Since March I have become obsessed with the weekly Team Time Trial… so I asked Eric if I could share my obsession with you all, in weekly doses.

Each week I will give you a profile of the upcoming route, guidance on bike choice, and some target times if you want to aim for the Premiere League (top-10 in each coffee class get to be in a special race televised on YouTube). 

If you can’t ride, or even if you can ride, but want more action, don’t forget to tune in to the live TV show on Zwift Community Live’s YouTube Channel at 6:15 (UK time). 

Thursday 22nd October – Three laps of Innsbruckring

After a few weeks of Watopia we are off to continental Europe – this time to Innsbruck, Austria. The name Innsbruck literally translates to “bridge over the river Inn”, which we cross six times in the three laps of the city center map. I’m excited for this race – last time in Innsbruck in a TTT was the first time my team (Rowe and King Hyenas) tried a paceline format rather than the surging blob strategy… it worked perfectly and we have stuck with it ever since. 

Three laps at 8.8km plus a tiny lead-in make this a short, fast 26.8km with one awkward little bump in the middle of an otherwise flattish (gently rolling) course. Top-flight Espresso teams will be in and out in just over a half hour, while an under-staffed Mocha team will be around 50 minutes. My team is targeting 40 minutes this week – that’s aggressive as it’s 2 minutes faster than last time we tackled the Innsbruckring. Winning here is about being fast on the flat, and not allowing Kleiner Hugel (affectionately known as the Leg Breaker) to slow you down too much.  

There is only one tricky stretch on this course. When you cross the Inn (5km, 14km, and 23km) you head up Kleiner Hugel then do a series of bumps down. Obviously, staying together on the main hill is important – but equally important is not getting separated on the descent. Communication alone won’t help you here – you have to have a plan, and ideally time to practice. Once you finish the descent (6.4, 15.2, and 24 kms) it’s all fairly flat again. My fastest time for a lap was in the Tour of Innsbruck at 13:30 – I’ll do better this time. 

Here’s the fantastic VeloViewer segment view along with a map. 

What to ride?

Bike recommendation on this route is pretty straightforward. Yes there’s a hill… but other than that it’s flat. Aero rules the day. For me it will be my trusty S-Works Venge and Zipp Super-9 disc wheels.

Bike choices are pretty boring of late… the Canyon Aeroad 2021 threw a speedy curveball but aero is a pretty straightforward choice at the various levels. Aeroad is so good I think it beats out the Tron on this course. Here are my recommendations at different levels for Innsbruckring:

• Level 6 Zwift Aero frame and DT Swiss ARC 62 wheels
• Level 13 Zwift Aero frame and Zipp 808s
• Level 18 Specialized Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 23 Canyon Aeroad 2021 with Zipp 808s
• Level 33 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 35 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808/Super 9
• Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge

I know I say it every week but I cannot stress highly enough that if you are racing you need to be working on Tron. It’ll take a while, but just set the Everest Challenge and forget about it for nine months… like having a baby.

Route Recon Rides

If you want to get out in Innsbruck this week you are in luck! You can pop to Austria on Zwift any time you like, as long as it’s Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday when Innsbruck is one of the guest worlds!

If you want something more organized there are so many rides and races, and even workouts. As always, Zwifthacks has the up-to-date events listing – all you need to do is click here.

Race breakdown 

Regardless of how the official race-recon breaks the route up, I only see three sections:

• Pen/Gate to the bridge at the foot of the Kleiner Hugel
• Leg-breaker and the descent
• Along the river, back across the Inn and home

Pen / Gate to the bridge at the foot of Kleiner Hugel

The lead-in is a short 200M – and the distance from the pen to the bridge is 4.7km. This isn’t flat exactly but there’s nothing taxing and nothing that will ruin your momentum if you’re paying attention. The most challenging is the long overpass over the River Sill (a tributary of the Inn) and railyards, but it is just a steady 600M at 1.5%. On the satellite view you can see it – the long straight at the bottom. 

Leg breaker and descent

Kleiner Hugel is the only meaningful hill on the loop. It isn’t a brutal climb by any definition, but it’s long enough to grind your heavy sprinters into the dirt. By the time they are at the top they will be gasping! By the numbers it’s 450M long and averages 6.8%, but the hill starts gently and ramps to 9% 100M from the top. You cannot afford to be timid on this bump – pick a speed on the edge of what the team can tolerate, and go for it!

