ZRL have revamped their race model quite a bit this year and it is now much more life like with FAL segments being the key feature and FTS less relevant. With the course layout of 4 sprints and flat finish I decided to go full aero even though this would make the Epic KOM climb (first part of it anyway) tough.
So the start was spicy as expected, and a few riders not paying attention got dropped early. We headed off down the hill and a few riders played games off the front but were always caught in due course. At the bottom of the Jungle we headed towards the coastal roads and the pace began to surge and ease with riders looking to create gaps.
Heading into the first segment (FAL) we had one rider off the front early and the rest blobbed up for a sprint. I moved up front and went for it but couldn't make a big impact and certainly wasn't in the top 10. The second segment was FTS so i ignored it completely and used minimal effort to hang on and save legs for later.
In the 3rd segment (FAL) I timed things better coming through from the rear and getting right among the front riders. Some fell of and one or two came through but ultimately I managed a 5th here which was much better.
At the last segment I attempted to repeat the same strategy i used in the first but the timing was not great and i once again got swamped and was not in the top 10. I clearly need to re watch this video and get a better idea of the best way to attack FAL.
With the segments out of the way we headed for the feature climb up the start of the Epic KOM. the pace was once again a little inconsistent as riders up front attempted to thin the herd but the group always came back together. So into the climb we went and our lead group of 26 halved to 17 by the time we hit the rolling road linking both sides of the Epic KOM.
With a smaller group a few riders once again went off the front. With such a big effort I decided it was smarter to sit in and recover as the downhill was always going to favor the larger group. I had a bit of an attack heading up towards the Jungle but the following riders had enough legs to stay on and keep things blobby as we headed down hill.
Once again riders played games off the front and once again the downhill favored the larger group closing the gap. As we hit the bottom the pace basically never dropped as everyone tried to move up front. I wanted to play games with a long sprint but the pace never slowed so the result was an epic long 1.5k effort towards the finish. On the flat I simply didn't have quite enough power to bridge the gap to the front but I did manage to maintain the gap as other riders fell over and dropped back. The result was a 10th which is pretty decent and hopefully a few decent FAL points I am unaware of until the results are posted.
Негізгі бет Zwift ZRL 24/25 S1 stage 2 Points (B1) on Sugar Cookie in Watopia
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