Tiny Race Series – August 16 Routes – Getting Pitchy
See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.
How the Race Was Lost: Pro Power in Glasgow
How the Race Was Lost: Pro Power in Glasgow
It’s the second week of Zwift’s Kick ‘N’ Sprint ZRacing series, and I’m loving the course selections because they suit me nicely! After being outwitted and outgunned in Innsbruck the last week, I went into this race hoping for a higher finish. Read on to learn how things unfolded…
The Warmup
I got on the bike nice and early this time, giving me a full half hour to wake up the ol’ ticker and spin up the legs. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve found for myself the longer I’ve been riding, the more I appreciate a longer a warmup. Is it because I’m getting older, or because I’m learning better how my body works? Unclear.
I was already one dirty chai and a few pieces of Neuro caffeine gum into my day by the time I got on the bike, so I was nicely caffeinated. I also applied some PR Lotion to my legs this week, to keep the burning at bay (I’ve used it for years – this stuff is amazing).
My Warmup “Stack”
After hopping on the bike, I joined the Maria robopacer group, then teleported over to the Coco group to finish up. Zwift popped me into the Glasgow start pen with a few minutes to go. Six laps of Glasgow Crit Circuit with feather and ghost powerups on offer. Let’s go!
Lap 1: Foreshadowing
Glancing at the start list just before the race began, I noticed one Imogen Alton (AEO) on the list with a pro badge next to her name. Uh oh… was Imogen going to treat this as an easy effort? Or was she going to rip our legs off?
I’d find out soon enough.
Right out of the gate, it was clear Imogen would be pushing the pace. She rolled off the front, got swallowed by the blob, then went off at the front at the bottom of the first Clyde Kicker, disappearing as she did it thanks to a well-timed ghost powerup. She wasn’t playing around!
But neither was anyone else. We started with 40 riders, and after averaging 555W to get up and over The Clyde Kicker in 29 seconds, the group regathered, and we still had 38 riders. Strong group!
Lap 2: @&#% Ghosts!
Heading into the second lap, I got another ghost powerup. This would turn into a recurring theme: ghosts when I wanted feathers. Most of my ghost powerups were activated somewhere near the front of the pack, in hopes that riders would see it happen and put in an extra dig to chase invisible me, wasting some energy. (It rarely works, but it seems smarter than just trashing the powerup.)
This lap was rather unremarkable, apart from the fun we had when one Zwifter’s message autocorrected a rider’s name from “Molinari” to “marinara”.
Lap 3: Imogen’s Big Jump
As we descended from The Clyde Kicker on the third lap, I saw Imogen roll off the front and disappear once again. Oh boy. By the time she popped back onto our screens she was probably 50 meters ahead and motoring. One rider jumped hard to join her. I sat in the draft, because I could feel I didn’t have it in me to bridge up.
Lap 4: The Move
Entering lap 4 I finally got a feather. Hurray! This made it significantly easier to maintain a good position up the climb. (I was able to do it at 483W average instead of the 510W+ I’d had to hold on the previous laps.)
Imogen was still off the front, being chased by Molinari/Marinara and others. She messaged “work with me” as we descended from The Clyde, but I’m not sure anyone had the legs to take a pull.
The end of lap 4 is when “the move” happened, with four riders jumping off the front of the peloton to bridge up to Imogen. (I was poorly positioned to respond to the jump, and probably wouldn’t have had the legs to do it even if I was in the right place.)
We went from a pack of 31 to a pack of 27 with 5 off the front, and the chase was officially on as the front group appeared to start working well together with Imogen’s encouragement.
Lap 5: the Breakaway Stays Away
Another feather helped me up The Clyde on the fifth lap, but boy, those 30-second efforts were hurting!
The breakaway stayed away, but the group was also breaking up as we started the final lap. Would we be able to catch any of them? Three kilometers to go…
Lap 6: the Finish
I held onto my feather powerup for the final time up The Clyde, knowing riders would attack hard and it would be a big effort to stay well-positioned. And it sure was! 543W and a feather kept me in a good position and earned me a time of 27.38s on the segment – my fastest ever.
But there was no time to celebrate. Imogen and Marinara were 8s up the road, with Scotty P between us in no-man’s land. I was sitting sixth wheel, hoping the two strong riders pulling just ahead would help me close the gap to the breakaway. But there were 25 more riders strung out just behind!
