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How Accurate is Zwift zPower?

Jaden Feddock
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60
How Accurate is Zwift zPower?

You’ve started zwifting… first of all, welcome! One of the first things you are going to notice as you speed around Watopia is that the name of the game is power. Everything in this virtual world runs off of those precious watts that you are able to generate as you turn the pedals. If you aren’t lucky enough to have your hands on a power meter, the kind engineers of Zwift have come up with a solution for all of us! That solution is zPower.

zPower is a calculated power value based on the speed of your bike and the resistance of the trainer you are riding on. Editor’s note: although the terms are used interchangeably by Zwifters, there is a slight difference between zPower and virtual power on Zwift. Jaden is technically using virtual power, but he uses the term zPower throughout this post. For more on this, read “Virtual Power Basics for Zwifters“.)

When I started on Zwift, I did all my training and racing using zPower, and one of the first questions that I asked myself was: “Is the power value anywhere near my true power?” The more I trained the more I wanted to be able to compare my numbers with my friends and see how I would stack up in group rides and races. I wanted to know whether the numbers I was getting for FTP, training zones, etc. were close enough to my actual power to be useful.

I am basing this article on a video I created, if you’re interested in getting the information in video format, check it out and don’t hesitate to subscribe to the channel:

Hope you enjoy the video, but in case you’re more interested in the text version of the story, here it is:

The Test

The first thing I needed to do was compare two different power data charts in the same time frame. To do that, I ran Zwift as I normally would, sending speed, cadence, and heart rate to the AppleTV to run my avatar. Separately, I used the new power meter on my bike (4iiii Precision) sending data directly to my Wahoo Bolt. After I finished the test, I was able to use ZwiftPower to compare two different power graphs based on data from Zwift (downloaded from Strava) and from my Wahoo Bolt head unit, downloaded from the Wahoo app.

When you add both of these data files into ZwiftPower’s analysis tool, you get some cool comparative information. The first thing you see is this graph (the purple line is zPower, and the light blue line is the 4iiii Power Meter):

A close up of a map Description automatically generated

We will get to the specific sections in the graph more closely soon, but before we get to that there are some other elements of the analysis that I wanted to highlight.

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

For an average power, I was very impressed with Zwift! A difference of only 6.1 watts (4.26%) averaged over the whole test was actually quite impressive, so kudos to the team for working hard and making something great. I won’t talk much about normalized power, but as you can tell in the graph it is also within about 4% as well, which I would consider very accurate for an estimation.

Maximum power is definitely a key point here, with an almost 10% discrepancy. The actual power meter read a significantly higher max power, which from what I can tell is due to the ability of a rider to push significant power into the pedals instantly, but the resulting wheel speed (what zPower is actually based on) does not increase quite as fast. If your sprint lasts for a long time, you may see the zPower number climb up to match that maximum, but if the power peaks and then drops, as mine does in this sprint test, your zPower numbers will not be able to catch up, and will not spike as high a power meter can.

To review the actual data, I divided the overall test into three segments that told three different stories about the difference between Zwift zPower and an actual power meter. Here are the three main test sections that I looked closely at:

Steady State

Most of the test was run as an (attempted) steady state ride, hovering around 200W. My intention here was to see what zPower could do if the speed was constant. As you can see on the graph, both of the values are tracking pretty closely together, with the zPower consistently lower, and the difference there was by about 10-25 watts. This may seem significant, especially on the higher end of that range, but the fact that it was tracking closely even though it was low helps me know that at least for workouts you will still feel the difference between hard and easy.

The other thing to notice on the steady state portion of the test was that my actual power data is quite jumpy. I’m fairly new to this power meter data, but from what I have learned from others with much more experience is that this is normal. When you first start measuring power, it’s reasonable that your natural pedal stroke will create slight variances in power even when riding at a steady state. The reason that the Zwift value is able to be so consistent, is because they are basing theirs off of wheel speed, which is more constant.

Intervals

I did some really quick interval work during the test, so I could see what the zPower readings would look like when you ramp up power, stay at that level for some period of time, and then bring it back down again. I think this result is interesting because it is the only meaningful time that the zPower value is higher than my actual power meter.

The difference in the graph partially represents a slight lag, so my power increases as soon as I put more pressure into the pedals, which makes sense, but my speed will only increase gradually, thus increasing the zPower. The interesting thing to note is that my continued high-power effort increased my speed fairly significantly, and even though I was holding a consistent power, I was still accelerating. That is why for a few seconds, my zPower will continue to rise past the top of my actual power numbers. The same small lag is noticed on the tail end of the interval, as I ramp the power back down again.

Sprinting

The most significant difference between the values that I saw was when I tried a sprint. I only ramped my power up to around 800 watts, but it was quick enough to see how zPower would react to the changes. As expected, since my speed increases slower than the effort I’m putting in, my real power increase is very sharp. The zPower is much more gradual.

Since I spent so little time at the power peak, it is reasonable that Zwift wouldn’t reach the same value, but the difference was about 70 watts, which represented an almost 10% difference. In a significant race-ending sprint, that wattage difference could be a big deal. Another interesting piece to note is that the decrease is much more gradual on the zPower side. When I stop putting in effort, my watts will instantly go to zero. However, and depending on your specific trainer, the flywheel you have will keep some of your momentum in the trainer and your wheel will continue to spin for some amount of time as your speed decreases.

