The sixth race of Zwift Racing League 2021/22 Round 2 happens Tuesday, February 15th and it’s the Queen Stage. With one sprint and two climb intermediates, this race has something for everyone. But make no mistake: a climber will win the day!
Let’s dig into the race, including tips for bike choice, powerups, strategy, and crucial segments.
Looking at the Route: Climber’s Gambit
Watopia’s Climber’s Gambit route was created for the 2021 Zwift Academy Road program as a test of sprint, VO2, and threshold power. And that’s exactly what riders can expect in their ZRL race! The route is 27.9km long, with 670m of elevation. And 400m of that elevation comes in the final climb.
Let’s discuss the four key pinch points of this route.
First, the Watopia Sprint Reverse (aka “JWB Sprint Rev”). Located 2.5km into your ride, this short, straight sprint is super fast thanks to a downhill lead-in. With no aero powerups this week, winning this sprint will require a good sense of timing and, of course, strong 15s power.
Second, the start of the Hilly Reverse KOM. Starting at 4.9km, you have a short ramp up and around the giant statues before taking a left onto the cutoff road to the Hilly KOM descent. Mind your position in the pack, give it a little gas to stay in the right spot, and you should make it over this hump unscathed. Then you can supertuck the descent!
Third, the Titans Grove Reverse KOM. At 11.9km you’ll begin the first KOM intermediate. Only 900m long and 4.3%, this quick climb can be done in under 75s by top riders. (The rest of us mortals are looking at more like 90-150s, though.)
The effort shouldn’t be high after the Titans Grove KOM, but watch that you don’t get gapped in the rolling, twisting hills of Titans Grove (before or after the KOM). Recover as much as you can, because the big effort is just up the road.
Finally, the Epic KOM Reverse. Beginning 21.7km into the race, this is the longest climb of our ZRL season at 6.2km and 5.9%! It’s really a series of three ~2km climbs, with short flats/downhills separating each. Draft the fast parts, hammer the steeps, and give it all you’ve got to the line, because the race ends at the KOM banner.
Read more about the Climber’s Gambit route >
PowerUp Notes
Riders will be awarded powerups through each banner, meaning we’ll get 3 powerups during the race (at the downtown start banner, the sprint banner, and the Titans Grove KOM).
These powerups will be randomly given out at each banner:
Anvil: makes you 50kg heavier for 30 seconds, so you can descend faster.
Useful this on downhills only. And since it lasts for 30s, which means you’ll only want to use it on downhills at least 30s long… so it’s really only useful on the Hilly KOM descent and Titans Grove KOM descent on this course.
Burrito: turns off draft effect for riders within a 2.5m radius for 10 seconds.
Use when attacking off the front so opponents have to work harder to follow you, or use it in the group to make nearby riders work harder for a bit. Be careful to avoid suicide by burrito!
Feather: reduces your weight by 10% for 15 seconds.
Best used on climbs, when weight matters the most.
Bike Frame + Wheel Choice
For most riders, a climb-friendly all-arounder setup is your best bet here. You want something decently fast for the sprint, but light enough to help you a bit on the two key climbs.
The Tron bike is a good all-arounder. We also like the Scott Addict RC + ENVE 7.8 wheels – a combo that climbs 2-3s faster than the Tron on the Epic KOM Reverse. See our Tron vs Top Performers chart for details on the performance of various top frames and wheels.
If you aren’t worried about getting dropped on the flats and descents, but also aren’t chasing sprint points, a pure climber will get you the best finishing result. The Specialized Aethos + Meilenstein or Alpinist combo will trim ~10s off your Epic KOM time compared to the Tron bike.
More Route Recon
Many events are now being planned each weekend on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re not familiar with this course, jump into one of these events and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming Climber’s Gambit events.
Looking for a video recon, with lovely British commentary to boot? Check out Si and Sherpa’s recons below:
Si Bradeley
Sherpa Dave
Strategic Options
Points Distribution, Week 6
Maximum points a team of 6 could earn in this race. Since the race ends at the Epic KOM banner, we’ve added those KOM FAL points to the finishing points total in the chart.
As you can see from the chart above, segment points make up a large majority of the overall points. With 79% of the points being earned atop the two climbs, winning teams will be those whose riders have high VO2 and 20-minute watts per kilo.
