Video: How To Race On Zwift Like A Pro – Tips From An Indoor Cycling Champion

GCN just released a video featuring race tips from British indoor cycling champion James Philips of Canyon ZCC. GCN presenter James Lowsley-Williams talks through a few key topics with Philips, including:

• Getting started on Zwift racing
• Race starts – full gas!
• PowerUps – which is best, and when to use them
• What sort of fitness works best for Zwift racing
• Can you make a living off Zwift?
• What is the future of Zwift eSports?

How the Race Was Lost: Tour of Watopia, Stage 4

Continuing my plan is to race each Tour of Watopia stage, it was stage 4 at 6:10am for me. Two laps of the Jungle Circuit, a route I haven’t raced much, but know well.

Course knowledge didn’t put me at ease, though: quite the opposite, in fact. I knew the climbing half of the circuit would be super-challenging, and I just hoped I could hold onto the front of the race as we climbed up through the ruins not once, but twice.

Bike Selection

Bike selection is a non-issue for this stage, because Zwift has configured the event to put everyone on the Zwift Mountain Bike. You can’t ride anything else, so embrace it!

Warmup

I rolled out of bed at 5am, chewed two pieces of caffeine gum, put some PR lotion on the legs, and kitted up. Then I hit Tempus Fugit for longer, ~15-mile warmup. I wanted to ease my legs into the effort, because they were sore from a long “socially distanced” hike two days before.

(I can ride 100 miles and not feel sore the next day, but get me out running or hiking for a much shorter time and my legs are in pain for two days. Sad.)

The warmup felt pretty good – my heart rate was responsive, bumping up into the 160’s during hard efforts. That’s always a good sign for me. If I can’t get the heart rate up it means I’m not recovered (or I’m getting sick). Time to race!

The Start

The Jungle Circuit route begins from the Jungle start pens, winding down tarmac to the dirt portion of the Jungle. Today’s start was pretty easy, because 1) everyone was on the same bike, so the roadies weren’t attacking on the pavement and 2) we all knew the climb was where things would break up.

343 watts for 60 seconds kept me in the front group. Our initial starting bunch of 83 was quickly cut in half before we reached the bottom of the Jungle dirt.

The Middle

The Jungle Circuit can be broadly visualized as a simple loop. From the Jungle start banner the first half of the loop is a climb up to the top of the Jungle where you cross the rope bridge. Then the second half of the loop is a descent back to the start line.

We crossed the start banner for the first time and began our first of two climbs. And that’s when things got hectic!

The Jungle climb isn’t particularly steep, averaging around 3%. So race speeds stay high enough that drafting still matters.

Our first jungle climb took around 5 minutes and 20 seconds, and I averaged 360 watts (4.3 w/kg) to just barely stay with the front. It was a max effort! As we crossed the rope bridge it was clear that the second big selection had been made: we had a front group of 20.

The descent to the start/finish banner was quite easy, with the group easing up since no one was chasing hard from behind and we had another climb ahead. I tried to recover as much as possible, but I knew this final climb was going to hurt bad. I had my doubts about holding onto the pack, but I resolved myself to give it all I had.

Soon enough we hit that second climb and the group immediately strung out. And I was at the back! A gap opened up a few riders ahead, and I didn’t have the legs to jump across. And that was it. The front rode away, and I couldn’t even hold the wheels of the two riders who had been dropped with me.

The second climb took me about 20 seconds longer than the first, with an average power around 30 watts lower. The front pack went hard up that climb!

The Finish

There was a pack of 5 riders 30 seconds back. I quickly did the math and decided I should be able to stay away, as long as they don’t push too hard. So I buckled down to finish the climb and TT it home with whatever I had left in the legs. I kept a wary eye on the gap as we neared the finish, and it steadily dropped to 20 seconds, then 10.

In the final few hundred meters one rider jumped from the chase group, and that inspired me to use my aero powerup and push it hard to the line so he couldn’t pass me.

I finished 19th according to Zwift. 13th on ZwiftPower.

See my activity on Strava >
See my activity on Zwift.com >
See race results on ZwiftPower >

Takeaways

No major revelations from this race: it reminded me that climbing is my weakness. I need to keep building that 3-5 minute power and dropping a bit more weight.

This race also has me looking forward to returning to well-managed community races who have much less sandbagging. These ToW races are a bit too influenced by sandbaggers for my taste. Many of the riders who finished ahead of me were legit, don’t get me wrong! But there were several in the 4.3-4.6 w/kg range who doubtless pushed the speed of that front group up the climbs.

What about You?

Did you race ToW stage 4? Share your experience below!

Trainer Technique: Sitting vs. Standing

Note: this post was originally published on teamindoorspecialist.com.

The difference between riding your bike indoors as opposed to outdoors isn’t just the scenery. Outside on the road, your position on the bike plays a very important role in determining your success: the aerodynamics of your bike and position influence your speed significantly, which is why cyclists constantly chase the perfect position and equipment. Indoors, we see almost the exact opposite. While maximum efficiency is still the goal, racers do not need to focus on aerodynamics whatsoever — maximum power production in the most comfortable riding position, regardless of aerodynamics, is everything.

