Round 6 of the Zwift Grand Prix is here for the penultimate time this season and the riders are taking on the London PRL Half for the Epic Points Race!
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Men’s – https://youtube.com/live/Dlaz5dFimTg?feature=share
Women’s – https://youtube.com/live/gL_wfP_Kwl0?feature=share
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E Hello and welcome back to the zwift Grand Prix welcome back as it’s our quest to find the Ultimate zwift Team Happy New Year to everybody around the world who’s joining us to catch the last two rounds of the second edition of the zift Grand Prix my name is jez Cox and
I’m pleased to say I have with me Matt Stevens Matt nice to be joining on the M together for the first time in this Swift gr Prix this season how are you Matt indeed no chz yeah happy New Year as well yeah thanks matey and happy New
Year to everybody out there as well it is good to be back and great to be working alongside you because this is a pretty special race isn’t it um especially special for the ones that are racing it we’re in the comfort of our respective Studios but this is the
Longest zift race that I’ve ever commentated on I think it’s the longest in zwift Grand PR pre history so there’s going to be a lot of first today but one thing’s for sure this is going to be massively entertaining jez I cannot wait yeah we’ve been through those zrl
Supported weeks where we’ve been splitting the men’s races and the women’s races apart tonight and next Thursday night we go back to having the men’s and women’s races together it’s the epics points epic points race I should say this week and we finish the whole Swift Grand Prix next week with
The points Hunter which of course is what we started with the difference between the two of course is that in the points Hunter every time you score a point you are out even if you just score the one point you’re out tonight though all the points count and crucially for
All the finishers as long as they finish within the time cut off their points will count too so an awful lot of pressure on the 80 men and the 80 women who are locked and loaded ready to see if they can move their team up AA Synergy lead for the Men Coalition Alpha
Lead for the women but all three top threes could Shuffle Matt cuz couldn’t there cuz it’s close enough between them at the top and so many points up for grabs tonight yeah definitely there’s a lot of points to say out out on the road as you described it is a points race and
Um quite rightly the Epic points race for the reasons we just talked about um as well as those 70 kilometers in distance we’ve got just under a th000 Meers of elevation as well with those four ascents of Box Hill but you’re quite right yeah it’s a with this is the
Penultimate round we’ve got one more round to come after this next week on the 18th and the win is still up for grabs and when you look at previous withi Grand pris uh over the years we’ve had some quite dominant teams and there’s quite often a scuffle a fight
For the more minor placings but this is still wide open and today a completely different proposition lots of points available out on the road 150 points uh each Ascent of Box Hill so it is going to be intriguing interesting and informative at how the different teams set about tackling this this particular
Course it’s worth pointing out that the men actually start started their let’s call it 70k it’s 69.7k let’s call it 70 to be fair they started just about 3 or 4 minutes ago now let’s have a look at what they’ve actually got to do as Matt
Has mentioned at the top of each Ascent of Box Hill because we’re in London we’re riding the um PRL half course the presedential ride London half course which is due to mimic effectively the course of the presedential ride London but effectively what we’re doing is we
Get a get rid of South London completely and move boxill and S up so sorry to the South London as I was born north of the river so I can say that but but it brings into play of course that fantastic iconic climb of Box Hill on
Top of that each time as matters mentioned there are points for the first five Riders across the line 150 75 50 40 and 35 in that order and then crucially we’ve got a draft power up which is available as they go back through the start line every time north of the river
And again on top of that point Matt can you just remind us what the draft power up does I know it gives you 40 seconds so just I always confuse myself is it 40 seconds that you get a better draft from the person in front or you draft the
Person behind you better for 40 seconds how does it how does it work it’s it’s it’s better when he satting the wheels using the the drive power up if you haven’t got the Arrow power up the next best one in a Sprint for example you you
Get um basically your CDA drops and the increased draft we’ played around with the functionality of this over the last few years so I think we’ve we got it’s it’s a good one but um you can also use it to have a little bit of rest if you’re suffering on a flat section
You’re really on the edge quite often you’ll use this particular power up just to take the edge off a little bit rather than using it to go on the attack so it’s I would say it’s more of a defensive power up really and on a course like this especially given the
Distance we’ve got conservation of energy is going to be key you’re going to need to use this maybe not necessarily on the climb because you’re moving at a lower speed on the on on Box Hill so maybe you’d use it on another part of the course but as you can see
There are multiple opportunities you get the PowerUp opportunity through the archway on the flat in London then over the top of the clim but basically well we we’ll look to see how it’s used because there’s enough of them being handed out two per lap on each of
Those four laps uh Folks at home you please to know it’s not just Matt and I waffling along we’ve got a real expert of course he’s been with us on and off throughout this with gor Prix sometimes as a rider sometimes as a team manager
But today as our pundit in the hot seat Nathan Guera welcome back happy New Year mate happy New Year good to hear from you guys and good to uh be with the broadcast today now Nathan I’m a hardnose journalist I’m going to fire a really nasty one at you right at the
Beginning why you not riding it’s a good question well I did pick up a little bit of illness over the break I haven’t been able to ride my bike much for probably almost weeks now so uh we’re doing the next best thing which is watching some bike racing and
Uh maybe cheering Gabby on next to me as she gets going a little bit later fantastic I see you’ve taken your your jacket back off just before we came on air folks I can tell you Nathan said it’s getting a little bit cold in there
Where he is cuz he’s in the pain cave with his wife Gabby who is going to be racing of course in the women’s race which comes up after this the Races by the way folks will overlap ever so slightly but we’ll bring you up to speed with what’s happened so far in both
Cases and we’ll be checking back in with you Nathan as we go as well and and fingers crossed from all of us who are watching because I know you got a lot of fans out there particularly in the zift community fingers crossed that you’re healthy and well for that final round
The the points Hunter although that’s such a horrific race you might not want to be my friend yeah I’m excited to get going again so we’ll get on the bike as quickly as he can and I’ll definitely be grabbing my jacket as I’m literally watching the temperature drop by the
Minute so uh we’re getting it nice and cool in here for Gabby’s race but the men are heating it up now out on course fantastic thanks Nathan we’ll check back in with you shortly let’s have a look if we can at how the points stand overall
Let’s get a rund down of the teams in the men AA Synergy leading and they have a an 18-point lead which is a pretty comfortable buffer but when you consider how many points are out there tonight they could slip from there that’s for sure next Esports Power by Ur are in
Second Coalition Alpha the men’s version of what is our leading women’s team are in third so they’ll be looking to see if they can move up maybe and join the illustrious company of their women’s team at the very top let’s see wul lol sitting fourth on 91 points toyoto Elite
East cing in fifth hexagon the French team in sixth beast mode uh beast mode powered by Rose had that brilliant performance in the team time trial of course they’re in seventh eighth place for team M Star very equal with their women really sitting mid-table in both
Of our uh men’s and women’s series Sarah noin in Ninth Place bl13 presented by level V I think my favorite Jersey amongst the men’s teams that kind of sunset orangey gold they’re in 10th 11th place is one of the oldest teams in Pro zwift Racing I guess team Swedish
Zwifters they’re on 38 points the French team food Pon Coalition in 12th restart powered by Alex Co coaching in 13 team cast Elite powered by Elite Nathan’s team in 14th dpack Elite in 15th and primore have scored points unlike unfortunately their female counterpart they’re on four points they sit at the
Bottom looking to move up with dpack that’s how things stand after five of the seven rounds two rounds to go and will be it’ll be fascinating to see how things can close up let’s have a look at the Riders these teams bring to us though shall we Matt indeed well uh
We’re in reverse order here so another opportunity for us to look at the rankings in a little bit more detail of course PR more races that Bard as you said they’ve already off the mark in terms of points but given the uh the points distribution there is an
Opportunity over the next around to move off bottom spot so uh let’s hope they can do that um without getting too biased of course they have three Irish runners in their team Miller Mullen and Ryan dpack Elite I can actually say without giving too much away there’s a
Ride up the road at the moment for dpack alite more about that in a little bit but we’ve got Tom Burns the EV mck Morgan and pettinger team castelli uh normally of course Nathan would be riding for this but but he’s a I guess in DS role today team Caselli looking to
I think to move above 14th Place and then restart there currently in 13th uh maybe look out for Rob wood from Great Britain for them today uh Fooda P’s Coalition are remind people as I said right the way back in October that a furra is a large wooden
Vat used for holding wine comes from the ran Valley so let’s hope they get a chance to use their furra the punchers they want to move up definitely from their 12th Place but they are building their last Point scores one point two points six points and 12 points think
About it like that it’s brilliant they are constantly on the Move let’s see if the punchers can continue to move up in 11th place team Swedish um very consistent but still sitting at the moment as a mid pack team but you’d expect that to be the consistent cooling
Card being such an experienced team as well bl13 that Jersey again as I mentioned definitely my favorite sitting in 10th they’re gradually slipping their last Point scores have gone 12 10 8 and eight so they need to steady the ship that team tonight perhaps darar will be trying to do exactly that
SAR noin sitting in Ninth Place the allamerican team this evening looking to overcome a bit of a bad dip at the last round where they scored no points very unlike them they’re normally scoring 12 to 14 or so points they scored nothing in the last round so they need to pull
Their socks up the Americans tonight indeed well you heard it here first pull their socks up that’s Stern words coming from jez Cox there I think I think there’ll be in agreement I certainly think they will it’s I heard someone say no definitely yeah they’ll be they’ll be
Looking to move up but mobar solid there in eighth place as well but they have such a good team har Glades Jimmy Kershaw Kershaw a very very good Climer as well an explosive Rider and viar bell and again as we move into these top 10 teams there’s not a lot of slack in
These teams at all beast mode powered by Rose are looking uh good as well look out for Kristoff TM and in the all German lineup there hexagon for me you know the exagon AC on the women’s side as well exagon on the women’s side they’re sating third but exagon for me
Have been one of the teams a revelation of this season they’re a new team well New Kids on the Block as it were and they have uh they have impressed a watch out for Rick OTA I think he’d be the standout rider for them but it’s all
About the team it’s course it’s not just about one Rider here it’s all about everybody putting together as best they can and then of course a Toyota Elite currently sat in fifth place and they’ve got a strong lineup too Martin Martins of course is probably their most
Preeminent Rider with wins on the board already this year next up into the top four waho LOL who this evening are led by Howell Davies of course who was our expert in picture expert just a few weeks ago before Christmas he’s an old teammate of mine how old racing adversary of mine
And he will be an excellent calm Steady Hand I don’t think anyone would mess with him either if he gives an instruction you do it of course they’re in fourth place they were the winners of the TTT the team time trial can they use their combined strength tonight though
To bag the points let’s see from the boys in pink and blue Coalition Alpha as I mentioned earlier sitting in third but of course very aware that their women’s team is sitting on top of the women’s standings they will look to move up what a wonderful opportunity for ree how to
Get both teams up on top of the podium they can do it for sure um next Esports powered by Ure they’ve been incredibly consistent throughout they are only 18 points behind AA Synergy bear in mind just one of those tops of box Hill will give you 150 points that shows how
Important the consistency is between all of these different Sprints however the leading team tonight is the all German Abus Synergy team uh they’re of course our leading team having LED since the points race way back in October as well so they’re very good at points races too
They’ve won both of the points races we’ve had so far in this year’s zwift Grand Prix so this night really should suit them right I think we are ready to join some live action map by the sound of it um and we’ll catch up with where they’ve
Been to because they must be getting very close to the top of Box Hill for the first of four times now indeed well there we go I think they’re just they’re just coming near the top you they’re right near the top 60 go and it’s it is there we go right
On it’s one of the fudo punchers who’s got a sixc Advantage so it looks like the rider from fudo punches unless he completely capitulates here jez is going to take the points over the top so they have rattled through the opening 10 K and there is that finishing
Arch yes that is amazing we mentioned the fudo punchers were going to look for an opportunity to celebrate with their vat of wine this evening and as You’ mentioned earlier there he was in the lead but here’s the group closing in how much has yadan used in there that looks
Like basically the vast majority of the main pack of at0 riders let me remind people again across this whole we’ll call it 70k 69.7k um you’ve got to hang in there and finish within 5 minutes of the winner not the leading pack but the actual winner in order for your finishing
Points to score and if the 80th person does finish and that might not happen but let’s see if the 80th person does finish they will score five points now bear in mind that some of the teams down at the bottom only have single figures of points anyway prore and dpack so a
Real opportunity today for these points to be packed out today I’ve just noticed Matt by the way I’m sure you’ll have seen this the world champion making his way up to the front as well the world champions Jersey on display of course in there and that is a now reforming big
Pack as they go over the top it’s that second little kick after uh the top of Box Hill and bejor andreon I thought so andreon was moving through the pack and he’s chosing to go clear by himself the world champion yep yeah he’s got a two
And a half second lead just look at that it’s lovely to see isn’t it on the roads of su The Sur Hills um uh Esports world champion resplendant in those digital rainbow bands sergeant strong Rider won that title back in Glasgow of course last year but an interesting little move
Over the top and just off the back of what you’re saying just a little bit of housekeeping jaars as well just to reiterate the power up today in terms of the draft power up yeah you only get the draft power I was wrong it’s not about
CDA at all CDA changes when you use the Arrow power up it just improves your drafting but you have to be on the wheel of another Rider so you don’t want to use it out on your own you want to use it when you’re in the pack just to
Clarify that so there wasn’t anything ambiguous there and as we saw just coming over the top of the climb loads of riders using that on the flatter section there it’s best to use it on the flat or on a slightly downhill rather than on the climb you get far more
Benefit when the speeds are higher that makes sense so so you get a greater draft from the rider in front when you’re in the pack it’s improved get more draft from them yeah yeah I’m just being clear about it because I’m I’m I’m as you know I’m a kind of Technical and
And mathematical numpty so I have to get my hat around these things right we’re getting some lovely here you can see B Andre just coasting there as well he’s tucked down in a what looks like a well a semi Leal UCI position it’s certainly a comfortable one on his on his zift
Bike he is cruising you can see him in the world champions Jersey IRL as well he is in the super tuck isn’t he yeah he’s in you don’t see that IRL anymore do we you you don’t not in that particular position but uh yeah we’ve got different rules it’s it’s rather
Than W and the UCR rules it’s Zada here so no you can actually once you get a certain speed I think it’s 50 55k now 54 4 hour maybe 56k hour you actually adopt the super tuck and um you just keep on going so it’s a really good um
Opportunity to take a micro rest and he’s still just off the front he’s going to be caught I think as we go through to the tunnels but a lot of riders still in this pack yeah but I do think jez you’re talking about the Riders who get
Detached if they start if they really do climb Box Hill quickly uh and Riders get drop it’s going to be very hard I do think we might see 15 or 20 Riders possibly not scoring today because we are really Uncharted Territory and I think chz yeah if it’s cool let’s bring
In let’s bring in Nathan cuz Nathan the you know far more experienc at racing on rft than us knows this game like the back of his hand but what I want to ask him is how how the team is going to approach uh a race that’s so so
Different than we’ve seen before we’ve seen the types of racing mixed up in zift Grand Prix points races scratch races team time trolls Nathan but how team’s going to approach this 70k is on Swift is something we’ve never really seen before it’s not very usual at all mate is
It yeah it is a lot different when it comes to the only time you really see this is kind of Kiss 100 the 100 kilometers every Sunday so a lot of these Racers actually show up to that race to get a little bit of endurance
And a punch over around a 2H hour to three hour total and so it’s a really long-standing race so that’s the one place that we see this a lot of times for these topend athletes it’s almost like the who’s who weekly Showdown so um but but I think as far as tactically
Goes because there are points up at the top of Box Hill you’ll see again and again what we just saw essentially you know somewhere between 9 to 13 watt per kilogram kick at the end of about a 5 minute V2 effort for each and every time but you’re going to get these little
Testers to see if we can throw Riders off the front and how LAX the pack gets some of those though I think are also going to be uh ways to tempt the pack to tempt other teams to get satisfied with the makeup of a breakaway and say okay
Well we’ve got somebody who’s up there who can challenge that 150 points send them up the road we’re going to trust that and we’ll mop up the rest and I think because of that mop up the rest at that point if that happens things will really calm down in the pack and
There’ll be a couple of H just kind of angry bees that wanted to be involved in a break trying to get back across so I think that’s kind of how things are going to play out for most of the day we’re seeing guys a fascinating sort
Of tickling of the front end here bejor Andre seemed determined to get a little Breakaway going from that big group as well he’s got one of the Swedish swifters with there they’ve got two Riders there they haven’t so they’ve got one up there so individual teams putting
One or two in there quite a lot of riders using the transition onto the bridge souc bridge going across the river temps to come back towards the Finish again to use their uh power up correct me if I’m wrong Matt if you haven’t used your power up by now when
You get the next one you don’t then have two powerups do you don’t have two you you lose the first one you pick up the next one don’t you yeah it’s if if you don’t if you don’t use it yeah if you don’t use it you lose it basic you can
Only ever have one power up with but on this on this particular round it’s just the same one anyway but you know when you look at how how long this how long they’re going to be spending you might as well use them you know if you even if
You just if you use each and every Power up at the right time for to optimize it that’s a fair bit of energy Sav so yeah use it when you can and it’s best use the faster the pack is moving the more beneficial you the more benefit you’re
Going to get uh out of that 40c so it’s a really nice opportunity just to take the pressure off the pedals as we see Rick ottima this guy’s won some big races over the years on the zift a big Powerhouse he’s just LED through but uh