Conclusion

After running this test, I was honestly very surprised at the accuracy that Zwift is able to achieve through a data-based estimation. It’s actually very impressive! I know the same accuracy results will likely not be the same for everyone (see the ‘Recommendations’ for tips on how to improve zPower accuracy) but from my testing I can say that I was impressed.

Knowing how power meters work, and how the calculations are made by zPower, can be a great tool to have when you are training on Zwift and are curious as to why you can’t put out huge wattage in a sprint as quickly as your fellow racers, or why you are able to keep a much smoother and consistent power curve than those with direct power meters are. I very much enjoyed diving into this data, and if you are interested in checking out my actual data set, I have made it public on ZwiftPower! Just keep in mind that I am still in training, so the power numbers are still those of an amateur cycling enthusiast.

Recommendations

There are likely a few people reading who are curious whether the results that I got are going to be similar to the results that you see. Since quite a few variables are involved, I’ll share three things that you can do to help your trainer give the most accurate zPower numbers possible (see Zwift Support for more information)

  1. Use a compatible trainer. The Zwift website has a list of the trainers (non-smart) that they have done extensive testing with. That data is the reason that Zwift is able to calculate an accurate power. I personally use the Giant Cyclotron Mag trainer. If you use a magnetic trainer (or any trainer with a variable resistance) Zwift will tell you which resistance value to use. Make sure to use it!
  2. Keep the trainer tight. When you tighten the trainer to the wheel, you want to be sure that it will not slip during the workout, because that will create inconsistent speed ratings. I do this by turning the wheel directly as a test to see if you can hear any slip. If turning the wheel manually causes that skid sound, it’s a good idea to give it another quarter-turn until it’s solid. If your wheel is slipping, Zwift will usually catch it and put a pop up in-game to alert you, and it could kill your power until you tighten it (it’s the worst if you’re in the middle of a race… so best to just make it’s tight from the beginning).
  3. Pump the tires to a normal PSI. This part isn’t tricky, but it is easily forgotten. Just as you would before an outdoor ride, check the PSI in your tires and make sure it is at a normal value, similar to what you would ride outside.

Ride on!

What About You?

Have you ever compared Zwift’s zPower estimates with a power meter? What did you conclude? Share below!

How the Race Was Won: A Journey from Climber to Sprinter

Robin Stevens
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17
How the Race Was Won: A Journey from Climber to Sprinter

This is not the typical “rub some PR lotion on the legs and chew some caffeine gum” story. This is not even a story about my own race. This is a story about how I watched Ed Laverack win a race in a sprint after weeks of preparation.

Like most people during these last few months, I needed to find a way to spend my time during the lockdown. One thing I did watch Zwift races. Because it’s far easier than participating myself!

Intro to Ed

One of the riders that stood out from those races was the current British hill climbing champion Ed Laverack. The guy weighs less than my left leg, yet somehow manages to produce more power than the average 90kg rider. The result is a rider who can ride at almost 7 W/kg for 20 minutes. Combine that with a willingness to attack in almost every race and you have a recipe for an attractive racer. Deadly on the hills, but able to keep a chasing pack behind him for quite some time even in a flat race.

It’s something that Zwift Community Live commentators Nathan Guerra and Dave Towle have noticed as well. They even introduced a new verb – “laveracking a group” – attacking so hard that the whole group splits apart and only the strongest survive.

Now that in itself is not so unique. What makes Ed interesting are his live streams, and more particularly his interaction with viewers. He is really good at explaining why he races like he does (for example, attacking in impossible places) and after each race, he does a post-race analysis where he goes over the numbers and answers questions popping up in the chat.

Planning to Sprint

A few weeks ago, after yet another race full of attacks only to get beaten in the sprint, he started with a plan. He would work on his sprint with dedicated training sessions and races that suited him less but were almost certain to end in a sprint. The training sessions or workouts had the goal of improving his 5-10-15 second power, the races were needed to get the timing and sprint tactics right.

Session after session his followers could see him working on his sprint, going together over the power numbers and seeing the improvements. The chat during the races is filled with people who race on Zwift, and we all shared tips and experiences on how to do a good sprint on Zwift on that particular finish. A perfect example how both sides (the streamer and the audience) could learn from each other. 

And this week the training paid off. Ed entered a Crit City, 8-lap race. A short 20-minute race on an almost pan flat course. Totally not his kind of race (normally he uses the first 20 minutes as warm-up). After a race of sitting in, keeping in touch with the front of the group and making sure he had an aero power-up it was time for the sprint.

And what a glorious sprint it was. The timing was near perfect. Waiting long enough to go yet staying in close contact with the front. Activating his aero power-up so that it would last until the finish, but not a second longer. And high power to finish it all off. (Watch the race in the video above.)

It was a close finish, with the top 3 finishing within 0.2 seconds of each other. But Ed Laverack came out as the winner. In the last second before the line, his aero powerup made the difference and he went from 3rd position to 1st. The climber who almost never wins a climbing race on Zwift had won a crit race in a sprint! If he can do similar sprints after a hilly (outdoor) race, he will win many more races this season.

