The fourth race of Zwift Racing League 2024/25 Round 2 happens Tuesday, December 3, and we’re in Watopia for a flat team time trial on Triple Flat Loops, just like we were almost a year ago!
Let’s dig into crucial route sections, bike choice, and more.
Looking at the Route: Triple Flat Loops
This is our second time racing Triple Flat Loops as a TTT in ZRL, plus the roads here will be familiar to any experienced Zwifter since they’re the most trafficked roads on Zwift! As the name implies, this former Rebel Route is a fairly flat course, with just a few rollers/punches that may require special attention.
The route totals 36.3km and 162 meters of climbing including the lead-in:
Flat sections are typically simple (but not easy) for TTT teams who have pre-planned their pacing and rotation. It’s your team’s execution of slower sections (climbs and dirt), though, that can prove tricky, and mistakes can really affect your overall result.
Here are the key sections of this course where you’ll want to have a plan of attack:
- 9.8km: Col du Saddle Springs (900m): the first real rise on this course, you must hit it hard to keep your speed up and avoid losing seconds. Recovery awaits on the other side!
- 16.4km: rise from Downtown + the Esses (2km): power up on the rise, then keep your eyes open and your power modulating on The Esses to keep your team together.
- 21.5km: Volcano Bumps (400m): attack this short double-bump to keep speeds high!
- 23.9: the Esses again (1.4km): once again, keep your eyes open and your power modulating to keep your team together.
- 26.3km: rise up from Italian Villas (400m): keep those watts high to keep those speeds high. You’ve got a bit of recovery just around the corner!
- 28.8km: dirty Marina (700m): the Marina dirt sections will slow you down. Treat it like a climb and bump up your power to keep speeds high.
- 32.3km: Rise to Fuego Flats (1km): hammer your way up the false flat. You’re almost there!
- 35.8km: 500m Sprint Marker: now it’s time to go all-in. Empty the tank.
- 36.3km: done!
Read more about the Triple Flat Loops route >
Bike Frame + Wheel Choice
This week, bike choice is easy: grab your most aero TT setup! The CADEX Tri is the fastest frame in game, and the DT Swiss disc wheels are the fastest wheels. If you don’t have access to that setup (level 40+) then see this post to determine the fastest TT setup available at your level.
Whatever you do, do not use a road frame. Even a “slow” TT frame is faster than a road frame, so now that we’re able to use TT frames and get a draft in TTT events, you’ll want to take advantage of that!
More Route Recons
Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.
Zwifty Zwifter
Si Bradeley
The Syco-List
John Rice
Zwift Grand Prix
Preview the race by watching the world’s top women take it on!
TTTips
Team Time Trialing on Zwift is a challenging mixture of physical strength, proper pacing, and Zwift minutiae like picking a fast bike and understanding drafting in a TTT context.
Flatter courses like this week give valuable seconds to teams who can keep their speeds high over false flats and short rises. If you typically run your trainer difficulty setting pretty low, we advise you to raise your Trainer Difficulty high enough that you can feel slight incline changes and automatically increase power to keep your speeds high.
Your goal in a ZRL TTT is to get four riders across the line in the shortest time possible. That means every team’s pace plan will differ based on the abilities of each rider. We highly recommend having an experienced DS on Discord directing your team, especially if your team contains some inexperienced TTT riders.
If you really want to go down the TTT rabbit hole, check out Paul Fitzpatrick’s zwift-ds.com site. We also highly recommend using Dave Edmond’s Zwift TTT Calculator tool.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
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