It looks as if the peleton here are not letting a rider of this class go but I think that was as you said before more of a tickling just a kind of little bit of a precursor just to see what this is like as we know in the zwift Grand Prix
We although we’ve got these these longer races on kiss I’m still intrigued to how these big Elite teams actually play this one and I think to a degree it’s going to be a little bit of a Suck It And See Voyage of Discovery um so I’m intrigued
To see I’d lot to be a fly on the wall in some of the DSS’s who are on Discord talking to their Riders um some riders in the team are going to be aggressive others are going to be a bit more cautious saving themselves to the end as
We see Dawson now taking a punt off the front yeah the Irishman for Wahu lall he sort of waited until we saw that last little uh little move by OTA come back in and sort of bridged across to OTA and then went again himself getting lots of
Ride-ons which is nice to see thank you to everyone out there that’s supporting us watching us particular if you’ve been with us all the way through the zift gr PRI um the next two weeks is when we see it all decided Chris Dawson in the baggy hat looking good under the bridge as
Well they’re riding IRL on our map effectively they’re riding Westward back towards Buckingham Palace on the north of the river we’re seeing Chris dwon in his pain cave there working hard uh riding Westward and it won’t be too long before they’re right up against the 10
Again and then ready to cross back over the bridge as always with zift we’ve used the artistic license to kind of change some of the bridges around the bridge they just rode across would have been suuk bridge but it appears to be a version of London Bridge which I
Absolutely love because you’re kind of bringing together all the best parts of London as we always do we saw the same thing in Glasgow and bring together all the best parts of the city in the zift setting in the zift world in particular right two of the Coalition Alpha Riders
Voan and Jacobs trying to must things up at the front end but it’s still sticking together though Matt isn’t it yeah it’s still pretty sticky here there’s a few roders as you say um he’s got six seconds now has the Irishman not the most aerodynamic piece of headwear that
He could have opted for perhaps but it’s certainly a nice talking point for us but I tell you what the sort of numbers that he’s having to put out to stay off the front at the moment um even in these early stages um but again it’s it’s
Worth a go isn’t it if you can build out a lead of maybe 10 or 15 seconds and you can sustain it um that might be your goal for the race and I’m sure there’s some teams like we see with the fooder punches earlier on clearly one of their
Riders uh has been tasked with the effort of just okay your Finish Line is first time up Box Hill you’ve scored as 150 points that’s a massive amount of points 75 points per second so I think it’s worth taking a risk and saving other Riders to mop up a little bit
Later on um on going the offensive so I think I don’t necessarily think that dwson has gone away on feel on instinct I think this might have been a preconceived plan to wait for that little bit of a lull just re-entering London again and going because he’s now
Bill he’s got double digits now 11.2 seconds this is looking good but he’s having to to to maintain this sort of speed he’s having to ride up between five four and a half and 5.5 Watts a kilo he won’t be able to do that all day
But what he might be able to do is do that is for the next six or seven K taking him to top of Box Hill mat I just want to bring Nathan in here Nathan can I ask you a question from a team manager perspective um we’re
Into the last two rounds of this right so the leading teams the likes of waho lall Coalition Alpha next uh Esports and neighbor Synergy they’re kind of I suspect at some point watching each other is there an opportunity we saw um who did we see earlier uh Jadon from
Foodo poncher is there an opportunity for an individual Rider from one of the Lesser ranked teams to hang out there and do you think the big teams are going to be going n just let them hang we got to watch at what point do they start watching their big rival
Yeah I think that’s a really good point at this point you’re only going to be it’s kind of like a GC contention when it comes to time just based on points right like who’s up the road is it someone that we need to be worried about
No it’s not they’re not even close to us in points we only need to be worried about beating these individuals I think uh there’s also you know wulao are on that list you know being close to the top so I think with waho lle what’s happening here is a little bit different
Than that um where we’re so early in the race and knowing that Dawson if you take a look at his watts per kilogram versus what his raw watts are this guy is a monster when it comes to just producing raw watts and speeds so they’re sending
Him on the flatter sections of course to hope that he can fade climb and grab some points up at the top the other teams are thinking that Dawson’s not going to stay away the entire time and maybe think they’re going to be able to climb uh a lot faster than he can and
Catch him and uh not be quite as worried about the you know initial effects of this where they’re going to mop up more points later on I think they are keeping them on a leash though to not let it get too out of control because I think some
Of these teams are still going to want that 150 over the top but wlc if I got in their head and was thinking they’re thinking Dawson bigger Rider big Watts flatter sections that’s where you send them Nathan if you were racing tonight what would your DS lso be be saying in
Your ear is it is it and what do you prefer is it a calming Don’t Panic everyone stating or do you want to be riled and shouted at made to get on with it what’s the best for you I know every I don’t think you have a choice with
Team Italy with the Italians you don’t have a choice die die die it’s just I mean it’s John stop it’s uh just it’s just a lot it’s a lot of fun it’s like being in a uh a cycling uh rave party and hanging out with Team Italy which I really enjoy
It actually the energy is infectious with them and so whether or not I would have thought lik it getting into the middle of it I enjoyed it once I was in the middle of it all thank thank you Nathan hey Tom Berry’s got a very good
Fan look at that fan mat he’s about to take off tomberry riding for BL 13 now that’s the that’s the fan you need isn’t it it certainly is especially given the amount of time they’re going to be on the bike here we estimate that they’re probably going to be riding today or the
Winners anyway between we maybe an hour and 25 minutes something like that and that’s going to be still pretty quick to I reckon between an hour and 25 an hour and a half and that’s a long time time on with we always talk about the importance of making sure you keep your
Core body temperature down and your fluids up well even more important when you’re on the bike for like over 45 minutes 50 minutes in over an hour it’s massively important because it can have enormously detrimental effects so the way that these Riders feed uh hydrate and keep cool massively important so
He’s got yeah an extra almost like an industrial sized fan there and as you’re saying I think he might have had to be tethered down with bungee straps otherwise he might actually take off wherever he is but he’s certainly keeping cool yeah totally well Chris dorson is looking cool despite the fact
That he’s knocking out con consistently really in excess of 5 watts per kilo 7 watts per kilo now as Nathan mentioned he’s a powerful Rider and he is trying to stay clear before they enter back into the Su Hills just south of the the river temps and ready to get towards Box
Hill itself don’t forget Folks at home 17 km per lap this one let’s have a look at coalition Alpha nearly all of them they were all in team kit until we saw hanun sang taking off his jersey um nice to have everyone in picture there as well third overall at the
Moment and according to this so they’ve got 90 race points they packed it in well that first time up there we haven’t looked at too much about how the points were scored but they must have had a lot of their Riders right up at the front of
That mat bearing in mind 75 points for second 50 points for third thir um a little look back and see who it was that was their best point scorer actually you’re good with these stats Matt you might be able to do that for me maybe but uh certainly packing well
And if if you could score I mean if you could score points early on and sacrifice R Riders it and what it does as well it’s like in anything it it motiv not that the any of these rods were need motivating they’re all geared up for this they know what what they
Know what they need to do but for the morale and for the spirit of the team to get up the road early and have essentially a win within a win is massively important and the team can kind of feed off that um so yeah the food punchers uh had great start today
Four more well four more opportunities or three more opportunities should I say to take points at the top but look at this lead it’s not very often in zift racing at all that you see a solo Rider with a lead of around 30 seconds this is impressive um and this Rider you know
Can um look at kind of power he’s having to put out here and that power is easier to put out once you start to hit the slopes um it’s just a matter of can he maintain it he can almost afford to lose 15 or 20 seconds towards the top and
Back off but a half a minute lead uh at the bottom of Box Hill that’s massively impressive from the man from wul Lov particularly when you consider the the level of the Riders we saw trying to do that before him we saw Bion Anderson have a go it didn’t work but I’m
Surprised Matt I mean w in fourth place they’re only um how many points down are they on on the top three they’re only two points off Coalition Alpha anywhere I don’t understand we did see Coalition Alpha mustering but I’m surprised they weren’t on this straight away it’s not
Like it’s one of our lower rank teams who’s got a rider up there this is a you know very close to the podium and one Rider as you say is over 30 seconds now 33 seconds yeah it was a very very good move indeed I’m just going back to and W
LOL already they were fourth in in the team put F punches courtesy that win of course um are leading the team points at the moment with 150 Coalition Alp for second exagon and then Wula another illustration of how well exagon have gone this year they’ve been so so
Consistent from the very off as we look at the Pilon we’re looking at the the moar team here Kershaw V lez power and Miguel Angel Andres but there’s a few roders already starting to struggle you can see the shape of the peleton there some gaps going and I tell you what that
Isn’t the full field there already still pretty early in this race a few Riders um struggling to hold the pace on the lower slopes of Box Hill there are on the lower slopes of Box Hill you can see it ramping and our leader Dawson is already into the first
Of the switchbacks as well so familiar to anyone who’s ridden up there in real life but it is a if you’ve only ever ridden up it in in zwift if you haven’t already then go and ride it but it’s um you can really get a real sense for it
It’s incredibly realistic actually Matt isn’t it oh it’s it’s the the gradient is basically meter for meter um it really is and and I’ve ridden and of no doubt you have JZ on multiple occasions in real life up it and it’s it’s uncanny it it really is it really is uncanny and
Box Hill although it’s an iconic climb let’s be honest it’s not an outdo Swift it’s it’s not particularly steep climb but it’s a climb that you can really get into Rhythm uh the gradient doesn’t really vary that much and and the near they get to the top it actually flattens
So run one of the steeper Parts is 6% 7% maximum on this one but it’s a climb it’s a fast climb and you can actually benefit from sitting in the wheel because they’ll be moving up this climb pretty quickly um but yeah it’s it’s remarkably realistic it really is um and
Quite nostalgic as well because I’ve been riding up this climb for quite a few years but to see it rended almost perfectly in zift is pretty special oh yeah it was of course the the run in uh for the Olympic Road Race I think the
Time trial went up as well in 2012 is that right I know the Olympic Road Race finished back up in front of massive crowds London 2012 the time TR didn’t no the time TR was more out near uh East mosy that sort of neck of the woods but the all the
Road races went up at multiple times yeah well this guy is riding his own time trial 384 Watts currently that’s 5.1 watts per Kil kilogram right now and necking up above six watts per kilogram but it is snaking a little bit of uh a fight back here as well by the looks of
It this is tur as well riding for um next Esports I do apologize yeah Daniel tur great Rider the Czech Rider it’s a classy Rider on the road as well so when you look at the the Riders we’ve got the Swift specialist the Esports Specialist of
Course all these Riders will ride out on the road as well but Turk as well is a rider that’s performed exceptionally well internationally out on the road but has really you know taken to to sft Racing for the last few years like a duct to water so classy classy Rider and
Let’s be honest some of the road Riders will really like their chance in this one because of the added angle of endurance and Turk is about to be joined by Kaminsky here but still look at the lead a minute ago it was 32 seconds for Dawson but that real injection of pace
By Turk has slashed in very short order 10 seconds off the lead of the Irishman and it’s interesting because these are the teams in second and third who are now on the attack as well they’re chasing down Wula col Rider uh Chris Dawson who there his team is in fourth
These two teams are on the attack now are third and second big question Matt what are AA Synergy thinking our leading team we haven’t really seen much yet of the blue top boys in the the uh the blue black and red where are they well they’re currently fourth and fifth so
They’re lurking paradigms is there as well and it’s an all Belgian team van El is also there so they are starting to muster actually but they’ve been keeping their powder dry I know it’s it’s aom cliche but they certainly have but all the big hitters as we head towards the
Top of the climb this is where it flattens out and this is where if you deploy your dra um power up just at the right time you’re going to get the most benefit just as we go towards the top and then he can really pick up the pace
And try to accelerate out through the arch no coaching Matthew Stevens just as you say it they all do it as well look at that right on time as well here we go it does look like Dawson’s going to hang on but boy is it going to be close come
The top probably only about 10 seconds by the time he goes through so he has made it count the Irishman Chris dawon takes the maximum 150 don’t forget there’s only points for the top five one of this slots going to miss out it looks to me like those four have all scored
Points bejor andreon might have just taken second and they’re going to catch dwon just over the top I wonder Matt we haven’t seen let’s look at the gaps behind them because they’re growing seven eight nine seconds going back behind this lot I wonder whether we might see a formation of a leading group
Here or whether it will come back together boy would did he leave it close though he could have got caught there couldn’t he and not scored any points at all yeah maybe you just wanted just wanted to make sure you never know because the speed that the group comes
Up behind espe when all the you got these draft power ups been used is pretty quick so he clearly wanted to make sure belt and BRAC got it Dawson took the points but you’re quite quite right there is a little bit of a split here but um viewer sign was up there
Andreas actually didn’t get second he was actually fourth place Martin scored as well but I think again we saw five different teams scoring points so the points relatively well distributed as you can see there is the latest Point score on the left hand side with Wahoo now moving into first place with 225
Points f puncher didn’t score on that second round they with 150 Coalition Alpha with 125 exagon with 75 tied with AA Synergy so to answer your question AA Synergy now moving up and have got on the point score and Toyota Elite e cycling in six currently with 50 and but
This little league group does look like a pretty handy one yeah Kaminsky just joining the back of it there I’m just uh we’re looking at the current positions of a Synergy so they have got everyone in that leading group crucially as we look down to Daka who’s the fifth of
Their five Riders they’re all in there in that main group as well so that’s good for them um Nathan Guera I just wonder if I could bring you back in I got a tactical question for you Nathan um I’m just thinking we’ve just seen Chris dwon make a massive effort now it
Might be that he’s in such good form tonight that uh how Davies is going to say to him just keep going mate we’re going to go again this time around try and get clear try and get some more points but when you’ve got five Riders particularly with the strength in debt
We’ve just just noticed that AA Synergy have got everyone in this leading group anyway is there any Merit to to basically saying like Dawson you’re our man for the first time up it I mean there’s four ascents right so you can split the team quite evenly and then do
You say right next time up it uh Ben M the American riding for wul it’s going to be his chance to try and get clear I know it’s not that simple but it just seems mathematically so neat we’ve got four ascents and five Riders is there
Anything in that yeah that’s uh yeah I think there’s probably something to that if they do have Breakaway uh specialist somebody who wants to try and get away and not just challenge The Climb I I really do think when it comes to Dawson uh challenging at the end of a
Climb like that that requires around six watts per kilogram in order to hang on with a punch at the end um that uh it would be really difficult for him to challenge with a 12 wat per kgam Sprint like we saw from pin and the rest there
And so I have a feeling for him specifically that was really tailored to his rider type uh that attack get his distance get his time get the advantage where he is the strongest compared to everyone else and when the pack honestly just doesn’t have a whole lot of
Interest at that moment to chase down and where they’re going to be infighting a little bit more about who’s doing the work I’m not chasing that you’re I’m not chasing that they’re all looking at each other going we’re not doing anything until you’re not getting any advantage
On us we’ll do it once we actually hit the climb which is which is what we saw now when it comes to a rider like Ben Mir very different situation he doesn’t really have a Sprint uh the guy is just a motor uh when it comes to uh hitting
Any kind of extended V2 or threshold but on a flat situation like that he wouldn’t be gaining uh nearly as much uh speed as we saw from dawon so I think for me they’re going to be looking more toward the end of the race when it comes
To Ben Mir and some of the other uh higher profile Riders when it comes to Pure climbing uh prowess and also later on in races interesting now we’ve seen a bit of a regrouping here as well by the looks of it and one Rider trying to go
Clear as we go up the escalator which I absolutely love there’s there’s an iconic London imagery for you but coming back in together mauy star we’ve just been looking at their team actually it’s v m who had a little go off the front there back in that leading group um it’s
Worth me pointing out by the way particularly if you’re joining us at the beginning of this year they’re getting close to going back across the start line again where they’ll pick up their draft powerups which is why you’re seeing quite a lot of the Riders using
Them now anyway just to save a little bit of energy it’s worth me pointing out I didn’t do it at the beginning that uh all um drafting is enabled in here obviously as I said but also bike and wheel performance is neutralized so despite the fact that you can see the
Riders in different bikes we also talked about equipment and helmets and things being more or less Arrow all of that is neutralized for the zift Grom PR so it’s a very even Level Playing Field and I’m pleased to say as well um the adjudicators within the zift Grand Prix
Team are incredibly hot on the equipment setup and calibration all that kind of thing as well so you can be certain what you’re watching is a very pure race too should have mentioned at the beginning because I’m conscious that some people will be joining us for the with Grand
Prix for the first time while I mentioned joining us for the first time by the way it’s worth me pointing out and uh Nathan you’ll know all about this Matt we were chatting about it just before we came on air this is the year where we launch the biggest ever zift
Again event the zift games all the way through March this spring it’s the biggest zift event ever it’s not just for the pros either it’s for all you zwifters at home who are watching it is spread across three different Championship races the Sprint championships the Epic championships and
The climb championships which bring it all to its conclusion on the outd Swift every single week for the first three weeks in March check it all out at zwift.com go and read up about it all as well the zift games are coming and you’ll see an awful lot of these Pros
Who are racing in the zft G prie switching straight to that in March it’s a wonderful this has been a wonderful stepping stone towards the zift games the biggest ever Esports cycling event in history it’s going to be just a bit good I’m excited about it guys I’m sure you are