So, if you’re bored or don’t know what to do, I strongly suggest to go to his Youtube channel to watch some of his races or training sessions and learn from his approach to training on Zwift. Depending on which videos you watch, you might also get some nutrition advice or simply witness the suffering behind his Zwift attacks first hand.

Disclaimer: I don’t know Ed personally, nor did he ask me to write this. It’s just my way of saying thank you for a fair number of hours of entertainment he provided to me during these past few months.

How I’ve Used Zwift During the Pandemic To Get Into the Best Shape of My Life

Eric Schlange
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45
How I’ve Used Zwift During the Pandemic To Get Into the Best Shape of My Life

Some people ride to relieve stress – and we’ve all had plenty of that this year. Others do it to lose weight. And still others are following specific training plans, even though their racing goals this season are murky at best.

Me? I ride because I love the results. Cycling brings me much-needed fitness, healthy competition, and fun with friends. It also lets me see my surroundings in a fresh light: there’s simply no better way to experience the world.

This Year vs Last

It’s been a strange year, hasn’t it? Here we are in early June, and I’m still spending ~80% of my riding time on Zwift. This isn’t normal. In past years I would be riding ~80% of my miles outside by now. But shelter-in-place (SiP) combined with a shrinking set of local riding buddies and so many fun Zwift events has resulted in this odd situation.

It’s also resulted in me being fitter than ever before.

Recent shots of IRL me (somewhere on the Pacific Coast Highway) and Zwift me (descending the Alpe)

Tracking Fitness

How do you track fitness? There are, of course, a variety of ways to do so. Tracking methods are largely driven by which sport(s) and goals you’ve chosen. Swimmers and cyclists have different fitness metrics. Racers look at different numbers than the casual athlete seeking to shed 20 pounds.

The important thing is to find metrics that work for you. Here are the numbers I keep a close eye on:

  • My fitness score in TrainingPeaks
  • My FTP
  • My weight
  • My body fat percentage

None of these is a perfect measure of cycling fitness. But they are easy to track and combined give me a solid picture of where I’m at. And you know what? I’m in a really good place right now.

My FTP is as high as its ever been – somewhere in the 305-315 watts range, depending on how I test it. My weight has been down around 180 pounds (~82kg) for the last two months, which is the longest I’ve ever stayed so light. And my body fat percentage and watts per kilo numbers are happily reflecting this combination of low weight and high strength!

What I’m really excited about, though, is my fitness score in TrainingPeaks.

How TrainingPeaks “Fitness” Works

TrainingPeaks uses a metric called TSS to assign a Training Stress Score to each workout. TSS is based on the duration and intensity of your workout so for example, a full-gas 1-hour effort may have the same TSS as a 3-hour ride at social pace.

That TSS metric is then used to chart your daily level of fatigue, fitness, and freshness:

  • Fatigue: how tired is your body from recent training? This is an exponentially weighted average of your past 7 days worth of TSS.
  • Fitness: how strong is your body, thanks to all the recent training? This is an exponentially weighted average of your past 42 days worth of TSS.
  • Form: how good will you feel on today’s ride? Subtract yesterday’s fatigue from yesterday’s fitness and you have today’s form.

The TrainingPeaks app combines these metrics into a Performance Management Chart (PMC). The PMC can be used to easily see how your overall fitness is changing, as well as where you stand in terms of form.

My Current Fitness

Here is my PMC from January 2018 to present:

Pink = fatigue, orange = freshness, blue = fitness

As you can see, I’m currently in the high 90’s, and even hit a high of 104 a couple weeks ago! My previous annual highs were 93 (July 2019) and 81 (May 2018).

(That high of 104, and the big pink fatigue spike you see in the chart from a couple weeks ago, is the result of a 4-day, 426-mile IRL bike trip my brother and I took down California’s Pacific Coast Highway. A rather spur of the moment adventure which I didn’t train for at all! More on those epic rides in another post.)

My Week

So how did I arrive at the best shape of my life? Am I sticking religiously to a perfectly-structured training plan?

Well, that’s the crazy part. I’m not! I’ve certainly done structured training before – for months at a time. And I can vouch for its effectiveness. The problem for me is, I don’t enjoy it. And it’s important for me to look forward to riding my bike.

So instead, what I’ve done since late February 2020 is essentially this:

  • Monday: medium length, medium-easy pace. This means mostly Zone 2 HR over 90-120 minutes.
  • Tuesday: race day. Races vary from 20-75 minutes in length, and my overall ride time with warmup and the actual race will be 90-120 minutes.
  • Wednesday: easy day. 60-90 minutes, Zone 1-2 HR.
  • Thursday: race day. Races vary from 20-75 minutes in length, and my overall ride time with warmup and the race will be 90-120 minutes.
  • Friday: lead my Sprintapalooza ride, then hang out for another 30 minutes or so, not pushing hard. 75-90 minutes.
  • Saturday: long and hard. I’ll cobble together group rides and races into a session 2.5-3 hours long, sometimes more. This usually looks like a long warmup followed by a longish race (75 minutes or more), then additional steady riding to build endurance by putting more fatigue into the already-tired race legs.
  • Sunday: easy day. Usually 60-90 minutes of easy riding, often outdoors on the MTB up a local climb, just enjoying the scenery.

