying to get away even makes sense.

ZwiftPower is an easy way to look at who is signed up for the race. Sort by race ranking, and click the higher-ranked riders to see their power profiles. Sauce for Zwift is an option if you’re on PC/Mac, and it provides an overlay that lets you check out other nearby riders while you race.

#5: Know Your Draft Mode

Zwift has three drafting “modes”: no draft (used in individual time trials), standard draft, and double draft. Most races use Zwift’s standard draft. It’s important to know what draft mode your race is using, because it’s more difficult to solo away in double draft mode.

This is because the pack moves faster in double draft mode. Riders aren’t working as hard while drafting, then they charge to the front and bring the group’s speed up, only to slide back and rest again. This continual churning at the front drives up pack speeds noticeably in flatter races, while solo rider speeds are unchanged.

You can still get away in double draft mode, but it works best as a group effort. Additionally, keep in mind that in double draft mode, launching off the front fast without letting anyone grab your double draft wheel is even more important.

#6: Jump on the Climbs

As demonstrated in our w/kg speed tests, climbs are where you can create the biggest gaps by hitting the power hard. It’s just physics! This is why Zwifters hit every incline extra hard.

You can often catch riders sleeping on small rises or short kickers if you’re familiar with the course and they aren’t. Use this to your advantage if you’re trying to sneak away! Keep your momentum high by hitting the power hard just before the climb begins. Then keep the power up all the way over the crest until you’re moving fast on the other side.

For an extra boost, deploy that feather powerup as you hit the climb.

#7: Use PowerUps Wisely

PowerUps give you small “boosts” and, if used smartly, can help you sneak away in a race. (If you don’t know the basics of Zwift powerups, read Your Guide to Zwift PowerUps for a complete rundown.)

Powerups can be used to help you sneak away in a race, but they need to be used smartly. Here are some notes:

• Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight for 15 seconds. Use this just before you hit it hard to drop others on a climb (see below for more on that). You can also use it to help you accelerate a bit harder if you’re jumping off the front, although the feather icon over your head will make “sneaking away” a bit difficult.
• Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing by 50% for 30 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider. Useful for boosting your speed in a slingshot, or sitting on another attacker’s wheel to recover.
• Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic for 15 seconds. If you aren’t planning on a final sprint, the aero boost is a very effective way to go off the front of the group, since its use blunts the loss of draft effect you would normally feel when you stick you nose into the virtual wind. But again, that icon over your head will draw attention!
• Burrito: makes you undraftable for 10 seconds. The burrito was made for exactly this situation – when you want to go off the front and not have others follow on your wheel. This is best used on flat ground, where the draft effect is very helpful to chasers.
• Cloaking (ghost): makes you invisible to other riders for 10 seconds. At last, we arrive at the true “sneaking away” powerup. The toughest thing about the ghost is that it only lasts 10 seconds – so you need to make the most of it! Use the slingshot technique described above. Start several riders back in the pack and accelerate smoothly (no orange numbers!), then deploy the ghost when you hit the front of your group. You’ll disappear from their view and can go hard into those orange numbers for 10 seconds before reappearing.
• Steamroller: reduces Crr for 30 seconds so you roll as fast as a road tire on pavement regardless of wheels or road surface. If you’re on a road bike, use this when you hit a dirt patch. (It also provides an advantage on cobbles, bricks, ice/snow, etc.) If you’re on a mountain bike in the jungle, use this when you hit the wooden bridges or the hard-packed dirt at the bottom of the Jungle Circuit.
• Anvil: makes you 50kg heavier for up to 30 seconds, so you can descend faster. Activate it whenever you’d like, because it only adds 50kg when the road is at a -1.5% decline or greater.
  Use this on downhills. Pair it with a supertuck to go extra fast with zero effort!

#8: Get Some Help

Just like racing outside, it’s really tough to stay away from a large pack of riders if you’re working alone. If you’re looking to attack off the front and form a small breakaway group, consider enlisting the help of one or more buddies to attempt a coordinated attack then work together to stay away. (Read how the Fusion Dev team executed a team attack perfectly in a Crit City race.)

Sometimes this happens naturally – if you see an attack on the front and you follow that wheel, you may be able to get away and stay away with the other rider(s). You might also attack and get a few riders who come with you.