Too yeah and I think as well given that it’s only it’s not that far away there’ll be a lot of riders who be using the Z ZW Prix as important preparation there’s plenty of races in between then of course we we’ve got the the torers
Whiff going on a bit of a nudge the other day on the torers whiff so lots of opportunities to keep the condition but as you say the thing I like particularly about the concept of the first ever zift games is the fact that anybody can can
Uh can start off and enter it it’s probably one of the most inclusive events well the whole of the the whole the zift community is massively inclusive but this is uh there’s something for everybody in this one I cannot wait to see what happens and how that unfolds but in the meantime we’ve
Got some big hitters Rick OTA and L VI who have cleared off the front they’ve only got about a second and a half but I tell you what the duo of OTA and Vasan relaying has um as well they’re just being caught they’re not two roders that
You want to uh to let to give too much rope B AR Mel Zach M also there as well from the United States of America but but Mel it’s the second time he’s been on the offensive that little escalator that you’re talking about earlier on jez
Um it’s only it must be just 20 25 M long if that but it’s horrible if you hit it and you’re not giv the right Cadence don’t select the right gear you can almost stop and it’s uh it looked like he tried to sort of give it a
Little bit of a nudge there and open up a bit of a gap but it’s clearly feeling good cuz he’s gone straight over the top again and is currently just moving onto the underpass and it’s kinsky of Poland who has managed to punt across but they’ve still got they’ve got a couple
Of seconds lead but this is quite active a little bit more active than I thought it might be I wondered if it’d be quite neutral but I think given given the distance given the fact there’s nothing really to reflect on I think the teams have seized the opportunity to try and
Race a little bit disruptively and I just want to bring in Nathan here Nathan do you think this sort of race the distance here because it’s relatively unknown not unheard of as you alluded to before and talked about in detailed but do you think this sort of race given the
Profile you can afford to take a few risks and just see what happens yeah I completely agree with that I actually think that in the back end of the race we’re going to see a lot more of this I think there’s you’re going to hit a comfort point within this
Pack when the big names start going now is when I’m okay with taking risks because behind there’s not the only Firepower behind now at this point is those who can match me and I expect to be racing so they’re going to start thinking well now is when we can burn
Matches because anybody that I’m going to race is going to have to burn some matches too to come along with me uh a lot of the pack is going to start whittling down maybe not quite as much at this halfway is point but after this
Next climb I think it’s going to be a little bit more noos bar getting some uh creativity out on course to see what is actually going to sink specifically because of the level of comfort the Riders will have with not being worked against by an entire team but just those
They really are going to be racing in the end yeah that’s a really interesting point it’s pretty exciting and as you say and there will be some Riders as well um I think it’s worth to say Jaz as well that because of the distance we’ve got here here some Riders might have
Just struggled early on and then some Riders after 45 minutes come into their own as well I given given this is a long race there’s a far more phases with it which a can pass through it actually start to feel good near the end so I’m
Waiting to see um if that unfolds but yeah lots of attacking on this little flat section running parallel with the river temps just over to left as London ey somewhere but yeah it’s a it takes me back it’s almost like we’re there isn’t it oh it’s wonderful this is the
Embankment isn’t it the embankment this this road itself has been used for so many things stages of the tour of Britain um what else have we seen around here Pro crits and things going way back over the years ride London of course yeah absolutely absolutely yeah the
Embankment such a a famous London racing Road in a way um bjor andreon just away the world champion for a short while there and back in the fold I think this time this might be now Matt the little little little pause in things if we look the watts per kilo it’s still pretty
High isn’t it it’s still cranking on but it might be the slight pause before the next uh the next ass we’re basically halfway through the race now we’ve got two more ascents of Box Hill and then the the run in we we I should point out
By the way the final time they actually get to the base of Box Hill Turn Around the little roundabout at the bottom which is down by the motorcyclist Cafe down there in real life those of you who know Box Hill and sorry they turn around that roundabout and go back on
Themselves so then go back across the river and finish right in front of Bucky and Palace on the M or the mall whichever you might call it we a bit split on that one um I’m finding myself Matt starting to look down every time we
Bring up the likes of a dpack elite I’m just looking down to see if anyone’s close dare I say it to the five minute Mark which is the cut off for scoring points today uh Macky there the British rider for DPAC Elite he is 3 minutes 13
So as you say really the pressure is on everyone even if you know you’re off the back if you’re in a small group or you’re by yourself you are in a full- on time trial to stay within the 5 minutes buffer of that leader yeah it’s going to be hard I
Think if you lost three minutes now it’s not I’m not taking anything away from the riders that already been detached because you know the the standard of of of Esports now the standard of racing on zwift uh is so so high you have to be these are elite elite athletes at the
Front here world champions Riders who ride internationally on the road as Pros as well um there’s some good Riders here Riders have been finalist and there’s with Academy for example so it’s it’s a classy feeli but and and the speed they’re moving at given how aggressive it’s been given the willingness of
Multiple class rids to go off the front the peleton if they want to bring the back have to run at the same speed and if you’ve already been dropped and you’re suffering you’re going to be losing 3 four five even more 6 8 seconds per kilometer uh so I think it’s going
To be hard but these Riders will not give up that is for sure but it’s going to be a lonely ride through London and the sah Hills if you’re off the back at the moment has to be said Matt Rick ottimer I think has been the most active R I’d
Give him the most aggressive Rider so far in this one he’s been constantly sneaking on and off the front all the time the hexagon or sorry you used the French pronunciation you’re absolutely right exagon earlier and he was off the front there back in the fold now trying
To work out you you’re slightly better at these things than me looking down the numbers just how big this leading group is now it it looks about half the field maybe 35 Riders something like that yeah 30 40 Riders there I think we’ve we’ve got as it’s a great shot as they round
The corter and head back in a southernly direction actually heading towards waterl at the moment um but no there’s Andreas yeah I think we’ve got about 40 riders in that front group so a lot of riders out the back but but the thing is if you are out the
Back as we see let’s say there’s 40 45 Riders here still a lot of points on the road so the key is to get into a group and get into a rhythm with a group and ride together uh try and keep numbers together over the top of the climb the
Last thing you want to do is try and do a hero ride and ride on your own so if you are in a group um especially if you got a teammate with you it’s sticking together now not losing too much time but it’s as I say it’s long long day in
The virtual saddle today um as things settle down just a little bit for a moment this is what I think um definitely Nathan was talking about um in a race this long even in a shorter race there are moments where it settles for a minute and this can do two things
It can provide a false sense of security because Riders will go straight over the top or it offers a real opportunity to recalibrate communicate recover before you go again and I think that’s what we’re seeing briefly here cuz we’re going to be approaching Box Hill for the
Third time very shortly yeah this is the third lap uh they’ve just gone South of the river as Matt mentioned going over the river temps they headed towards what would be the National Theater and uh well what would be eventually elephant and Castle the likes of those places in
South London I was born in North London Matt and there’s always this big rivalry between the North and the South so I’m always delighted to see on zift that we’ve basically done away with South London all together we’ve grabbed s dragged it up to cover South Lon
Completely it’s all gone now I I lived in South London for a while I lived in uh in Greenwich in Charon and I got to know hear Hill on one of those wonderful South London cycling locations it’s a great place to be a cyclist but but s
Was considered greater and so it was pulled as a carpet all the way over the edge of South London to bring Box Hill up and Rick ottimer fancies getting to boxill before the others by the looks of it he is on a charge tonight isn’t he
The Dutchman yeah he certainly is real a real solid shrewd important recruitment for the exagon team he’s now opened up a 5sec lead probably looked at what dawon did last time through Dawson went at about the same time actually well no a little utumn has gone a little bit later
So he’s had more time in the pelaton to save himself but he’s really surging here and is moving clear it’s opened up 6.7 seconds his rid 167 BPM that’s his heart rate but holding at the moment 6.1 Watts a kilo just over which equates as you can see to 500 Watts eyering Watts
Here but let’s bring in Nathan again a good move here by ottima waited a little bit longer than dorson but this is a ride of Nathan we’ve known very very well he’s one of big events he’s got an engine especially on a climb that’s not super steep to get into a good Tempo
Here this is a really different situation too from what we’ve seen all of the other climbs OTA doing this at this point I if if they go bottom to top you notice the other climbs they didn’t go bottom to top they kind of all looked at each other other a little bit and
They climbed at a steady very high pace and then it was a kick at the end this instigation might end up making a breakaway pack or at least a much more Whittle down pack up and over the top for the fight here now if OTA backs off
And it all settles down there’s no counters we might end up groupo compacto again but uh you know this instigation definitely changes the nature of this specific climb this third time up and it I it it really makes it interesting to me as to whether or not we’re going to
End up with a very reduced field at the top of this Sprint yeah looks like it’s about to caught now I think otus so that six or seven seconds at the bottom and as you said I think the class of otan the fact he didn’t open up too much for lead and
The fact that I’m in game as well you’ll be able to see him in front he’s that little carrot literally a carrot in the colors of hexagon there jez but he’s about to be caught um but the shape of the bunch here changing Duffy on the
Front Zack nir as well it looks like um the r ERS from next Esports to try to make sure they’re represented yeah this is Johan norin as well the Swedish Rider just coming through as well into the big switch back we’re coming round to that steeper part
Of Box Hill as mat which was mentioned and it ramps a little bit rocket Rick rocket ottimer I went to call him there maybe I call him that from now on just slotting himself back into that group as we go over the National Trust Box Hill
Icon on the road and uh noran also now just being brought back into the fold but that is again quite a reduced leading group with dripping Riders off the back of that now all the time let’s see how the Swedish swifters are doing we’ve already got senson who’s a long
Way down so I’m not sure what’s happened there uh they’ve got two leaders in two Riders I should say noren and Borland in that leading group and I guess those next to are probably in the group behind things bunching up back there as well yeah these two I guess if these two
Can no they’re not going to stay clear are they it’s coming back in again so cautious it was just what Nathan was saying we we’ve seen the climb ridden each time up which is fascinating in terms of the way we we didn’t know what was going to happen in today’s race
Because there’s been no president before the distance the style of racing but they race they’re racing it differently again OTA went did it got caught but I think we might see a little bit more of a selectionist is being raced far more aggressively and given the speed that
They’re moving at it’s very difficult to break away again because of the gradient there’s a real benefit of the sort of speed they’re moving at now only on 5% they still they’re going to be riding at about 25 maybe even 30ks an hour um the record in in real life on this climb
Equates to kind of 20 21 miles an hour so although it’s a hard climb it’s fast climb it’s a it’s a fast one as Mel now tries again we’re coming to the top here we’ve got about a kilometer or so before we get to the top remember the worst of
The climb is now over this is where it gets fast seven watts per kilo for the norweg Regent Vidal M we’ve seen him attack at least two or three times already in this race and this is big what’s being thrown down but once again it’s bjor andreon look at that over
Eight watts per kilo from the world champion he’s ridden across to him as well has he got the momentum to hang on to this as well let’s look who’s chasing behind he’s they’re both in excess of two seconds ahead but we can see powerups being used here as well just to
Get a bit of extra draft perin using that one brilliantly Matt bovich just get up behind them get in the draft and then press on past them still close though yeah it’s still very close it’s still a fair way to go got another couple of Corners um in fact you can’t
Actually see the finish all these rods will know it really well but you can’t see the Finish until about 50 MERS to go but the road veers off to the right in a minute continues to climb but only lightly but perin about to be caught again by andreason who’s found something
Pretty special no real surprise you have to be a pretty special Rider to wear those bands that is for sure but this effort by perin at the front has really started to string things out but remember in about five or 6 seconds maybe a little bit more we’re going to
See a lot of powerups deployed and there they come it’s a 40c long power up vital they time it right we coming through to the Finish again at the top here now Tom perin so close to hanging on but he’s been overlapped by one of his own
Teammates as well that’s Duffy by the looks of it Brian Duffy so an opportunity here for next Esports to score some big points if perin can hang on this could be a brilliant run paren slipping back as well but it does look like Duffy no he’s not our leader a cgy
Are going to take it by the looks of it van El I think just coming through on the line there by the looks of it Matt they are playing this I just wonder if they are playing it absolutely brilliantly our leading team AA Synergy they’re not getting involved in all the
Attacking they’re just there when it needs to be done just smart they just ridden so smart I mean that it was Van elst ahead of Brian Duffy then Kaminsky then the world champion Andreas is just rolling through there a split has occurred and Martin Martin also in the
Mix there for Toyota but it’s still Wahoo La that lead off the back of the point they’ve got 265 now J AA Synergy with 225 Coalition Alpha 175 furra with that early scoring 150 then Toyota exagon and next Esports so close at the top between Abus and Wahoo but Wahoo at
The moment have a 40o lead and there’s one more opportunity one more Ascent of Box Hill to come wow so our leading team getting maximum points there as well but as Matt has said it is Wahu LOL the team who went into this evening’s racing in fourth
Place who started this year in fourth place with two rounds to go Wahu LOL who are leading don’t forget I should point out even though they’re sitting on 265 points it doesn’t mean those exact points are added we give uh 35 points to the winning team on the night which goes
To the team overall as well but Wahu L looking really good there is just now one more ass ENT of Box Hill where the first five Riders across it will score and then let me remind you they complete one more complete lap almost get to boxill turn around and head for the
Finish line on the M right in front of Bucky and Palace and there there are points for everyone but crucially Matt that is going to be some Sprint because there are 300 points for first place at that Finish Line it’s going to be a Bigg
E that yeah it is it’s uh it’s a a lot of 280 260 as you said all the way down to 80th but I don’t think 80 r are going to score today not with this 5 minute cut off there’s definitely going to be quite a few riders that finish outside
Of that one and I think we’ve got about 30 riders in this front group here one or two Riders making sure they get back in contact as we look at a selection of riders here andreon Martin Martins Kaminsky Duffy van elst some classy classy bike riders indeed let’s bring
Nathan back in just see Nathan what do you reckon we’ve seen the climb as you as you suggested as you as you said we’ve seen box he’ll been climbed differently each time up based on what we’ve just seen how do you think the last time up is going to go get out your
Crystal ball Fullers if you can it’s going to be interesting you know it it really comes down to if they want to send attacks from from whether or not they send from the bottom to about that halfway point where it kind of snakes a little bit and before you
Hit those paintings across you know it gets into that 5 to 6% G radient where there’s a good amount of drafting the speeds are higher if you’ve made it to that point it’s going to be really hard to separate things if they attack from the get-go or at least up until that
Point I could see things really separated and I do think we are going to see some Riders try and make that kind of a move especially those teams that have not been able to score with these high-end Sprints at the top I think we’re going to see a lot more attacks
Now the other thing though is if you notice ota’s off the back now he like you attack at the bottom it’s a big risk Neil fet’s off the back now Jay Bru’s off the back now Kristoff theme is and these are Riders who were trying to get
Involved early on it’s big risk big reward and some of these Riders not really getting the best out of it uh if you do go early so you better have some uh pretty good engines and some confidence if you’re not going to go with the pack I do think that there are
Riders though that are stand out Riders liono VI atin comes to mind uh Thomas pin we saw on the Move uh you know there there’s some big names in here that could go bottom to top and we see we see what some of one of those Riders go be
On the watch out we’re going to next thing you know orange numbers going to be going from the bottom all the way to the top of this thing that is interesting Nathan just just just let’s remind ourselves so far they’ve been sprinting for a maximum 150 points bearing in mind this is an
Endurance race the longest race in zift gr Prix history to score 150 points at the Finish you’d only have to come 15th so that finish is so important I’m just looking down through this uh of the the Riders who are still in this leading group there are I think three Riders
From Toyota Elite e cycling so Toyota have got some plenty of ride castelli have got I think three maybe four even in that leading group as well so there are some teams that have been just sort of hanging in there and waiting I wonder whether we might look back on it come to
Finish line and say actually there was some sitting and waiting who knew the bigger points were coming it’s a risk though isn’t it it certainly is but if you can B big risk it again and that’s what it’s this risk reward isn’t it as as we’ just seen
We saw one of the uh the most preeminent riders in zwift racing in Esports and you know Rick ottimer sacrificed himself to go for an effort and now he’s he’s out the back and he’s not going to score big tonight but at least he had a go so
There is a risk a glad is now off the front for mobar a former teammate actually of Rick OS they both rode with that mistar a couple of years ago now on Rival teams of course but a little group’s just gone clear now um on bjor
Andreas has just latched on to the back of a rider that penit just there and turx so four Riders going clear with a 3sec lead so the other teams now have got to be very very wary of this one and I would imagine they’re going to shut
This one pretty quickly because this is a dangerous move with some classy classy Riders there it definitely is man and this is the point where we’ve seen other attacks going in the last three laps and none of them have even looked like surviving but there we go I say it again
And it’s being closed down again the French Rider mure just closing it down as well and powerups of course as we’ve seen every lap so far now being chucked out chucked out from the back pocket and used because we’re back towards the finish line again so you might as well
Use them here and you can see the effect it’s having as well of riders who are coming through too so more or less all back together but what we’re not seeing so much of is the Riders who are dripping off the back of this leading group and as we mentioned all right the
