A nice assortment of rides to tackle this weekend, as well as a race to try.
DURA-ACE Challenge
This weekend event is the opportunity for Shimano to showcase their new groupset, DURA-ACE R9200. This was released in October 2021 and is their premium groupset offering.
There are two routes to choose from, “Three Sisters” route and a favourite of mine, “Climber’s Gambit”. Everyone will be riding the Pinarello Dogma F with DURA-ACE for the events.
Complete either route and you’ll unlock the Shimano S-Phyre jersey. One lucky finisher will unlock the Pinarello Dogma F with DURA-ACE in their Zwift garage for keeps.
If you want fair racing, then give one of this weekend’s many “Category Enforcement” races a go! The new Category Enforcement means you will be assigned the pen to start in, based on your previous results, so you will be racing people of similar ability, making the event competitive and fun.
Ride With Egan Bernal // INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team
It gives me great pleasure to be highlighting this event. It feels like only yesterday when news filtered through about the horrific training accident that Egan was involved in earlier this year. I remember it clearly because at the time, INEOS were hosting their training camp on Zwift and Egan had led a live event just before his accident. Therefore, it’s fantastic news to have him back, starting on the road to recovery!
As Egan takes small steps, it would be nice to join and support him on his journey. As such, this event is designed to do just that and is paced at a gentle 1.0-2.4 w/kg and is hosted on the “Flat Route Reverse” route in Watopia. It lasts for 60 minutes.
It’s always a pleasure to write about events that have a good cause underpinning them, and I am therefore keen to highlight the Ride to End ALZ® Spring Challenge — the Alzheimer’s Association cycling event that fights dementia.
This is a global event (taking place outdoors too) and it is encouraged that you register and if you feel inclined, donate.
For more information on the Ride to End ALZ, please visit:
Wahoo Le Col Racing Series Season 3 Begins Saturday
Back for another season, Wahoo Le Col has organized a Saturday race series so riders can preview each week’s Zwift Racing League course!
Each week’s course mirrors the route raced for ZRL three days later, including powerup selection. These aren’t points races, though – just scratch races.
Schedule
Men’s/mixed events happen at 10:15am UTC/6:15am EDT/3:15am PDT each Saturday. Women’s races are at 2pm UTC/10am EDT/7am PDT.
Standard ZwiftPower categories will be used for the race, with Zwift’s new category enforcement tools helping to limit sandbagging by forcing riders to sign up for the correct (or higher) category.
Categories are released 1 minute apart to keep each group clear of the others.
Organizers of this race series are particularly looking for ladies to jump into the women-only races, as these events need to reach critical mass to provide a fun, competitive experience for all.
Race individual races as standalone efforts, or go for the series title! Your best 4 race results count towards your overall series placing both as individuals and teams. (Riders earn series points based on their finishing position.)
Race organizers put a lot of extra work into making the experience unique and fun. Here’s an example of the race results board they produce after each event:
The first race of Zwift Racing League 2021/22 Round 3 is Tuesday, April 5th. For the first time in ZRL history we’ll be racing Watopia’s Road to Ruins route, so be ready to start the season with some fireworks!
Let’s dig into the race, including tips for bike choice, powerups, strategy, and crucial segments.
Looking at the Route: Road to Ruins
Watopia’s Road to Ruins route begins in downtown Watopia before climbing to the Jungle for a dirty lap, then heading back home around the base of the Volcano.
All riders will be racing a single lap of the route for a total of 30.2km with 276m of climbing.
Let’s discuss the four key parts of this route, beginning from the start pens:
First, the climb up from the docks. 2.5km with 97m of elevation, this is the largest single climb of the course. The twisty first portion is the steepest, but after punching through that climb you have another 1.4km of draggy, draftable uphill. The first major selection of the race will happen here.
Second, the Jungle climb. The Jungle’s dirt loop actually begins with a long descent, but this isn’t where the big moves or attacks are likely to happen. Watch for riders to push hard once you ride through the Jungle banner, across the bridges, then begin climbing. This will be the second major selection of the race, and anyone on a gravel or MTB will have a distinct advantage through this portion.