So what strategies will riders employ in race 6? Here’s what we predict:
- Big Eases Between Segments: smart climbers will know that sprinters won’t be contesting their KOM points, and sprinters won’t be able to drop the climbers on the flats or descents. So it doesn’t make sense for either set to push in between the intermediates… not with a 20-minute FTP test up the road.
- Targeted Efforts: more than any other route featured in ZRL, Climber’s Gambit lends itself to particular riders targeting particular segments. Watch for sprinters and puncheurs to target the sprint and Titans Grove KOM. But the climbers will have their day on the Epic KOM Reverse!
- Sag that Start: first across the finish line earns at least 50 points (40 finishing + 10 KOM FAL). But cagey, confident climbers will sag at the start, sitting in the back of the group across the start line then pushing to the front in order to earn FTS points as well. Do it perfectly and the Epic KOM Reverse could earn you 70 points!
- Small Powerups: the feather, burrito, and anvil won’t prove terribly significant in this race. They certainly won’t affect the race like the steamroller or aero have in past events.
Watch the Premier Division Race
Zwift’s top racers will go head to head in the Premier Division the day before the community races. Watch it on GCN Racing’s Youtube channel below:
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
Something is weird with your points distribution pie chart. We have two KOMs and one sprint. For the FTS points it make sense to have twice as many on KOM, but for FAL they are equal..? Is this because the FAL of the epic KOM has been added to the finish part?
Correct.
Eric
what do you think about mixing the Specialized Aethos and ENVE 7.8 wheels?
Not a bad setup at all. Slightly better climber, slightly less aero than the Scott+ENVE combo.
This race will not be won by a true climber in B or C categories. It will be a battle between top of category punchers and all-arounders with any top of cat sprinters that can do 18-20 minutes of suffering. You might have some 65+ kg riders who are rouleurs that are riding threshold for entire 38-40 minutes at 4.2 wkg make it with front group who might be able to make a go, but have little chance of popping off punchers and all-arounders skilled enough in over-unders to climb this beast with the best in category climbers. The biggest threat to my prediction would be an 80kg+ 4.1-4.2 rouleur, probably considers himself a grimpeur, but in reality his mass makes him a rouleur and lack of any punch in relative or absolute watts prevents him from being a true all-arounder or puncher. I think it goes to the best all-arounder who can punch or the best puncher who can climb as top of category riders.
I can make the 67kg but only 2.7 w/kg. Hoping for a top 15 on the last KoM segment…but I’ll be off the back out of the gate ….
With the length of the final climb there is a good chance some sand baggers will be caught out and get DSQ.
Happened in some rec races this weekend.
454 are to very close to DT swiss arc 62 wheels in test data which unlocks much sooner. So guessing more people have the dt swiss arc 62 by then and saving drops when 454 unlocks for more drop expensive items coming up soon in level unlocks just ahead. That is a good reason 454 not in the charts.
Why is this event the only one where the finish segment has FAL points added to the finish points? To be fair, other races that finish with a segment should have FAL added to finish points.
Wasn’t it the same in race 2 of this season? (6 laps of Classique, where the Mall Sprint Reverse had both FTS and FAL on every lap including the final sprint)
Week 2 had that as well, week 1 (neokyo all nighter), week 3 (park perimeter loop) and week 5 (temples and towers) did not end with a segment.
Not saying I like the massive amount of points at the top of Epi, but it makes sense
Something I’ve been trying to wrap my head around for a while but failing:
I’m a big guy (~187 cm, 107 kg). It’s my understanding that because the bike makes a much smaller portion of my bike + rider weight than it would for your average 75 kg rider, going with a lightweight bike will provide me with less benefit on a climb that it would for a smaller person (still some benefit, but less because the change will be a smaller portion of my total weight).
If that’s true, then a moderately lightweight all rounder that’s biased toward aero would be my bike of choice for just about every race except one that’s straight up (like Ven-Top) or that’s completely flat (like Tempus Fugit).
On the other hand, since my avatar is wider than most (and I’m tall-ish), an aero bike might not provide me as much benefit as it would for a smaller rider as my body makes up a larger portion of the total CdA and the aero savings are less. Or not?
And my head is hurting again. Probably easier to just pick the Tron again this week (like I do every week) and accept that it’s my conditioning and not the bike choice that’s holding me back.
The suggested bikes are either you’ve unlocked Tron or you’re a really high level. I’m Level 26, got loads of drops. Which bike shall I ride?