Every week is a bit different, and every 5 weeks or so I take a rest week where I avoid sustained hard efforts and let my body rest and rebuild. But overall, I’ve basically stayed within this framework for the past few months. And almost all of my riding has been in Zwift events: group rides for easier days, races for race days.

This has led to steady progress in my fitness numbers. Here’s a chart from mid-February 2020 to present:

Indoor vs Outdoor Efficiency

I typically ride 12-14 hours total each week. Could my training be made more efficient? Absolutely. Following a structured training plan would let me reduce the hours put in, for the same training benefit.

But would I enjoy it? Nope.

So regardless of whether I ride outdoors or indoors, I won’t be doing a structured training plan. And here’s what I know is true for me: I consistently pack more solid training into an hour on Zwift than I do outside.

Outside ride time includes getting to the place where I can begin my workout. It also includes stoplights, traffic, weather, and all those fun outdoor niggles. Taking TSS as an objective metric, I would estimate that my TSS per hour is reduced by 10-20% when I ride outside, compared to when I ride on Zwift. That means if I moved all my training time outdoors, my fitness score would eventually drop by 10-20%.

That’s what has happened in past years. But not this year.

A decrease of 10-20% seems crazy. But it makes sense. And it explains the true stories of pros like Mathew Hayman who recuperated on Zwift then returned and won Paris-Roubaix. Or the more recent example of Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, who spent several solid weeks under SiP “house arrest” on Zwift in Spain only to destroy her Rocacorba PR the moment she was allowed to get outside again.

Bottom line: riding on Zwift lets you pack a lot of TSS into your training time. And I’ve been doing a lot of riding on Zwift.

TSS Caveat

I’ll mention this now, before someone does it in the comments: coaches and experienced cyclists will say that there’s more to fitness than TSS. And they’re correct: a high fitness number doesn’t tell me how well-trained I am for a particular race.

As an example: I could rack up a lot of TSS doing long, slow rides, but if my races require high sprint power, I’m not building the fitness needed to meet my goals.

But here’s the thing: I’m not training with my eye on one or two big events. The competition I enjoy happens every week, and it’s a part of my training! I’m riding Zwift races to train for Zwift races. And if our local cycling group ever gets revved up again, I’ll ride our Tuesday night hammerfest to train for next week’s Tuesday night hammerfest.

So the TSS I’m racking up is targeted quite nicely at the sort of intervals I want to train for, because that TSS is earned in those actual events, week after week!

Mileage

Distance really isn’t a great fitness metric, but it’s a fun one. So every year I set a distance goal in Strava. This year I was lazy, and simply set the same goal as last year: 9,500 miles. But thanks to all the indoor riding, I’m on pace to break 11,000 miles for the year – much more than I’ve ever done before.

What About You?

2020 has been a crazy year. But thanks to good health, SiP, and a keen fondness for Zwift cycling, I’ve been able to ride into the best shape of my life.

What about you? I’d love to hear what has this crazy year done to your fitness? Share below!

Zwifters: Don’t Miss June’s Strava Challenges!

Eric Schlange
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13
Zwifters: Don’t Miss June’s Strava Challenges!

Ever since Strava’s April decision to open up its challenges to allow indoor miles, Zwifters have been unlocking badges at record levels! This month there are several appealing challenges for Zwift riders, including two special climbing challenges. Here are the details…

A Challenge by Kate Courtney


Climb 10,000 feet in 10 days (June 5-June 14)

Kate is a pro mountain biker who won the 2019 UCI World Cup overall title – the first American to do so in 17 years! She created this challenge as a call for the Strava community to fundraise for the World Health Organization COVID-19 Response Fund.

Create a fundraising page, join a team, and put in maximum elevation over 10 days. Any elevation/donation helps, but you must climb 10,000 feet by June 14th to complete the Strava challenge.

Learn more/sign up >

Haute Route Dolomites Challenge


Climb 3300m in a single ride between 12:00am Friday 12th June and 11:59pm Sunday 14th June in your local timezone

The toughest challenge on the list – but what else should we expect from Haute Route? This is their first-ever Strava challenge, and it’s a doozy! To mimic the elevation of the Queen Stage for Haute Route’s canceled 2020 Dolomites event, riders must climb 3300 meters (10,826′) in a single ride in order to complete this challenge. The challenge only runs from Friday-Sunday in your local time, too, so you’ve got to plan accordingly.

What does 3300 meters look like on Zwift? Well, you could ride:

  • 3x up Alpe du Zwift, plus another 194m
  • Almost 8x up the Epic KOM forward (or almost 6x if you include the Radio Tower “bonus climb”)
  • More than 24x up London’s Box Hill
  • 66x up Watopia’s first climb, the Hilly KOM!

If you complete the challenge (and jump through the hoops of filling out a form or two) you will be entered into a drawing for a 3-day Haute Route event in 2021, plus prize packs from Precision Hydration.

Be sure to visit the link below for details, so you can get registered properly.