Third, the paved climb. Leaving the Jungle’s dirt we find ourselves on a short paved climb (1.5km at 2.7%). With tired legs from the Jungle climb we just finished, this is where endurance and fitness will show themselves. Use the draft to your advantage, and expect a third selection to happen here.
Once you finish the paved climb all that’s left is essentially a long descent and a flat run-in to the line. Sure, there’s a short, slack climb up from the fishing village toward the Italian Villas – but by that point in the race packs should be well established, and attacks here probably won’t force any significant selection.
Lastly, the finish. This finish is a sprinter’s delight with its downhill lead-in. Timing is everything here, with long attacks succeeding just as often as they fail. Ride smart, ride hard.
Riders will be awarded a powerup at the Jungle banner, which means we’ll each receive just one powerup in this race. Use it wisely!
Every rider will receive one of these powerups:
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 (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) Useful when you’re looking to conserve a bit of power as the pack speeds up in the final kilometer.
Steamroller: reduces Crr for 30 seconds so you roll as fast as a road tire on pavement regardless of wheels or road surface. This will give riders a BIG boost on the tough Jungle dirt climb. If you get the steamroller, use it here, as it’s useless on tarmac.
Feather: reduces your weight by 10% for 15 seconds. Best used on climbs, when weight matters the most. Use it on the Jungle dirt climb, or the paved climb just after it.
Bike Frame + Wheel Choice
The Tron bike
There are lots of questions about bike choice when it comes to Road to Ruins, since the dirt Jungle circuit section is so crucial. We’ve just updated our post dedicated to a discussion of which bike setup is best for this course, so we’ll link to that post here and let you dig in.
For those who don’t want to read the full post: our general recommendation is the Tron or an all-arounder frame like the Chapter2 TOA, Scott Addict RC, or Canyon Aeroad 2021 (for lower-level Zwifters). Pair these frames with all-arounder wheels like the DT Swiss ARC 62, Zipp 454, CADEX 65, or others. This will help you a bit on the key climbs, without losing much in the sprint finish.
Swapping onto a gravel bike for the Jungle section could prove to be an effective strategy, depending on the race situation and your ability to swap quickly. A racers will find it less effective, since pack speeds will be so high. But B, C, and D racers may be able to claw back a lot of valuable time in the dirt with a swap, especially if they don’t enter the Jungle with a strong pack.
More Route Recon
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 Road to Ruins events.
Looking for a video recon, with lovely British commentary to boot? Check out Si’s recon below:
Si Bradeley
Strategic Options
Points Distribution, Week 1
The maximum points a team of 6 could earn in this race.
This is the first ZRL points race we’ve had where there are zero intermediate points! It’s all about your team’s finishing positions, and that should affect your team strategy. Here’s what we predict:
Chill Lead-In: expect the first 4.3km to be quite chill, as there’s zero reason to push hard before the first climb.
Protected Sprinters: teams with a strong sprinter who can also hold their own on short climbs (think Sagan, Wout, Bling) would be smart to “protect” their sprinter, communicating well via Discord so they don’t push the pace too high on the climbs and drop the rider who is potentially their highest finisher.
Climbers Attacking Sprinters: you’ll see more of this in the lower categories, where heavier sprinters stand a better chance of getting dropped on the key climbs. Climbers who aren’t protecting a team sprinter would be smart to push on the uphills to “thin the herd” and increase their chance at high finishing positions.
Steamroller Attacks: the steamroller lasts for 30 seconds and gives riders a huge advantage on a dirt climb. Watch for steamroller holders to put in big attacks that stretch out the pack on the second half of the Jungle loop.
Bike Swaps: some riders will attempt a swap to the gravel bike on the Jungle loop. Will it work? Sometimes. Lone riders or riders in small packs may very well find a swap helps them leapfrog forward a group or two. But if you’re in the front pack, a swap is a risky move indeed.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
About This Series
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.
Bike Recommendations for Zwift’s “Road to Ruins” Route
Editor’s note: the data in this article is no longer valid, due to Zwift updating the Crr of road bikes on dirt. Read all about it here >
Imagine planning an outdoor race on a mixed-terrain course. It starts with 8km of paved road which includes a bit of a climb, then drops you into a dirt loop which first descends then climbs back up for a total of 9km of dusty riding. Then it’s 12km back home on a (mostly) paved surface.