Speaking of not celebrating: I got a ghost as my final powerup, atop The Clyde. Not what I was hoping for.
Imogen put in a big dig on the descent, dropping Marinara and going solo off the front. (Did she use a ghost again? She wasn’t close enough for me to see.) A few riders were off the front of our group, but we were 20 strong, so I sat in the wheels, letting the draft close down the gap.
With 300 meters to go, everyone in the breakaway had been reeled back in. Everyone except Imogen, that is. She was 11s away, and not coming back. We were all sprinting for scraps.
And sprint we did! I got out of the saddle and gave what I had left on that interminable sprint, but it just wasn’t enough. I crossed the line in 5th place.
See ride on Strava >
See results on ZwiftPower >
Watch the Video:
Takeaways
As it turns out, Imogen was a 2021 Zwift Academy finalist who looks to be a TT specialist based on her ProCyclingStats profile. She averaged 4.6W/kg (267W) for the race, and appears to have raced it very smartly given her power profile. It was fun to watch her execute her race place, and it took me back to a Tour de Zwift ride/race I lost to one Jadon Jaeger (5-time and reigning USA Masters TT Champ). Pros are pros for a reason!
Me? I just tried to survive each Clyde Kicker and ride efficiently in between, hoping to have something left for the final sprint. And I cursed the Zwift gods each and every time they gave me a ghost powerup. This was a hard effort, as evidenced by the red spikes on my ride report:
Further evidence: my W’ Balance chart on Intervals.icu, where you can see how each Clyde Kicker emptied my power bucket just a little bit more, with the final sprint dipping me into the negative numbers:
That tells me I left it all out there, which is exactly what I was aiming for.
My 5th place finish bumped my Racing Score up from 552 to 558.
Your Thoughts
Did you race this week’s ZRacing event in Glasgow? How did it go for you?
Testing Zwift’s New Bike Upgrade “Anti-Cheat” Measures
Testing Zwift’s New Bike Upgrade “Anti-Cheat” Measures
This week’s game update included this interesting and intentionally vague note: “We made some improvements to ensure that bike upgrades are unlocked via genuine efforts.”
What’s this about, exactly? Are Zwifters unlocking bike upgrades by less than genuine efforts? How is Zwift trying to stop them? And will these changes actually block the exploits? Let’s dive in…
What’s This About?
Ever since Zwift launched their Bike Upgrades feature in March, a small, squirrelly subset of Zwifters has been gaming the system by teleporting to riders perched on big descents. The Zwifter could then coast downhill, accumulating time or distance towards their next bike upgrade. Wash, rinse, repeat… long, continuous descents like Ventoux or Alpe du Zwift let you accumulate distance or time quickly, with zero effort.
This has become a sort of dirty little secret in the Zwift racing community, which of course is full of riders who really care about the performance of their in-game bikes. There is definitely debate about whether “gaming the game” is ethical. Some riders say, “If the game allows it, it’s allowed,” while others say doing so clearly violates the spirit of the upgrade system.
I’m with the latter group, but I’m also not losing sleep over gamers gaming. After 10 years on Zwift it’s what I’ve come to expect, and preaching about it from an ethics standpoint won’t do much good. The only real solution is for Zwift to block the exploit.
How To Block an Exploit
Zwift is being vague about the measures they put in place to “ensure that bike upgrades are unlocked via genuine efforts.” However, it doesn’t take much thought to figure out what those measures could entail. A few ideas:
- Power threshold: Require an average power of, say, 10W before incrementing distance or time towards an upgrade.
- Elevation threshold: Require your elevation descended to be less than or equal to your elevation climbed before incrementing distance or time towards an upgrade. (Zwift would need to build a bit of wiggle room into this one to account for routes that begin with a short downhill, perhaps saying descended meters must be less than or equal to climbed meters + 100m.)
- Average speed ceiling: No legit rider can average more than ~50kph for very long, yet coasting down Alpe du Zwift you’ll average 70-80kph. Zwift could simply not increment distance or time towards an upgrade once your average ride speed goes over, say, 60kph. Zwift could even make this rule a bit smarter and add power into the equation, dividing your average speed by average power and saying something like “If your average kilometers per hour/watts is higher than X you don’t get credit towards an upgrade”.
