What a race!

Yesterday the Indoor Specialist squad took on the first race in Zwift’s newest Pro-Am Invitational: Tour de Zwift. The series of races pits 23 teams against each other in an epic battle for points on some of Zwift’s best race circuits.

The Competition

The men’s Pro-Am Invitational features 16 of the strongest amateur / community organized teams on Zwift and 7 UCI-level professional teams. The merging of the professional with the amateur teams shows exactly why eSports Cycling is so unique: Zwift racing is a skill that takes time to perfect!

While we love our week-in, week-out community races, getting to line up against professional teams on our own turf is such an incredible opportunity!

Indoor Specialist racers who lined up for this race were: Aaron Coles, Holden Comeau, Larry Parker, Matt Curbeau, & Ryan Larson.

The Course

Zwift kicked the racing off on their virtual rendition of the 2018 UCI World Championship course in Innsbruck, Austria — the Innsbruckring circuit. The race was a short 2 laps at 8.8km (5.5mi) per lap, but each lap featured one of the toughest short climbs in the game: the Leg Snapper, a brutal 450m climb at 8%!

Zwift’s new scoring format for the Tour de Zwift on the Innsbruckring course offered 3 opportunities for team-points scoring: two sprint arches and the finish banner. The sprint arches sit only 1.6km (1mi) from the top of the Leg Snapper — racer's positions on the climb were incredibly important!

The Race

From the gate drop the pace was full gas. Racers took turns on the front of the pack, cranking up the pace and beginning the war of attrition. With the only pinch-point on course being the Leg Snapper, the strongest racers worked to make the pace unbearable in hopes the weaker racers would lose contact with the bunch in the first trip up the climb.

As racers hit the Leg Snapper, a few took an opportunity to force some separation, cresting the climb with a 4 second gap on the field. As they recovered on the descent, the chase pack pushed to close the gap, knowing the sprint would be coming shortly after. With 500m to the sprint arch, the racers launched. Indoor Specialist racers Ryan Larson and Holden Comeau crossing the arch in 4th and 10th, respectively.

With an entire lap to go before the next points opportunity, the pace lulled with the exception of a handful of racers attempting to break free of the pack. Try as they might, the pace on the front of the peloton was constantly above 5W/kg, making a solo breakaway nearly impossible in this short race.

As the race neared the second and final ascent of the Leg Snapper, racers fought for position. If you are caught too far back on this climb, you can miss out on the winning break. With racers poised for the upcoming sprint banner and finish, no one let gaps open on the second climb — a stream of avatars crested the climb single-file, setting their sights on the sprint arch.

Having been through the sprint just 10 minutes earlier, the racers knew what to expect and the sprint launched with 500m to go. Dozens of draft and aero power-ups were deployed in an attempt to gain any advantage on their competitors. Ryan Larson crossed the sprint arch in the 8th position, grabbing more points for the team.

With the finish approaching quickly, a number of racers who did not contest the sprint took to the front, knowing they might catch some fatigued sprinters off-guard, and as a result, the pace never slowed as racers charged towards the finish. With 1km to go, one racer cleverly used a ghost power-up in an attempt to sneak off the front of the race — reappearing 15 meters ahead of the pack with only 800m to go. Panic ensued and racers immediately aimed to cross the gap to his wheel, beginning the sprint towards the finish far earlier than expected. Power-ups flew, racers emptied their tanks, and after an incredibly tense 30 seconds one of the fastest sprints to ever hit Innsbruckring ended. Ryan Larson crossed the finish taking 8th place, securing crucial points for the team and showing that the Indoor Specialist team came to race!

The (Provisional) Results

Link to the finalized results can be found here!

The Data:

All race data for our riders in the Pro-Am races is publicly available below: dig in!

Holden Comeau

“I lost contact with the lead pack over the top of the hill on lap two. It was a disappointing performance for me and frustrating to feel as though I missed an opportunity. I think it will gnaw away at me until the next time I get to line up against a field of this caliber. Make no mistake, I feel so fortunate to be able to race against this world class field. And it won’t be slowing down, that’s for sure! So, I’ll need to figure out how to go faster.”

Matt Curbeau

“The race was relentless. On the final trip up the Leg Snapper, Holden and I rolled the dice hoping a small split would come back together before the finish — coming up empty-handed behind the race winning split. Luckily it’s bike racing, and we’ve got another shot next week. Plus, we now know a lot more about the competition level.”

Ryan Larson

“I knew the race was not going to be easy for pure sprinters because of the speed & effort of the Leg Snapper combined with the intermediate sprint shortly after, but nothing prepared me for what the final kilometer had in store.”

Aaron Coles

“The race was tough, as expected! It was hugely important to stay near the front of the pack at all times. As a team, we had a dig at the first intermediate sprint, with Ryan and Holden scoring points. The hardest part was recovering enough after the first sprint before the second climb. After the second sprint, the front pack strung out and only came back together with 800m to go — which is when the long, drawn out sprint began. I was positioned too far back and was unable to regain enough positions to figure into the points. Ecstatic for Ryan, who rode amazingly! Looking forward to challenging myself in one of these again soon!”

Larry Parker

“I’ve been in some fast races on Zwift before. This one was the fastest. Ouch!”