Now imagine you had a whole garage full of amazing bikes at your disposal, and even a team car following you in case you want to swap bikes at any point. What bike(s) would you ride?
That’s the challenge Zwift’s Road to Ruins route presents for racers. With some bikes performing well on dirt and others performing well on tarmac, what do you ride when including the cost of stopping for a bike swap?
For our tests we completed one lap of Road to Ruins using a 75kg rider, 183cm tall, holding 300 watts steady in an isolated environment (no drafting). We tested three different virtual bike setups (plus a swap that we’ll get to later):
Road: Tron bike
Gravel: Specialized Crux with ENVE G23 wheels
MTB: Trek Supercaliber
We chose the Tron bike because it’s a good all-arounder, a very popular bike among racers, and a solid choice if you have to pick one road bike on a hilly race day. The Crux and Supercaliber were selected because they are the best performers in their classes.
Tron bikeSpecialized Crux + ENVE G23Trek Supercaliber
It’s worth noting that, while we picked specific bikes for our tests, selecting other bikes would change our test results only slightly. That is, swapping one road race bike for another (for example) would not have changed the overall rankings – not even close! Using different rider weights or power numbers for the tests would have changed the timings as well (obviously) but would not affect the overall rankings, either.
Test Results
Here are the Road to Ruins lap times for each of our tests:
Conclusion: when you’re talking about a steady solo effort, road bikes have more than enough tarmac time to make up any time lost to the gravel or MTB setups in the dirt.
Bike Swapping
This test wouldn’t be complete without trying one other approach: the bike swap! If you’re not familiar with how this works, the idea is that it may make sense, on a mixed route like Road to Ruins, to change bikes mid-ride, swapping to a bike that will go faster on the upcoming road.
(Some Zwifters don’t want to hassle with swapping, and I get that. Personally, I find it interesting and fun to hop on a fat-tired bike and zip past packs of hard-charging roadies. But to each their own!)
Since we know that the road bike is fastest on pavement, and the gravel bikes are fastest on dirt, we can easily formulate a smart swapping strategy to test. Road to Ruins goes into the Jungle then comes back out onto pavement, so when we hit the Jungle dirt we’ll swap to the gravel bike, then once the dirt ends, we’ll swap back to the road bike.
And we’ll do it as quickly as possible, using the bike swap hack. We used the Chapter2 TOA with ENVE 7.8 wheels (a good all-arounder) as our road bike, and the Specialized Crux with CADEX wheels as the gravel bike.
Using this strategy, our lap time went from our previous best on the road bike (49:44) to 49:35. A savings of 9 seconds (see it on Strava). This may not sound like much, but consider this: our swaps in the test were pretty poorly done (I have more practice swapping while actually riding in Zwift than I do swapping for my bot). In a live Zwift ride I would estimate I could trim another ~30s off of the overall time just by swapping faster. So that means the swap setup really beats the Tron by ~40 seconds.
Watch a Strava time comparison of our 4 bike tests:
Swapping Gotchas
There are four “gotchas” worth mentioning when it comes to bike swapping. First: you have to stop moving in order to change bikes. Using our method for changing bikes quickly, you will still probably lose 12-15 seconds each time you swap, if you do it smoothly. Practice makes perfect.
Second: you will want to accelerate hard after you stop for the bike swap, to get back up to speed as quickly as possible. Plan on 10-20s of hard effort before you settle in.
Third: if you’re going against packs of riders in a double draft race, a gravel bike probably won’t provide enough of an advantage on the Jungle descent. (I discuss this more in this post.) I would recommend staying on your road bike and sitting in the draft until you begin climbing after reaching the bottom of the Jungle. This lets you benefit from the double draft on the fast descent (where drafting is a major factor) as well as over the wood and paved portions at the bottom of the Jungle, where road bikes roll faster than gravel bikes.
