Cycling legend Ashton Lambie shares all of his hints and tips for gravel racing, training, and prep. He even takes on some quick-fire questions to help you get to know him better.
The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features training tips from host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson, Rahsaan Bahati, Dani Rowe, and Kristin Armstrong.
While Zwift Racing League 2021/22 Season 3 has officially ended, there are two optional races for all ZRL teams: a Semi-Final on Tuesday (May 17) followed by the Finals on Saturday (May 21). Officially called the “WTRL Racing Finals”, these races feature a fresh ranking/grouping format which is full explained in this post.
We’ve put together a complete race guide including tips for bike choice, powerups, and crucial segments. Ride smarter… ride harder. Let’s dig in!
This former Rebel Route features a race-friendly mix of punchy climbs, flats, and sprints. All riders will be racing a single lap of the route, which is 24.6 km (15.3 miles) long with 254 m (833‘) of elevation.
There are four key portions on this course:
Read all about the Downtown Titans route >
No powerups will be given out during this race. Due to a Zwift bug powerups have been unreliable in ZRL (and other) events lately, so WTRL made the wise decision to just disable powerups for everyone until the bug is fixed in the next Zwift update.
The key selection points on this route are the two KOMs, but they are short and quite draftable, so a pure climbing rig won’t benefit you much. We recommend an all-arounder like the Tron bike so you are still very aero for the sprint intermediate and inevitable pack finish.
See our See Tron vs Top Performers Comparison Chart for a helpful comparison of various popular setups.
Alternatively, if you’re chasing sprint points and feel confident in your ability to hang with the front pack, you may go with a pure aero setup for maximum sprint and finish speed. See Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level for tips on what to use.
Many events are now being planned each weekend on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re not familiar with this course, jump into one of these events and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming Downtown Titans events.
Looking for a video recon, with lovely British commentary to boot? Check out the recons below:
The maximum points a team of 6 could earn in this race.
As the chart above shows, this route has a nice mix of points for all types. But it’s important to note that all the sprint points come after the two climbs, so only those sprinters who survive the KOMs can contest sprint FAL points!
Here are the strategies we predict racers will employ for the semi-finals:
Care to share your thoughts about Tuesday’s big race? Comment below!
The Giant Tips ZRL series is sponsored by Giant Bicycles and delivers helpful tips for upcoming Zwift Racing League stages so you can unleash your full potential.
Giant is the world’s leading brand of high-quality bicycles and cycling gear. Part of the Giant Group founded in 1972, the brand combines craftsmanship, technology, and innovative design to help all riders unleash their full potential. Learn more at giant-bicycles.com, or visit one of their 12,000+ retail stores around the world.
Yesterday’s Zwift update release notes included the following line:
Watopia’s own KQOM radio station is hosting a familiar voice for your listening pleasure.
Of course, we had to head up the Epic KOM to find out for ourselves. (If you haven’t heard it yet, turn up your volume and listen closely:)
Yes, that’s the voice of Simon Schofield, beloved Zwiftcast creator and host. Simon announced he was drawing the curtains on Zwiftcast in episode #105 just a few weeks ago.
We asked Simon for his thoughts on this little Easter egg. Here’s what he told us:
This is unbelievably cool – on so many levels!
One: I’m just massively flattered and humbled that the Zwiftcast will live on, hopefully for a long long time, in the game.
Two: It’s really subtle – and I like that. Kinda, if you know, you know. I approve.
Three: It’s a knowing nod, at the top of a big climb, to my near legendary status as the longest-riding Zwifter without the Tron bike. See Zwiftcasts passim.
Four: I believe it’s the brainchild of my great friend and erstwhile colleague, Wes Salmon, who very sadly, and also mystifyingly, was let go by Zwift as part of the recent redundancies. I hope Wes will get at least as much pleasure from this as I will.
And Five: Hell, I really am gonna have to start amassing vertical meters now I guess. Excuses to register for the Tron are vanishing faster than Eric Schlange in a B race finishing sprint.
I know it’s been a very difficult week for many of my friends at Zwift and I’m sure mere trifles, touching though this one is, are the last things on their minds. But nevertheless they should know they made an ex-podcaster very happy. Thanks everyone at Zwift.
This weekend I have highlighted some useful structured training sessions as well as some events that will be suitable for all.
Those who are interested in structured training may be interested in this event. For English speakers, it’s advisable to sign up to Event B. This session has been created by Yuma Koishi from UKYO and is designed to help develop your climbing prowess.
Saturday, May 14 – 12pm BST/7am EDT/4am PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2967309
Andy Potts is a triathlete from the US who competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics. He’s also the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion.