- Teleport trigger: To reduce the chance of legitimate activity being flagged, Zwift should only trigger checking the activity with rules like those above after a Zwifter has teleported in their session.
Of course, I don’t know exactly how Zwift is blocking the exploit. But by testing it, perhaps we can begin to get some ideas…
Testing, Testing
To get some clarity on how Zwift’s anti-exploit measures work, I ran a simple test. I placed a bot atop Alpe du Zwift, facing downhill, then had a second bot teleport to this rider.
The first thing I learned: the rider you teleport to needs to be moving downhill when you teleport to them, otherwise your avatar won’t go anywhere after teleporting until you put some power out to get moving downhill.
Once my “cheater bot” was moving, I kept my eye on the minutes accumulating toward the bot’s road bike upgrade, which requires a certain number of kilometers to be ridden in order to upgrade.
What I found was that only the first 3km of descending counted toward my upgrade. While my avatar actually coasted downhill for ~12km, Zwift has some sort of new limiter built in.
Next, I tried the same with a TT bike, which requires a certain number of minutes to be ridden in order to upgrade. My first attempt was part of the ride activity above, after I descended the Alpe on the Zwift Aero bike. My bot began with 0 minutes logged toward its first upgrade of the TT bike, then coasted all the way down the Alpe, which takes approximately 9 minutes. Afterward I rolled to a stop at the bottom I checked… and we were still stuck at 0 minutes!
Working on the theory that the first teleported descent (with the Zwift Aero) must have triggered some sort of limit which made it so I couldn’t log even a few minutes of descent on my second time down the Alpe, I saved that ride session and started a new one.
Once again I teleported to the top, and descended the full Alpe again with the TT bike. This time, I logged a massive 2 minutes toward 240 needed:
No Takebacks
If you’re a racer who didn’t try to game the system – and actually, if you’re one of those who did – you may be wondering if Zwift is planning on clawing back the bike upgrades that were earned through less than genuine efforts.
Zwift has told me that they don’t plan to retroactively apply these rules. This is in line with how Zwift usually handles these sorts of situations: if Zwifters figure out how to game the system, Zwift may release an update that blocks the exploit, but they don’t go back and change what people unlocked, take away XP/Drops, etc.
Conclusions
These simple tests don’t show exactly what Zwift is doing to limit the exploit, but they do show that the exploit is now greatly limited, at least in the circumstances I tested.
Of course, we can count on Zwifters to push the limits of the system, looking for ways to unlock bike upgrades more easily. I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground to see what they come up with next, but please share below if you hear anything!
“Summit Seeker” Challenge Launched
“Summit Seeker” Challenge Launched
Yesterday, Zwift posted the new “Summit Seeker” mini-challenge. The concept is simple, but finishing won’t be easy! To unlock the XP bonuses, riders must conquer Watopia’s three most iconic longer climbs: the Volcano KOM, Epic KOM, and Alpe du Zwift.
Summit Seeker Routes
The Challenge consists of three routes you must complete:
- Volcano Climb (23.1km, 204m elevation including the Volcano KOM)
- Muir and the Mountain (38.8km, 914m elevation including the Epic KOM)
- Road to Sky (17.9km, 1052m elevation including Alpe du Zwift)
Rewards increase with each route you complete: 250 XP, 750 XP, then 1000 XP.
Joining the Challenge
To sign up and progress through the Challenge, just click its card on the home screen, pick one of the three routes, and go up up up!
Deadline
This challenge is live from August 12-September 15.
Challenge Rewards
Your reward for completing all three routes is a total of 2000 bonus XP, so you can level up faster.
Read more about Zwift levels and unlocks >
Two Birds, One Stone
Got a workout scheduled for the day, but want to get some extra XP and knock out this challenge? You can do both. Just pick your route from the Challenge’s home screen, then choose your desired workout once you’re in Watopia. Ride your workout, make sure you also complete the route, and you’ll get credit for the workout and the route!
Here’s a video to show you how it works:
Questions or Comments?
Post below!
Wahoo Announces KICKR ROLLR Onboard Power Firmware Update
Wahoo Announces KICKR ROLLR Onboard Power Firmware Update
Today, Wahoo announced a firmware update to their KICKR ROLLR which brings native power sensing to the device. Let’s take a look at this unique “smart trainer”, how to update its firmware, and more details behind what Wahoo released today.