Learn more at Haute Route’s website >

Monthly Strava Challenges

Strava’s standard monthly challenges are still allowing indoor miles to count, which is great news! Here are the details of each challenge – click for more info, and to sign up.

Questions or Comments

Are you taking on any of these challenges? Got questions? Comment below!

The Catch Up With Sarah True (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast)

Eric Schlange
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0
The Catch Up With Sarah True (Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast)

In The Catch Up Matt drops a line to some former guests and personalities in the sport for a short coffee-style catch up. This week he chats with Sarah True about her new interim teaching gig, how she’s adjusted her training in this time, and a fave past time of hers: baking!

About the Podcast:

The Zwift PowerUp Tri Podcast is hosted by former pro triathletes Matt Lieto and Jordan Rapp, lending their in-depth knowledge of the multisport to the Zwift Tri audience.

No longer Unemployed: We Are “Working From Home”!

Eric Schlange
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24
No longer Unemployed: We Are “Working From Home”!

Zwift has officially renamed the “Unemployed” badge to “Working from Home”.

We’re not sure when this was updated, but we assume it happened in last week’s release.

This is just a small bit of news, of course. But it’s worth mentioning because it’s something the community first began asking for when the COVID-19 crisis hit, and SiP/WFH became well-known acronyms overnight. (The badge is given after 14 days in a row of riding or running at least 5km – learn more about it here.)

Kudos to Zwift for turning a negative-sounding badge into one that’s both positive and a lovely play on words.

Ride on!

Is Zwift Hosting the Tour de France?

Eric Schlange
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87
Is Zwift Hosting the Tour de France?

CyclingNews broke the story today that a virtual men’s and women’s Tour de France is set to happen on Zwift in July.

Is it true? Well, something significant is definitely happening. At the very least, the ASO is clearly in serious talks with Zwift about hosting a virtual TdF. As CyclingNews says, “proposals from ASO, seen by Cyclingnews, set out plans for a men’s and women’s race…”

We don’t know if those are final documents, and Zwift has told us “we cannot confirm or comment at this time.” So let’s talk about what CyclingNews posted, and what the Tour de France coming to Zwift might mean for our favorite virtual cycling platform.

Schedule

The racing will be held across three weekends during the dates when the IRL Tour is typically held, beginning on Saturday, July 4, and ending Sunday, July 19 according to CyclingNews. There will be a total of six stages, so presumably one on Saturday and one on Sunday, for three weekends.

Stages will last around an hour and include a marquee mountain stage.

(It’s worth noting that the Tour has been rescheduled to August 29-September 20. There are still questions about whether it will actually happen, of course.)

Teams

CyclingNews says 15 teams are signed up for the event at this time, which would indicate that Zwift is well past the “proposal” stage with ASO. The field will be composed of four-rider teams.

Typically 20-22 teams participate in the Tour. Looking at this year’s list of teams for the IRL race, the following already have a strong presence on Zwift, especially after a few months of COVID-19 restrictions:

  • Mitchelton-Scott
  • Movistar
  • NTT Pro Cycling
  • Team Ineos
  • Jumbo-Visma
  • UAE Team Emirates
  • Arkea-Samsic
  • Lotta Soudal
  • Israel Start-Up Nation
  • EF Pro Cycling
  • Deceuninck – Quick-Step
  • Cofidis
  • Bora-Hansgrohe
  • Bahrain-McLaren
  • Astana

Our guess is these teams are the ones already signed up, with more to come. Pure conjecture, of course.

New Routes

The article from CyclingNews says, “Zwift is set to build new race routes, including one in Nice for the opening stage and another in Paris to mimic the traditional finale of the Tour de France on the cobbled circuit of the Champs Elysées.”

New tarmac is always welcome news to Zwifters. It’s been 6 months since Crit City was released, and we haven’t seen any new routes since then. (Of course, we would have had the Tokyo Olympics course by now, but that got pushed off.) Zwifters are hungry for new roads to ride, and something iconic would be quite special!

Broadcasting/Live Streaming

According to CyclingNews, “10 television channels covering 130 countries have signed up to broadcast the event.” That’s huge, of course. If it happens, Zwift will be exhibited on a stage that is orders of magnitude beyond anything previous.

An ASO First

If this is true, it will be the first time the ASO has collaborated with Zwift to organize an event on the platform. ASO also organizes Vuelta a España, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastone-Liege, La Flèche Wallonne, Paris–Nice, and other top races. So this could be the first of other high-level virtual event collaborations to come.

What Does It Mean?