After the hillcrest comes the descent. The problem here is that if you have a split going up the hill, the first guys over the top will accelerate down, while your slower riders can barely turn the pedals. A 2-3 second gap stretches to 10 seconds and you are done as a team. 

Here are two links for research – one is the initial hill, Kleiner Hugel, and the other is for the ascent and descent combined. Man, I love VeloViewer!

I can’t emphasize enough – your plan for going up and down Kleiner Hugel will make or break your ride.

Along the river, back across the Inn and home

Through the sprint and along the side of the river to the bridge, sharp turn and back again to the start/finish gate. This isn’t flat – it undulates – but mostly between 1-2%. This stretch is 2.5km long.

The ride as a whole

There are three laps to do. On the first lap you should be fine. By the time you hit the Kleiner Hugel on the second lap your heavier riders will be spent… you may have to choose whether you’re going to leave someone behind on the hill. At this point you’re only halfway through, their help on the remaining 12km might be invaluable… but you will have to slow down for them to catch up. Is it worth it? Only you know! 

The third time up Kleiner Hugel will be immeasurably worse! A half hour or more at threshold and everyone is on the edge. Again the heavier riders will struggle. Will you help them or leave them to the wolves?

Target times

Innsbruckring has featured a few times in WTRL’s schedule, but only once before in the three lap format. That was TTT #66 on July 23rd. Here’s how you did (in 11th place) for each Coffee Class then:

Category	Split 1 (6km)	Split 2 (12km)	Split 3 (18km)	Finish
Vienna	9:55	18:41	28:18	41:24
Espresso	8:13	15:37	23:35	34:49
Frappe	8:49	16:48	25:05	36:48
Latte	9:21	17:57	26:53	39:39
Mocha	10:54	19:59	30:19	44:41
R&K Hyenas	9:58	18:59	28:34	41:56

In July one of our Frappe teams, the R&K Gazelle’s set the PL pace in 11th place for Innsbruckring. This week they are heading into the PL again. Let’s hope they beat my time prediction for Frappe!

Last week we were almost back up to 600 teams. I think there will be over 600 this week and competition will be high. Here are my predictions for a PL spot this week:

Category	Split 1 (6km)	Split 2 (12km)	Split 3 (18km)	Finish
Vienna	9:50	18:35	28:00	41:00
Espresso	8:10	15:30	23:35	34:30
Frappe	8:40	16:40	24:50	36:35
Latte	9:20	17:50	26:40	39:30
Mocha	10:50	19:50	30:05	44:30

Wrap up

This race is all about one specific decision, probably played out twice – the second and third time over the Kleiner Hugel. Do you wait, or do you go?

Hey Zwifters. You asked and we listened… 

I made Matt Gardiner of Saris the Pro’s Closet an offer he couldn’t refuse and he agreed to spill the best TTT tips from Saris! If you and your team are looking to improve your TTT check out the video below:

Matt delivers six key tips (watch the video for details:

1. Ride in a single file line (see Zwift Insider TTT drafting experiments)
2. Sink and sprint
3. Plan and communicate
4. Short, strong turns
5. Practice… but be flexible
6. Know the course

Coming Up from No Breakaways

This week we will be starting our live-streamed coaching series (sorry to anyone who tuned in this week – technical malfunction) with Johnny Rocket as the first coach! 

Every Thursday we are also releasing WTRL Course Previews for the following week.

We are still looking for more amateur racers who would want to come on the channel… Apply Here!

If you are a pro and want to get involved let me know at [email protected].

Good Luck everyone and Ride On!

This week on our No Breakaways Race Breakdown we take a look at two races: our amateur Deven Destefano on the Bell Lap as well as Top 20 ranked Zwifter and Sprinter extraordinaire Scott Gleason racing Innsbruckring. If you want to learn how to race these courses and sharpen your sprint check out the videos below!

Next week we will be starting our live-streamed coaching series (sorry to anyone who tuned in this week – technical malfunction) with Johnny Rocket as the first coach! We will also be releasing a new series called “From A to Zwift” where we take a look at the specific skills you need to become a better Zwifter. 

Every Thursday we are also releasing Zwift Racing League Course Previews for the following week.

We are still looking for more amateur racers who would want to come on the channel… Apply Here!

Good luck everyone and Ride On!

For the past few months I have been putting together recce’s for the weekly Thursday Team Time Trial from WTRL. I race in a hungry mid-pack Latte (usually) team for Rowe and King – the Hyenas.

Eric asked me to put together a similar recce for the Zwift Racing League TTT on Tuesday… if you like it, maybe he will ask me to do more!

