ZRL Season 4

Welcome

The Zwift Racing League is building an amazing community of riders online. Season 3 was EPIC. We had many FTP improvements, loads of great results and podiums but most importantly friendships were made. I truly believe Zwift links like minded athlete from all around the world. By joining the Zwift Racing League we will build friendships, have fun and improve our cycling fitness. Each week we will give you a little summary of how our team performed, successes and failures, everything revealed ! Zwift racing is very hard but a ton of fun, which builds communities worldwide. Our two teams consist of people from all around the globe, mainly in Europe but also in the USA and New Zealand !

Ride on.

Stage 3

For the first time in the ZRL we are racing on the Makuri Island world. I love the design and the roads, but personally, I think it lacks elevation and I find it a little “boring” despite the beautiful design and colours. The course, Flatland Loop, was pretty flat, with only 100m elevation per 13km lap. The A and B races were two laps, whilst the C races had two laps. All races were going to be pretty fast and furious!

Team A had a good day, with new recruit Ramon posting the best effort finishing 16th overall and in contention with the first group for the final sprint. Awesome ride, well done. When you compete with the GCN presenters, you know you’re in great shape!

Team B had some good results with Jamie leading the way in the front pack but missing out on the sprint. It was a big bunch finish, with almost 30 riders sprinting for glory. Jamie took the 16th place in a very competitive field – well done ! Special mention also goes to Alec, who made the race with 1 minute spare having taken care of his daughter who was ill! Solid ride by Jody and Alistair who finished in the second pack. This B league is very competitive – I’m impressed how high the level is !

Team C had a fantastic race! Henrik showed great form in a course that suited his strength and finished in 6th place. Ride of the day! With Olivier and Casper also finishing in the top 20, and Romain and Nick rounding up the top 30, we scored quite a few points and it showed in the rankings finishing 5th overall as a team. Now we need to crack those FTS !

With team members from Switzerland, France, UK, Holland, USA and New Zealand, we are truly an international team – I’m so happy to be connecting people all around the world!

Ride on.

Team A

Thierry, Bruno, Stu, Blake, Ramon, Pasha

Stage ranking : 11 / 15

League ranking : 14 / 15 (this is currently appealed as we received a DQ for the TTT)

Team B

Jamie, Jody, Alec, Alistair, Phil, Roman

Stage ranking : 14 / 17

League ranking : 14 / 17

Team C

Nick W, Romain, Olivier, Marc, Henrik, Casper

Stage ranking : 5th / 14

League ranking : 7th / 14

Stage 2

Watopia’s Figure of 8 reverse – this was going to be punchy right from the start with a sprint and a KOM all within the first 6km of the race. And it was! I believe that is where most of the splits happened for all categories. It was a tough ride !

For the A team – fantastic job by Blake who kept pace with the front group almost until the end, and finished at his highest place in 17th overall, with a jaw-dropping 4.7 watts / kilo average power for the stage. By far the ride of the day.

In team B we finished mid table in the overalls but with no points on FAL and FTS, and with only 4 riders crossing the line we didn’t score many points.

Team C was the best team overall. Some solid finishers with 4 in top 33 and even a 6th place FTS for Romain on the second KOM – we scored some good points overall. Tactically to score more we need to focus more on the bonus points – let’s see how we can improve in the coming weeks!

A warm welcome to the newbies Henrik, Casper and Guillaume ! Welcome to the ZRL !

I’m sure some of the team members are perhaps disappointed with their performance; but rest assured we will improve. Zwift racing is brutal and it takes time for the body to adapt to these sort of efforts, after 3 months of summer riding outside and more focused on endurance. It might take a few weeks, but I am sure you will all improve and that’s why we do it !

Ride on.