Already the likes of Rick OTA dripping off the back having been a big player in the race so far as well it’s a bl13 rider now Harris BLT 13 Pabo levell uh just been caught just as I got his name out he’s been caught by V Kaminsky goes straight over the top uh
As well Kaminsky having a pretty active day for Coalition Alpha the team of course across on the women’s side of things who lead but um there third place here 93 points on the overall but this is a drastically reduced group that that last time up the climb that the way it
Was ridden a little bit differently they went pretty hard for the last kilometer as it really made a pretty decent selection this a lot of the hitters you’d expect and maybe one or two surprises uh in this group as Barry now moves clear sorry Barry’s just a little bit
Further back should I say yeah this this you can see I think we’re starting to see Matt here a little bit bit the fatigue creeping in as it would getting this deep into a 70 km race not just a 70 km race because of the distance but because of the acceleration are being
Made constantly we keep talking about the watts per kilo if you’re not a swift Rider maybe if you’re not a racing cyclist yourself and you’re wondering kind of what that equates to um well anything anything that gets you into the red is going to be a problem
And for some people that might be three wats per kilo but for these Elite Riders once you certainly once you’re knocking above five I always think Matt when you see five on there you know they’re cranking on when you get into six seven eight watts per kilo you really know
They’re going for it and they’re the kind of efforts for most of these Riders once they’re getting above six into the Sev and eight wats per kilo you’re not going to hold that for that long I know that’s a really unscientific explanation of it but it’s quite a nice way of
Reading into the numbers as you look down at them on the right hand side of the screen there I guess indeed no it’s uh it’s Martin’s now is mood clear uh the Manu one is a such a versatile ride it came to the for as a exceptionally gifted climb I think he
Did did win on out the zwift earlier this year did the German Martins for the Toyota Elite Cy he’s tried to go long he’s opened up a little bit of a gap Brian Duffy Jr of next Esports trying to bring the Gap back but uh but
No you’re quite right um that wats per kilo is it’s different for everybody um but of course the big big numbers we saw some numbers earlier when Riders are really accelerating we’re looking at between 10 and 13 Watts a kilo that’s an unsustainable Sprint really that’s something you can only do for like
Between 5 and 15 seconds but then six five six wats a kilo is what these Riders can actually maintain for the best part of an hour um depending of course uh on your level of Fitness but uh they prably worth bringing Nathan in actually to to see how Riders kind of
Measure their effort um on a day like this we we’ve seen some of the short of some some of the Swift races we’ve had this year Nathan you know half an hour lots of really high spikes but how will Riders tackle this one and how will they moderate the kind of efforts especially
How many times can a rider you know s sustain six Watts a kilo he they might be able to do it for five minutes but at what cost will that come to a rider in a race like this yeah and here’s the thing is a lot
Of riders who are big favorites so far as like as far as like what we’ve seen from them in the Z Grand Prix have you not noticed I mean Mega plth going head to-head you know for the win a few weeks back I haven’t seen him on the front at
All where other Riders you know next Esports and some of these others have been all in at the front of a lot of these Sprints so far and that tells me that there’s a few uh Riders as you saying measuring their efforts and waiting for the moments Martin Marans I
Think was this the first time he scored this last time up over the top as well and now later in the race starting to get active for that Toyota team um you know as far as who’s measured things the most I don’t have in front of me right
This moment you know an average watchill kog may I need to go take a look at that if I can find it but who’s put out the least amount of power so far per their watch per kilogram versus what’s going to happen in this last lap I would not
Be surprised if there is a high ratio on that that low watts per kilogram first half the second half the race you’re going to see all that energy absolutely explode watch out for plth throw he’s been so quiet that is interesting Nathan so we’re now we’re now deep into that kind
Of fatigue resistance part of the race as well what we haven’t yet talked about is we talked a bit about Cooling and the fans but Nathan can I just ask you one more question it’s um I’m just thinking about fueling as well because over this kind of
Distance I i’ suspect some of these Riders would be necking a gel or two maybe in here or am I wrong what do you reckon well 100% you know with the most recent you know in the years past big changes in the sugar intakes glycogen stores needing to always be even
Refueled as you’re on on the bike you supplement it a ton and so uh you know for these athletes amongst the men’s field I’d say somewhere between 80 to 120 gram of uh simple carbohydrates getting into the bloodstream somehow so uh I’d be taking throughout this at a
Longer effort like this every 15 to 20 minutes I’d be throwing something down or they’re going to be doing some sort of a mixture in their bottle that they’ve really figured out to get the best what we call osity in the stomach the quickest uh transfer of those sugars
Through the uh gut into the bloodstream as fast as they possibly can that’s what it’s all about it’s name of the game because sugar equals ATP which equals power in the muscles thank you Dr Guera I guess it’s worth remembering as well that a lot of these Riders we’re seeing being hammered
By an enormous fan that means that you don’t necessarily notice yourself sweating as much do you but that fan and the wind from it is immediately carrying away that sweat from your skin so it’s important to keep the fluid going in I mean how many bottles do you reckon I
Mean you you could could you neck a couple of 500 mil bottles during this easy yeah I mean I reckon have thought so I reckon so yeah yeah I mean uh I for if if that was directed to me not positive but I would be going for at least three bottles if
Not four bottles I would have I so be careful I would have five bottles lined up here and if I felt like dehydrated somehow or something just didn’t work out right and I need to get a bunch of sugar in the more water I’m throwing down the better sometimes so I I I
Definitely am at least two to three bottles at least wow well we got to give a shout out to Johan norin the Swede who is trying to ride his way across to Martins our leader at the moment closing the Gap a little bit he’s about halfway across
It because the next Rider chasing at the front is our world champion beon Andreas I still think that leading group though is a little bit smaller than it was when we last came off I’m not sure we haven’t lost a few Riders actually going north
Of the river mat as well yeah I think we have it certainly looks a lot smaller it’s been as you’d expect for a race of this distance just under 70 k um in and around the Su Hills here um it’s it’s attritional uh those big efforts not
That many riders can uh can can sustain the sort of power needed on repeated efforts it’s the it’s the real as we talked about on many occasions that the pure definition of Fitness is the ability to to do repeated efforts and uh the fitter the rider the more efforts
They can they can can maintain and that’s why it’s important to keep your powder dry as well as be aggressive but uh I’m just looking at the stats of Martin Martins on the front he did indeed I wasn’t going uh going funny in the head Martin Martin did win on on the
Out whift earlier this year but he can maintain this sort of effort um he can ride for 5 minutes at 6 and a half Watts a kilo or 20 minutes 6 Watts a kilo so so the effort that he’s putting out at the moment for Martins is more than
Sustainable um and he’s holding 20 seconds in fact over the last couple of kilometers just just across the river temps he’s added 3 seconds to his total now so he’s kind of matched the Gap that we saw earlier on by the ARs chap that went clear so he’s got 20 seconds now
And and Martin’s ability on a climb like this given his power is is very good power to wait he’s not just a rod that’s built the Gap with absolute power and is going to suffer on the climb Martins can maintain this effort all the way up and
This is really interesting now um I think it’s quite likely he’s going to take the points over the the big question remains is will he continue with the effort over the top let’s watch it if youve just recently tuned in and are watching this on our zift YouTube channel my name is
Jez Cox they were the words there of Matt Stevens former British road race champion and zwift East Sports expert alongside we also have Nathan Guera here as well we’ll bring him back in in just a moment you are watching the penultimate round of the zwi gor Prix
The second edition of the zift gr Prix where we bring together the best Elite zift riders in the world men and women this is the men’s race you’re watching right now this is the final Ascent of Box Hill before we then head to a big Finish Line where every Rider who’s
Within five minutes of our leader who is currently Martins who’re watching right now on the climb uh can score as long as they’re within five minutes this is our penultimate round the women’s race is due to start well not in the too distant future in actual fact there’ll be a
Little bit of an overlap I believe we’ll update you on when the women’s race actually starts and of course as soon as we can and we’ve quickly rounded up the result to the men’s race we’ll go straight to the women’s race and bring you the action they are doing exactly
The same distance as they kind of should be as the men of course they’re doing exactly the same course same distance and it’s the same number of teams 16 teams of five we’re looking down at Martin Martins now look at the effort on the front from uh the rider from Toyota
Elite let me remind you that team is in fifth place right now so his strike out here a good opportunity to score big points and stay ahead of uh Swedish with Rider norin here who is chasing him down look in the distance the rider chasing
Him behind it’s a big gap as well I think they’re going to hang on by the looks of it Matt what you reckon I I think there’s a very good chance and in norin um there’s a little bit there’s a big acceleration by the pellaton on the flat section but norin actually dropped
Away he’s actually moving ever so slightly clicker quicker he he’s got him in his sights now you can just see we’ve got Martin’s on screen here and just behind you can actually see the figure of norin of Sweden close losing the Gap 7 and 1/2 seconds um importantly
Martin’s over the third place rer on the road now has 26 seconds it was at this point that we saw uh the lead diminish um on what a couple of laps ago so well Martins is on absolute flyer and to be honest with you you wonder if he
Maintains 7 Seconds over the top and they keep their lead complete I think it will come down by about 6 or 7 seconds because of the acceleration in fact it’s the third place r this is but norin and Martin get together over the top of this climb I
Think from a tactical perspective might be good to bring in Nathan now because Nathan fascinating stuff here mate um it looks like Martins is certainly going to take maximum points over the top but given the situation behind and even factoring in 15 seconds been taken back
Over the top we could see an interesting Duo here battling for the win yeah I I think really this is what we were talking about earlier because of the nature of this race and the attrition of it Martin Marans Johan norin they know each other really really
Well when it comes to uh races like this and if you look behind how it the story is playing out here the reality of it is that there’s riders that now see the danger of this that are looking to go across they’re thinking exactly what you
Just said Matt Thomas parin is now also saying look something’s going up the road we need to get on top of this somebody needs to get involved maybe it’ll come back later but next are like if this stays we need somebody there parents going now as well we see Jano
There as well it’s going it looks like vanal out there’s definitely a worry in the back of the Mind of a lot of these top Riders In The Paton that a rider like Martins is going to stare away what’s interesting to me is I don’t actually see where is plth Theo to me
Where are some of these favorites he’s still trusting at this point perhaps or does he not have it today is a big question mark for me because I would have expected him to be one of those also lion vasen trusting so there’s two different mindsets here it seems like
One within this pack that no it’s not going to stay away it’ll come back together and the other like parin Martin going off the front here I mean there’s there’s definitely a whole another uh norin as well saying no this is something to trust I’m going for it and
I think Johan norin Martin Martins they get together that’s definitely danger to stay away and I think they will work together very well if it they if they do end up together just one more question sorry j one more question for me if you if you were Martin Martin’s DS would you
Say wait for norin over the top yeah I get the points and I would 100% say I I get the points and then once you got those Point like don’t you know no freebies out here but I I would even you know not risk too much of
Noren’s energy actually even I would say look just get those points no obviously don’t let him get within 2 seconds but over the top noren is the kind of Rider you want with you he this guy is top top top level and you don’t want to waste
His energy you want to you know you want the gloves to come off with a K to go not right now right at that point then you want to say hey we’re not friends anymore but right now he needs a good friend because that pack behind has some
High power in it to stay away from him you need a friend out right out on course right now well let’s focus on the race to the top of Box Hill for the final time because Martins is so nearly there Martin Martins has gone from an awfully
Long way out before we’d even crossed the river and gone under the escalator he’s only got to go around this corner norin is still 7 seconds but he’s dropping his power up for best he can I don’t think it’ll help him at all of course because he’s got no one to draft
And Martin Martins is going to take the final points on the top of Box Hill he has survived the German riding for Toyota Elite he’s made that one count but boy it could have been pretty close and it still was close as to where noren now goes through uses his power up
Despite the fact that it won’t actually help him and here comes the British Rider Tom perin riding for the second ranked team overall going into tonight next Esports andreason also dropping his power up to get some more points as well so that’s the uh the top three or four
Places gone now I think the leading Rider here might just pick up Fifth spot for 35 points as well uh so Martin Martins in first noren second perin the British rider for next Esports in third Kaminsky the Polish Rider at was Coalition Alpha in fourth the world
Champion bjon andreason picks up the 35 points for fifth place across the line we are done with Box Hill for the men of course we’ve got the women’s race yet to come they’re taking in four a sense of it it is now all about the running to the finish and trying to get
Riders I think quite crucially inside that five minute Gap and actually I think do you know there’s going to be more outside that 5 minute time cut off than we even thought I think there’s going to be quite a lot of them yeah definitely I mean even this group
Behind jez uh I’ve been to spread out the top 15 there’s big gaps in between them um 30 seconds to the 15th Rider on the road um but Martins isn’t waiting at the moment although norin is starting to close he not actually waiting um we can
Just see the picture in picture there of our world champion a little bit further down currently sat in fifth place but Martins now gets into that Arrow super tuck saves a couple of seconds looks like he’s out of sight at the moment um especially at these sorts of speeds the
Distance on the road stretched out so norin won’t be able to see him but this is fascinating they’ve got 20 seconds over Andreas and is broken clear Dawson’s not too far behind but that chasing pack are really spread out there’s no real organization and of
Course jez at this late in this in the race a lot of riders won’t have multiple teammates to help work so that falls in the favor of our two leaders out in front the big question for me is can and will norin get across um and is Martins
Confident enough to ride this on his own um uh or is he going to wait for norin and right now he’s certainly not waiting at all uh to use the words of Panton and Armstrong back in the day no gifts yes um that was on ald itself wasn’t it not the ald zift
Um you’re you’re you’re picking the quotes from the very top there as well the mountains is going to be enjoying this December off the back of box Hill out of the Su Hills and heading back towards the river temps to cross over it they do cross back in this direction
Again one more times I say but no more asense of Box Hill so really it’s a very tactical Chase now as well application of steady wats to try and wind in that Gap and the Gap the Gap is coming down though Matt definitely uh norin is still
Only six seconds behind Martins but then the chasing pack is only 18 seconds behind and I think we’re going to gradually see that come back as well that is fascinating leading group of some we think about 30 riders or so now with most of the main protagonists in
Here but teamwork in amongst them won’t be too great next Esports as we can see from that shot have at least three no they’ve got four riders in this leading group as do AA Synergy so the teams up amongst our very best first and second place teams have got most of their team
There I look to see whether we got five for AA Synergy I don’t think we have I think there’s just four in there next Sports have definitely got 42 so they are our two leading teams going into tonight’s racing so at this stage Nathan can I
Just bring you back in uh again if that’s right just to get a tactically tactical uh perspective I suspect where you are you’ve got your jacket War I know getting warmed up ready don’t wor but uh we will be we will be bringing you that um Nathan yes sorry
What I was going to ask you was if you’re in that second group now I guess if you’re not too far back is it is it a case of well make sure you save something so you can win a Sprint from the so when I say second group The the
Next big group on the road is it about trying to make sure you maximize points from that or do you you desperately chasing to try and get back in I know it’s probably a silly question isn’t it everyone’s desperately chasing to get to get to the Finish is there any team
Tactics that could come into play uh everything a l well a lot comes down to this moment right here because how they are able this moment and the other uh there will be one more time out of the underground and those two moments are going to be really really crucial to
See how much time is actually brought back from that big punch at least in my mind if I’m off the front with this little um Breakaway with nor and Marts I’m watching how motivated they are to continous speed out of the underground cuz that’s a massive amount of time that
Can be uh taken out of us because we’re usually not going to be able to kick as high on our orange numbers and then continue on we’re going to have to be a little bit more conservative because we’re working continually on the front it’s about brought brought back down by
A second or two now at this point but they definitely backed off in that pack not to 5 watts per kilogram plus so I’m watching continually what kind of of motivation that they’ve got back there now when you’re in the pack and you start watching to see how motivated
People are to actually start doing any work that’s the moments when you start going well everyone’s pulling about 4.5 to 5 watts per kilogram or less we have to start attacking if anything’s going to happen here actually like and then it’s and then it’s a dice roll at that
Point you’re but you you got two you you get two benefits then from attacking the pack the Pack’s not working together our best bet at this point is to go is to try and separate things out and on top of that what’s going to happen is we’re
Going to end up getting distance back on that on on those Riders once we actually cause a breakaway let’s start working together and then we’ll go get them back so unless we start seeing one of these teams or two of these teams get into some major agreement and go we’ll just
Do work on the front we don’t care make it happen which I don’t necessarily see happening I think we’re actually going to start seeing some crazy attacks like just now orange numbers and eventually there’ll be a split or these two stay away those are our two options I think thank you Nathan that’s
Interesting so that’s the last time through our start Gantry there which means they’ve now picked up the final power up the final draft power up that they will have today so now I guess it gets a little bit more interesting and uh and useful figuring out when you use
That because it’s not a case of just using it up and you can see uh Martin’s there Martin Martin’s using his to stay with norin now they’ve gone through the arch already so that is the final power up he’ll have unless I’m missing something and he’s used it there just to