I know that around half the riders on Tuesday have never done a WTRL Team Time Trial on Zwift before… so I will dedicate a little time to what you should expect. Then, along with a course profile, I’ll give you some tips I have learned over the months to improve team performance. 

If you haven’t seen it yet,  head over to the No Breakaways Youtube Channel. This week they posted a nice introduction to the R.G.V. course, and our very own Eric Schlange posted his ideas for bike choice. I have my own bike recommendations below… but always remember, Eric does the science… I just do opinions 🙂

What’s a Team Time Trial

If you are already a Thursday WTRL TTT aficionado you can probably skip down a bit. For everyone else – you have gathered by now that the Team Time Trial format is different from your everyday rides and races. 

In the TTT your team of 4-6 riders sets off at a pre-ordained time (more on this later) and works together to get around the course in the fastest time possible. Sounds simple… and it is. The trick is in how you get the best performance out of the team. 

What makes a TTT different

Basically it’s teamwork. In a normal race on Zwift you are pretty much on your own. You might get comfort in seeing team jerseys… but frankly that’s about it. In the TTT you are working together, using the stronger members to help the weaker members to ensure that you get at least 4 riders over the line. Some of you out there have ridden together for years, and others have only met through the ZRL, so before we talk about the ride itself, let’s talk about the one thing that will make or break your ride: communication. 

Team comms are a cute affectation in scratch races on Zwift, but in the TTT you need to know who has the legs, who is trailing, can they get back on. You need to be able to motivate your team, give instruction on what speed to aim for, call out features in the terrain… the list is endless. You even need to coordinate when to start the ride (see below)! 

My team, and most of the teams I know, use an application called Discord. It takes some getting used to, but think of it like the Race Radio pro teams use. If you aren’t familiar with Discord take a look. If you aren’t going to use Discord, find another way to chat – whether it’s a group phone call, a Zoom meeting, or typing in a Whatsapp group!

The Start

The key to making the whole thing a success – and this is what the WTRL guys cracked – is starting each team a minute or so apart. That way your band of brothers (or sisters) has plenty of space ahead and behind to do your thing. Each team will have a start-delay (which your team captain will get in the next day or so). That time delay will be anything from 30 seconds to 17 minutes 30 seconds.

So… everyone congregates in the pen per usual… the big clock counts to GO GO GO time… and we all sit there like lemons (Pro Tip: Don’t be the team that sets off early… you will be rightly ridiculed by all and sundry – plus see below on time penalties!). 

Then… when your time delay ends you GO GO GO – because your team’s time starts ticking the second your time delay completes (Pro Tip: make sure someone on the team is responsible for the countdown). 

An insider note – it isn’t the first time to this rodeo for WTRL… they know, to the second, when you leave the pen. Don’t jump the gun or you may face time penalties. 

The Ride

OK… so you’ve got the team out of the gate at approximately your start time… now what. 

An average TTT team in Zwift will benefit from the draft by having a “blob” form behind surging riders on the leading edge – just like you do in a scratch race. This works pretty well and your team of six will be able to move a lot faster than anyone on their own. Make sure your stronger riders are doing the surging, and your weaker riders are resting in the draft. There… a little discipline and you’ve just gained yourself 5 minutes on the lap of R.G.V.

But testing (once again… Eric does the science here!) shows that a single-file paceline formation is significantly more efficient in Zwift than a small blob. My experience shows that if the front of the chain is pulling at 4 w/k, the 6th man will be ‘resting’ at around 2.5 w/k. The trick is to manage your effort… which is why we pull short turns of 20-30 seconds above threshold before falling back and “resting” at/around sweetspot. Done well, your team will move at a pace significantly higher than you could possibly achieve otherwise. My latte team (basically a C team) moves at a consistent 4 w/k on the front. All you have to do is work out what your riders can manage when they are pointy end and the rest is physics.

In a paceline, situational awareness is the most important factor – know who is in front of you and who is behind you. Stay in the draft of the person in front – but be aware if a split is forming behind. When you are on the front you are expected to maintain race-pace (either w/k or kph), and when your turn is done – drift back. As the person ahead of you moves up the line be aware you will need to step up power ½ w/k. Be aware… this won’t work without some form of team communications.

As a team rider your job boils down to the following:

• Hold the line in front of you. Don’t drop back more than 5M… don’t surge ahead. 
• While on the front maintain the target speed as long as you can knowing this is a sustained race – 20 seconds is perfect.
• When your turn is done soft-pedal for a few seconds and allow your avatar to drift back. Pay attention as you drift – coast for too long and you will be spat out the back. 
• When on the back rest… 
• As you move up the line listen for the front-rider’s count… when they finish their turn, step up your pace just a little

And thats it. Now you can TTT with the best!