If Zwift is able to host a virtual Tour de France in July, what would that mean for the Zwift community? Here are a few thoughts:

  • More Zwifters: with the platform getting in front of more eyeballs, we’ll surely see more cyclists coming on board. This move could legitimize Zwift in the eyes of many cyclists who have kept Zwift at arm’s length.
  • More Game Development: surely Zwift will be making some improvements to game play, or at least the racing portion of it, for an event as high-level as Le Tour. These changes will trickle down to the community-level races as well.
  • Improved Broadcasting/Spectating: if the major broadcasters who typically support the IRL Tour carry the virtual race, Zwift’s current broadcasting software will surely be improved to provide a better viewing experience. (Some Zwifters have been wondering why the pace of game development has been a little slow lately… this may explain it.)
  • Further Development of eRacing Rules and Enforcement: Zwift already has a fairly robust ruleset in place for its high-level races, but surely a race of this caliber will force all parties to take a closer look at these rules, and the ways they are enforced, in order to ensure competition is fair. How will teams verify rider weight and power meter accuracy? It can be handled by independent parties, and that may very well be necessary for a race of this caliber. No significant hardware development can be made by July, but strict hardware requirements will certainly be in place (verified calibration, a narrow list of acceptable power meters, etc). All of this will filter down to everyday Zwift races in various ways over time.
  • Watching Amazing Races: we like to watch top Zwift races… but watching the TdF on Zwift? That would be next-level, and we won’t miss a single event.
  • More Pros on Zwift: if this happens, the pros won’t be messing around. The TdF is the biggest thing on cycling’s annual calendar, and with the IRL version still in question, this could turn out to be the biggest cycling event of the year. The pros will be out in force on Zwift, training to get the feel and fitness required for top results.
  • Parity Progress: cycling has been talking about gender parity for a long time, but it really hasn’t happened in IRL road racing like it has on Zwift. If Zwift holds a men’s and women’s TdF, we’re guessing women will get just as much airtime and prize money as the guys. And that’s big news for women’s cycling.

Of course, this is all unconfirmed at this point. But if it does happen, if the Tour de France is hosted on Zwift, it will be a very big deal. It will be Zwift’s breakout moment. It will signal a sea change in the world of cycling. And it will further the development of a platform we Zwifters use day after day, week after week.

It will be big news. The biggest bit of Zwift news since Zwift began, back in 2014!

We hope it happens, and we’ll be here to share more on this story as it develops. We think we’ll be hearing more very soon…

Your Comments

Would love to hear your thoughts on this development. Share below!

5 Zwift Events Not To Miss This Weekend

Eric Schlange
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5 Zwift Events Not To Miss This Weekend

With so much happening in our virtual cycling paradise, it’s easy to miss some really cool rides! Here are 5 events this weekend you may want to check out.

Special thanks to Jesper at ZwiftHacks with his Events app which provides powerful event filtering tools that help us create this list each week.

Watch a Race (or Two!)

There are two special Zwift races that will be lots of fun to watch this weekend. First, we have Chris Froome taking on Kevin Pietersen and other celebrities in a staggered-start race. Will Froome have what it takes to overtake everyone for the win on the Volcano Climb route? Watch it Sunday at 7:30pm BST/2.30pm EDT/11.30am PDT on Sky Sports Main Event Action and Mix, as well as the Sky Sports YouTube channel and Zwift’s YouTube channel.

Secondly, Team Ineos is hosting their second eRace, this time on Yorkshire’s Tour of Tewit Well route. This is just INEOS team members going head to head, and if it’s anything like their first race, it’ll be fun to watch! Watch it on Zwift’s YouTube channel Saturday at 5pm BST/noon EDT/9am PDT.

Ride a Fondo

The first event in a 3-month Fondo series targeting Australia and New Zealand happens this weekend. That means it happens Friday in the USA!

Learn More >

Pride On

This is the first Saturday of Zwift’s month-long Pride Month series of celebratory ride and run events. The rides already have hundreds signed up! Join to celebrate Zwifters of all stripes, share some Pride Ons, and unlock the jersey.

Multiple event times. See schedule at zwift.com/events/series/ride-and-run-with-pride/

Virtual Mt. Fuji Hill Climb Race

Race up Alpe du Zwift in the virtual version of the IRL Mt. Fuji Hill Climb race! Hundreds of riders are already signed up for each of the six time slots.

Multiple event times. See schedule at zwifthacks.com

Get Your 25-Lap Volcano Badge

The weekly L’Equipe Provence Badge Hunter Series has one goal: to check off a difficult course or achievement every week! This week, it’s 25 laps of the Volcano Circuit. Remember: teamwork makes the dreamwork! Stick together, use the group draft, and encourage each other in the chat and Discord.

Sunday 7:30am BST/2:30am EDT/Saturday 11:30pm PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/855859

Your Thoughts

Got other events that stand out this weekend? Share below in the comments!

Celebrity Race Announced: Chris Froome & Kevin Pietersen Join Forces To Support NHS this Sunday

Eric Schlange
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Celebrity Race Announced: Chris Froome & Kevin Pietersen Join Forces To Support NHS this Sunday

A different sort of fundraiser race has been announced for this weekend: Chris Froome is joining forces with multiple Ashes Series winning cricketer Kevin Pietersen as well as other celebrity friends in a staggered-start event to provide 1,000 bikes to NHS key workers through Wheels for Heroes.

Also confirmed for the battle are Mel C, Olly Murs, Ryan Giggs, Andrew Flintoff, Lee Westwood, Maro Itoje, Steph Houghton, Darren Gough, and Kirsty Gallacher.

“I’m really happy that we’re in a position to be able to provide help to our key workers during this tough period, and what a way to do it,” says Kevin Pietersen. “As well as providing funds to donate 1,000 bikes via Wheels for Heroes, we’re also looking to provide some fun. We’ve got a great bunch of celebrities looking to beat Chris on Sunday. I’m looking forward to providing an upset!” 

