Hello, dear reader. It’s been a few months since I wrote my last tale of race loss, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been lazy. Far from it! I’ve managed to lose (*checks ZwiftPower*) 17 races so far this year, but they’ve been pretty boring losses, so I haven’t taken the time to write about them.
I did win two gamified Repack Rush events, according to ZwiftPower. I’m not even sure that’s accurate. In fact, I’m quite sure it isn’t. And I got 2nd place in Stage 4 of ZRacing’s “Flat is Fast” January series, which was my best points result so far this year.
But today, I want to share my story of an exceptional race. Not because my result was exceptional, but because the event itself was far from the Zwift norm. Let’s dive in…
The Warmup
It was a Thursday, so I was on the bike at 6am spinning my legs in an easy 60-minute ride with Team Twenty24 in Richmond. I do this ride almost every week – it’s a great way to wake up, as ride leader Amanda Coker keeps the group chatty and positive while holding a steady pace.
Then I joined the pens for my race: the L’Etape du Tour Prologue event on Going Coastal in Watopia. I knew the event would be big, as over 400 riders were already signed up. I knew the pace would be high, because there were no categories – everyone raced together! And I hoped I could hang onto the front of the group to the end, since it was a flat and short route (18.7km with 63m of elevation).
I joined the pens and saw Erik Lee was in the house. If you aren’t family with Erik, he’s a streamer (Don’t Get Dropped Cycling) whose videos we often feature in our weekly top 5 series. He’s a strong B racer, and as far as I know we’ve never raced in the same event before.
Popping over to ZwiftPower and sorting the signup list by ZwiftPower ranking, I saw the top ~15 riders had a score of 100 or better. Those are strong riders! I knew there was no way I was winning this race, but if I could hold on and sprint well in the finish I may just be able to nab a solid result.
Part 1: The Start
The start was fast, but not too bad for a rider like myself who can hold solid steady watts. There were 518 riders in the start pens, but it strung out quickly, with elastic snapping all over the place before we even finished the 2.2km lead-in.
Call it serendipity: this was the perfect use case for Zwift’s new Player Highlight feature. Because we were all forced to wear the same kit (have I mentioned how annoying this is?) and the pack was huge, so without a highlight it was really hard to see yourself in the group. Even more so if you were on the Tron bike, which meant your rider’s head didn’t pop up when drafting.
This race really broke down into three sections, and this “start” was around 7 minutes long, taking us from the pens to the exit of the Fuego Flats oasis. I averaged ~305W for this bit, and just did my best to stay a few bike lengths from the front so I would benefit from the draft without getting gapped if a sizeable group attacked.
A few riders jumped off the front in this first section, but with a pack of (maybe?) 100 chasing, they weren’t getting far. I just surfed the wheels.
Side Note: The Weirdness of Big Races in Zwift
Zwift only renders the closest 100 riders, so the size of your peloton isn’t always clear in large events. You can see where you’re at by looking at your placing in the rider list, but if your pack is over 100, you don’t know if your pack is actually 100 riders like you’re seeing, or many more than that.
That said, there isn’t much difference between racing in a pack of 100 or 300. Either way, you’re not getting away on the flats, and it’s smart to stay near the front to avoid getting gapped.
Part 2: The Easy Middle
The easiest bit of the race was from the oasis downhill to the descent into Googie Springs. I averaged ~275W for this 6-minute section, and not much happened apart from some attrition in the front group, shrinking it to around 80 riders.
I was feeling good in the front group. But then the work began.
Part 3: The Tough Finish
The last 11 minutes of the race were the toughest, by far. I averaged around 320W for this bit.
As we zipped past Mr. Crankie’s Crab Shack in Googie Springs, the rollers began. And they just kept coming! Nothing steep or long, but constant up-downs where the strong riders would put in digs and stretch the group each time the gradient turned positive.
I tried to ride as efficiently as possible, letting myself drift back a bit on the climbs, while staying in touch with the front pack of ~40 who seemed to be staying together nicely. I also used my Zwift Play steering when possible to cut corners, giving me a slightly shorter line on the twisty roads. It helped!
With 4km to go, the strong riders began attacking on a false flat, and the pack stretched out. I was out of position and already working hard when I noticed there were ~30 riders up ahead who had gapped the rest of us. This was the move!
But I didn’t feel I had the legs to chase them back. So I gambled. I stayed in the wheels of the chase group of ~25. And surprisingly, we bridged up! With 2.3km to go, it was all back together in the front group of 54.
You could feel the group take a deep breath at this point. With only 3 minutes left in the race, everyone knew it was kicking off soon. Get some oxygen. Spin the legs. Because this last bit is going to hurt…
The first attacker went with 1.8km to go. Then it was game on! The pack sped up from 44kph to 49kph, and began stretching out. I saw a certain “G Ozbay” fly past at 9+ W/kg. Then the road dipped down, past Herry’s, and tilted up for the final 250-meter run-in to the line.
I didn’t have much left, so I just activated my aero powerup then stood and hammered as best I could.
40th place. Ozbay took first. And in the battle of the Eric/ks, Erik Lee came out on top, finishing an impressive 16th!
See activity on Strava >
See results on ZwiftPower >
Watch My Video
Watch Erik’s Video
Takeaways
Despite finishing 36th in ZwiftPower, my result of 135.02 still earned me a slight points upgrade of 2.8 thanks to the super strong field. I’ll take it!
Could I have ridden this race differently and earned a better result? Maybe, but my gut says there’s nothing I could have done to significantly improve my finish.
I rode quite conservatively, apart from one short dig made in the oasis to follow a move I didn’t need to follow. Still, when the pack decided to go in that final 2km, I just didn’t have the legs to keep up. My only regret is not moving closer to the front when the pack sat up a bit before the final push, because doing so may have given me a few more positions in the finish.
This race reminded me of how difficult A-race finishes are, compared to B. In a B race, riders won’t go until the final 500 meters or less, and anyone who goes earlier than that is caught. In an A race, the pace picks up 2-3km from the line, sapping your legs before the sprint even begins!
So there’s a marked difference between an A-race finish and a B-race finish. But that’s why it’s such good training to race against the A’s as a B rider.
(I should add that the guy who won, Gökhan Özbay, is currently ranked #2 in the world on ZwiftPower. Is he legit? I’ll leave that for you to decide. But I’ll say this: if you’re ranked that highly without public dual recordings, elite Zwift race results, or strong outdoor results, other racers will consider you sus. And I wouldn’t blame them for doing so.)
Until next time… good luck in your racing, and Ride On.
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