About the ROLLR
The ROLLR, for those unfamiliar, is a unique sort of “smart roller” because your rear wheel rolls freely on the rear rollers, while your front wheel is loosely clamped in so you don’t need to worry about keeping the bike upright. This setup allows your bike to move more freely than a standard direct drive trainer setup, and also makes it easy to get your bike on and off the trainer.
It sold for $799 when first released, but has been priced at $699 for some time now. Shop on Wahoo >
From when the ROLLR was originally released in early 2022 until today, the unit hasn’t sensed or transmitted power. It does adjust resistance to simulate in-game gradients, but riders were expected to either pair an external power meter or connect the ROLLR in “speed only mode”.
Wahoo says they found many customers were using speed only mode, which delivers a less-than-ideal experience in games like Zwift. So they worked on a way to estimate power from your back wheel, and that’s the update we’re seeing today.
Updating Your ROLLR Firmware
Installing the update is easy: just connect to the KICKR ROLLR via your phone’s Wahoo app and follow the firmware update instructions. The whole update takes 1-2 minutes.
Power Accuracy Deep Dive
The big question everyone’s asking is: how accurate is the ROLLR’s new onboard power sensing?
Wahoo is very upfront in setting expectations. The ROLLR firmware page says:
Power readings are consistent when using the same equipment, but they aren’t designed for racing or comparing across devices. For riders who need precise, race-ready data, KICKR ROLLR supports Power Meter Connect to use your bike’s power meter instead.
In fact, Wahoo isn’t even stating an accuracy percentage like you see on most smart trainers. And that’s fair enough, as it’s basically impossible to get accurate power from a roller setup. Changes in tire size, tire temperature, tire pressure, tire speed, rider weight, rider position, and more will all affect any power estimations.
Shane Miller ran the updated ROLLR through a bevy of tests, and dropped a great video (we expect nothing less!) today, sharing details on power accuracy for the updated KICKR ROLLR:
The good news according to Shane is: the unit is acceptably accurate, at least if you’re on a road bike, riding in that “sweet spot” range where most riders will spend their time. This makes complete sense, because Wahoo had to build a set of assumptions into their power sensing algorithm. So they’re assuming riders are on road bikes, within a particular weight range, riding within a particular power window.
If you get outside of that range – riding in your granny gear, for instance, or sprinting at 800W – power accuracy will drop. But even then, as Shane says, the experience is still a good one. Using the ROLLR’s new onboard power sensing delivers a better workout and overall ride experience than the “speed only mode” riders without power meters were using, and that was Wahoo’s big reason for releasing this update.
However, if we head over to DC Rainmaker’s post about the updated KICKR ROLLR, we find his experience is quite different. He found the roller was consistently underreporting and overall less accurate than Shane’s results might indicate. To be fair, Wahoo has said they erred on the side of underreporting power, which is a good move in my opinion. Ray quoted one of Wahoo’s product managers as saying:
“This is not an attempt to replace a power meter, but to get new users without power moving in virtual training and riding platforms. If and when a user does upgrade to power we are hoping they see a power boost vs a decline. Often when using virtual power and upgrading to a power meter users see a decline in power, which can be disappointing.”
So is the new KICKR ROLLR’s onboard power sending good enough?
I’d say yes. While it won’t be +/-1-2% accurate like a good direct drive trainer, it will provide consistent results for riders who ride in a consistent fashion. And the overall Zwift experience with onboard power vs the speed-only mode should be vastly improved.
One final note: while I considered doing some power comparison tests myself using the KICKR ROLLR I have sitting in the garage, my concern is that doing so will just add more messy data to an already messy picture! The ROLLR computes power based on a pile of assumptions, and every bike setup, rider, and individual ride will vary in how closely it matches those assumptions. In the end, I don’t think additional data from my testing will prove useful.
Questions or Comments?
Do you have a KICKR ROLLR, and have you tried its new onboard power sensing? Share below!