#9: Launch a Surprise Attack

All of the tips above are sensible, even predictable. This tip is not!

Sometimes, the surprise attack is the one that sticks. If you jump off the front at a spot in the race where attacking doesn’t seem to make sense, other riders are more likely to let you go. That’s exactly what happened to Ribble Pro Cycling’s Ed Hopper in round 2 of the KISS Super League on the Innsbruckring route. Racers who knew the circuit expected the pack to split up on the leg snapper climb, or perhaps at the sprint point – but Ed just bumped his power up and rode off the front as the group made its way down the flat, open road to the lap banner, 9km from the finish.

Watch Hopper’s race here (he goes off the front at around 38:30):

Sometimes the surprise attack surprises even you. That’s what happened to Hopper. After this race he said:

I just kinda drifted off the front, then when I saw I had a one sec gap I thought I’d just see what I could carry in to the climb. Thought I was going to get caught for sure...

#10: Practice, Practice, Practice

One wonderful thing about Zwift racing is you can try out different strategies without feeling like you threw your race day “investment” away. While participating in an outdoor race usually requires hours of driving and a good chunk of cash, Zwift races are always available just a click away, for free!

So go ahead and try that crazy attack, just to see what happens. Enter a race solely for the workout, attacking at regular intervals. You’ll build fitness along the way, and you’ll add some new tools to your racing toolbelt.

Summing It Up

Getting away and staying away is the ultimate win in bike racing. It requires a strong body, sharp mind, and a good sense of timing. Hopefully you can use the tips above to animate your next race and maybe, just maybe… solo to victory!

What About You?

Have you ever snuck away in a Zwift race? Share your story below!

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ZwiftRacing.app News: Season 2 Update & Weekend Tour

As we enter 2023 ZwiftRacing.app hits its first milestone: entering the second season. Each season at ZwiftRacing.app rider rankings are reset. The reset allows any anomalies to be accounted for, ensuring that rank changes stay consistent and accurate for everyone. They also allow ZwiftRacing.app developer Tim Hanson to make significant under-the-hood changes without impacting rankings or platform performance mid-season.

The start of 2023 and ZwiftRacing.app season 2 bring some exciting new things, with much more on the horizon. The reset itself is executed as follows:

• Riders with a rating within 200 either side of their Compound Score will start Season 2 with the same rating they finished with in Season 1 (87,427 riders)
• Ratings more than 200 above a rider’s 5m Compound Score have been reduced to 200 above their CS (1339 riders affected)
• Ratings more than 200 less than a rider’s 5m Compound Score have been increased to 200 below their CS (6989 affected)
• Maximum Rating to start the season set to 3200 (16 affected)
• All race histories from Season 1 have been preserved

Alongside the ranking reset, Tim has also been working hard on a complete upgrade to the backend server to support much of the future roadmap. But let’s talk about two big changes some users may have noticed: rider profiles and ZwiftRacing.app races.

Rider Profiles

You can now log into ZwiftRacing.app using your Strava credentials. Once you have done this, be sure to search for yourself and claim your profile. Now every time you access the website you will be able to quickly and easily view your profile, along with a list of riders you have added as favorites.

Race Organizer Dashboard

Race organizers can now use the ZwiftRacing.app platform to organize races with completely custom pen boundaries and pen enforcement! The MVP version of the toolkit allows riders to publish an event for signup. After signup closes, The organizer can distribute riders into custom pens, each with a unique event link. They could distribute riders by rank, any of the available power metrics, or any way they see fit. After the event has been finalized, riders can then get access to join the correct Zwift pen.

Future versions of this toolkit will allow organizers to pre-determine the logic to split riders, so that on signup they can get immediate access to the pen. There will also be the option to get pen details emailed to you once a race is finalized.

For more information on how to organize a ZwiftRacing.app event, be sure to join the ZwiftRacing.app Discord server where a member of the community will be able to help get you started.

Weekend Tour

The Weekend Tour is an event hosted by VirtoSlo using rankings over the weekend of January 13-15. The tour consists of 3 stages over 3 days with both team and individual GC classifications, including sprints and KOMs.