Andy is hosting a structured training session that is designed to work you in Zone 2 and occasionally Zone 3 elements. As the description notes these are “set for all skill levels and are ‘no drop’ events.” This is 65 minutes in duration.
Saturday, May 14 – 2pm BST/9am EDT/6am PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2977001
The second race in the first-ever race series hosted by Zwift Insider! Full details can be read here.
There are three events spread over the weekend, two on Saturday and one on Sunday (GTM, at least), giving you the chance to race the “Rebel Routes” which have now made it into Zwift’s official list of courses.
This weekend’s event is hosted on Watopia’s new Eastern Eight route. It’s a bit longer than a typical race at 54.1km, with 412m of elevation gain. Fairly flat, but the Titans Grove KOM in both directions will prove a key selection point!
Multiple timeslots
See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftinsider
This is a nice 2-hour ride on the new Eastern Eight course, which unlocks a jersey. Paced at 1.5-2 w/kg, this is a steady ride, which may be most welcome if you have spent the week training hard.
Sunday, May 15 – 12:55pm BST/7:55am EDT/4:55am PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2991467
Another steady ride, this time for an hour in duration, hosted on the R.G.V. course in France. What attracted me to this event is that everyone “will stay together.” I think this is excellent because I have been helping a few people “learn the ropes” of Zwift and a group ride is ideal for new joiners to the platform and cycling.
Sunday, May 15 – 6:30pm BST/1:30pm EDT/10:30am PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/2991551
Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments!
In this special run of weekly episodes, 18 pro riders will be taking on the Turbo 200 Challenge, where they have 2 minutes to answer as many of the 200 random, quick-fire questions as possible. In this week’s episode: Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider Ruby Roseman-Gannon!
The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features training tips from host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson, Rahsaan Bahati, Dani Rowe, and Kristin Armstrong.
The latest Zwift update is now available on all platforms: Mac, PC, Android, iOS, and AppleTV.
Not sure if your Zwift install is up-to-date? Here’s how to check >
This update includes Training Plans that are more flexible, two new triathlon-specific TT bikes, upcoming Pace Partner changes, and various other things. Here are the details…
Each of the last few updates has seen Zwift make their Training Plans more and more flexible. Today’s update continues that trend, opening Training Plans wide open so when you sign up for a plan, all workouts in the plan are immediately unlocked. No more waiting until the start of the week, or not having access to certain workouts.
It’s all open. You’re in control. Go get ’em!
Two new triathlon-specific TT bikes have been added to the Drop Shop:
We’re testing both frames now, and will publish results when available.
Two new run routes have been added, and include achievement badges:
These are event-only routes at this time, and will be used in the upcoming adidas Run for the Oceans events (more on that soon, in a separate post).
Although these changes aren’t yet live, today’s update notes include information about upcoming Pace Partner changes (pace partner tweaks are generally done on the server side, so no game updates are required on the client side):
Additional info in the Zwift forum >
Workouts have been added to the on-demand list for May and June. You can only see the current week’s workout, which you can do on your own or in a Wednesday Group Workout.
This wasn’t included in the update notes, but Zwift continues to localize On-Demand workouts, rolling out 12 workouts in Japanese with this update. According to our sources within Zwift, they are continuing to work to add more workouts and languages.
Downtown Watopia had a rainbow-painted Pride Lifeguard Tower that was used for past Pride events, but only visible in events. This was a virtual remake of the Pride Tower in Long Beach which was destroyed by an arsonist in March 2021, but subsequently rebuilt.
This is now a permanent fixture in Watopia.
Read more about this on the Zwift forum >
Zwifters are reporting new event start pens atop both Alpe du Zwift and Ven-Top. Now that’s interesting. What does Zwift has planned… downhill races? It appears so. There are two event-only routes in this update:
Hmmmm….
Zwifters are also a reporting (and we’ve seen on this end) some weirdness when it comes to changing bikes in the garage or Drop Shop. Bike selections don’t seem to “take” every time, although clicking around enough seems to make it happen eventually.
Here’s Zwift’s list of fixes and improvements included in this update, with notes in italic from us:
See Zwift’s notes on this update release in the Zwift forum >
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
You’ll find lots of racing tips in this week’s Top 5 Zwift Videos! First, find out why sprinting outside may feel easier than indoors, and then get some advice from two winning Zwifters on racing well. If you’d rather compete against yourself, you might relate to another Zwifter who tackles the Alpe du Zwift. And if all this sounds interesting and you want to get started, there’s a video about getting on Zwift with a small budget.
Jake Sanderson breaks down a Zwift Racing League race to give you advice and help you win.