Stay in the leading two yeah it does look like he did deploy it there um couple of little attacks just off the front from this group just Nathan was talking about the fact there’s going to be lack of cohesion behind they are going to try and Chase but increasingly as each of these
Kilometers Ticks by and we’re primarily on flat roads here no more Ascent of Box Hill there’s a couple of little punches as hary Glades of mobar tries his luck and in the process has taken the gap down to 15 seconds but um with the Riders relaying on the front at the
Moment Martin is on the front at 6 and 1/2 Watts a kilo noren sat tightly on his wheel is doing three wats a kilo less so they’re relaying and able to put out 6 and 1 half watts and that means for the the Riders behind to shut down
The Gap they’ve got to be putting out more power uh and I think we’re going to see an increasing lack of cohesion behind but more and more attacks as Riders try and get off the front that way but right now I think it’s Advantage norin and Martins but still with 8.6k to
Go the game isn’t over um and they need to start well need to continue to do what they’re doing now and just hope that that brittle Alliance or hard the lack of Alliance behind actually falls in their favor but we could see somebody one of the big Hitters from behind try
And go solar and Bridge across the Gap but 14 seconds alone is a hard thing to do with no clim so Martins on the front here very very important that norin tries to stay as close as he can here and at this point in the race um uh Nathan it’s
Really this is where the real skill at Feathering power and and riding close to the wheel comes in isn’t it this is a critical part of the race 8ks to go but if you just drift off the wheel a bit too much you’re spending so much energy
But this is where that real skill at riding on zwift and feather and the power comes into play doesn’t it oh 100% you know the ability to draft out on zift and knowing uh how to get exactly where you need to be this is where I always like to say view three
View three if you push number three on your keyboard or you go through the views on the companion app and you get to that first person point of view where it actually is like as if you are in the Avatar’s eyes I like to use that the
Most because it gives me um exactly what I need to know whether or not I’m perfectly on that wheel and there isn’t kind of this third person laid back camera CA where I’m sat in a place where I don’t necessarily know that I’m right
On the wheel and so that helps me out a lot actually to make sure I’m getting the best draft as I possibly can I I’d actually be interested to know the percentage uh you know if we did a a poll of how many of the Riders used V3
Versus uh vue1 V1 on the keyboard or the third person point of view that’s removed away and what they think about that for getting the best draft because view3 vers that Vue one for me uh is is massive difference I think I lose a little bit of that percentage on the
Draft if I don’t use one or the other Nathan that is that is fascinating to hear I must admit on the on the brief number of times I’ve raced on zift i’ I’ve found it I’ve preferred the more slightly more distant view but I see what you mean not knowing quite where
They are that and being that particularly with the way that the the uh the Dynamics of the game have changed in the last few months where the drifting has become drafting stor has become even more accurate and important that makes a lot of sense to me so just
Just why we’re watching these guys getting closer to the final 5 kilometers Nathan I’m conscious we’re right at the beginning it’s January right at the beginning of the year a lot of people might be just starting out on zwift what what’s you what have you got any other
Big tips for for for uh making the most of moving up through the uh through the levels and and that’s obviously a good one make sure you’re drafting properly and anything else you can give to us any tip bits well moving up for the levels there’s all kinds of little XP stuff
That’s happening but when it comes to racing tips I mean watching these sections of course we’re watching right now I mean as you can see we said a little bit earlier they were not going to be able to match the Big Orange numbers because they’re continually reducing the energy stores that they
Have to be able to push and so they’re not reserved up like we see from n and Dawson and Harris and the others that have just punched a big orange numbers as we like to call them up in that 10 you know watts per kilogram or so that’s
Brought back 5 Seconds very quickly so those are going to be the crucial moments to watch for out on a course and whether or not you’re gaining or losing there is whether or not you need to invest any longer in a breakaway like this because that was brought back so
Quickly right there and there was that motivation in a moment here we’re going to see whether or not these two stay motivated in this Breakaway because they’re going to start thinking how much more is going to come back once we get into the underground cuz they’re going
To descend again and that pack is probably going to go faster than they do even through the underground cuz in the downhill and then once they climb again there’s a really big chance of being caught actually there we may see motivation go out real quickly amongst
These two Nathan mat I think I know the answer to this can I ask you both of you are they going to stay away those two with 5K to go what’ you reckon Nathan Matt I I don’t I I the the the chances are low much lower right now
Much lower much much lower right now there’s a lot of motivation behind yeah I think there’s a lot of motivation behind the gaps come down it’s under 10 seconds now and just reiterating what Nathan said you know on the flat that um it’s harder to bring the time Gap unless
You’ve got a team relaying on the front but on that little drag that we saw up to up to the monument there that if you go hard on a drag like that you can you can eat e to the time and and going through the underground I think they’re
Going to need maybe 15 seconds to stay away it’s stabilized at the moment at 10 seconds Al there’s not one team on the front but I do think the death nail for our two leaders if there were to be one will come in the underground and and one
Thing that as well when he just got two rers out in front you’re doing the team time trial on sft or reing on the front as a team you’re in communication you can talk to each other of course norin and Martins they’re working together but they can’t talk so it’s that Nuance on
Zwift they’re having to rely on um and the Gap coming down again 7 Seconds now to Vasan and plant who are trying to chip across the Gap here what a thrilling finale this is yeah the Belgian and the Frenchman trying to get across that Gap it is
Coming back but I tell you what remember they’ve got to go all the way along the the edge of the embankment then across the river under the river again turn around at the bottom of um Box Hill and go back on themselves and this leading group is getting smaller and smaller
Under all these little attacks as well all the time let’s remind ourselves Matt this is the important thing we need to think about right now going into this final Sprint where the winner can score 300 points Wahu lall are leading on 300 points for tonight okay now don’t forget
Those points point us out to people at home they don’t correlate they don’t are not added to the series points but the leading team at the end of the night will get 35 points AA Synergy were our leading team going into this evening they’re currently sitting in third place
Okay so actually if it stays as it is and Wahu LOL take the win they’re sitting on the win at the moment going into this final Sprint we watch out for those pink and blue jersey of Wahu lol they serve to move right up I think they’re in currently in fourth place but
A 35o win could see then move up possibly to third or even second place going into next week’s final round so it is so close I know people at home would expect us to say that but it is really close and we’ve got Swedish swifters and Toyota Elite represented in these
Leading two now they stay clear they’ve got a chance to win 300 points which is which is as much as any other team has scored all evening so far it just goes to show how important this final Sprint is Matt isn’t it oh oh definitely but
It’s uh it’s going 3.3k to go so we’ve got about I know 4 and a half minutes of effort maybe 5 minutes tops and they’re not going to relent this is that little bit that we coming up to that Nathan was just talking about back into the underground uh thankfully our Engineers
As we have to put some boards over the railway tracks just to make it a bit safe but in a few minutes time well s in about 30 seconds time we’re going to swing right onto that brutally steep little kicker up the escalator which is about 13 14% And Martins and norin
They’re still clear but they’ve only got 5 and 1 half seconds seconds over Daniel Turk and perin close behind this is a critical point in the race now yeah we’ll watch that moving up that we were discussing before the finessing and moving up through that group to be
Ready for this final Sprint uh so close uh to being caught now just over 5 Seconds that pack LED by the cck rider Turk for the next Esports team dank heading up that group and they’re so close to catching you can see them just at the top of the escalator what they do
Now Matt did just pause and wait we know how strong norin and Martins are but are they going to have anything left for this final Sprint 2 and a2k to go as well yeah it’s just the momentum is it there they are it’s just the momentum as
Nathan was saying earlier on it’s to speed up the climb and and the additional momentum if you’re moving a slur up the up that steep climb you just don’t carry the speed over the top and that is what’s happened and they’re about to be caught one and a half
Seconds in closing there’s the pelaton behind I think the time of norin and Martin is about to be uh well completely gone they are going to be caught as they head over the temps 2.2k to go and it looks as if finally they’re going to be
Taken back and there is the moment it’s the world champion Jaz that brings them back together a bjor andreon who of course when he won that world championship did it all solo for so long people thought he would be caught but he hung on out there just knocking out that
Tempo out front the former mountain biker and of course he’s still wearing that world champions Jersey right now he get to wear that all the way through to nearly the end of this year as Zack n goes over the top as well now the attacks start to roll once everyone’s
Back in there we’ve got a leading group of some 20 or so Riders most of the biggest names in here in the world of zift racing and andreason has looked so good and so solid throughout this hasn’t he once again he reels back in Zach n and just continues to lead the front
He’s uh I’m sure he’d love to ride away in the way that he did in those World Championships but don’t forget this is not a scratch race this is a points race so much has been done so far we’ve just seen the last two caught but let’s not
Forget the two who were caught were our first and second place Martins and noren over the last Ascent of Box Hill so they’ve not just played their part but they’ve played it in a big way and they’re still in this group as well they certainly are this is absolutely
Fascinating 1300 M to go we’ve got the group of I think about 25 Riders if that coming towards the finish it won’t be long before they can see the flam Rouge it’s going to come down to a little bit of a Sprint or is it I think the the
Riders who don’t fancy the Sprint happy to go early and we’ve had a surch Daniel Turk not a known Sprinter pataa as well P castelli has gone early as well planto who’s come second on the Streets of London a few rounds back also in the Mi
Buan moving up through to the front we got 900 met to go here jez what a scintilating finale the Italian gets caught by the Belgian Panza and then going over the top this is where anyone who’s got that power up the draft power up left in there can use that to
Slingshot themselves through the group and Harris the Australian for uh bl13 has done exactly that what a ride by uh Josh Harris we saw him on the attack earlier he’s timed this one brilliantly Matt can he hang on though he’s only got three seconds lead Josh Harris wow the
Longest this is amazing 500 me to go jez but I tell you what it’s a very long 500 me if I can say that but he’s still clear he’s got four seconds jez my goodness they’re riding straight towards the gates of Buckingham Palace he’s on the red tarmac can hang on in
The middle of the road the Aussie everyone’s dropping the power ups here we go oh he’s there right in front of them you can see the Finish Arch as well I think he’s going to do it Matt right on the line I think look at that Harris
Is well Harris has hung on that was that was it I do apologize I’m just literally checking the actual finish Gantry what a ride by the Aussie in the colors of bl13 the team who are in 10th place or were in 10th Place going into tonight he’s
Just scored them 300 points on the night so despite the fact we’ve not really been mentioning bl13 they’re going to be right there up there in fact they are if I make that correct Matt my my even my mask work that out I don’t know how many
Points wul lolov scored there we’ll have a look down when we get to it we will bring you all of this folks once we’ve ratified it and checked it and I’m pleased to say it won’t be me ratifying and check it because I am a mathematical
Numpty as we both know Matt only too well um but he’s just scored 300 points for that finale which was the same number of points that Wahu Lal our leading team was sitting on anyway so if they didn’t score any points they will have scored points because everyone who
Finished scored points but yeah well be Andreas was third yeah so our world champion was third we get confirmation of that in a minute but it will obviously go down the C but as you said because of the amounts of uh of points that are scored in fact I think we do
Have a result that has come through on the night an initial result but I’ll leave that for you to talk about but what what an individual ring that has to be a season highlight for BL 13 powerb level V he used that power up to devastating effect but that was a hard
40c run into the line I mean but a perfectly timed move but that was super super strong mly impressive win by Harris yes what a great race now let’s not forget our women are getting underway we will bring you folks at home don’t worry particularly if you’ve tuned
In Fairly recently what ready to cheer on a fan or a maybe even a family member someone you know you might even be in the same room or same house as someone who’s about to race in the women’s zift gr Prix here at the Epic points race we
Will be bringing you that race imminently but we will of course keep updating you on the ratified final results even the provisional results as we get them of the men’s points race Matt and I are looking at a provisional points table but I think we’ll hold back
On that until our Engineers bring it up on the screen rather I’m quite good at putting my foot in things and I don’t want to do that here in the the the premier DFT Racing League tell you what though Matt why don’t we have a look at
Those women’s teams uh before we get into their racing too remember that Folks at home they’re doing exactly the same distance exactly the same course Matt let’s start working our way through these women’s teams shall we indeed well as the men’s it’s what the mirroring the 16th Place team is prore racing Without
Borders there in 16th still looking I think at trying to move up there castelli of course uh we’ve got um oh the team of course normally in the men’s ridden by a colleague the with Nathan Guera and of course we’ve got Sophie joavan Martina Erich seleni colomi Emilia boutini and
Roberto boson as well Rocka Collective a team also wanting to try and move up nearer towards the top 10 if they can Julie Cass Roose doen and Cat Ridgeway couple of key Riders from them and then B 13 well can they can they do the same
As the men today Jay Harris has taking the individual win but I tell you what that is going to void their Spirits what can the team of Anderson bod fche Maya Murray and Trin do after that wonderful win by Harris this evening absolutely uh let’s see how how
BL 13 can be lifted by that last lap performance onto beast mode the all German team excuse me and they’re getting better they’re moving up too 26 of their 31 points were scored just in the last two rounds so that is a German team very much with the ascendancy the
Wind in their Sals AA Synergy unlike the men team who went into this evening leading their women’s team are sitting in 11th place uh they had their best round in the team time trial so their combined strength together is excellent let’s see if they can put that to find
Work in this points race tonight let’s see next Esports in 10th place and consistently sitting mid pack all the way through the zift gr Prix this winter um they were let down by a weak scratch race though in round four so let’s hope that doesn’t happen again for a team
That has some very strong riders in there Liz van howling probably the strongest of them but let’s see tonight shall we M Star sitting in ninth just inside that uh bottom half if you like of our teams they that fantastic points race in round three didn’t they but
They’ve been very quiet since so let’s see if the points race format is something that can rally the M Star women’s team tonight indeed let have a look at the next page indeed well uh s um Gabrielle Guera is there a rer that I know one person amongst our team will be
Cheering on that is for sure she’s going to be racing only a few feet away from Nathan um and they currently sit pretty solidly there in eighth place our Toyota Elite um looking at a ride of there Lucy Harris might like a course like this then we’ve got team Swedish swifters
You’ve got a very very good team they always have led I think on of course at this by Anna eming they’re currently in sixth place and then 2024 currently that in fifth place um Melissa Rollins Laura Quin owners Miriam pet Emma Langley and medal CT are the team that I think would
Definitely be eyeing moving up into uh fourth place today but they’ve got 14 they’re 14 points behind the Wula calls that might be a big ask for them let’s see so moving on to our top four just as with the men Wahu LOL are in fourth place so they’re very even
With their men’s team at the moment let’s see if they can change that this evening though they’re a team on the up waho lall for the women too in their last four rounds they’ve got 16 points 20 points and then two rounds where they’ve scored 28 in both up on the
Podium as well so they’re definitely in the ascendency can they carry that through to 2024 let’s see exagon the French team are sitting in third and they’re just five points off second right now as well in third place they were winners of the mountain points race don’t forget when Sandrine ettien went
Off by herself and hoovered up mountains of points can she do the same thing here that will be really interesting to see how the French woman sandre ettien chooses to use uh the slopes of Box Hill I think she could do it Matt but let’s watch shall we let’s see second place is
Last year’s winner aonian uh it’s currently in second and I’m sure they’ll look to try and get back on top if they can over the next two rounds they were winners of the team time trial last round as well they won the last round so can they use that strength in numbers to
Close the gap at least to Coalition Alpha Coalition Alpha of course are our leading team led by their DS Rees how sitting pretty at the top as they have done since November but can they hang on as the attacking starts today and how much I wonder Matt will they have to
Rely on Lou Bates who has been an absolute Powerhouse for them particularly in the points races yep they’ve got such a good team they as is yeah definitely and also Mary Wilkinson I know she’s been out in a bike getting the hours in of late in the
Cold conditions and I think she’d prefer a longer traditional race but yeah they’ve got a really versatile Squad but they are the team to beat quite clearly right well while we wait to bring you the men’s result and don’t worry folks home we will have that for
You as soon as we can uh double and triple check it we’ll bring it to you right here let’s check in on the event format though I said it’s exactly the same as the men’s but it was quite a while ago when we started that men’s
69.7 km race so we’ll remind you what it is we are on the PRL London half or London PRL half course as I say 69.7 let’s call it 70k between friends it is four laps of this London course where we go north of the river through the start
Line and then we dip south of the river and we go to Box Hill in sry or would be sorry but it’s South London Box Hill in South London up Box Hill at the top of Box Hill there are points for the first Riders across it on each of the four
Laps 150 75 50 40 and 35 points as you can see there on the screen every time across it there’s those powerups available when you go back through the start line and over the top of Box Hill and they are the draft power up which increases your draft for 40 seconds so
The format is exactly the same as for the men and um I think we’re ready to bring you some of the live action as well this is the race points so far by the looks of it and we’ll be able to bring you up to speed with ly where in
The race we are so by the looks of it then we’ve already gone through over the top of Box Hill once and we did wonder I think we did wonder and sorry I do apologize we are now bringing you the race points from the Finish L let me
Start that again shall we Matt you jump in if you notice I’m talking a load of rubbish which I often do these are of course the fin for our final Sprint I was looking thinking hang on a minute what’s going on here I do apologize it’s been quite a long evening already Yes