The Tour consists of the following events:

• Stage 1 – Flat / Sprints (Jan 13th at 19:00 UTC / 20:00 CET)
  Course: Douce France
  Distance: 2 Laps (48.8 km – 270m)
• Stage 2 – Flat / Sprints & KOM (Jan 14th at 16:00 UTC / 17:00 CET)
  Course: Watopia 2022 Medio Fondo
  Distance: 1 Lap (79.3km – 922m)
• Stage 3 – Mountain / KOMs (Sunday January 15th 16:00 UTC / 17:00 CET)
  Course: London Surrey Hills
  Distance: 1 Lap (44.2 km – 1034 m)

General Classification (GC) – Mixed and Women

Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has taken the least time to complete all stages. Riders must finish a stage in order to start the next stage.

Team Classification

Team Classification is calculated by adding up the top three riders’ times from each team for each stage. The team with the lowest total time is the winner of the classification.

Sprint Classification

The sprint classification is based on the total amount of sprint points earned in all stages. Points can be earned on intermediate sprints and finish sprints (see points distribution).

KOM Classification

The KOM classification is based on the total amount of KOM points earned in all stages. Points can be earned based on the categorization of each climb (see points distribution).

Join the Tour!

To sign up for this tour head over to zwiftracing.app/zr-events and ensure that you are signed in. You will then be able to join.

Questions or Comments?

Share below!

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All About ZRL’s New “Segment Battle Points”

Important update: WTRL sent the following email on race day, January 24th:

On behalf of WTRL & Zwift, we regret to inform you that the much anticipated Segment Battle Point element of ZRL has been placed on hold and will not feature in Round 3. We know many people, including ourselves, were looking forward to this new element. The project has run into a number of unforeseen issues over recent days and the ZRL organizing team do not feel confident that it can be launched successfully at this time.

We greatly apologize for any disappointment this may cause you. Zwift Racing League will continue with the original formats and once we feel that everything is working optimally and accurately with SBP’s, we will look to run some test races later in the spring/summer.

In the meantime, we wish you success for the remainder of the Zwift Racing League Season.

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WTRL, organizers of Zwift Racing League, have just announced the details of “Segment Battle Points” (SBP) – a new way to score in ZRL races. Since ZRL is by far the largest racing league in Zwift, and this is the first time the league’s scoring structure has been modified significantly, this is big news in the Zwift racing world.

I chatted with Martin at ZRL to make sure I understood the SBP concept completely, and to get his take on why SBP are a good addition to ZRL. Looking to understand all things SBP? Let’s dive in!

How Segment Battle Points Work

Here’s what WTRL says on their scoring page:

Starting in Round 3 of the 20022/23 season, all riders will score Segment Battle Points. The idea is to place several races within a race and will create plenty of points battles amongst groups of riders. You’ll need your wits about you to figure out who your rivals are to beat them.

• Every member of a team will receive a number 1 to 12.
• As racers signup for each points race, this numerical order will be converted to 1 to 6. (example: team members 2, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 11 sign up, they become 1,2,3,4,5,6 respectively for the race.
• This number correlates directly to the group of riders you will be battling for SBP points against.
  • Group 1: Rider #1 from each team
  • Group 2: Rider #2 from each team
  • Group 3: Rider #3 from each team
  • Group 4: Rider #4 from each team
  • Group 5: Rider #5 from each team
  • Group 6: Rider #6 from each team
• SBP points are awarded on the order of First Across the Line at each nominated segment within each group and are determined by the number of teams in the division:
  • 16 teams in the division 1st = 16 points, 2nd = 15, 3rd = 14 etc with 16th winning 1 point per designated segment.
  • 10 teams in the division 1st = 10 points, 2nd = 9 points, down to 1 point for 10th per designated segment.
• Where a team fields fewer than 6 racers, the team will not be able to compete for points available in those groups where they have no representation. I.e. a squad of 4 would not be able to win points in groups 5 & 6.
• A pre-race list of all signed-up rider groups for each division will be available here.

Digging Deeper

The explanation above raised some questions for me, so I chatted with Martin for clarification. Here are more details, in FAQ style.

How will the riders be assigned numbers 1-6?

WTRL will assign members of each team a number from 1-12 based on their own algorithms. Presumably (though WTRL isn’t saying this) rider #1 will be the strongest on your team, and #12 the weakest. No teammates will have the same number.

When your 6 team members sign up for a particular race, WTRL will assign them a number based on their ranking – basically numbering your race team 1-6, from strongest to weakest.