Zwift Update Version 1.95 (150398) Released
Zwift version 1.95 begins its phased rollout today. This is a fairly minor update, but there are several notable game changes included. Read on for details…
iOS M-series Improvements
Zwift says this release includes “Various visual improvements for M-series iPads, iPhone 16, and iPhone 16 Pro.” To be more precise, this update includes just minor UI tweaks for iPhone 16. M-series iPads, on the other hand, get actual game resolution upgrades:
- All M series iPads will now have improved bike and rider shadows
- All M3 iPads will have the above and higher color and shadow resolution
- All M4 iPads will have the above and even higher shadow resolution
Zwift says, “Additionally, we will continue to share other opportunities to further improve graphics on M series iPads and will share further updates once available.”
Event Cooldowns for All
Zwift began testing an “Event Cooldown” feature in late June. It’s a simple idea: instead of returning riders to the open world as soon as they finish their event, let them continue riding with fellow event participants for 10 minutes. This gives riders the chance to chat with each other and cool down before moving on with their next activity.
During the cooldown you can also see riders’ finishing positions pinned to their backs, and you can click to bring up the results screen.
Zwift says, “Event Cool Down will be turned on for all events. This will also take effect for earlier game versions.” And while the finishing positions feature had been temporarily disabled a few weeks ago due to a bug, Zwift says everything is fixed in this update, and finishing positions will be visible once again during the cooldowns.
Join a Friend In-Game Notifications
Zwift says, “Looking for a friendly wheel to join? Zwifters will now receive a notification when a mutually following friend starts Zwifting in the same world. Simply use the Teleport feature to join them.”
You probably already know that you can click from the “Join a Zwifter” card on the homescreen to join any friends you follow (who also follow you) who are actively Zwifting:
And you probably know that, while you’re actively Zwifting (but not in an event or workout) you can teleport to a friend who is riding in the same world as you.
This update adds a notification to the top-center HUD element informing you when a friend starts Zwifting in the same world. You can then use the teleport feature to easily join them if you’d like. Here’s what that notification looks like:
I think this is a good feature to encourage the community feel of Zwift, but there are a few issues:
- When you first begin Zwifting, the feature brings up alerts for every friend who is already Zwifting in that world. That’s a lot of notifications if you have a lot of friends! I expected the feature to only show a notification if a friend started Zwifting after I started Zwifting. If Zwift wants to notify me of all the riders I could teleport to when I begin my ride, perhaps a simple “summary notification” could come up that says something like “23 friends are Zwifting in Watopia, use Teleport to join…”
- The alerts come up when you are riding a workout. This doesn’t seem helpful, as you can’t teleport during a workout. Plus, if you are in a workout, chances are very good you’re not interested in teleporting to a friend anyway!
Blocking Bike Upgrade Gamers
Zwift says, “We made some improvements to ensure that bike upgrades are unlocked via genuine efforts.”
This is an interesting one.
Ever since Zwift launched their Bike Upgrades feature in March, a small, squirrelly subset of Zwifters has been gaming the system by teleporting to riders perched atop big descents. The Zwifter could then easily coast downhill, accumulating time or distance towards their next bike upgrade. Wash, rinse, repeat… long, continuous descents like Ventoux or Alpe du Zwift let you accumulate distance or time quickly, with zero effort.
Zwift is being vague about the precise measures put in place to “ensure that bike upgrades are unlocked via genuine efforts.” However, I’m doing a bit of testing today, and will write a separate post with the results. Because that’s the Insider way!
(Before anyone asks: Zwift has told me that they don’t plan to retroactively apply these rules… that is, to somehow claw back bike upgrades people may have earned through less than genuine efforts. This only applies moving forward.)
Michael Lander Memorial
In a nice touch that Zwift isn’t announcing publicly, some memorial road art has been added to Sector 6 (aka Dutch corner) on Alpe du Zwift, honoring Michael Lander, a well-loved member of the BMTR community who we lost earlier this year.
Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
- Windows: The Ultra graphics profile is now enabled for the following graphics cards: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT, Intel Arc 140V.
Discuss this update in Zwift’s forum >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
Top 5 Zwift Videos: Tour de France, Zwift x H20, and Zwift Companion Trends
Looking to relive some Tour de France action? In this week’s top video, one Zwifter shares his VIP experience behind the scenes of the Tour de France with Zwift.
This week’s picks also include a look at the new Zwift x H20 audio headphones, Zwift Companion fitness tracking, a short-term review of the Zwift Ride, and using ChatGPT as a bike coach.
Ultimate Tour de France Experience!
