Congrats to Zwifter Matt Hayman on Paris-Roubaix victory

If you follow pro cycling you already know about Matt Hayman’s incredible win yesterday at Paris-Roubaix. What you may not know is that Matt logged nearly 1,000 miles on Zwift last month as he worked to stay in shape while recovering from a fractured radius bone in his right arm sustained in the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad race February 27.

Charlie Issendorf, Zwift’s VP of Events, posted on Facebook after Matt’s win:

Zwift now, win later. That is all.

Matt, an Australian who rides for Orica-GreenEdge, was very humble in his win, going so far as to apologize for beating Tom Boonen who was chasing his record 5th Paris-Roubaix victory. (Matt has been a big fan of Boonen for years.) Hayman is no rookie, though, having ridden Roubaix 15 times and finishing in the top 10.

What does a pro look like when he uses Zwift to maintain fitness as he recovers from injury? Looking at Matt’s Zwift account via the mobile app we can see that his first recorded ride was on March 3. He rode on Zwift almost daily thru April 5th, often riding twice a day, racking up 983 miles and over 55,000′ of climbing in just over a month.

Here’s what he had to say about his March recovery:

I spent a lot of time on the home trainer; I was in my own little world, riding in the garage twice a day. I knew I had to hold onto the months and months of training that I do for the Classics every year. This is my 17th year as a professional and it started in October. I spent a lot of time away, time at altitude, a lot of time away from the family, to be ready for the Classics. I didn’t want all that to be taken way by a crash. So if there was no chance that I could get back, then I’d do it.

Hayman rode beautifully in yesterday’s race, staying with the breakaway group for most of the race and even riding off the front solo for a significant stretch. Even after a strong chase group containing Boonen caught Hayman’s group, he hung with the group of five riders who attacked each other over and over again in the final kilometers. Hayman saved himself for one strong attack against Boonen, but even with that well-executed attack it all came down to the final sprint in the Roubaix velodrome where Hayman had the legs and position to pull off the win by a bike length over Boonen.

What kind of power numbers does a pro like Hayman throw down? Check out this great post from Training Peaks analyzing Hayman’s power numbers for the race.

Watch the race highlights here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DcwgX49V90

Completing the Challenge

You must be level 10 or higher before you can enter the Tour Italy challenge.

To enter, simply select it as your challenge from the menu screen (hit “T” in-game, then click the challenge image at the top-right to see your current challenge information and/or switch to a new challenge.) Then ride 2000km and you’re done!

What’s the prize?

A brand-new (virtual) Pinarello F8 Dogma! You’ll actually get the bike at around the 90% completion mark, when you hit Treviso, home of Pinarello Bicycles.

About the Pinarello Bike

Prior to this challenge only a select few Zwifters got to ride a Pinarello, because the Pinarello Dogma 65.1 bike was available to early beta testers (called the “Pinarello Dogma” in game). This is a different Pinarello, though–the F8 is a little lighter than the 65.1, completing the Alpe climb 17 seconds faster in our speed tests. Although it’s a nice piece of virtual kit, the F8 is not a terribly fast bike in game–slower even than the Zwift Aero which is unlocked at level 13, and the Canyon Aeroad 2021 unlocked at level 10.

Join the Zwift KOM Hammerfest – April 1-5th 2016

Zwifter Trapper Markelz of Boston, MA is organizing a different kind of Zwift race this April–a multi-day stage race called Zwift KOM Hammerfest!

All you have to do is sign up, ride the selected segments during the time window and you’ll be added to the leaderboard. (To be clear: each stage is essentially a solo effort, since riders don’t all begin the race at the same time.) Strava will collect the times, and Trapper’s software will grab that information and automatically update the leaderboard.

Stages are as follows (check the race homepage for details/updates):

• Stage 1 – Individual Time Trial – April 1st
  Richmond flat course, 3 laps. 9.3 miles.
• Stage 2 – EPIC KOM Forward – April 2nd
  Category 2 climb 5.9 miles in length with 1,361 feet of climbing on an avg grade of 3.9%, maxing out at 10.7%. 
• Stage 3 – EPIC KOM Reverse – April 3rd-4th
  You thought this climb was hard in Stage 2? Going up the reverse side gives you a shorter climb (3.8 miles) but a steeper grade (5.8% average).
• Stage 4 – Sprint Climb Finish – April 5th
  Take the Prefer Hills route from the start. Ride the first original KOM, U-turn at the bridge at the bottom and ride the reverse KOM. 4.2 miles total.

Questions or comments? Join the conversation about this race in the Zwift Riders Facebook group.

Learn more and sign up here >