For more in-depth racing advice, Lam Kong gives some useful Zwift racing tips, including some that led her to victory.
As part of his training for L’Etape du Tour, Alex Reader heads to Alpe du Zwift for a climbing session.
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Yesterday Zwift CEO Eric Min sent an internal email informing Zwift’s full staff of 700+ employees that a company-wide restructuring/refocus was underway. The restructuring includes a large number of layoffs, all announced yesterday. Although Zwift’s spokespeople have declined to comment on numbers, one impacted employee who reached out to me estimated Zwift was reducing its staff by ~20%.
Here’s Zwift’s official statement on the restructuring:
Given the current macroeconomic environment, we have decided to scale back our hardware offering, pausing plans to launch a smart bike. As a consequence, Zwift has implemented difficult, yet important changes to the organisation of the business. We are grateful for the contributions of all those impacted and have done our very best to support them.
We are committed to increasing the development of the core Zwift game experience, increasing the speed of new feature releases, and making the platform more accessible than ever before. We firmly believe these changes will allow us to achieve these goals and better support the continued growth of our subscription business. Further, these changes will preserve Zwift’s strong financial position as the world navigates these turbulent times.
I also had a lengthy follow-up call with a spokesperson at Zwift who helped put some flesh on the bones of their public statement. Let’s unpack what this restructuring is all about, and what it means for Zwifters.
You may recall Zwift leaking their own trainer plans back in December 2021 as part of a survey designed to discern price points and demand for Zwift’s not-yet-released smart trainers. Zwift is now saying, “we have decided to scale back our hardware offering, pausing plans to launch a smart bike.”
Perhaps the results of this survey made Zwift sit up and take notice. Perhaps they saw the industry-wide trend of hardware sales taking a post-Covid nosedive. Or does the current economic unrest have them thinking bearishly of the coming 1-2 years?
Whatever the reasons, pausing hardware feels like the right move to me, and probably to most Zwifters who are paying attention to the industry.
Zwift may need its own trainers in the future in order to streamline the experience and reach a broader market. But if team sizing decisions need to be made in order to reduce spending, hardware is the logical loser to Zwift’s software. Because the software has plenty of room to grow and improve, while the market already supplies high-quality hardware.
And this was one point made by the spokesperson I chatted with: that Zwift’s primary goal with hardware was always to “grow the pie”, not to take market share. Zwift wants to make its own hardware so it can simplify the new user experience from end to end and thus bring in more users.
Additionally, Eric Min has said in the past that he thinks trainer manufacturers won’t be able to keep up demand, hence the need for Zwift to supply their own hardware. In today’s world this doesn’t seem like a rational concern. But in the lockdown months of Covid, where trainer sales spiked 900% and fresh KICKR inventory was selling out within 24 hours, it seemed like a very real possibility.
This hardware pause is Zwift coming to grips with post-Covid realities, where most of the cyclists interested in Zwift have given it a try, and those who enjoyed it have purchased a smart trainer which will serve them well for the next 1-3 years.
According to Zwift, the silver lining to this restructuring raincloud is a renewed focus on Zwift’s software. Their statement says, “We are committed to increasing the development of the core Zwift game experience, increasing the speed of new feature releases, and making the platform more accessible than ever before.”
That’s exactly the thing Zwifters want to see. In fact, the #1 complaint from dedicated Zwifters is the slow pace of change/improvements/expansion. The Zwift community loves new roads and features, and we simply haven’t gotten many of those lately.
Is Zwift just telling us what we want to hear, or are they making real changes that will result in increased development of the “core Zwift game experience”? Sources within Zwift tell me that part of this restructuring includes co-founder Jon Mayfield moving out of his R&D basement and back into a lead role in Zwift development. That’s big news, and a sign that they’re serious about making some changes.
It could also be argued that “right-sizing” Zwift staff will lead to a more nimble organization overall. But whether that translates to quicker releases of new features or just quicker releases of new bugs may come down to improved QA testing combined with freshly streamlined processes.
If you’re paying much attention at all, you’ve probably already realized that this sort of restructuring isn’t just happening at Zwift. Covid made things crazy in 2020-21, but 2022 is turning into a year of reckoning for many tech companies, especially young ones. Russia’s invading, tech stocks are tanking, inflation is ballooning, interest rates are rising, and the overall economic outlook for the next few years is growing more bearish by the month.
As Erin Griffith noted in a New York Times article yesterday, “…what’s different now is a collision of troubling economic forces combined with the sense that the start-up world’s frenzied behavior of the last few years is due for a reckoning.”