Zwift x RIPT Ultra: Watch This Before You Buy
New Trends, Same Limits? Zwift’s Companion App Gets a Mixed Upgrade
Zwift Ride Short Term Review – Is it better than the Wahoo KICKR Bike?
6 Months Using ChatGPT as My Cycling Training Coach — the Results are MAD
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Zwift Launches Fitness Tracking Integration with Hammerhead
Zwift Launches Fitness Tracking Integration with Hammerhead
Today, Hammerhead officially joins Wahoo and Garmin in sending outdoor activities from riders’ Karoo head units to Zwift’s systems. This is good news for Hammerhead users, as those outdoor rides automatically sent to Zwift are included in Fitness Tracking metrics, earn XP, and help keep your Zwift Streak alive! Read on for details…
Connecting Hammerhead to Zwift
For now, the place to connect your Hammerhead account to Zwift is via your account Connections settings page at zwift.com (zwift.com/settings/connections).
Zwift will be rolling out a Companion app update in the next week or so which includes Hammerhead support, so Zwifters will be able to manage the Hammerhead connection through the app beginning August 19. But we figured Hammerhead users would want to know they can hook up their accounts today via the web.
Navigate to your account’s Connections page and click “Connect” under Hammerhead:
You’ll need to log into your Hammerhead account on the next screen, then give Zwift access to read and download activities:
When you’re finished, Hammerhead will show as connected on your account’s Connections page at zwift.com.
Hammerhead Rides in Zwift Companion
Once you’ve connected your Hammerhead account to Zwift, any outdoor rides saved to your Hammerhead account will be sent to your activities list in the Companion app and included in your Fitness Tracking metrics.
I’ve been testing it myself for a couple of weeks now, and everything appears to be working smoothly. Activities imported from Hammerhead include the Hammerhead logo:
Once you connect your Hammerhead account, the past 90 days of activities will be sent to Zwift for processing and integration into your fitness metrics.
More About Fitness Tracking on Zwift
Curious why Zwift would want to see your outdoor rides? It’s simple, really: Zwift wants to build an accurate profile of your current fitness and freshness so you can train smarter.
For more info, read All About Zwift’s New Fitness Tracker, which now includes Fitness Trends historic charts.
Questions or Comments?
Share below!
How the Race Was Lost: Outwitted and Outgunned in Innsbruck
How the Race Was Lost: Outwitted and Outgunned in Innsbruck
It’s been a while since I last shared a story of a Zwift race loss. Don’t be concerned – I’m still losing races on a regular basis. It’s just that the race losses aren’t all that interesting. (Or I’m in a hurry and don’t get set up to record the race video.)
This week’s race was interesting, though. Not because of my result, but because of how the top finishers used their racing brains to maximize their chances. Read on for details…
The Warmup
The race took place in the middle of my workday, and I ended up getting on the bike a bit later than I had preferred. With a bit over 20 minutes of warmup time, I dropped into the Maria Robopacer group and eventually rode off the front as I put in a few efforts to wake up my legs and heart. This included a sprint on the JWB Reverse which earned me my shortest-lived green jersey ever:
After checking to ensure I was on my fully upgraded Pinarello Dogma 2024 with the new DT Swiss 65 wheels, I headed to the B pens to race in the 450-570 group. Two laps of Innsbruckring, with feather or draft boost powerups given at each banner. Let’s race!
Lap 1
The Innsbruckring route is one that any experienced Zwift racer will know well. It’s far and away the most popular race route on the Innsbruck map, and in fact is quite popular overall because the Leg Snapper climb on each lap adds just enough spice to the circuit to make races interesting without ruining the fun for non-climbers.
I knew pretty well how this race would probably unfold, and in fact, I talked through it while in the start pen in my video (below).
The race was two laps long, and the first lap’s Leg Snapper would be our first major selection. A good portion of the field (1/3 to 1/2) would probably get dropped here, but if history was any teacher, we would end up with two additional groups ahead of the dropped riders: a front group of the strongest riders, and a chase group just seconds behind who would bridge up to the front group on the flat roads following the descent from the Leg Snapper.
And that’s exactly how it unfolded. Yes, a rider or three went off the front on the flats before the Leg Snapper. But they were reeled in soon enough, and our group of 50 hit the bottom of the Leg Snapper together.
