The fifth race of Zwift Racing League 2024/25 Round 2 happens Tuesday, December 10, and we’ll be in London for our first-ever ZRL event on Keith Hill After Party. This is a course that’s quite flat… until it isn’t. So there’s much to discuss, including the challenging route, climbing bikes, and strategic options. Let’s go!
Looking at the Route: Keith Hill After Party
London’s Keith Hill After Party route has never been raced in ZRL, and with its big finishing climb, it’s definitely the Queen Stage of this round! All riders will be racing a single lap of the route for a total of 36.8km with 435m of climbing.
Let’s discuss the key parts of this route, beginning just after we blast out of the start pen:
Aero powerup at lap arch @0.6km, then rolling roads along the Thames.
Northumberland Avenue @3.6km (400 meters, 4-5% grade): when you turn a hard right away from the Thames, you’ll hit the first little climb of the race. Be ready to go hard for 30 seconds!
You’ll encounter rolling roads but no significant climbs or descents between Northumberland and The Mall Sprint Reverse. Just mind your pack position and ride smart.
The Mall Sprint Reverse @14.9 (FTS+FAL): The first points segment of the race is the flattish Mall Sprint Reverse, which is 200 meters long on a false flat of 1.1%. You’ll get a feather powerup at the arch.
After the sprint, you’ll retrace your path on the rolling roads of outer London and along the Thames, eventually returning to the lap arch, where you can get another aero powerup. Again, mind your pack position and ride smart. The test is just ahead.
Keith Hill KOM @32.5km (FTS+FAL): time for the big finish! Keith Hill is 4.3km long and averages 5%, and there’s around 800m of shallow climbing before the actual KOM segment begins. After the lead-in, Keith Hill breaks into four sections based on gradient:
- 700m of climbing around 6.5%
- 500m of flat/slightly downhill
- 2.3km of steady climb around 7.5%
- 600m of false flat to the banner
Read more about the Keith Hill After Party route >
FAL+FTS Reminder
Remember, FAL and FTS segment points as well as finishing points have changed this season for ZRL racers!
FAL points now go to the first 20 riders over the line (20-19-18…1 points, respectively). FTS points only go to the fastest 5 riders through the segment (10-8-6-4-2 points, respectively).
See the ZRL scoring page for more details >
PowerUp Notes
Riders will receive powerups at each arch: a feather powerup (1x) at The Mall Sprint arch and aero boost powerups at the lap arch (2x):
Aero Boost (helmet) at the lap arch: makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) Definitely needed if you’re going for points on The Mall Sprint Reverse segment.
Lightweight (feather) at The Mall sprint arch: reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on climbs, when weight matters the most. This will be very useful on the Keith Hill KOM, but you’ll need to choose whether you want to hold onto the feather or ditch it for an aero (see Strategy notes below…)
Bike Frame + Wheel Choice
There’s really just one consideration you’ll need to make when selecting a bike frame and wheelset for this race: will you be contesting The Mall Sprint Reverse for points?
If so, you’ll probably want to go with an all-arounder like the Pinarello Dogma F 2024 with ENVE 7.8 wheels or the Tron bike, because going with a pure climber will probably cost you a place or two. This will give you most of the aero advantage available, while still giving you decent climbing performance on the Keith Hill finish.
But if you aren’t contesting the sprint, a pure climbing setup is recommended.
(Side note: lots of folks like to use ZwifterBikes.web.app when choosing frame and wheels for a given course. I don’t know exactly how these course time estimates are computed, but here’s my one caution: in scratch and points races, the bike that turns in the fastest overall course time may not be the best bike for the course. This week’s race is a great example.)
The first 31km of the race are quite flat, which means the vast majority of the pack will arrive together at the base of the final climb. And it’s from the bottom of that climb to the end of the race that you’ll want a bike that gives you maximum advantage.
To get some hard numbers, I ran a few bot tests at 4 w/kg up the Keith Hill KOM segment. Here are the results, from worst to best:
- Specialized S-Works Venge + DT Swiss Disc: 12:39.9
- Tron: 12:37.2
- Pinarello Dogma F 2024 + ENVE 7.8: 12:36.78
- Pinarello Dogma F 2024 + Roval Alpinist: 12:35.18
- Specialized Aethos + Roval Alpinist: 12:30.59
In the end, here is my top recommendation for this course:
If you don’t have access to the Aethos and/or the Roval Alpinist or Lightweight Meilenstein wheels, check out Fastest Climbing Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level to figure out the best climbing setup you can use.
See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot) for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.
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.
In the Drops
John Rice
The Syco-List
Strategic Options
Points Distribution, Keith Hill After Party (1 Lap)
This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. You don’t see KOM FAL points because we’ve added them to the finishing points since that’s what they effectively are.
While this is technically a points race, awarding FAL at the finishing arch atop Keith Hill KOM means almost 75% of the points are effectively “first across the line” points at the finish, making this almost feel like a scratch race. Almost.
Here are some strategies we’ll see on Tuesday:
- All-In For the Sprint: pure sprinters who don’t fancy their chances at a highly-placed finish on Keith Hill may go all-in with aero bike choice and a massive effort to grab points on The Mall Sprint Reverse.
- Start Sag: while the pack will already be somewhat strung out by the time it hits the Keith Hill KOM start line, strong climbers may sag near the back so they can push hard during the segment and grab FTS points.
- Aero Boosted Finish: strong climbers who are confident in their ability to hang with the front up Keith Hill might burn their feather powerup in order to grab an aero boost at the lap arch to use in the 600m false flat final sprint.
- Survival Mode: many riders will just be sitting in the peloton and conserving for the first 31km, then giving their all for the highest placement possible atop Keith Hill.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
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