Zwift’s spokesperson emphasized to me what was emphasized in their statement – that Zwift is in a strong financial position currently, and is making these moves so they can stay in a good position moving forward. If you believe what they’re saying (and I do), then Zwift is looking down the barrel of a few economically unstable coming years and taking early steps to ensure the survival and even growth of their business moving forward.
As yesterday morning turned into afternoon and then evening, I heard from more and more Watopians (that’s what Zwift calls their employees) who were being let go or had friends being let go. This includes some surprising layoffs of friends I interact with regularly in key leadership positions in the company.
All of them said the same thing: it was a tough day at Zwift.
I won’t name names here, but simply want to wish all these (now former) Watopians well. Zwift has said they’ve done their best to support impacted employees, so hopefully each of you feel well cared for and can land on your feet with a new gig as quickly as you’d like.
Given current economic and world realities, Zwift restructuring around a refreshed set of priorities isn’t surprising. Many may even welcome the news as evidence that Zwift is thinking rightly.
But will the restructuring just enable Zwift to continue delivering what it’s already been delivering for years? Or will the leaner organization be able to refocus and take its software and the content it delivers to the next level?
It’s impossible to know that answer today, but we’ll know soon enough. Perhaps we’ll see some interesting releases this summer when traffic numbers are lower and pushing the beta envelope is a bit less risky. Or perhaps Zwift will get some major releases queued up for September/October, when foul-weather Zwifters come inside looking for all that’s new and great in our favorite virtual world.
It won’t take long to find out if Zwift is serious about “increasing the speed of new feature releases”. Speaking for all Zwifters, I’ll say I hope it happens soon… not zoon.
Share below!
Rahsaan Bahati is planning to take on Garmin Unbound Gravel this year so he assembled a team of friends to help him prepare and share their gravel secrets. Matt Lieto leads the conversation, having done the event in the past, and Shayne Gaffney provides all the training advice as the Performance Training Manager at Zwift.
The Zwift PowerUp Cycling Podcast features training tips from host Matt Rowe (Rowe & King), with regular co-hosts Greg Henderson, Rahsaan Bahati, Dani Rowe, and Kristin Armstrong.
The sixth and final race of Zwift Racing League 2021/22 Season 3 was held yesterday, and it was the Queen Stage, featuring the tough Innsbruck KOM on the 2018 UCI Worlds Short Lap route.
Heading into the race my team (the DIRT Roosters) were sitting in 1st place overall, but our position was far from secure. We had a fire in our bellies, though – we had worked our way up from Division 5 to 1, and this was our chance to win it all in the Bs!
Winning the season would require a strong finish in this race, but we were ready with a solid team that has a good mix of climbers and sprinters. We divided the team into two groups, and each group had its own strategy:
That was our plan… but how did it really work out? Here’s the story of the Roosters’ final race of the ZRL season.
I did what I could to be fresh and prepared for the race, following my normal routine:
My legs felt fresh, and I knew the course well. My personal plan was this:
The start was easy, which surprised no one. A few riders attacked off the front after a minute or two, which made no sense whatsoever. The Roosters sat in and waited for the real fireworks to begin.
We hit the base of the KOM and the pack began powering up. My goal was to finish the climb as close to the front as possible, but I knew I was outclassed by many of the riders in the field. So optimizing my finish meant striking a balance between pushing hard to hold a wheel and easing off the gas so I wouldn’t blow up.
I pushed hard for the first 5-6 minutes, holding onto the wheels of the front group. Then we hit a particularly steep bit, the pack surged, and I pulled the plug. After that it was just a mental and physical slog as I tried to stay in touch with a small group of riders around me constituting places ~40-50 in a race of 70. Far from impressive, but I had to keep pushing, because as we Roosters say… every point counts!
Teammate Dejan was behind me while Thomas, Antoine, and Arjen were holding their own in the front pack. Clem eventually dropped from the front group and came back to my pack.
I finished the climb in 21:35 (318W average), beating my previous PR by 2 minutes. Then it was time for a long downhill and sweet, sweet recovery.
On the way down our pack swelled a bit as we caught a couple of TBR riders who were up the road. (That was good news since TBR was our closest competition for the overall season.) Our pack now constituted places 35-49, and DIRT teammate Ally had joined us on Discord to help Sean with DS duties. Sean stayed with the front three riders while Ally stayed with the back three, and both of them did a great job of talking and pushing us through the race.
No one in our group pushed hard until we hit the Leg Snapper, then the fireworks began. I’ve got decent 1-minute power which is perfect for the Leg Snapper, but there was no reason to push hard here unless others attacked, since I would be sprinting for FTS points just up the road.