This was the Finish wasn’t it of the the men’s race last time across the line and Harris the the Aussie getting that fantastic 300 points as well there was the top 10 anyone stand out for you guys in there Matt or or maybe Nathan that we didn’t mention that was in there we’re
Rolling down through the 20th so we get to see who was in that group in the end yeah no I think it’s just a grouping of the Riders you can see 12 13th 14th there for Abus um so they’ve grouped well but nobody in the top 10 um but the
Team and we’ll get the the team rankings in a bit the team that stood out for me in terms of getting multiple Riders scoring lots of points was next Esports three inside that the uh the upper reaches of the top 10 there yeah we did uh we did keep
Mentioning didn’t we that next Esports were always there or thereabouts very evident in that leading group too so they’ve had a good night it will be interesting to see the effect of that on the team points don’t forget we’ll be able to give you a tally of all the te
Points scored on the night and the team that has the highest points will score 35 Series points and uh certainly Matt from what I’m seeing in the provisional scoring we’ll bring you that as soon as we can it could be an interesting Shuffle this evening but don’t forget
This is going into next week’s points Hunter going to be absolutely Mega let’s see what it’s done let’s bring the race points up the team points on the night and there it is next Esports we kept mentioning how many numbers they still had in that leading group and that’s
What it does for you 946 points on the night next Esports our team who started the night in he says second place weren’t they of course Wahu lall had that fantastic race in the uh in the Epic points hunt they’re in second 934 Toyota Elite e cycling in
Third they were in fifth place going into the night so we’ll see what that does to the standings overall then it’s Coalition Alpha hexagon bl13 sitting on 532 points to add to to the that’s on that’s including the 300 of our final finishing line win of course fooder
Pono’s Coalition had a good night as well uh in eighth place ahead of mvar Team Swedish swifters uh castelli Elite restart I should say and then beast mode dpack and saris down on no points a bad night for the for the riders in white and pink so that’s our 16 teams for the
Men we’re going to bring you now I believe a little bit of a replay of the action so far in the women’s race and uh and then shortly after that we’ll be able to join it live of course let’s have a look so these are our leading women what
Will be interesting to see is how much it’s whittel down early on as we can see early attackers as well looking to get clear and uh this is back on the streets of North London of course so I am presuming this is on the opening lap as
Well heading out to Box Hill for the first time my suspicions is they’ve taken inbox H already but we’ll bring you up to speed with that in uh in just a moment and the early attacker from exagon and that is Marine Muji just being real back in and no
Surprise there the colors of aonian and Coalition Alpha bossing the front end of this I’m um I’m wondering Matt watching these pictures whether we might see those two teams in particular earing and Coalition Alpha just start to snuff things as well right well talking of them Coalition Alpha with one Rider
Going over the top I can’t actually see this sh who it is but they’ve definitely got one Rider who’s L baits there we go I did wonder how much they might lean on the shoulders of L Bates and she is at it already scoring the first 150 points
Over the top of Box Hill and our leading team Coalition Alpha once again using the strength of the British Rider these are live pctures ladies and gentlemen welcome to the penultimate round of the zift gor Prix for the women this is the Epic points race one Sprint Point down
Three to go plus the Finish Line Matt Coalition Alpha are at it again oh they certainly are they’re such a strong team and the thing is it’s they’re just so versatile they can perform well on all sorts of terrain and and you called it at the top of the show
When we’re going through the the Riders Lou Bates but clearly has got great legs and very much like the men’s race this is going to be completely different proposition I think the women would have been um watching keenly to see how the men’s race here unfolded not so much for
The tactics Ed but just the way that the pelaton quite quickly was diminished so some of the bigger teams here will try and put a lot of pressure on on some of the teams that they fear just to try and Whittle it down and in the process
Giving getting Riders out of the back I mean the the gap for the men’s race in terms of Rider scoring points any anybody who finished inside 5 minutes scored uh it’s 7 minutes for the women’s race as we look at Harris just setting that Tempo on the front teammate just
Behind her and that was Nordman but no um I think that have learned a lot about the men’s race but again again because this is so so new it could be completely different but one thing I am expecting and no doubt Nathan will think the same
Thing uh I’m expecting this to be very attritional and a reduced group going through the finish and already second time up Box Hill um yeah there’s a lot of riders already out the back yeah this is uh well we’ve got what two more switch backs before they get to the
Very top and this is now much more uh well tactical they’re not riding Easy by any mean if you look at what’s P kilo there’s a lot of riders knocking around the 5 wats per kilo Mark here so they’re not sitting back just watching each other cautiously but there’s not a big
Attack being thrown down right now awful lot of riders in play but while we’re watching this both I guess Matt and Nathan either of you we talk about well they’ve been watching and they they would have learned some stuff from the men’s I know things are slightly
Different you know the the pack Dynamics are different between the men and the women we often talk about this but what is there is there anything they’ have learned from watching the men there Nathan what’ you reckon what could they have picked up on uh I think um the reality of being
Able to bring something back if the pack is large enough but I like Matt just said this is going to be a very different story I think because you’re going to get a lot more separation there’s some standout Riders here who as the race goes on I think will start to
Form a much smaller Breakaway group um you know we’re looking at you know Hill is here at the na uh you know gagos at Le gyos is a big standout in the last month or so and she’s got new confidence I’d be watching out for her as well
Obviously L Bates for Haren so there’s some names here from multiple teams I think that will start start to see uh rising to the top of this climb you know going into the back end of this and and maybe see a little bit different as Matt
Said proposition uh it’s it’s hard to to say like there’s a little bit of something to learn from but they race so differently and there the the the talents are really really different across it so sometimes it’s hard to kind of fit those puzzles together just just off the back of that
Nathan as well with uh we’re coming towards the top of this climb but uh already Coalition Alpha courtesy of of the points on offer uh 150 points um for you just see the the point score on the screen there aonian 110 M are 50 Toyota
Elite of 40 so that’s the point so far uh and it won’t be long before we come round to the top of the climb but uh the different thing we’ve seen we saw Lou Bates attacking on lap one and then every time on the climbing the men’s
Race we saw an individual attacker at some point but here it looks like we could get more of a Sprint um towards the top of the climb rather than a solo attacker already J there’s a different sort of dynamic to the way that the pack are actually tackling Box
Hill that is interesting isn’t it it’s um you know I I often I think I often say this and I’m not afraid to say it I’m not I’m not I’m not out to upset people this is just my own take of it I I think and they I’m massively
Generalizing between male and female races in real life and in zwift things are quite different but I still think sometimes there’s something about the the sort of too many of the men where they’re quite happy to throw it down and take a risk and there are probably more
Women I’m just I’m generalizing here right so so tell me to shut up and I’m talking nonsense Matt but I think there probably are more women certainly in cycling that will be a little bit more cautious what I’m saying is too many of the men are like Meatheads and the women
Are probably a little bit more sensible one who isn’t though is Lou Bates cuz she’s doing it again look at this she’s got so much power yeah yeah she really has she’s so so confident um she’s opened up a gap already of 1 and a half seconds over coent of Toyota Elite
E cycling another coal Mary Wilkinson isn’t too far away so already Coalition Alpha they’re dominating the league so far and already second time up they dominated again what a ride by bats looks like Wilkinson in second there Jaz as well wow both two two British Hill Climb specialists in real life
Absolutely bossing it as well really using Box Hill and their strength in esport and zift to their absolute best at the moment Matt if it carries on like this Lu Bates could take all four of these because she is peerless at that stage bearing in mind it’s her teammate
Who’s in second as well that is very impressive yeah and uh that sort of effort as well is going to put just another handful of riders out the back as well slowly but surely whittling this lead group down but somebody’s taking the opportunity to go over the top here
From castelli colomi has G gone clear this is that little bit that we were talking about earlier on the second little step up you go through the finish uh line at Box Hill but the road actually continues up even steeper it’s quite cruel actually but she’s been uh caught by Lizzy
Harris just rolling through there after that little bit of attempt bajaran is there as well but no a dominant dominant start by Coalition Alpha but point so far two more ascents of this climb Coalition Alpha 375 points to ionians 110 more than double triple in fact the
Point score and we’re only half distance talk about having raised their game Coalition Alpha I’ll just remind people that in last year’s inaugural zift Grand Prix Coalition Alpha finished 10th at the end of the whole series aonian who sitting in second right now both on the
Day and in the series were our winners okay Coalition Alpha have absolutely lifted everything about the way they do this and what a combination of strength they have here particularly I mean we’re talking as two British commentators here Matt we’re completely impartial of course but he the British spine of that
Team particularly like we’re seeing today Mary Wilkinson and Lou Bates who are just seemingly perfectly made for zift those two and it’s no surprise is it we’ve mentioned this before in real life they’re both uh I think they might both be former National Hill Climb Champions they’re both brilliant hill
Climbers and and it turns itself so well to these kind of efforts doesn’t it it certainly does it’s pretty I think it’s worth bringing Nathan here of course U Mary Wilkinson as well is one on all different sorts of terrain is again a proper OG when it comes to
Racing on zwift a former zwift Academy finalist but Nathan one thing that Coalition have got as well as strengthening depth is they’re smart aren’t they as well so when you have strong Riders and you you you race smart and you race with skill that gives you
Another Edge as well with Reese how at the helm with that much power power under the hood once you combine that um that kind of uh tactical intelligence it’s pretty devastating isn’t it yeah it really is and and the reason being there also is bike racing is all about there’s moments right there’s
Those moments in when the race is really decided and you’ve got to really Reserve that power for those moments and it it’s kind of like you could have this engine all day long you know and and have all of this you know prowess but at the end
Of the day if you just waste it out on course it’s not going to do a whole lot for you whereas you know there there’s definitely like this this whole pendulum of that right like we’re not really that experienced all the way to like okay extremely experienced that can
Accelerate it and exponentially take the energy that you have to use it to your advantage against your your adversaries out there so I think you know it’s definitely something to speak to when you talk about L Bates Mary Wilkinson um who else is out here riding for Kish I
Mean this is some of the OG as it gets you know they’ve been around since the beginning and they’ve got some they’ve know this course from the first times we ever had a broadcasted race of it actually so specifically Wilkinson uh you know so with that kind of experience
They know exactly when to go down to the meters a lot of times on a course like this yeah it’s uh it’s something I’m just it’s sorry Jess yeah and I was just saying I just just just thank you for that Nathan I’ve just noticed once again
In this points racing format as M Sodom the Swedish rider for mistar who’s the only mistar Rider in this leading group they do rely heavily on her the mistar team but I could see her quite easily scoring some big points in this world but she’s the only M Star Rider left in
A leading group of what is that I can probably count it cuz it’s pretty small it’s around about 18 to 20 Riders at the most of the 80 riders that started it’s really broken up as we thought it might Matt very early isn’t it yeah we knew
It’ be attritional um but this has broken up a little bit more than I thought but the pace they were going up the climb uh I don’t think it was a matter of nobody wanting to attack I just think the pace was set was that high that nobody actually could attack
Apart from L Bates who left it to the last 200 M and this little this little section here as they come out of the underground a lot of rods are just dropping these powerups they’ll get another one in about a mile or so time as they go through the arch this is like
A moment to recuperate a little bit you’ll just see the powers dropped off a little bit under four Watts a kilo here so an opportunity to get rid of your power up save some energy in the process and this little second group I’ve got a
Second bite of the Cherry 40ks to go now so 25 miles this little group just getting back on um but the thing is if you’ve been dropped at this stage you’re going to possibly unless you have a real second win to get to get up next timer
But all of these riders that have just got back on now have another chance at suffering the way over Box Hill as monik Le Keller now Clips off the front for ionian yeah just off the front but this is a I think some of this is a combination of seeing these powerups
Being used now the draft powerups before they get back to that start line again and pick up another one so some of them giving him a really useful burst to uh to click kick clear we’re following we following just behind the leading Rider but things very very close at the frun
Of that that just a couple of seconds in it um two more ascents of Box Hill to come and then that vital finish as well which carries points for everyone that finishes within seven minutes of the leader so a little bit more lenient and
In the men’s race we saw a lot of riders outside that 5 minute cut off seven minutes for the women and uh so far I haven’t seen any anyone near that but I think we will be getting some near it CU some big gaps very very early
On hexagon have rer or exagon as Matt reminded me to say in the lead they sit let’s remind ourselves they sit in third place the French team racing in the orange and this is Marine mui who is in the league we’ve already seen her in the
On the attack today as well so they’re definitely not relying too heavily on sandin ettien and actual fact dare I say it Matt I don’t think I’ve mentioned sandin etan’s name so far and look at this she is in that group we can see it she’s 7 Seconds down on Muji and maybe
Eten waiting yeah could be no no she did just just an interesting move here just puts pressure on the other teams and as we’ve only got a smaller pelaton here why not try something why not try and just test I think on a on a course like this as we
Were talking about in the men’s race it’s a it’s a race where you can actually take a few risks try some different things some stuff might not stick others might um some Riders might look at this race and approach it with caution because of the distance remember
It’s just under 70 km which is a long long way on Swift but what that opens the door to is to roders who are brave to to go for it and and just try and get a little bit of a breakway early on and
You just never know and and I do I do think like any fortune favors the brave but by the same token you don’t want to be Reckless but I do think this course this profile the fact we’ve got a smaller amount of riders left um if
You’re feeling good why not give it a nudge and it might just draw the thing from elsewhere and you never know you might get yourself in a little group but saying that um another couple of percents of the climb it’s still a long way to go on this
One Nathan can I just bring you in because I’m suspecting even though you still got your jacket on things might be hotting up in that room because we’re watching your wife Gabby in the pink and white of sarus she’s just gone on the attack there to close things up I think
We can just hear a bit of a woring in the background and she’s knocking out well I can tell you what she’s knocking out at the moment around about somewhere between three and a half four what you there I know give away anything in terms of tactics Nathan you’re not that stupid
But how’s she how’s she going tonight I’m assuming she might not be able to hear you how’s she going and and and what might we see her do you know um she’s not feeling you know her uh system seems a little bit better at uh keeping the sickness off
But I think there may be a little bit of something still in that she her heart rate’s a lot higher than usual tonight so she’s kind of like uh and then then all of a sudden two laps in when I’m like yeah just hang on then tonight just
Hang on we find her off the front so I don’t know I don’t I don’t know what’s going on now honestly with Gabby but uh we’ll see uh how she continues to play it I have a feeling you know she is one who’s got um a lot of endurance she is a
Athlete who rides the bike a lot and in a race of attrition I think that uh it starts to favor her the longer the race goes um so we’ll see if uh if that ends up playing out for her if she doesn’t feel like she has as much of a kick
Tonight so uh other than that I you know I’ll see if I can get into her head a little bit more for everybody thanks Nathan wish her well from us of course we will keep an eye on her she’s right at the beginning of the pack there talking of heart rate of
Course you can see uh Gabby gerrera’s heart rate there and currently 154 beats per minute as she’s knocking out just around about three watts per kilogram right now it’s that pack reforms just must themselves a little bit more she has her teammate Elena wisman the Belgian Rider in that very multinational
Saris team in that leading group the rest of them are in the groups behind in this very very select leading group so Matt things have looked like they’ve just calmed down a little bit as we look at the numbers now yeah and mo as you were just talk as
Nathan was just uh just talking there Mo of the the squad that’s just gone clear it’s m been caught um so that little Furay off the front it was a tentative little attack she’s now been brought back but as we just pan out a little bit
As we just go along in a Westerly Direction along the river 10 before we head back into Sur again that group has swelled but still I think there’s probably only about 4045 Riders left with still two laps to go Stephanie slick moved through to the front it just
Shows how hard it is to actually try and snap the elastic on a race like this but it might have been the best move maybe Mo was expecting somebody to come across uh but often when you’ve been saing good quite often when you put your nose in
The wind it’s a gentle reminder of how hard it is to try and go solo so perhaps she thought better of it and just slotted herself back into the group for the exagon squad yeah we’re looking at Swedish swifters right now and Bergland is their only Rider in this leading group the
Team who see it and that could be a problem for them they sit in sixth place going into tonight’s racing they could do with scoring some decent points so bit of pressure there on asaas Bergland to score some points tonight um and not in currently in our top five teams I’ll
Look to see how far down they are when we see things roll down a little bit but a bit of pressure on her certainly Matt I don’t know whether I can’t believe that well maybe the maybe they well they’re probably seeing the data in front of you but once you know you’re
The only Rider from your team still left in that front group you’ve got to calm yourself down from that haven’t you and make sure you deliver an awful lot of pressure in that position isn’t there exactly I mean if you are the last Rider and you you’ve got an elite group of
Riders it’s it’s like well okay I’m going to score some points you got to try and maximize that opportunity but also what it does uh it’s easy to get a little bit carried away so you’ve got to try and just try and just recuperate sit in and use the other teams there’s no
Point as one individual Rider of trying to do too much trying to show your hand and the Riders will be acutely aware of that but sometimes when you’re on the edge when the adrenaline’s pump pump uh pumping it’s hard to think rationally it’s very easy for us to kind of