“It’s going to be full out effort from me, trying to catch everyone,” Froome told Sky Sports. “It’s definitely an added incentive to make sure that I catch Kevin because I can’t have him winning this event!”

The race will be broadcast across Sky Sports Main Event, Action and Mix, as well as the Sky Sports YouTube channel and Zwift’s YouTube channel, on Sunday 7 June at 7.30pm BST (2.30pm EDT/11.30am PDT). The coverage will be hosted by Laura Woods, Romesh Ranganathan, and Matt Stephens.

The race will be held on Watopia’s Volcano Climb route, with participants gridded at the start based on the results of recent FTP tests each has taken. Chris Froome, professional cyclist for Team Ineos and four-time winner of the Tour de France, will be the last to start, of course, setting off in pursuit of all ahead on board his Wahoo KICKR.

“Kevin actually made the suggestion to do a charity event on Zwift back in April, so I’m really glad we have managed to get this off the ground,” says Froome. “Our NHS workers have been truly inspiring, but with travel restrictions, it’s still difficult for them to travel to and from their place of work. These new bikes will truly make a difference and provide a safe means for our NHS workers to travel safely during COVID-19.”

Tales from the Blunt End, Part 2

Bryan Culliford
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Tales from the Blunt End, Part 2

Starting Again

My plan was to increase my FTP w/kg to around 2.5. I wanted to start with an accurate FTP test, then begin a program. Losing 10% body weight and gaining 10% FTP would improve my w/kg 22% and I would be close to my target and hopefully a podium shot in a D race.

Losing 10% weight +Increase FTP 10% =Increase w/kg 22%
100kg -> 90kg200w -> 220w  2.0w/kg -> 2.44w/kg

So the day after the fateful Crit Race I wrote about in Part 1, I decided I needed to devise a plan to get quicker in a more structured and formulated fashion. With extra motivation, determination, and purpose, I went into my pain cave*, wrote the blog piece for Eric, hit send, crossed my fingers, and left without ever touching the bike. I wanted to do a new FTP Ramp test, and I knew I needed to be fresh for the best result.

* In my case, by “cave” I mean spare bedroom and by “pain” I mean it’s a painfully poor set up, more on this another time.

My FTP Ramp, otherwise known as the Stairway to Hell

The day after blog day I was ready. I knew from my previous Ramp Test that it’s as much about the mind as it is about the body, I really had to force myself to keep going during the last few seconds as my legs ground to a halt. I wonder how much variation there is from riders with similar fitness who just refuse to quit, and those that stop too early. Does the test expect you to quit early and compensate? I certainly feel my FTP is generous, I doubt I could hold it for a full hour. I ended up pushing a maximum of 311 watts which seems very low, but with cumulative effort and tired legs at that point, my cadence had dropped to a slow pitiful crawl.

The last time I did an FTP Test I scored 196, this was November 2019 when I was weighing close to 118kg, or 1.66 w/kg. After this, I did the 6 week FTP builder plan. I presume this made me fitter, but I honestly have no idea how effective it was as I didn’t retest myself at the end. Instead I got married, enjoyed Christmas, ate far too much on our honeymoon in Italy eating pasta and pizza, and didn’t cycle again consistently until the start of April. I considered hiring an Uber bike one day to get around Rome but the unfamiliar road markings and driving on the right put me off, plus riding an electric bike still makes me feel like a fraud. Prior to the honeymoon I had dropped weight though via an experiment with Intermittent Fasting, getting as low as 102kg, and over the course of April, Zwift had generously estimated that my FTP had gone up to 202. This gave me a 1.98 w/kg FTP which is what was written in my Zwift profile when I raced Crit City at the start of May.

My retesting day yielded some mixed results. Firstly, my weight was no longer 102kg, the honeymoon had not been kind to the scales. I was now tipping 109kg, which set me back to 1.85 w/kg, and after consultation with WADA, also disqualified me from the Crit City race result completely for weight doping. Ooops!!! I avoided a ban for being honest, plus there was no evidence to prove I had benefitted from the deception in anyway. I was slow even when cheating.

Secondly, my new FTP came in at 217, so a new high of 1.99 w/kg. A net gain of 0.01 w/kg, small victories! This is where I considered the fact that Zwift thinks I can hold 217 watts for an hour. I doubt I could hold 155 for a full hour, so unsure what maths or witchcraft they are using. At the very least, even if the FTP is not accurate to a real life 1-hour effort, the Ramp Test offers a consistent method of checking progress, provided you’re also consistently tenacious.

So my new initial targets are as follows:

Losing 10% weight +Increase FTP 10% =Increase w/kg 23%
109kg -> 98.1kg200w -> 239w 1.98w/kg -> 2.43w/kg

The Plan

I’ve had lots of tips about the best ways to increase FTP, and I have not ignored any of them. They are all very sound suggestions and I plan to try every one of them later on to see which ones possess the best pain to progress ratio. The reason I haven’t listened yet is I was already into week 4 of a 6-week FTP builder by the time my post went live. I’m determined to finish it to have an idea of how much improvement it can offer at my level of both fitness and commitment. As with all training, you only get out what you put in, and with the effort I’ve been putting in so far I’m expecting a spot on the Ineos roster. Domestique will do for the first year.

