Not Reversing Around London – Tips for WTRL TTT #86 – Greater London Flat

About This Series

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 on a Friday 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). 

Greater London Flat

The calendar lied to us this week! Originally – and right up until Friday – the schedule called for “Greater London Flat Reverse”, a route so secret that Eric doesn’t even have a Zwift Insider Verified Strava segment for the route. It may be that the reverse doesn’t even exist, because at the last minute it changed to the forward route. Probably a good thing as I had to use quite a bit of speculation on how a reverse GLF would get to the start/finish gate!

So what we have this week is a two-lap race with a long lead-in. It was last ridden in a TTT in July, and before that in April. In April I was with the Paris-based CICC-B team but had a mechanical, in July I was with R&K’s Latte team (the Hyenas) where we pulled a 42m time with 6-riders. I hope we will do better this week with 7 (maybe 8 if we are lucky) riders.

The ride starts with the usual London lead-in – from the Tower along the Thames before taking the sharp right turn up the hill to Trafalgar Square. A quick up and back along The Strand before heading on to The Mall for the start/finish gate to start lap 1. 

Each lap is pretty straightforward. Up and down Constitution Hill (not very hilly), and along Birdcage Walk. Don’t bother looking for the birds in cages as they disappeared once James the 1st popped his cloggs. Onto Millbank, running alongside the Thames again, which turns into Grovesner Rd, then turn right on to Chelsea Bridge Rd. You are now 12km in to the ride. 1km later there is a very slight bump up as you head around Sloane Square and on to Sloane Street. From here there’s a false flat (2%) until you hit Brompton Road at 14km. From here you will pick up speed as you head into the Hyde Park Corner underpass, then lose it again as you head up Piccadilly. The Piccadilly ramp is the most arduous aspect of the lap  – 1km at around 3% – ending when you make the sharp turn onto St James Street. After that it is 1700M downhill or flat all the way to the start/finish gate.

Being so popular, this route has plenty of resources. There is a Zwift official race recce that breaks the race down well. As always the recce is an analysis of a scratch race rather than a TTT, but good reading all the same. It highlights the two main areas to be aware of – Northumberland Ave (from the Thames to Trafalgar Square) and the Piccadilly rise.

Eric has a couple of useful Zwift Insider verified Strava segments – the one that does a lap from the pens, and one for the lap from gate to gate. 

What to ride?

This is one of the flatter routes in Zwift and as such aero rules. I will be on the S-Works Venge with the fabulous and pretty 858/Super-9 wheels. On this course this beats the Tron handily. 

Here are some recommendations on equipment at various levels:

• Level 6 Zwift Aero frame and DT Swiss ARC 62 wheels
• Level 13 Canyon Aeroad 2021 and Zipp 808s
• Level 18 Specialized Venge with Zipp 808s
• Level 25 Cervelo S5 with Zipp 808s
• Level 33 S-Works Venge with ENVE SES 8.9
• 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 it is doubly important this week. Get the Tron! It may not be the fastest on this route, but only a few other bike/wheel combos beat it… and you need to be Level 35+ to get those combos!

Route Recon Rides

I’m late writing this so there is little time for a recon… but if you get the chance you can ride a race or just a gentle recce ride on it fairly simply. There are quite a few choices – check out the event listing on zwifthacks.com to see for yourself. 

Target times

This route has been ridden three times in 2020. April saw the best time of the three. I believe we will be slightly faster than April – but not much.

R&K Hyenas have a good mixed team this week – all C riders and only 7 – and I’m pretty sure we will beat our time from July. I’m targeting a 45 minute finish. 

Wrap up

The complete opposite of last week’s war of attrition, this week is another chance to work on formation and communication. Keep everyone together and pulling turns to win!