Deconstruct and forensically analyze the tactics here cuz we’re sat with our heart rates at about 70 beats a minute when you’re at 150 thinking critical thinking is is massively impaired that’s why you need a good direct sportif and that’s part of the skill set of being an
Elite athlete um riding hard and making decisions is something you need to get good at it’s something you learn uh some something some Riders have more naturally but yeah if you’re there if you’re one Rider the only representative one of one team here it’s about staying
As calm as you can and maximizing the opportunity to get a good result because team swed swifters back in the day that we said they’re an OG team they’re not quite the team that they were because a lot of their best Riders have moved on to some of the bigger teams have been
Poached because but they are they they they had one of the best teams around for many many years but some of those rods have now moved on but currently they do sit in sixth place uh on the GC with 62 points which as if fast Bergland
Is listening to us Matt because we said she’s the only one of their team in there she’s listening to you talking about their OG status and she’s just cruising off the front a little bit now coming back into the fold as well by the way I’m really enjoying seeing these in
Screen shots of the Riders it’s such a a kind of diversity of of faces and body type the the body language I mean you know that you’re seeing from them we just enjoyed watching um to Elite there one of their Riders Janie rmer the Dutch woman um knocking out consistent 400
Wats throughout but sitting upright with her phone in her hand texting as well whether she’s communicating with the rest of her yeah I’d imagine she she’ll either be I think generally teams will use Discord or Whatsapp actually this bring in Nathan here because uh I know that there are various platforms that
That teams use but as we’ve got a little bit of a lull in the action um before we kick off again on Box Hill Nathan is it Discord that teams um have me use I know it’s it’s a great platform because the latency is really low it’s it’s like
They’re there in the room with you is that common amongst most teams is that the way they will all be communicating do you think yeah I mean almost every single team that I’ve interacted with has gone to Discord uh a little bit of zift History very early on uh there were a
Few other uh we were using uh Team speak I believe it was super early on I actually I actually made I think the original TeamSpeak server um and then Discord kind of took over which is another gaming you know space before Discord really took off and then uh and
Then Discord really took off as the main server for all that I have jumped into one or two um Team time trials or or teams that maybe will make like a WhatsApp call or a group call on another platform but discord’s really the main one a lot of people have used at this
Point because it does have enough features where you can create a your own little social media space too a a a space where there’s more going on than just chatting in a race situation because you can go in afterwards and your your race can and your community
Can kind of live on and have a platform to interact on in a more private area rather than like Facebook or something like that that’s interesting I I that’s a useful Insight Nathan actually and it’s no surprise to hear that you’ve been involved in furthering some of the use
Of those uh those platforms as well I must admit I’ll give a little shout out to to Microsoft teams of all things during uh the first covid lockdown I was involved with sort of Team managing uh a a small team on on zwift and we use
Microsoft teams and I must admit if you just use it as a voice call and a void video all together it was quite good actually it was pretty stable don’t remember having any problems with it so um I guess the use of Discord fits in
With this being a game as well a video game the gamified nature of It kind of SPS quite nicely I guess with that platform too yeah and I would I would jump into like the it’s the repeated use I think from a community over and over again
Because the channels live on within the app and so you create a channel and then there’s access to the channel and people can easily come back to find that space and it ALS they also live on with a chat you know in some sort of way whereas
Like a zoom call or Microsoft teams or something like that like if you’re just going to meet up once that might make a lot of sense rather than creating a space that might live on in existence right so that makes a lot more sense if it’s just a single onetime
Interaction yeah I think it’s a fair shout actually I I did a ride the other day um we used Discord we had a like a Q&A session using Discord and and again Discord is used for all the reasons that Nathan said it lives on they’ve got
Quite a lot of features it is a separate Standalone platform but the the kind of voice Network it has the latency is so so good because it’s primarily used in gaming so if you’re in a in a in a co-op game you know there’s no lag at all so I
Think that’s what’s great in terms of racing when it’s when things are happening dynamically it gives you the speed and that there’s no drop off at all so it’s pretty cool without getting too geeky as we head on to the climb for the third time yep the third time of
Four so the penultimate Ascent of the whole evening in actual fact in fact of the whole zift G Prix the penultimate Ascent of Box Hill that iconic London 2012 Olympic climb IRL but also as mattx mentioned such an important um real world climb in the world of zift here on
The PRL half London course you are watching the women’s epic points race currently leading Coalition Alpha our leading team who’ve bossed this through L baits I’m going to throw this down now uh Nathan for you to hear while Matt just taking a little break I think I’m
Going to say it to everyone who’s listening I reckon L Bates is going to win both of these ascents of Box Hill and the final Sprint I think she’s looked that good Nan then I know I’m not exactly it’s quite feasible but I’m just going to say it now because I know I
Think it’s going to happen that’s what I reckon is going to happen it’s a tough one you know I could see it happening yeah and I wouldn’t put it past her one bit but with these kinds of punches over the you know duration we’re seeing here we’ve seen here time
And again be able to perform at that kind of a level at the same time I’m watching some of these other riders that could hang on and might be better in a Sprint at the end if they don’t use up those matches I’m you know it it’s a
High probability I wouldn’t go past an Ario varh Harin though if she can hang on to the end I wouldn’t go past the Zoe langum as well we haven’t seen her as much early season and now with Zoe uh back involved here and maybe waiting
Till the back end and we saw this look watch next Esports just won in the men’s right early on we saw a lot of points going to Abus going to Abus but Abus ended up 13th 14th and 15th I think it was or something like that and next
Ended up stacking a bunch at the top end and and and coming in with enough Riders um with enough points to end up taking it down in the end I have a feeling there might be a couple of the teams out here thinking more in those terms rather
Than UPF front I mean I think Lou has to really do and and Mary have to do a lot to carry uh the teams out there today whereas we may see be something more from aonian or even waho lle uh with consistency throughout the entirety of
The race like we saw with next in the men’s race thank you Nathan well we’ve seen an attack a little bit of a teasing attack from Lucy Harris the British Rider at TOA Elite but now once again it’s that Italian Rider from castelli Selen colomi who’s done a big dig she’s closed down
By Harris actually who’s obviously got good form the Toyota Rider and we’re seeing some gaps opening up further down that group as well I think we’re going to see once again a bit of a grinder taken to the back end of that this time round I think you this climb it’s a long
Climb is for the the women I think that there would be a kind of s minute effort 7 and a half minute effort it’s a it’s a long or climb we know it’s not super steep but it is sustained enough if you want to really press on on the front to
Make Riders suffer this is a real key key part I mean without stating uh the obvious so clearly colomi is a very good climber look and she’s clearly in good form look at that 5.8 she was just touching six Watts a kilo that’s a really um a good good Tempo um you just
Saw the draft cone there does anybody outside of that draft cone is going to be at a distinct disadvantage but as we were talking about before this is a relatively fast climb but it is a climb you can put people under pressure in and if you’re in a team with good climbers
You want to you want to utilize them and try and Whittle down take some of the bigger more powerful Riders out or at the very least make them suffer it’s not just about dropping Riders it’s about diminishing their ability to have that kick at the end and just make making
Them suffer for as long as you can it’s about playing to your strengths on a course like this if you haven’t got a big punch you haven’t got a Sprint what do you have you have the ability to make the other Rider suffer and hopefully the
Elastic will snap a little bit later on and that’s what we’ve seeing columia doing again here as she’s just moved off the front again she just keeps lifting it doesn’t see I’m also keeping my eyes on the exagon Riders as well sandre netian just move forward right close to
The front as well she has a teammate there with her as well there’s two of them in this leading group let’s see keep an eye on them but Colombia is obviously very strong uh Matt I’m just wondering whether this is this is the best tactics you keep surging like this
But we’ve still got a quite a long way to go as well and there we have it Coalition Al just sitting in behind her as well waiting just yeah I mean you’ve got yeah Lucy Harris up there Mary Wilkinson never too far from the front
As well Lou Bates well she is so yeah she’s looming isn’t she sat there in seventh place at the moment in a very very good position and again I think we as we’ve seen unsurprised surprisingly I think we see some powerups getting dropped very shortly we’ve got around
500 M 600 M the top as bit appears to wind things up Matt I mentioned it you just took a little nature break there and I don’t blame you in a long broadcast I mentioned to Nathan I think and I’m going to say it again now I
Think L Bates is going to win every single Sprint in this race she’s going for this one I’m not sticking my neck out too much because she looks so good so far is she going to get the third one in a row it’s looking like she is look
At that there is no answer and once again it’s Mary Wilkinson her own teammate who’s sitting in behind are we going to see these two Coalition Alpha Riders take one and two again and I think the answer is no coles’s come back again where is the Italian getting that
Strength from L Bates looks like she’s going to hold on she’s won every Sprint so far there is only one more Ascent here that was a tight pack for second behind them maker Sodom the Swedish rider for mistar I said she’s their only Rider anywhere within a shout of scoring
Points today she’s got a big bag there in second place ahead of simen of Wahu LOL colomi with a great ride there in fourth place I thought she’d burnt too many matches but the Italian Rider has obviously got very good form this evening too it was coin for Toyota
Esports as well scoring points in fifth place yeah that was good that was that was I really like the word I yeah the rider for me at the moment there was columia because she spent at least half of the climb off off the front or just
Trying to drag them along and put them under pressure and then had enough to go again so that’s a real indicator of condition one more Ascent of this climb as we hit this little nasty it’s a real horrible kicker if you get if you hit this one exhausted you’re straight into
The red and this is where the elastic can do but as you can see by the shape of the group here Harris now moving through to the front nobody right now is using this little kicker to exploit it’s more let’s just look around take stock
Um and I think a few more Riders might get back back on a few more powerups being deployed a little bit later rather than using them for the Sprints using them to assist getting back on as we uh change the picture in picture sorry change our view should I say and it’s a
Harris of wul Lal starting to drop down the other side now well they need to get on with it because looking at the this picture we’re looking at right now I can’t even see the next group behind them these guys guys these women surged really hard up through that line there
As they chased l baites who’s won every single Sprint point so far leading for the first three times over boxill as matter said we’ve got one more Ascent of it they then go back north of the river they go as if they’re heading back towards the base of boxill but they turn
Around round about and they finish in fact along the Mau outside Buckingham Palace for that final Sprint which let me remind people particularly if you didn’t see the finish of the men’s race that carries the really big points so L Bates has won three times 150 points
It’s 150 points at the top of Box Hill every time but our Finish Line has 300 points and again to remind our viewers at home there are points for every finisher all the way down to Five Points for 80th but only if you finish within the seven minutes of our leading
Rider y it’s uh just a bit of a given how how dominant L Bates and I tell you what I wouldn’t want to bet against L Bates winning the next one whether she’ll win the race itself that remains to be seen but the way she’s climbing she’s unmatched nobody has even apparent
Attempted to go with her and that’s not taking anything away from anybody else she has got such a ridiculously violent strong turn of speed but that accumulation of points there’s a cosmic Gap now between uh the two first two teams at the top but it’s been a good
Night so far for mistar they’re a team that normally would be well inside the top four or five overall they’re a little bit about halfway down the rankings mistar I think they’re in ninth place but they’re currently second so good night so far but Coalition Alpha get this 525 points all tonight Umar
With one a distant 125 Toyota on the same then we have Ion with 110 yet Wahoo with 85 and then both tied on 40 next Esports and team castelli well M if I’m not mistaken that 125 points for M star has I think entirely come from M Sodom as well yes
It has she’s looked good she really favors seems to really suit the points races as well um but that goes to show how many points you can rack up by one Rider being that good in a leading group like this I guess with the slightly smaller numbers compared to the men’s
Leading group that we had come into wood towards the finish with the smaller numbers here as well it’s a slightly is it an easier tactical game because you know the numbers in this group as long as they keep pressing on not many more will join them dare I say it if any
Because all the quality all the best Riders are here there’s a few names missing who are having not such strong a night but I don’t see many getting back to this group they’re not hanging around are they yeah I think we might see because the group has reduced used and
Most of the Riders you’d expect to be in the front of there what and we’ve got another Ascent still to come I think Riders here might actually take it a little bit easy on this little bit of a kicker and as we saw last time through
It’s that little bit of an easing it’s a settling in still a long way to go as you can see 26.3 k a full lap and a half and an extra little bit of the end uh which takes us up the mall um I think we
Might see one or two Riders getting back in back in contention but still we might only see 25 riders in the front group and and to a degree you’re right it does make tactics more simpler um but uh cuz you can see everybody and you’ll have
The DS there just giving that giving the information in your ear making sure you keep an eye on on certain Riders so the tactics are simplified but in turn it adds a little bit more pressure on actually doing a performance so there it’s again it’s double-edged
Right we’re back north of the river in real life the Riders are riding around the edge of the city of London in the direction of black friers having crossed underneath suuk Bridge under there and of course dropping quite a lot of their powerups now because they’re heading back towards the start
Line for the final time to pick up their oh sorry it’s not the final time of course is it’s the penultimate time to pick up penultimate power up from that position they’ll get another one of course let’s not forget at the top of Box Hill one more Ascent of Box Hill and
Then that uh well quite tactical running and the group this side is going to be a fascinating tactical running as well we’ve if anything lost a few more Riders there as well looking at the numbers not they’re not absolutely hammering it but I guess they don’t need to now because they’ve Consolidated this
Over the last uh what 10K or so Matt got yeah we’ve got 15 riders in that front group it’s only 15 riders in the front now um so that really and there’s a big gap as you can see it’s 25 seconds back when we scroll through to 15th you can
Just see the Gap so it’s about yeah 20 15 or 25 seconds as we see the f ofes colomi of Team casselli she’s not only going well on the on the climbs je she’s going well on the flat I mean she bring Nathan in just to give us assessment of
What he thinks of this race so far I think it’s fascinating but far more attritional than the men’s Nathan from T from a tactical perspective just I’ve given my view on what jez’s question was what do you think do you think it simplifies the tactics or or do you
Think because there’s less Riders everybody’s keeping a closer eye on each other what are your thoughts well I mean watching so inh house here I see one thing playing out that’s all about just trying to hang on hang on over and over again not really you know there’s one tactic of like
Finish Line get to the top 10 that’s what we’re thinking about and then you’ve got a situation with Lou Bates and maybe somebody trying to challenge that’s more about hanging on to the to any kind of effort to the very top to grab as many points up and over the top
There um you know it is a little bit more straightforward it does seem like because it is just essentially wait until that moment at the top and see how far you can hang on and then watch Riders slowly just fall off one thing that’s really interesting to me is the new pack
Dynamics definitely make it so you have to fight for a position on the road just a moment ago I was you know kind of in Gabby’s ear and she’s like ah I can’t whatever and there was a misunderstanding about what exactly I was trying to get at it uh with her
About not being stuck behind a rider um because if a r if you can kind of watch and see if a Rider’s holding the wheel if they’re letting a gap go and just like in real life one of those like one two three now you got 5 m to close down
Then they start accelerating at the front next thing you know you’re off the back and you’re chasing whereas if you would have fought for position maybe a little earlier if you fight for position and you find position earlier and you can hold it and and not lose that
Position you then can almost fade back slowly but grab onto the tail end of that Sprint and hang on through so uh new pack Dynamics definitely playing a huge role here and making sure you’re in a good position cuz it matters going into the bottom of this climb and
Throughout the entirety of the climb Nathan that’s really interesting to hear you say that of course you’ve been there since the beginning so you’ve got to see how these changes have come in of course with the regular updates of the game itself and those changes to the
Pack Dynamics it’s got to be a good thing though isn’t it although as you say it can make someone you know Gabby might Panic about it and it might as you get used to it you start think hang on why is this is happening it is at least
Making Riders think really carefully you can’t just Cruise along and expect your your onscreen Rider to be exactly where you think they’d be you’ve got to really concentrate on the Feathering as Matt calls it of the power and where you are in that pack yeah and it is a uh momentto moment
Decision split-second decisions in the moment when moves are being made as to whether or not you’ll sense or know that that Rider that you’re drafting on is going to be be able to make that move and you know there’s experience with the Riders and knowing them and then there’s
Also kind of just recognizing what’s happening with the pixels on screen and like ah this looks like danger and even if they are going to close it down they might end up wasting both of your efforts a little bit more than they needed to be so you know it’s changed a
Lot in the last 6 months that’s for sure it’s worth pointing out by the way as we look at the pites we can see Gabby your wife in the middle of those shots at the bottom of the sris noin Riders is it well worth remembering that these
Riders these 80 Riders are all racing in countries all over the world Nathan can you just remind our viewers where you and Gabby are and what time of the day is it there yeah sure we’re in uh southeastern Wisconsin near Chicago Milwaukee so Milwaukee would be the largest city uh
Near to us we’re about an hour and a half away from Chicago there’s currently a snowstorm outside so I’m wondering how my internet is going actually at this point like we I think got a foot of snow in the last last 48 hours uh but uh now Gabriella does have a Brazilian flag