Fourth: Zwift currently only lets you “save” one wheel selection at a time (I call this a bug, not a feature). You can save a wheel selection for your road bike or gravel bike, but you can’t do both. So if you equip, for example, the ENVE 7.8 wheels for your road bike (which “saves” your road wheel selection), then swap to your gravel bike, Zwift will automatically equip your gravel bike with the first gravel wheels on your list, because you have no gravel wheel saved (since that one save slot is occupied by your ENVE 7.8 road wheel selection).
Because of this bug, swappers will want to save their road wheel selection, then let Zwift auto-select the first gravel wheels in their garage. As long as it’s not the default Zwift Gravel wheels, all of the other four name-brand gravel wheelsets perform the same and are good options. This will let you swap back to a fast road setup quickly when you leave the Jungle.
Lab vs Real World
So the swap delivers the fastest overall time on Road to Ruins. But of course, our tests just show timings in isolation! In a drafting race situation, there are other important things to consider.
For example: what if you enter the Jungle with a strong group of riders? Is it worth dropping off the back of the group in order to swap bikes? Will you be strong enough to chase back onto the group and drop them on the Jungle Climb so you can swap back to the road bike afterward and still be in the same group, or (ideally) one further up the road?
Conclusion
An all-arounder like the Tron bike easily beats the best gravel and mountain bikes on the Road to Ruins route. But if you’re willing to pursue the swapping strategy, and do it smartly, you can gain significant speed advantages in the Jungle dirt without losing anything on the pavement.
Hear the story of Billie Jean King, the tennis legend who shaped the game into what it is today. Follow that up with a catch-up with Meghan Duggan, ice hockey legend and current President of the Women’s Sports Foundation – the non-profit that Billie started in the 1970s to encourage girls and women to take up sports.
About the Podcast
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.
Our Top 5 Zwift Videos for the week include some helpful guides about Zwift and its features! First up, you’ll get Zwift racing tips from a world championships competitor. Then find out more about clubs and drafting, and learn about Zwift as a whole from a pro soccer player.
Zwift Racing – Tricks, Tips & Hacks from a Zwift Pro
Brian Davis (of “Brian Davis Races”) wanted to know what he was getting wrong about Zwift racing, so he went to an eRacing expert. Zach Nehr, who was part of Team USA in the 2022 UCI Cycling eSports World Championships, was happy to give some tips and tricks while watching a few races.
How to Create a Zwift Club
The new version of Zwift Clubs is out! J Dirom does a quick run-down of the basics of how to create a club of your own.
Zwift Drafting
This well-explained guide by Endurance Sweat aims to help you draft like a Zwift expert.
What is ZWIFT? | Ben Foster | The Cycling GK
Professional soccer/football player Ben Foster (“The Cycling GK”) breaks down the basics of what Zwift is and how to ride.
ZWIFT gave me 8 weeks! ..what I’ve been doing wrong
In this episode of The Chris Pritchard Show, Chris wanted to come up with an 8-week training plan to help him get ready for the Flanders sportive. He went to Shayne Gaffney, performance training manager, and got some advice that could help a lot of time-crunched athletes.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
The latest WoZ episode is out, covering all that’s good and great in our favorite virtual cycling paradise.
On this week’s episode Maud Oudeman takes on her first one day and stage race for Canyon//SRAM, Rahsaan Bahati and Matt Stephens talk tech, cooling, and comfort as they complete the Ultimate Indoor Ride, we go behind the scenes with NTT Data who bring the numbers to life in the Zwift Racing League and the UCI Cycling Esports World Championships plus Matt Lieto and Shayne Gaffney talk us through the Gravel Grinder training plan to get you ready for Giant Gravel Crushers:
Zwift Rolls Out Wahoo Direct Connect Support for Most Platforms
Today Zwift announced via a forum post the long-anticipated release of in-game support for Wahoo’s Direct Connect accessory. Launched in January 2021, Direct Connect allows you to plug a KICKR 5 smart trainer into your ethernet switch or directly into your computer’s ethernet jack for a “hard-wired” connection.
The hope is that this can provide a rock-solid experience free of pesky ANT+ drops and other connection issues some Zwifters have had to fuss with intermittently since early days.
Supported Platforms
Zwift’s forum post says that all platforms except PC are currently supported, as long as you’re using the latest version (game version 1.23.3). Zwift says PCs will be “will be supported in an upcoming release.”