The takeaway here is that riders and team managers have no control over who gets placed into which number group. That is handled by WTRL’s algorithms, with the intention of creating 6 competitive SBP groups between the teams in the division.

How will I know who I’m up against?

WTRL will publish a list of all signed-up rider groups on their website. Of course, teams could always wait to sign up riders, or swap riders at the last minute. But my guess is most teams will have most of their riders signed up well ahead of time.

This will allow you to see which group you’re assigned to, and see the names of the other riders in your group. Those riders are your SBP competition for the race!

How are SBP scored if we go through the same segment more than once?

SBP are scored every time you go through a segment. So if you’re racing 6 laps of Lutece Express, that means 6 times through the Lutece Sprint where SBP will be earned.

In a division with 16 teams, a single rider who takes 1st place on all 6 segments would earn 6*16=96 SBP for the race.

Note: it’s possible that only certain segments will award SBP, although Martin thinks for ZRL Round 3 all segments that award FAL will also award SBP. If this changes it will be reflected on the race schedule.

Race Implications

SBP will certainly affect the way ZRL points races unfold. A few examples:

1. No easy segments: you’ll be competing against your group on every sprint and KOM segment, so sitting up and conserving for the finish will cost you points.
2. Fewer “FTS Slackers”: related to #1, SBP will cause riders to think twice before dropping from the front group to spin easy and only attack certain segments for FTS, since doing so will surely cost them in SBP.
3. To bridge or not to bridge? If the pack breaks up into groups, you’ll want to know what groups contain your SBP competitors. Are they up ahead? You may want to push to bridge. Are they behind? Go to the front and keep the pace high so your group stays away and you grab easy SBP on upcoming segments! To the smart go the spoils. This adds a fresh element of strategy and intelligence to ZRL races, making a splendid use case for Sauce for Zwift‘s “Marked Athletes” feature.
4. Rewarding well-balanced teams: with every team member competing for SBP against riders near their abilities we should see fewer race wins from “top-heavy” teams and more wins going to teams where all riders perform well in the SBP competition. This rewards well-rounded teams and makes it harder for teams with just 1-2 strong riders to take the overall win.
5. More focus on segments: SBP will serve to further reduce the importance of finishing position, while increasing the importance of your performance on segments. For example: in race 1 of round 9, a team of six could theoretically score a maximum of 1110 points… and 432 of those points (38.9%) would be from SBP! (This assumes 12 teams in the division. SBP will decrease if there are fewer teams.)

Race 1 (Chain Chomper) Points Distribution

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in the race.

Of the points above, I think the first four are positives. But WTRL+Zwift may need to tweak SBP based on the last item, because races with a high number of segments and/or a high number of teams will end up with SBP making up the majority of race points, which is probably not the intention. It may be that WTRL will need to restrict SBP to certain segments in some races (including race #4 of this round, which features 8 segment attempts).

The Visibility Challenge

One challenge facing the implementation of SBP is the difficulty of seeing your competition in game. With no in-game indicators showing who is in my SBP group, how will I know how to ride strategically against them?

Sure, we can keep it simple: stay in the front group, and push hard on every segment. But even this strategy is flawed, because I can’t easily see which (if any) of my SBP competitors are also in the group. And what happens when I get dropped from the front group? How do I know which groups contain my SBP competitors?

There are some hacks racers will undoubtedly use. ZwiftPower’s live view lets you highlight multiple riders, then shows their location in the race, refreshing every 30 seconds. Sauce for Zwift lets you mark riders, then shows a near real-time view of their timings on course.

Those solutions may have to work for now, but in the future it would be nice to have better visibility in game. What if your group members were highlighted green in the rider list, like Meetup members? Or what if your group members showed up with numbered bibs or something else to make their avatars stand out?

There are lots of things that could be rolled out to improve the SBP experience in game, but for this round it looks like we’ll be experimenting with a basic version of SBP that rewards those who do some homework and implement hacks for improved battlefield visibility.

Wrapping It Up

In the end, I’m always a supporter of experimentation and innovation in the Zwift racing space. So I applaud WTRL for rolling out this change, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it unfolds. Game on!

Your Thoughts

What do you think of ZRL’s new Segment Battle Points? Share below!

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