Zwift Racing League 2022/23 Round 1 Week 6 Guide: Eastern Eight (A & B Categories)

October 12, 2022

LAST UPDATED September 4, 2023

The sixth and final race of Zwift Racing League 2022/23 Round 1 happens Tuesday, October 18th. We’re in Watopia racing on former Rebel Routes, and for the first time that we can remember, A/B riders are on a completely different route than C/D riders! That’s right: A and B riders are racing on Eastern Eight, while C and D races Downtown Titans.

This post covers the Eastern Eight route for A and B categories. If you’re a C or D racer, check out the post covering Downtown Titans.

Let’s dig into the race, including tips for bike choice, powerups, strategy, and crucial segments.

Looking at the Route: Eastern Eight

Eastern Eight began its Zwift life as a Rebel Route (published February 2020), but was adopted into the game 2 years later. It’s a fun race route covering the easternmost roads of Watopia (Fuego Flats, Titans Grove, and most of Ocean Boulevard) in both directions.

At 54.1km this is the longest route we’ve raced this season. Let’s look at the key segments in order of appearance:

Fuego Flats sprint: this is a rather long sprint, especially since it’s on a false flat. You hit the sprint at the end of your lead-in, then once again for the finish of the race.
Titans Grove KOM: this very draftable climb begins quite flat, then tilts upward as it zigzags toward the finishing arch. This is where the first selection will be made in the race. Can you hang onto the front group, and will it come back together afterward?
Fuego Flats Reverse: is it a sprint? At 7.1km long, probably not. Expect riders to sag the start, then sit in the pack before attacking near the finish in an attempt to take FAL and/or FTS points.
Titans Grove KOM Reverse: didn’t we just race this in race #5? Yes we did. Let’s have another go! It’s a draftable climb, so sit in the wheels and time your jump just right. Or just try to survive and hold a wheel so you can be in the mix for the final sprint!

PowerUp Notes

While powerups were originally planned for this race, WTRL has disabled all powerups due to ongoing Zwift bugs which award powerups inconsistently.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

While this route has a bit of climbing on the Titans Grove sections, the climbs are short and not steep, meaning they will be fast and very draftable. Aero wins the day, hands down.

So use a fast frame and disc wheelset if you’ve got it. If not that, then the Tron bike. And if you don’t have either of those, get the fastest frame+wheel setup you can grab at your level.

More Route Recons

Many events are now being planned each weekend on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re not familiar with this course, jump into an event and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming Eastern Eight events.

Si Bradeley

Strategic Options

Points Distribution, Eastern Eight

This charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in each race. Note: FAL points for one Fuego Flats sprint were moved to the “finish” category since the race ends on this sprint.

With a points distribution that is perhaps the most even we’ve seen in ZRL, what strategies will A/B riders employ in race 6? Here’s what we predict:

Big Push on Lead-In Sprint: The peloton will be big and fresh on the lead-in, so riders chasing FTS will want to set those times on the first time through the Fuego Flats sprint – not the second time.
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Gaps won’t open up until the top of the first Titans Grove KOM. Then the question becomes – do you work to stay away if you’re in the front group? Doing so may open up more intermediate points for you, but it will also test your endurance on this long race. If the front group doesn’t work to stay away after the first KOM, expect them to push to stay away after the second KOM.
Fuego Flats Reverse Late Effort: No one will treat this long segment like a sprint… until the final kilometer. Then expect riders to attack in an attempt to grab FAL points, while some riders will sit in and wait even longer, trying to edge out the pack for FTS.
Going Long: Someone will try to go long on the final slack climb into the desert (~4km from the finish). It’s a brilliant move if you want to give your team’s sprinter a rest, and/or you don’t trust your ability to win a sprint from the pack.