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 pens. 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:

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!