I triggered my draft boost powerup near the bottom since it lasts for 40 seconds and my Leg Snapper times are usually around 45-50 seconds. I used it 5-10 seconds earlier than I should have, as it turns out, but that was OK. 575W for 49 seconds got me over the top in 8th overall, where I triggered another draft boost, then recovered on the downhill as the front group of 12 coalesced together.
At the bottom of the descent, I looked at my Sauce for Strava display to see we had 21 more riders chasing on, 5 seconds behind. Exactly as predicted! I took a look at the rider list on the right, figuring those 12 riders who made it over in the front group would be the top 12 riders in the overall. (See “Takeaways” below to see if I was correct…)
The group behind bridged up within a minute or so, and we were now 27 riders heading into lap two.
Lap 2
I landed a feather powerup at the lap banner, which I was happy about, since it would help me up the final Leg Snapper. This lap was more of the same – some riders trying to attack and get away, including a guy named “M@x” who put in a solid effort, staying away until the top of the Leg Snapper.
I waited a bit longer to trigger the feather powerup, since it only lasts 30 seconds. But once again, I triggered it perhaps 5-10 too soon. 600W for 47 seconds got me over the top in 11th, though, and I also received the draft boost powerup I wanted for the finish!
I was in the back of the front group of 11, but this time we outnumbered the chasers just behind, who only had 8 riders. Instead of seeing the gap between our groups shrink like lap 1, I saw it begin to grow as we hit the flat final 2.5km. They weren’t coming back. We were the top 11.
The Innsbruckring finish seems to simple, yet I feel like I always get it wrong. Maybe it’s just that my legs are always so knackered when the sprint arrives?
One rider, “Melissa SCO #77 (Kaboom!)”, jumped off the front with 1km to go. It was a brilliantly executed jump, too! She started from within the pack, using the draft as a slingshot to boost her exit speed from the bunch. And she triggered her feather powerup for a bit more speed. She gapped all 10 of us dudes before we even knew what hit us.
I knew I wasn’t going to reel her in solo, so I surfed the wheels, hoping she would tire and our group would pull hard enough to close the gap. Alas, that wasn’t going to happen. She kept her power and speed up, managing the gap and crossing the line 3 seconds ahead of the next rider.
For my part, I triggered my draft boost too early, which was great leading into the sprint. The problem was, I had to manage the last 220 meters of the sprint without any powerup help, and my legs were already feeling it. I gave up as the group flew past, finishing in 10th place.
See ride on Strava >
See results on ZwiftPower >
Watch the Video
Takeaways
At the time of this writing, the Kick ‘N’ Sprint leaderboard shows my race time of 25:19 putting me 554th out of 7658 riders. (Not really something I care about, as I’ve never tried to chase the overall GC result for a given month.) Also, My Zwift Racing Score increased from 547 to 552 in this race.
But let’s talk about more interesting things…
While in the start pens, I had predicted that the pack of riders competing in the finishing sprint would be the same 12 riders who made it over the first Leg Snapper in the front group… or at least, a subset of those 12.
Was my prediction accurate? I did a bit of poking around to see. Here are the riders who made the front groups on the two Leg Snapper KOMs, as well as the riders in the front finishing group of 11:
Leg Snapper #1
Bold names made it over Leg Snapper #2 in the front group
- Chris Helding
- Eric Schlange (ZwftInsdr)
- J. Slootmans (Team NL A)
- James Tuczech
- Joe C (HERD)
- Matthew Gibbons
- Max @Maxwilko
- Melissa SCO #77
- Morgan Lodge [SRT]
- Nick Brackenbury [LFTC]
- Peter Bergsma [BEAT]
- Sean Leary
Leg Snapper #2
Bold names were not in the Leg Snapper #1 front group
- Chris Helding
- Eloy Nunez #181 [BEAT]
- Eric Schlange (ZwftInsdr)
- Joe C (HERD)
- Matthew Gibbons
- Max @Maxwilko
- Melissa SCO #77
- Nick Brackenbury [LFTC]
- Ole Bisp
- Peter Bergsma [BEAT]
- Sean Leary
Finishing Order
Bold names were not in the Leg Snapper #1 front group
- Melissa SCO #77
- Ole Bisp
- Eloy Nunez #181 [BEAT]
- Nick Brackenbury [LFTC]
- Joe C (HERD)
- Peter Bergsma [BEAT]
- Matthew Gibbons
- Max @Maxwilko
- Sean Leary
- Eric Schlange (ZwftInsdr)
- Chris Helding
First, three riders who made it over in the front group on the first Leg Snapper did not make the front group the second time over. That’s not a surprise – there’s always a bit of attrition each lap. People give their all the first time, then don’t have the legs to do it again.
