Zwift Racing League Week 4 Guide: Double Span Spin (Points Race)

The fourth and final race of Zwift Racing League 2025/26 happens Tuesday, April 28, and we’re in New York for our first race ever on the Double Span Spin circuit. It’s a points race, and all the points are on New York’s Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges!

Don’t understand how ZRL points races work? Read our explainer >

There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerup usage, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s go!

Looking at the Route

Each lap of Double Span Spin is 7 km (4.3 miles) long, with 80m of elevation. There’s also a 5.6km long lead-in with 40m of elevation. A/B teams will race 5 laps (40.6km, 531m elevation), while C/D will race 3 laps (26.6km, 371m elevation).

The route begins with a lead-in from Prospect Park (heading straight north out of the park, so we’re only there for a few seconds). This takes us down through the Brooklyn Subway and up to the start of the Manhattan Sprint for our first points segment of the day.

With a 1.3% average gradient for 250 meters, this is a draggy and very draftable sprint. Be warned: it’s the finish of a 1-kilometer climb, so you’ll already be pushing harder than usual when the sprint begins!

Lap 1 begins at the end of the Manhattan Sprint (which awards a feather powerup). From that sprint arch, our circuit basically consists of counter-clockwise laps of the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges.

Each lap starts with descending from the Manhattan Sprint arch, then climbing up the Brooklyn Bridge KOM – the key climb on this route and our second points segment:

As you can see, this is an interesting sort of KOM, because the first 500 meters are actually downhill! So don’t let that average gradient fool you; once the climbing begins, it’s a fairly steady 3.5% for ~1.4km. This is where the elastic is most likely to snap.

From the Brooklyn Bridge KOM arch (which awards an aero boost powerup), we descend the Brooklyn Bridge, then head over to hit the uphill Manhattan Sprint to finish out the lap. This is also the finishing sprint on the final lap, so familiarize yourself with it, as it is effectively worth double points on the last lap because of how ZRL segment points and finish points are calculated!

Read more about the Double Span Spin route >

Powerups

For this race, everyone receives an aero boost powerup in the pens. We’ll also receive feather powerups at the Manhattan Sprint arch and aero boost powerups at the Brooklyn Bridge KOM arch.

Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on climbs, when weight matters the most. This will be best used on the final 1.4km of the Brooklyn Bridge KOM, where the road is steepest and efforts are high.

Aero Boost (helmet): 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). Deploy this during the Manhattan Sprint.

Bike Recommendations

This race’s points are wrapped up in an uphill sprint and a draggy KOM, so you don’t want to go with a pure aero (disc wheel) setup. Instead, I’d recommend either the DT Swiss 65 wheels or the new Princeton Carbonworks Wake 6560‘s, paired with one of the fast 4 all-arounder frames:

• S-Works Tarmac SL8
• Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
• Pinarello Dogma F 2024
• Canyon Aeroad 2024

Of course, your frame’s upgrade status should impact your decision. A fully upgraded Aethos will outclimb the other four frames, but that’s not the case when comparing un-upgraded versions.

Related: All About Zwift’s New “Bike Upgrades” Functionality >

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers 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.

Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. Here are the recons I’ve found (comment if you find another!)

J Dirom

Strategic Options

Points Distributions, Double Span Spin

5 Laps

3 Laps

These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. We added the FAL points for the final Manhattan Sprint to the Finish points, since that’s effectively how they function. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.

How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:

• Honey, I Shrunk the Peloton: Some teams will choose to attack the KOM again and again, and this will cause the elastic to stretch and eventually snap for some riders. The front group will shrink by more than half before the race is done.
• Final Lap FTS: Fastest Through Segment top 5 times may be set on the first lap, but I bet the final fastest times come from the last lap, as riders work to drop others on the Brooklyn Bridge KOM, then sprint for the win on the Manhattan Sprint.
• Save the Sprinters: Teams with strong sprinters may try to keep the KOM as slow as possible to increase their sprinters’ chance of surviving the climb and grabbing points on the sprint.
• A Hard Finish: The final kilometer is a draggy uphill to the Manhattan Sprint arch, and it’s gonna hurt. Riders with decent W/kg who don’t trust their pack sprint will go early and stretch out the pack.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!