The first race of Zwift Racing League 2024/25 Round 3 happens Tuesday, January 14, when we’ll be in Watopia for a TTT lap of the newish Waisted 8 route.
This route brings us onto Jarvis Island for the first time in ZRL history, which is fun. It’s also quite flat, but with just enough climbing to keep things interesting! Let’s discuss route details, bike choice, and all things TTT…
Looking at the Route: Waisted 8
Watopia’s Waisted 8 is a figure 8 route that is 30.9km long, with 144m of elevation gain. The lap profile shows the course for what it is – a fairly flat route, with a handful of short climbs:
This route divides logically into 6 sections, which I’ve broken out below along with notes on key portions of each section:
Part 1 – Start to Jarvis (0-3.5km)
You’ve got a bit of a climb heading up toward the Esses, so be sure to give it a bit of extra gas to keep your speed up. Once you turn right toward the Volcano you’ll get a bit of flat/descent for recovery, all the way until the start of the Jarvis KOM.
Part 2 – Jarvis Loop (4-8.5km)
It’s ZRL’s first time in Jarvis! This loop is just under 5km, and the big feature is the Jarvis KOM Reverse, where climbing begins at 4.7km and ends at 5.7km, although it really feels like more of a two-part climb thanks to a bit of flat in the middle:
This is the single-biggest climb on today’s route, and valuable seconds will be given to teams who attack it smartly.
Part 3 – Land Bridge to Dirty Sorpressa (8.5-11.2km)
Once you exit the Jarvis loop, you’ve got a flat run-in to the Dirty Sorpressa which begins at 10.1km. This snaking, short climb is made a bit tougher by its dirt surface, which rolls slower than tarmac. And it’s followed by a few short, climby rollers, making this 10.1-11.2km another key section where you can gain or lose valuable seconds based on your team’s pacing and positioning.
Part 4 – Descent to Ocean Boulevard (11.2-15.5km)
Get some recovery as you descend the snaking road to the Fishing Village, but be sure to keep the power up on the dirt sections so they don’t slow you down too much. You’ve got your final climb of the day just up the road…
Part 5 – Climb to the Desert (15.5-17.3km)
This two-part climb begins with the ~300-meter ramp out of the ocean tunnel, which is followed by a bit of flat road as you turn left and cross two bridges heading toward Titans Grove. The second part of the climb begins on the second bridge (@16.3km) and ends in the redwoods 1 kilometer later as you pass the turnoff to Titans Grove.
Neither of these climbs is particularly steep, so you’ll want to use the draft to keep your team’s speed high. (This goes for all the climbs on this route, in fact.)
Part 5 – Flat and Fast To the Finish (17.3-30.9km)
The last 13+ kilometers of the race are flat or downhill, apart from a bit of false flat @22.3 in the Oasis. This is where your team’s ability to hold formation and rotate smoothly will pay off, because fast pulls on the front coupled with efficient drafting behind are a deadly combination on flat, fast TTTs.
Read more about the Waisted 8 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 by a solid margin, 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. Because just like in real life, even a “slow” TT frame is much more aero than a road frame.
Route Recon Videos and Resources
Here are some recon videos from helpful community riders…
Zwifty Zwifter
John Rice
The Syco-list
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 with big pure-power riders who can keep their power high on the front while staying in single-file formation to conserve in the draft behind. A few extra seconds can also be grabbed if you ride smart and keep speeds high over short climbs and false flats that you’ll encounter on this week’s course.
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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