But of course, it’s the Leg Snapper – so someone will always attack. Clem and I followed their wheels as our group strung out, then we recovered a bit on the descent before arriving at the sprint.
I was next to Clem as we neared the sprint, and I spun up my watts, hoping I could give him a bit of a leadout, then he would come around and I could grab his wheel. The leadout part sort of happened, but Clem is so freaking strong that he blew past me like I was standing still!
He took 1st in FTS. I took 13th.
The riders were totally strung out with 1.6km to go. I had a TBR rider (Broeshart) just up the road, and he became my carrot as I listened on Discord to Antoine and Thomas dying a thousand deaths in their finish line sprints.
I kept waiting for Broeshart to start his sprint, but when we got to 250m to go and he still hadn’t started, I jumped. Broeshart grabbed my wheel and peaked at some impressive numbers, but eased off just when I thought he was going to come around and pip me at the line. I crossed the line in 37th place, just a wheel ahead.
(36th-40th place all get 15 finishing points in ZRL, so it really didn’t matter if I beat him to the line. But this is cycling…)
See activity on Strava >
See ride on Zwift.com >
See results on ZwiftPower >
Things got a bit confusing in the hours following the race, as many riders were DQ due to “Code 7”, which WTRL describes as “Rider has exceeded Division Power Limits”.
Here’s what is confusing: the “Division Power Limit” is a secret, and can change between races. It’s a different number from ZwiftPower’s category limit (ZwiftPower says you’re an A if you have three races where 95% of your 20-minute power is 4.0 or more) because WTRL gives you a bit of a buffer. Some racers had calculated the Division Power Limit to be 4.1 in past races, but WTRL can and does change this limit on a per-event basis.
Over the course of the next 18 hours we would see our result bounce around from 1st to 5th as various riders got a Code 7, then the Code 7 disappeared. Clearly WTRL was tweaking the Division Power Limit.
As of now, 22 hours after the race, WTRL shows us in 4th in the provisional results:
We would have taken 1st if Thomas hadn’t received a Code 7 – but that’s just an observation, not a complaint.
Thomas had a calculated FTP (that’s 95% of your best 20-minute power for the race) of 4.167 w/kg, and received a Code 7 DQ. Captain Antoine had an FTP of 4.164 w/kg and did not get a Code 7 because (we think) he’s a lighter rider and was under the absolute watts limit. Maybe. At the time of this post, WTRL’s Division Power Limit for this race seems to be 4.15.
With that 4th place finish we hold onto 1st place for the overall:
Thomas receiving a Code 7 means he can’t race in the two Finals races next week, which is a bummer. But we’re all celebrating with him that he’s now an A on ZwiftPower, an A according to WTRL… and an A in our hearts.
It’s possible that better pacing would have earned me a better time up the KOM – I averaged 356W for the first ~6 minutes trying to hold onto the front group, then 306 for the final ~21 minutes.
But my pack also caught several riders who finished the climb well up the road from us, so finishing with a slightly better time probably wouldn’t have changed my end result much.
It would have been nice to earn at least a few sprint FTS points, but once again I’ve been humbled racing in the B1 division. I’ve consistently been one of the lowest point earners on my team, struggling to grab points with my “good but not great” sprinting, poor climbing, and “smarts only get you so far” finishes.
On the plus side, racing in B1 has consistently pushed me to the limit! I set new 2022 power bests for a big stretch of my power curve between 9 and 26 minutes thanks to that murderous Innsbruck KOM. Most of my teammates saw similar PRs.
If this week’s result holds, that means the Roosters have completed an incredible perfect B-category run in the past 4 seasons…
The Rooster’s first ZRL season was 2020/21 season 2. They were placed in EMEA W B Division 1 and finished second to last. At that time they had a different captain, but current Roosters Antoine, Dejan, Arjen, and Clem were already on the team.
Antoine took over as captain in the next season (2020/21 season 3), and Thomas and I joined the team. WTRL had the Roosters listed in Division 2 just days before the season began, then dropped us to Division 5 just two days before the first race!
We made it our personal mission to prove that we deserved more than a Division 5 slot. And we did just that, winning 1st place that season.
The next season WTRL put us in Division 3. We took 1st place again. Then it was on to Division 2 for the 2021/22 season 2, where Sean joined the team and we took 1st once more.
And now we’ve taken 1st in Division 1. It’s been a hard-fought journey for the Roosters since being relegated after our first season, but it certainly feels good to come back and finish on top, winning four seasons in a row. You couldn’t write a better story.
How was your final race of the season? Any power curve bumps or Code 7s? Share below!