So far we’ve tested it on iOS and AppleTV, where it worked great. If you’ve tried it on other platforms, comment below and share your experience.
Connection Options
Direct Connect allows you to plug your KICKR into your local ethernet switch via a standard ethernet cable (which you will need to supply). If you’re using WiFi for your Internet connection and have an ethernet port open on your Mac (or soon, PC) you can also just plug the ethernet cable straight into your computer.
Here’s a quick and (literally) dirty video showing how the connections to a switch work:
Once PC support rolls out, direct connections to your PC will probably result in a Windows Defender firewall popup in the pairing screen the first time you try it. This is because the Zwift app is trying to connect to your trainer. Simply check both boxes and click “Allow access” and you’ll be all set.
Windows Defender firewall approval for direct connection to PC
If you use another firewall on your PC, you may have to configure access via that software. Wahoo says:
3rd party firewalls may block traffic to the adapter including, Norton, McAfee, and Avast. Be sure to disable your 3rd party firewall or allow traffic on port 36866. Follow the instructions for your firewall to allow traffic on this port for the adapter to work properly.
Pairing in Game
Pairing in game is dead simple – your Wahoo KICKR simply shows up with a different connection type icon next to it.
Here’s a quick video showing how it works on iOS:
Bluetooth Still Required
It’s worth noting that Direct Connect requires Bluetooth on your Mac (and eventually PC) to function, since it uses the Bluetooth protocol over TCP/IP.
This shouldn’t be an issue for most people, as most computers (especially Macs) sold in the past 7 years have Bluetooth out of the box. If not, installation of a Bluetooth adapter may be required, as your PC/MAC must have Bluetooth drivers installed in order to use Direct Connect.
Purchase Direct Connect
Many Zwifters have been waiting to buy KICKR Direct Connect until Zwift supports it. That day has finally arrived! Purchase Direct Connect here and you’ll be supporting Zwift Insider, as we have an affiliate agreement set up with Wahoo.
This weekend is like a mixed fruit bowl: lots of different events to try, including the novel Eliel Fruit FUNdo, which inspired this selection.
ToW Stage 5: High Life
Stage 5 sees a new route to ride, called “Eastern Eight“. At 51.7km in length it’s a bit of trek, making it more fun in a group setting. This route was designed by Eric and first published on Zwift Insider in February 2020, so there’s a chance are you may have ridden this before in an “unofficial” capacity. But this is your chance to do it and collect the badge and bonus XP!
Saturday features a one-day fondo event celebrating apparel brand Eliel Cycling‘s new fruit-themed line. The collection was designed in collaboration with cycling personality the Vegan Cyclist (Tyler Pearce), who is also riding in all three events—one for each distance.
Here’s a crazy set of events that I’ve never seen before on Zwift: a back-to-back series of 24 races, where the winner is the person who completes the most events! Results are tracked on ZwiftPower.
This is all organized by Swedish Zwifter Martin Hörtin, founder of #imoveforcancer, an initiative to raise 1 million SEK for the Swedish Children’s Cancer Foundation.
The event description explains that the “Movistar Team and its esports branch, the Movistar eTeam, will be hosting a Zwift Social Ride on Saturday 26th March as part of the WWF campaign: “’Kilometers for the planet’.” Read more about this initiative >
By completing the event, you will be entered into a prize draw to win a replica Movistar La Passione jersey.
I’m not really sure what to say about this event other than “it looks insane.” This is the first time that I have seen a 24 hour timed event on Zwift. (I have covered several events where people have ridden for 24 hours, but this event is the first timed one I have seen.)
If 24 hours seems too daunting, there are two shorter options. You can try the 12-hour ride (category B), or the 6 (category C). If you want, you can team up and tackle the challenge as a group and there is a specific category for that (category D).
For more information, including rules, visit this page.
In Zwift’s second Women’s History Month podcast, Kristin Armstrong is joined by Sharron Yaxley. She’s a Zwift legend known as “The Mink”, and in 2020 became the first woman to ride more than 100,000km on Zwift.
The pair discussed motivation, friendship, and fueling for those long rides.
About the Podcast
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.
