Zwift x Haute Route: By The Numbers
Posted with permission of Dig Deep Coaching: Zwift Data Analysis - Haute Route Tour Of Watopia
2020 Zwift Haute Route Tour of Watopia Data Review
Last weekend’s 2020 Zwift x Haute Route 3-stage event was one of the biggest mass-participation events ever seen on Zwift. With a challenging 3 courses that included all the major climbs within Watopia, combined with thousands of riders competing on each stage.
Dig Deep Coaching director and former professional cyclist Dan Fleeman took on the challenge as he competed for his eSports team Indoor Specialist. Dan had a very successful Tour as he went on to finish an impressive 5th overall against many of Zwift’s best riders who compete regularly in the virtual cycling world, and also against many of the worlds top professional riders who have been training and competing indoors with global lockdowns in order.
On his preparation for the event Dan said “I was really looking forward to this race series as it been a few years since I’ve taken part in a stage race format which previously used to me my main strength when racing outdoors. The hilly routes also greatly appealed to me. I took a few easy days leading into it knowing that 3 back-to-back days would be tough and not something I’ve been used to recently.”
Stage 1 — Course: Three Sisters (48km) — Finishing Position: 2nd
Dan’s Stage Review:
“I entered the race early to make sure I was towards the front of the start pen due to the massive volume of riders I didn’t want to be starting at the back. I had some pre-race issues with my device freezing which effected my warm-up. The race started FAST and I had ground so in a big 400w effort for 5min to regain a good position before the first climb. The pace on the Epic was fast as expected and my effort to get to the front prior to the climb started to show.
After about 15 minutes of climbing 5 riders pulled clear and I was part of a 10-rider group who hoped to regain contact on the descent. Lionel Vujasin of Canyon ZCC had suffered a power drop out while in the lead group which meant the chase group caught him, we now had a very strong rider and his teammate to chase the leaders.
Our chase group worked well which meant we had pulled back the leaders, now the front group was around 20 people with some very strong riders including World our pros and top Zwift racers. The group splintered a little up the Volcano climb leaving around 12 riders left to contest the sprint.
Professional rider Jonas Abrahamsem attacked with 1km to go and held his slight lead to the line. I followed Vujasin in the final and with 300m to go I jumped onto his wheel and just had enough to come past him on the line. Jonas held on for a great win with me and Vujasin taking 2nd and 3rd after a hard race.”
Stats:
Average Power: 320W (4.85 W/kg)
Normalized Power: 343W (5.2 W/kg)
Average HR: 166 bpm
Max HR: 189 bpm
Work (Kj): 1,269
Stage 2 — Course: Tour of Fire and Ice (28.4km) — Finishing Position: 4th
Dan’s Stage Review:
“Stage 2 was the one I was most worried about. As a professional rider in Europe my strengths normally laid in the longer climbs of 10-30min long, with the majority of my cycling now on Zwift with shorter punchy climbs and my outdoor terrain being similar, I was concerned on how I would perform in a climb the length of the Alpe.
I had an optimal warm-up, unlike stage 1, we also had a more sedate start to the stage as the opening 15km were relatively steady as everyone was waiting for the climb to kick off the real racing. My plan was to ride to my limit, but avoid going over this for any sustained periods, this meant not surging. Anytime I started to feel the pace of the group was too much I went to the front and set my own pace. This helped massively and I easily got past my 20 min barrier still feeling quite strong.
At 5km to go several stronger riders attacked, I was already at my limit and knew I would pay the price later in the climb if I tried to follow. I kept a good consistent tempo all the way to the finish crossing the line in 4th place and my best time on the Alpe. This was all down to pacing and not getting over excited in then first half of the mountain. I know I had gone deep and wondered how the legs would feel in the next day.”
Stats:
Average Power: 371W (5.62 W/kg)
Normalized Power: 377W (5.71 W/kg)
Average HR: 172 bpm
Max HR: 181 bpm
Work (Kj): 1,220
Stage 3 — Course: Watopia Pretzel (73.6km) — Finishing Position: 9th
Dan’s Stage Review:
“Stage 3 was the ‘Queen’ Stage with two times up the Epic KOM and some smaller climbs thrown in or good measure: this was going to be a hard stage. Going into the 3rd stage I had already accumulated a lot of fatigue which I knew would affect my performance on the day. To put this fatigue into context compared to my previous life as a professional cyclist, having two days of ~100TSS in the legs would not really of had an impact in my performances but now this is certainly not the case. While my short term power is only a little lower than my best days, my aerobic condition is much less meaning a much higher accumulative fatigue.
We hit the Epic climb at a good pace and I was still feeling strong which meant I was right up with the leaders when we hit the radio tower. On the Steep Radio Tower section, I couldn’t quite hold the pace of the front 5. Luckily, I had several pro riders with me, we managed to keep the gap around 10 seconds and get back to the front on the first part of the decent. I did 5.8 wkg for 20 minutes on the climb which was like my effort on the Alpe stage 2. The pace on the decent and flat wasn’t too hard but I could feel the fatigue starting to creep in as we headed back to the last ascent of the Epic.
My second ascent of the Epic climb was at a solid power, riding again around 5.8w/kg, but the perceived exertion was much higher as I struggled to hold the effort. A number of riders set a fast pace at 6w/kg which I could not hold, but I found myself in a chase group with two Arkea-Samsic Pro riders Warren Barguil & Kevin Ledanois, we worked well to the finish coming inside the top 10 on the stage. This left me 5th overall which I was very happy with.”
Stats:
Average Power: 314W (4.76 W/kg)
Normalized Power: 339W (5.14 W/kg)
Average HR: 160 bpm
Max HR: 183 bpm
Work (Kj): 1,941