R.G.V. Route Recon

One fast lap… that’s all this is. Nothing like Big Foot Hills. This is basically flat with one small bump up to the aqueduct about halfway around, and then a continuing series of rollers that starts around the 17.5km mark. In a traditional race, these pose zero difficulty… but the dynamic of a TTT is somewhat different. In the TTT success comes from keeping your team together, so anything that has the potential to break the group apart is a problem. Both of these areas have the potential to tear your team apart – particularly if you are new to the TTT format. 

What to ride?

Bike recommendation on this route is pretty straightforward. Aero rules the day. I will be riding my S-Works Venge with the pretty Super-9 disc wheels.

While the Venge with Super-9s are the most aero setup on Zwift, there’s a pretty good setup available at level 23 – the new Canyon Aeroad. On hilly routes, the Aeroad even beats the Tron. Here are my recommendations at different levels:

• Level 6 Zwift Aero frame and DT Swiss ARC 62 wheels
• Level 13 Zwift Aero frame and Zipp 808s
• Level 18 Specialized Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 23 Canyon Aeroad 2021 with Zipp 808s
• Level 33 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 35 S-Works Venge with Zipp 808/Super 9
• Level 45 get those 858/Super 9 wheels and pair them with the S-Works Venge

If you have the Tron and are level 23+ it’s a toss up… the Aeroad with the 808 hoops are compelling… but the beauty of the Tron bike is that you can set it and forget it. It’s always a decent choice. 

Route Recon Rides

This is a popular race route. Today through Monday there are 19 different races and rides. If you want to get out to R.G.V. there’s nothing stopping you. Check for yourself on the event listing on zwifthacks.com. 

France is a beautifully rendered world – my favorite of all of them. That said, on Tuesday you will be going to fast and hard to notice… take a gentle ride over the weekend and take a look.

Race breakdown 

It’s a beautiful ride, almost perfect for a Team Time Trial. I break this route into four sections:

• Flat for 13.5km
• Up the Aqueduct hill and down the other side
• A little more flat
• Bumpy stuff then a flat sprint to finish

Part 1 – Flat

R.G.V. is the perfect route to cut your teeth on as a newbie TTT team. It starts with a 13km flat to sort yourselves out. Use this time to work out your formation – whether you are blobbing or running a pace line, and to get to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. My suggestion is set yourselves a target speed for the flat and try and maintain that for the whole 13km.

Part 2 – Aqueduct Hill

Many will tell you this is a 400 meter hill averaging 2.5% starting 13.5km into the ride. It isn’t. What they are telling you is where the Aqueduct KOM starts, and its statistics. Unfortunately the KOM starts halfway up the hill – and ends halfway along the flat. Yah, it’s a bit messed up! 

Right around 13km you will begin the rise – it is 2.5% on average and goes for 800M. The trick is that the hill undulates a little – starts as a 1% false flat then progresses up to 5% at its peak. The technique here is simple – don’t let your lighter riders race ahead. It’s not that bad and if you’re careful you will barely notice it.

Part 3 – More Flat

After a 500m flat across the Aqueduct itself you’ll drop back down the other side and it will be flat once more until you hit 17.5 km. This is a good time to regroup after the climb/descent and to get yourself back into formation.

Part 4 – Bumpy Stuff

For a TTT, this is the most challenging part of the course. Particularly if you are new to the game. A series of undulations – at first each one is just a meter or two… barely there… but they are just enough to mess with the team’s momentum. You will be exhausted by now so concentrate on staying together. 4km of that sets you up for three small hillocks – each one approximately 10m ascent at around 3%. This whole area winds around and around making it hard to get your bearings. Keep your eyes on the rider in front and stay there!

Don’t underestimate these three hillocks. The team will be wiped out by now and these three will split what’s left of you. Just remember you need 4 across the line, and it is the 4th rider’s time that matters. 

From 24km to the start/finish gate is 1.2km of downhill and flat. Finish with a group sprint to show the crowd what you’re made of. 

Wrap up

If you’re new to the TTT format this route is a wonderful starting point. Plenty of flat to practice your skills, and a little bit of technical undulation at the end to see how well you operate as a team. 

If you are experienced at TTTs this is a flat out ride. Start with 6, end with 4. Claim your 20 points!