This means that the choice to sit, stand, or use a combination of the two is completely up to the racer, and it’s a contentious debate among the racers on our own team!

The Case for Standing

Indoor Specialist racers Matt Brandt and Ryan Larson believe the best way to produce sustained power inside is out of the saddle. Shifting into a massive gear, lurching forward and stomping the pedals at sub-70 rpm, these two racers can stand at threshold power forever.

Ryan, a former collegiate middle-distance runner-turned-cyclist has always favored standing while doing hard efforts on the bike. “When I first started cycling, one of the hardest things for me was to get my legs adapted to spinning at around 90 revolutions per minute (rpm). The problem I was having was that my legs would get tired way before my heart rate would max out.”

Ryan found Zwift when a friend introduced it to him in 2017, and his muscle memory from his running days became his secret weapon. “When I started racing on Zwift, I could go back to what my legs were used to and use my calves and quads in a similar manner to when I ran. Since I am on the lighter side, standing also allows me use the little weight that I have to maintain a threshold much longer than if I would sit and spin. By switching my position from sitting, to hovering over the saddle, to standing straight up, I activate different muscles so I can maintain power but save the muscles I use to snap when a break occurs or when it’s time to sprint to the line.”

Ryan has used this technique to be a dominant force in the Zwift Pro-Am racing circuit in 2019 and 2020, and it’s begun to trickle into some of our other racer’s styles as well. Matt Brandt, known for his gutsy breakaway attacks, didn’t adapt to the standing technique until after seeing Ryan smash an effort out of the saddle in a race stream. 

Matt has shown that this skill can be perfected by committing to practicing the effort. “I began doing standing intervals back in 2009. I was competing in UCI 1.1 races with a professional Italian road team and as the races hit the climbs, I struggled. I started doing hill repetition intervals on the famed Monte Serra climb in Tuscany, and found myself riding out of the saddle for longer and longer — until I could do the entire climb without sitting.”

It wasn’t until Matt saw Ryan dominating races out of the saddle on Zwift that the technique came back to him. “I realized: we have smart trainers that can give us the perfect amount of resistance needed. If I can get the feeling of flying-free, out of the saddle pretending my old teammate Andrew Talansky is chasing me down when I am off the front of a Zwift race, then I am 100% going to embrace that. Do what motivates you!”

The Case for Sitting

On the other side of the spectrum, Indoor Specialist racer Matt Gardiner contends that the best way to produce sustained power is seated by turning the legs over at a steady, strong cadence.

Matt, a recently “retired” long-course triathlete and time trial (TT) specialist, is pretty good at doing the same thing for a very long time. On the TT bike, that means putting out consistent power in the saddle while staying as still and aerodynamic as possible. After years of racing and riding the TT bike for triathlon, putting out power while seated has become second nature.

“For me, sitting and spinning a higher cadence allows me to pedal through fatigue — almost as if I can fake my legs into pushing more power. As long as I keep my legs spinning against the trainer’s resistance, I’ll keep up with my competitors.” Matt excels at mid-range climbs on Zwift like London’s Box and Leith Hill KOMs, and Watopia’s Volcano KOM. “I’ve always ridden climbs seated. When I joined Zwift in 2016, I worked on my climbing relentlessly after getting dropped in races when the road turned up. Every week, I would ride Box Hill as hard as I possibly could, glued to the saddle. In between those efforts, I filled my riding with workouts in Erg mode; pedaling against the trainer’s set resistance with my eyes closed.” This approach to riding has earned him success in Zwift’s Pro-Am racing series, a state championship in time trial, some incredibly fast half-Ironman bike splits, and the course record at his local monthly time trial series.

The Case for the All-Rounder

It’s clear that the indoor trainer gives racers the chance to optimize their riding style to produce the best power in every given situation. While there isn’t a right or wrong way to ride the bike indoors, we have found it could be beneficial for racers to vary their position — engaging different muscles to stave off fatigue and improve on weaknesses. A racer for Indoor Specialist who has found balance in standing and seated efforts is Tully Lyster. A former elite triathlete and current time trial weapon, Tully regularly works on seated, low-cadence efforts at high wattage, but can jump out of the saddle for long climbs: always racing with his trainer difficulty set to 100%.

“Every week, I aim to do 2 strength and endurance sessions using a climb like Watopia’s Epic KOM. These sessions usually feature three 20-minute tempo efforts seated at under 55 rpm, and one 15-min effort out of saddle at less than 50 rpm. In Zwift races, I am typically seated on the flats, but when racing hard up a climb I’m up and out of the saddle. Do what works best for you, maintaining your form, heart rate and power!”

What About You?

What position do you think is optimal for races and rides indoors? Do you find yourself out of the saddle regularly, or are you a seated spinner? Share your preference and reasons in the comments below!

While there doesn’t seem to be a right answer to these questions, it does appear that there are benefits to each. Developing your riding style by practicing out of the saddle efforts or seated climbing could offer you an edge on your competition. Give your position some consideration and push yourself to try something new!