My first gripe about this plan is that it, and presumably all others, run from Monday to Sunday. Sessions are drip fed depending on when you do the previous one and it won’t let you complete multiple sessions on the same day for example. As a result, if you start a plan on a Saturday, you won’t complete week 1 before week 2 starts, the remaining sessions from the 1st week will be lost. A little frustrating as not everyone works a Monday to Friday job. It contains about 6 hours of cycling per week with an equal amount of staring at the data in the Companion App and Strava data afterwards too. Somewhat of a commitment when you have a full-time job and other important things like dogs to walk and Netflix to watch, but it’s less than I was doing on an average week.

The ‘foundation’ workouts pop up a lot and I hate them, not because the intensity is high, but that continual fast cadence. It’s like trying to sprint down a really steep hill, your legs spinning wildly to keep upright. I’ve traditionally been a slow peddler so a 90-100 cadence is unnatural and tiring in itself, but I especially loath having to maintain this during the rest periods. I’m sure all it’s doing is destroying my knee and ankle cartilage. Zwift doesn’t penalise you for incorrect cadence, but it must be there for a reason so I always keep it up the whole way through. It must work though as I find I gravitate naturally towards the 90 mark now and longer rides seem easier.

Strength sessions catch me out and Zwift really needs to make a small alteration to them. The sessions either want you to sprint in a big gear for each effort or for you to pedal slowly instead, doing a kind of single-leg squat effort. The problem is, the message that tells you to go fast or slow doesn’t appear until after the effort starts, when I’m usually grimacing too much to see anything. Zwift needs to make these messages appear prior to the efforts starting so you know what to expect in advance.

This message needs to appear before the effort zone.
I took a day off after this one!

I remembered well enough from my previous use of this plan that the first 3 weeks are quite relaxed, so I also took the opportunity to complete the Unemployed badge for 14 consecutive days cycled. Starting with the FTP Ramp test, I just skipped all my rest days for the first 2 weeks, adding in short rides. It was really easy until the cumulative effects of not resting took its toll on the 13th and 14th days. I could barely feel my legs, the only indication they were moving being the onscreen cadence. This was a great eye opener into the exact importance of ensuring you have recovery rides and rest days in your schedule.

I also love a trophy, and digital trophies on Strava are even better as they don’t need dusting. So at the end of the 3rd week I also decided to conclude my nearly 90-minute long workout by completing the May Gran Frodo award. Disappointingly this has nothing to do with the Baggins family tree, I just needed to turn the 30km from the workout into a 100km loop.

Riding My Luck

Towards the end of week 4 I had decided to join some colleagues for a Meetup ride. The first guy I spoke to was super keen and rides a lot. He’s a little older than myself, describes himself as similarly sized to myself, and although his FTP is higher I felt we could ride together reasonably well. He told me there would be a female colleague joining us. I said great, the more the merrier. Then he told me she’s much younger than us and a triathlete. This did not bode well. Thankfully he promised me a no-drop ride as he can’t keep up with her either.

I then happily agreed to join, until I saw he had picked the Tour of Fire and Ice route ending at the top of the Alpe. Last time I rode up the Alpe on the shorter Road to the Sky route it took me over 3 hours, and this was supposed to be my active rest day too. I joined them anyway and programmed in my rest day workout, but realised after we started I had incorrectly selected the much harder Foundation program button.

I set off at my prescribed 115 watts to warm up, I was locked to this and didn’t want to do more this day anyway. I was pushing a measly 1.12 w/kg, the speedy triathlete was pushing 4.5 w/kg as she flew off into the distance. We flew through the first section, with me mostly dangling at the end of a long piece of elastic at the back of the pack. Occasionally the elastic would catapult me past my 2 colleagues at lightening pace before they cruised past me again. I wondered if Strava would be giving me new sector PB’s I would never be able to beat, but that doesn’t seem to be the case upon later inspection. As we neared the base of the Alpe I had a minor emergency in the house which meant I had to jump off the bike. By the time I clambered back on, nearly tipping the whole bike over due to my haste, the elastic to my colleagues had snapped completely and I was left to trudge up the bottom part of the Alpe alone with no company.

This was not the only disaster in the first 4 weeks. I had a few rides where I forgot water bottles or towels, and once or twice I had a weird technical glitch with my fan where I inexplicably failed to make any contact with the ‘on’ button, or even plug it into the wall. Thankfully, my biggest fan is my wife and she is very good at resolving tech issues and water shortages so I don’t need to get off the bike mid-session.

There was some fortune in my first 3 weeks too. Several of my workouts ended almost exactly at the finish banner of my intended route, planned for efficiency of course. The Zwift gods were kind this day!

Perhaps more importantly, my weight has dropped from 109kg to 104kg. Just 2kg from my recent best and nearly half way to my 10% target. Without factoring in any FTP gains, this brings my w/kg up to 2.08. I’ll talk more about weight loss in my next post, along with the remainder of my 6 week plan and results of my next FTP test.

Questions or Comments?

Share below!

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