Who I find very interesting, though, are Eloy Nunez and Ole Bisp. These two riders did the unexpected. Everyone else in the front finishing group also came over the first Leg Snapper in the front group, but Eloy and Ole did not! They were in the group that chased on.
Here’s the kicker: they did come over the second Leg Snapper in the front group. And proceeded to finish 2nd and 3rd on the day!
Was it dumb luck? Coincidence? Or did Eloy and Ole play this perfectly, going easier on the first Leg Snapper, letting the group bridge up as expected, then pushing to hang with the front the second time up, knowing they needed to be in the front group for a shot at the podium?
Perhaps we’ll never know. But I saw well played, Eloy and Ole. And especially well played to Melissa, who won it overall and said during the cooldown that followed, “Was never going to win a sprint… so use my best weapons and go long!”
Your Thoughts
Have you raced Innsbruckring this week? How did it go? Have you ever tried Eloy/Ole’s approach, and how did it work out for you? Share your thoughts below!
Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of August 9-10
Zwift Insider’s Tiny Races have more signups than any other event this weekend, so we’re featuring them at the top of the list. We also picked Zwift’s Epic Races (the opposite of Tiny Races) and three beginner-friendly but longer group rides.
The choice is yours: build endurance with friends, or push yourself to the limit in a race!
🥇 Tiny Races
✅ Big Cats ✅ V02 Workout ✅ Popular Race
We recently reduced the number of categories in the Tiny Races from 5 to 3, which led to significantly larger fields and even more challenging racing. Are you ready to push to your max in four races within an hour? It’s a legit workout, with a competitive and fun twist.
Saturday in three different timeslots
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces
🤝 HCT Host: Banded Z2 / Base Ride
✅ Banded ✅ Beginner-Friendly ✅ Endurance Challenge
Join the folks at Team HCT for a banded ride on the Zwift Bambino Fondo 2022. The event lasts 120 minutes, providing you with more than enough time to complete the route (53.3km, 398m elevation) with the group.
The beauty of banded rides is that, as long as you keep pedaling, you’ll stay with the group. Go hard or go easy, but you’ll all ride together!
Saturday, August 9 @ 2:15pm UTC/10:15am ET/7:15am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5069700
🤝 Bikealicious Rubberband Joy Ride
✅ Banded ✅ Beginner-Friendly ✅ Endurance Challenge
The friendly Bikealicious crew is leading a “keep together” group ride on France’s Tire-Bouchon route (64.1km, 591m). Grab this challenging route badge if you haven’t done so yet, which comes with 1220 of extra XP!
This is a banded ride, so as long as you keep turning those pedals over, you’ll hang with the group. Ride whatever pace you’d like!
Saturday, August 9 @ 7am UTC/3am ET/12am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5069552
🤝 Vikings Valhalla Sunday Skaal Ride
✅ Endurance Challenge ✅ Legacy Leaders
We’ve featured this event many times in the past, as it’s always well-attended and well-led at pace that helps everyone stay together. Experienced leaders and sweepers do their best to keep the groups together so everyone can work together to knock out a long ride!
This week’s ride is led at a D pace of 1.7-2.2 W/kg pace. You’ll be riding 8 laps of London’s Greater London Flat for a total length of 99.1km and 470 meters of climbing.
Sunday, August 10 @ 7:05am UTC/3:05am ET/12:05am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5070424
🥇 Zwift Epic Race – Eastern Eight
✅ Long Race ✅ Unique Event
Zwift’s Epic Race series tackles challenging race routes each week, and this weekend’s races are on Eastern Eight, a former Rebel Route. This course is 54km long, with 412m of elevation as you go over the Titans Grove KOM in both directions.
These races are categorized using Zwift Racing Score, but all racers begin together, so you can try to hold onto stronger riders as long as possible. Good luck!
Multiple times Saturday and Sunday
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftepic
How We Make Our Picks
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
- Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
- Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
- Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
- Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
- Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
- Is it for a good cause?
- Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
- Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!