Zwift Racing League 2020/21 Round 3 Week 3 Guide: NYC KOM After Party

The second points race of Zwift Racing League Season 3 happens tomorrow, and we’re heading to New York City for an interesting race course that includes intermediate points opportunities for sprinters, with a finish line for the climbers.

It’s 1 lap of NYC KOM After Party, an event-only route that is mostly flat, but ends in a tough climb. In this way, the route mimics season 2’s event on Richmond’s Libby Hill After Party, except the finishing climb in NYC is longer.

Let’s dig into the course, including some tips for bike choice and strategic options.

Looking at the Route: NYC KOM After Party

This route is basically three laps of Gotham Grind Reverse followed by a trip up the Forward KOM, ending at the KOM banner.

While Gotham Grind Reverse is far from a flat route (nothing on NYC is flat), the climbs aren’t long or steep enough to really split the field. Keep your eyes wide open, mind your position in the group, and you should be able to hang in until the final climb begins.

Each lap includes the NYC Forward Sprint. This is a fairly long sprint section which ends on a slight uphill, so keep hammering to and through the finish! That’s right: the short climb continues for a bit after the sprint, and if you ease up too much after your sprint effort, the still-attacking pack may drop you like a bad habit.

The climb really comes in two phases: first, at 30.9km (19.2 miles) the paved Harlem Hill climb takes us onto the glass sky roads. This climb (see it on Strava) is 1.24km long, averaging 4.6%, and will see a lot of the “we’re just here for the sprint points” riders dropped from the front pack.

Then at 35.6km (22.1 miles) it’s onto the final climb of the day, the actual NYC Forward KOM (see it on Strava), which is 1.36km long at 6.4% average:

Dave’s Route Notes

Sherpa Dave has put together a race recon video and some helpful notes:

This is the jewel of the series. I see teams everywhere evolving their strategies to garner points, and this race has points options for every type of rider. Grimpeurs can capture FTS (Fastest Through Segment) on the KOM, the sprinters will take FTS on the sprint, while Rouleurs and Puncheurs can argue over the FAL (First Across the Line) points for sprint and KOM.

You will do 3/4 of the climbing before you get to the timed KOM segment, so don’t be deceived into thinking this is a flat ride with a hill at the end! The powerups won’t be as instrumental this week, but the Burrito is a pretty good weapon if used carefully on the sprint. This time though my advice is for anyone looking for FTS points is to consider a bike suited for that purpose: an aero bike for the sprint, or a climber for the KOM. An edgy choice perhaps, but one that could help you capture some precious intermediate points.

Key things to look out for:

• Southbound Hill: 1.5km stretch of hill peaking at 7% at 2.5, 11.5 and 20.9km
• Sprint: Short and uphill. Those seeking FTS points should consider a pure aero setup. Find the sprint at around 7.3, 6.6 and 25.8km
• Start Gate Hill: Some bright spark will try and create a split on this short punchy climb. Find it at 8.5, 17.8 and 21km.
• Ramp to the sky: Immediately after Harlem Hill (at 30.2km) begin the 1.2km climb at 5%, and head to the sky-roads.

Rick’s Route Recon

Here’s a recon video from Rick over at No Breakaways:

PowerUp Notes

Riders will be awarded powerups through the start/finish banner as well as the sprint banner, meaning we’ll get 6 powerups in the course of the race. Three powerups will be given:

Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use this if you’re contesting the sprint intermediate, attempting an attack at high speed, or just trying to catch a breather in the peloton on flat or descending road.

Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 15 seconds. Use this when the road tilts upward. Useful for taking the edge off of a ground-level road’s lumpy climbs, or to help you grab extra points on that final KOM.

Burrito: turns off draft effect for riders within a 2.5m radius for 10 seconds. Best used when the draft is strongest and riders are working the hardest – so on flat ground, or perhaps slight inclines. Let your teammates know before you deploy!

The burrito is a painfully offensive powerup, but be careful when you use it, or it may bite you back! See “Misused Powerups: The Breakaway Burrito” for details.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

To choose your ideal frame and wheelset for this route, you’ll need to know the answer to the question: what is my goal for this race?

• Chasing sprint points: go max aero (S-Works venge + disc wheel)
• Chasing KOM FTS points: get the lightest rig (Tarmac Pro + Lightweights)
• Contesting the overall win: any of the fast (aero) setups, but avoid the disc wheels if climbing is where you struggle

The Tron bike is the easy option here for all-around performance, but other all-around options like the Canyon Aeroad + DT Swiss (for lower-level Zwifters) turn in KOM times less than half a second slower, so the difference is minimal.

Strategic Options

This is a points race, so everything comes down to the three sprints, as well as the finish. All the miles in between are just the setup.

Here’s a fun thought project: what if you had two teams, each made up of very gifted specialists? One team had 6 amazing sprinters, the other 6 amazing climbers. If those riders finished at the top of the field for their respective specialties in this race, what would the points totals look like?

But wait… we didn’t include the finishing points for the Sprinters! Well, that’s because it doesn’t fit into our neat experiment. But consider this: if they all finished together in 26th-31st place), their finishing points would give them the win over the Climbers!

Of course, this is the real (virtual) world we’re talking about, not some silly thought project. And no team will get all 6 riders across the line in first place. So how will teams play this race? We expect a mix of these strategies:

• Sprint + Sink: if you believe you’ve got the power (and perhaps the powerUP) to contest a FTS or FAL on the sprints, go for it. There are a lot of points available at that green banner. Big, high-wattage riders who don’t think they’ll be able to hold onto the front up the KOM will go all-in on the sprints to try to grab a few extra points for their team before they drop off the back.
• Conserve + Climb: stronger climbers won’t contest the sprints, but will conserve as much as possible while trying to stay in the front group, so they can attack the final climb(s) and go for the big win and the extra KOM points that come with it.
• Rest + Swap: the final KOM will be an all-out effort after a challenging 50+ minutes of racing. We predict some lightweight/punchy riders who find themselves dropped off the front pack may take the opportunity for a breather, swap to a lightweight bike, and have a go at FTS points for the final climb.
• Hanging On: this is the group many racers find themselves in – not strong enough to contest the sprints, but also doubting their chances at a top-10 finish on the final climb. For these riders, it’s about trying to stay in that front group so they can maximize their finishing position (and points).

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on the big race? Share below!