Originally from Brazil uh and Matt Gabriel actually when she was living in Germany and now she lives in the Midwest of Wisconsin so definitely uh worldwide when it comes to uh zwifting it it definitely connects the entire world fantastic absolutely brilliant well wherever you’re watching this around the world on our zwift YouTube
Channel thank you for joining us everyone I hope the weather is not too bad Where You Are I certainly can say I’m speaking to you from hartfordshire in England and it’s been really Frozen today bitterly cold I’m guessing it’s the same way you are Matt as well as we
Watch our group reforming and calming down once more indeed well I was actually believe it or not in New York today although I live in Derby I was on zwift in New York so I was in New York today on Swift yeah I’m in Derby in the
North of England or North Midland and it’s pretty chilly but uh just as Nathan was talking a minute ago we just saw that group swell so we Riders were at about three Watts a kilo three and a half Watts a kilo at the front of the
Group uh the front of the main pack and that definitely opened the door for Riders to get back on so the group has swelled to about 25 30 Riders now and we’ve got Mo who’s attacked again she did this last lap and is persistent in her efforts to try and break clear so
Good move here by the exagon rer straight over the top once we saw that regroupment the group has swelled and she’s seen the opportunity or decided to try and go clear along the banks of the river temps in the shadow almost of the London l absolutely lovely actually tell
You what it looks like lovely weather in London in this uh in the game in zift itself as well it’s always lovely weather as well which is nice to see well not always but it is definitely in this version of London Mo don’t forget having sandre and eten sitting in behind
Just before we started talking weather ettien herself gave a little dig off the front and I wasn’t quite we’ve not really seen her open up on the climb just yet so she’s not looking quite as strong as she was of course when we had that points race on the outd zwift but
Let’s see is she one of those Riders who might be holding something back she’s in that leading group and there they go H very little chance of many more Riders adding to that now we need to look down through our listings and see off the
Back of them what’s the Gap to the next group but I think it’s pretty big as well yeah well they closed a gap of 15 seconds since the subway uh but uh but it’s a fair it’s a fair bit and there’s Riders who who are way down now so but I
I have a feeling that we won’t see any more Riders get back on Top This is that little section here we can really lean on it Mo still got a slender lead of just under a second on the front ettien clearly won’t do anything but Mary Wilkinson just using that little incline
Just to inject a little bit more Pace into it she’s a rider that can do that over and over again one of the most experienced Swift Riders out there uh she really really is and as you were saying before a former British Hill clim champion and and there’s a teammate Lou
Bates as well who so far has dominated 100% record who is going to win this climb next time up um unless something changes I can’t see anybody beating it to be perfectly honest with you no that’s what I’ve said I’m going to I’ve stuck my neck well out mat it’s not no
It’s not it’s not it’s entirely predictable but I think looking at her I don’t think any I think the only person that can beat her maybe is Mary Wilkinson but let’s see Wilkinson of course but I think I may have mentioned this before is also a sheep farmer she
Is an well as we know because she’s an elite Rider she’s an incredibly fit athlete but a real kind of EXP o of the all round Fitness of working hard on the farm train working hard training hard playing hard she is uh quite some athlete all round athlete as well yeah
She’s certain I was just looking back through some of the numbers out I think the next group on the road is about 50 seconds behind that’s that’s way too much to close now as we get to head ever nearer going over the bridge again and heading back in towards sorry so it is
We’ve got about 25 30 rods in this group but as you say yeah Mary Wilkinson um her days are full put it that way and she gets out when she can but as she said lives up North near the borders I think I think it’s Yorkshire the ne the
W she lives in in the UK but but Mary Wilkinson she’ll certainly like this one uh I no doubt that she’ll be one of the Riders who will applaud the distance of this race and hope that in future editions of this with Grand Prix we see
More of this one but again it’s not very often we see this Nathan was talking about seeing them in the kiss 100 but I think every now and again to see something like this is really good and I really do like the way this Rift personally like the way the rift Grand
Prix’s evolved and I like the fact that week in week out we see something really different for the Riders and the teams to tackle and Nathan just bring you on again a minute mate because you’re you’ve been with the with swift since since Year Dot you helped form this this
This wonderful Community but what are your thoughts on the way of the evolution of this Rift Grand Prix and the various types of racing that the r the Riders have got to train for and also think about yeah it really allows every kind of talent that you could find within
Cycling to find their place doesn’t it right so today is a very different kind of race than we’d see in just a pure points Hunter type race that we’ll see next week and so uh you’ve got things where you’ve got situations where uh pure ruler time trialists are going to
Excel you’ve got situations where all out Muckle Yin Sprint over and over again is going to play out and then you’ve got situations like this where you have a much longer day uh an endurance is really going to matter as well as a V2 kick over and over and over
Again much more like a road race might be so I really really enjoy that you’re able to allow every kind of talent when you form a team across multiple kinds of roles that could be played it allows that to be accentuated and really shown off at the highest
Level couldn’t agree more guys I can tell you uh just just fill you in thanks for that Nathan I’m just going to fill you in on a little bit of uh a question that’s been asked of our viewers on our YouTube channel where you watching at home do get involved in the the
Questions on there in the chat beneath the live feed that you’re watching right now the question that was posed to our viewers will L Bates win the final intermediate and the Finish Line in other words do people agree with me and and that’s interesting that to see 53%
Have said yes but 46 say no so yes the majority of people do think she’s going to win both but um there is and the no the Sayers in there I probably right to be thinking like that because the question has to be asked who’s been waiting who’s sitting waiting keeping
Their powder dry are we going to see any others of those Coalition Alpha Riders uh absolutely smash it I mean MO is looking very good as she heads back towards Box Hill right now isn’t she Matt yeah we’ve not saying we’ve forgotten about it we’re talking about
Other things and she has built up the biggest lead we’ve seen in this race this is approaching the leads we saw um by a couple of riders in the men’s race uh an hour ago also uh um deep into the last third of the race now 18 case to go
But to 21 seconds and she’s holding steady isn’t she four 4 and a half Watts a kilo I’d imagine she’ be able to give a little bit more very important when you’re pacing a ride like this when you approach a climb just to make sure you
Almost the words I i’ like to call is Let The Climb come to you rather than going Full Tilt into the climb after being aware in the flat let the colim come to you find a biting point in the simplest of terms and then ride and she’s riding exceptionally well now
She’s measured her effort really really decently here as we hit the lowest slope but as we know before 21 seconds is um is a gap that can evaporate very quickly once the hitters start to get to the front if they’re minded to that is interesting Matt I hadn’t
Spotted that that exagon despite the fact they’ve got ettien and mo in here they haven’t scored any race points yet they sit in third in the overall classification but no points yet tonight so despite the fact that they’re being very evident we’re seeing a lot of Mo so
Far it’s not been a good night and they need to make that count because they’ve got two really quality riders in this leading group who need to start getting in amongst the points yeah they certainly do um and the Gap is coming down now it’s a 14 seconds
So he said the lead could compit Lake colomi who did a lot of the damage earlier on she’s clearly feeling good well she’ll look back and she’ll know the damage that she’s caused so why not do it again because if you know you can’t Sprint but what you can do is
Reduce the amount of runs you’ve got to Sprint again why not do some damage on the climb and reduce it to 10 12 Riders and then score as much as you can that way so it’s not necessarily about trying to break clear it’s forcing Riders to Chase and
Reducing the size of the group in the process so this you might think is a waste of energy but when we look at the top and we see how many rers are left it might actually be a pretty good play columia she’s riding this I think
Possibly as I watch it from a coaching perspective a little bit more cleverly than she has done the last the last lap she was riding it in surges this looks a lot more steady she’s just hanging around that 5 wats per kilo Mark and in
Doing so she is closing in on our leader Mo the frenchwoman for exagon these are the second and third place teams in the overall classification and sorry I do apologize Columbia of course is riding for team castelli who are in 15th Place one off the bottom so she really has been the uh
The standout player not just for her team but overall in the race tonight as well really impressive uh by but she’s got company and wouldn’t you know it Mary Wilkinson right there yeah look at that they they they know she’s dangerous but uh in the proc but just to draw the
Sting I mean to to force Riders like Lou Bates Mary Wilkinson to bring you back that shows that she”s been offered a lot of respect and there will be Riders who are in a little bit of difficulty um and this sort of effort where Mo her
Best five minute power um is well five 5.33 Watts a kilo so this is what she’s very good at this is what she can do and that great area was shot on the The National Trust hairpin showed the damage that she’s actually caused there yeah I love seeing the uh the
Drafting cone out behind the Riders there as well because a really CLE clear indication of where you need to be riding in order to be getting the vast majority in that deep red color right in the middle fascinating to watch that it’s something we don’t see in our in
Our commentary Matt in in real life racing do we we have to imagine it it’s wonderful to be able to see it in the game as it’s it is is directly in impacting these Riders too exactly that’s right n you know that’s a useful one 525 points we know Coalition Alpha
Bottom left of your screen they are our leading team they’ve got Mary Wilkinson right at the front L bites tucked in behind her having won every point so far columia comes back to the front Again by the way she can’t help herself can she the Italian Rider she is having a really
Good night here as well going in one more surge the question is is she teeing up a final L bait’s kick watch the numbers bottom left L bit sitting on 5.2 watts per kilo 5.5 let’s see if she starts to lift it because this was a roundabout here where she started to
Move through last time bait look at that you’ve got three British riders in the top five as well but still sitting on this super strong Italian well she knows what she’s doing this rather than like what she clearly hasn’t got um she’s playing to her strength she hasn’t got
That short real top end but what she has is the ability to ride very hard for a sustained amount of time Harris gets across the Gap Bates knows there’s danger she’s looking up this 100% record but colomi still clearly is riding to a strengths and the watch she’s kicking
Out of the moment are sustainable she can actually go a little bit quicker for a set period of time but bear in mind you know we’ve already ridden 50 odd K in this race we got of 60 or a little bit more 52 K it’s a long long race but
Colombia is causing some damage srom is there Harris is there Wilkinson and it’s just a matter of time now before Bates tries to go again but but Colombia is putting this real classy Elite group of riders the cream has really risen to the top here Zoe langum as well moving up as
Well but Bates looks like the one that’s going to pounce very shortly as we soon will round that right-hander when it opens out towards the finish at the top of the clim it’s a long Tree Line straight that takes you up to that Fantastic Cafe at
The top of Box Hill I’ve had a lovely cream scone there as since you remember it’s probably about 20 years ago now Matt so but It’s a Wonderful spot to stop and watch these Riders will not be doing that and colomi certainly won’t because she just persists um she deserves to get
Something out of this I’ll be a bit cheesed off if everyone rolls her come this Sprint but it could happen one who certainly wants to roll her is Lou bat who looks like she is well Twitchy sitting on those 5.4 watts per kilo exactly the same uh watts per kilo
Currently the same effort being put out as Colombia who is on a great ride the Italian tonight those two distancing Harris and everyone else as well you still sense that Bates is waiting though ready to go yep good to see zo langum yeah Harris Lang sorry yeah no l bit
Should be opening things up in a minute just wait for that power up to drop she’s already moving clear an indication of her winding it up and There She Goes middle of the shot you can see a coach there a partner having a word with her
As she’s absolutely flies but L Bates is looking good colomi still not too far away but L bat’s doing exactly what she did previously she at the moment jez is absolutely Untouchable absolutely absolutely well so close though to the finish line now we’ll see her around that corner having
Said that it’s closing up let’s look at the gaps Colombia is coming back again Matt we’ve got to see I get to the Finish Line first though CU this is close closer than last time too isn’t it she got it she got it that was close wow another brilliant ride by coli
As as well the Italian riding there as the only representative of her team right up there representing castelli in that leading group as well she can be really proud of that but uh once again L Bates has done it and mikoda Strom by the looks of it actually yes she did get
The second place there behind baits Zoe langum looking stronger and stronger as this race goes on so watch out for her in the final Sprint as well uh riding for Wula call it was Colombia again got fourth place more points again for castelli and that would be really
Helping them tonight I think it was uh it really will it really oh totally well Columbia scored she’s scored another 40 points she’s now on 80 well the team are an 80 but what we have is a big split we’ve only got 14 riders in the front
Group um and the last ride is actually 10 seconds behind our leaders so the our front group at the moment are spread over around 10 seconds Colombia’s gone solo and has a three or four second lead carrying that effort just showing that ability uh to go uh time after time that
Really indication uh of the forms she’s got but importantly she’s caused a lot of damage on the climb and she isn’t now hanging about she’s like if anybody wants to go with me they’ve got to make in an effort so clearly she’s playing again I feel like I’m a stuck record
Here she’s playing to her strength let’s bring in Nathan we we need to bring in Nathan here Nathan 14 and a bit KS to go what about the riding of this Italian from uh from the castill team I think it’s really impressive because she clearly is to me mate playing to her
Strengths it’s extremely impressive and obviously she’s got the power to go steady steady steady steady steady and you know I I’m you know I I’m not sure she could take down a Sprint against the rest of this crew and so this is exactly what she needs to do now the only thing
Is what I’d like to see her do right now is get that speed up pretty high and get into a super tuck and then get the speed up pretty high and get into a super tuck because behind here they’re going to start super tucking at the front and
They’re currently doing about 63 Plus kilm power whereas Columbia is only doing 60 so they’re going to keep rolling through with some speed whereas Columbia is trying to be a little bit too consistent on the downhill where she could do a little bit more gamification to keep the speeds a little bit higher
Definitely a top tip there hopefully she’s listening to you Nathan to be a little bit biased because I do like an aggressive Rider uh jez this is fascinating stuff but we have a proper selection um in fact our lead group is spread over 14 seconds and then the next
Group is another 20 seconds behind ooh there’s not a massive Gap then um do you know what Nathan was talking to us earlier wasn’t he Matt about what would be being shouted into those team castelli Riders ears I absolutely dread to think what is being shouted into the
Ears of Colombia it must be absolute screaming by the way have a look at Megan rathwell there it is obviously quite cool in her pain cave cuz she’s got long sleeve on and the hood up as well that’s some severe cooling I’m not sure where she is in the world but it is
Chilly there I think you can accept that yeah she had looks like he had a hoodie on there but uh yeah she has she has one one thing I I normally give a shout out you gave it a shout out in the previous in the men’s race um if you are
Watching this we know we’ve got quite a few of you on YouTube obviously clearly watching the live coms fire open your companion apps guys and give these uh Elite ladies a ride on please because that’s what we need to see some more of those ride on dropping into the back
Pockets because um you know without the fans without the supporters here getting behind the community uh we we don’t we don’t have the racing so uh thank you for watching but please far up the comp apps give these rers some ride-ons and hopefully we’ll see um a different
Blizzard to the one that Nathan is experiencing it’s a blizzard of thumbs UPS as we head in towards the underground here yeah that is what we want to see if you’re kind of also if you’re new to watching uh zift racing and you’re enjoying watching this at the
Beginning of this calendar year even though we’re getting towards the end of the zift Grand Prix next Thursday night is the final round don’t forget we are homing in on the biggest ever zift event the zift games right the way through the first three weekends of March actually
Though all of you who are racing on zift can compete in those ziff games during the weeks leading up to those weekends the weekends are where we’re going to show you the elite the professional racing here on our YouTube channel but you can actually take part in the same
Zift games during the week as well check it all out at zwift.com an opportunity to be involved in a massive Esports event here on zift it’s going to be brilliant in March and we’re really excited about bringing it to you we’re doing some new things on the broadcast
Fast front it’s going to be really topnotch but also the racing itself is going to be Mega there’s a Sprint Championship an epic championship and a climb Championship which of course finishes on the app to zift and all of you at home if you’re on zift as I’m
Sure you are can get on it and get involved too to see where you feature against some of the best pro riders in the world including the vast majority of course of this lot by the way Matt we’ve got some recent stats to tell us how
Many riders are still in play last time we checked there was 65 of the 80 starters who are still within the 7 Minute cut off so there are still plenty of riders who are out of that as well they’ll I guess persist you would wouldn’t you because they will anyway
But also you don’t know what might happen to the riders in front uh who might start to slow down who you might catch so you just rock on it’s one very hard night on the bike isn’t it oh definitely yeah just over 10ks to go now
Is a keep on going and the a minute and a half in 10 K’s well yeah they should be they should be fine that that group that’s just behind there it’s all about scoring points and this woman so far has scored 80 sorry yeah 80 for castelli that certainly one would imagine will
Move them up the ranking selain uh colombi is enjoying another 3 seconds lead 4 seconds on the group behind but just looking at the numbers of the riders in this Elite group at the front and I think I’m going to stick my neck out jez and Nathan and say that this is
The group that’s going to go to the finish and it’s only 14 Riders strong the 15th Rider on the road is from Coalition Alpha 42 seconds behind our leader now so the winner of the round is going to come from this group and looking at the teams with the most
Riders out in front it’s going to be W waho have one ionian just ionian have two Coalition Alpha it looks like they have at least three or four so it’s Advantage Coalition Alpha and they’re already going into the this final Sprint finish with a whopping 675 points so
It’s looking like it’s their well it’s their their night to lose I think it might be impossible them to lose this one now yeah we’re watching right now the Belgian Rider Elena Weisman who is closing in on our leader colomi who’s done such a good ride tonight she is
About to get company though by the looks of it and it’s one of the two saris no pins Riders who’s in the leading group Elena wisman we know Gabby Guerrera is also in that leading group too so a good night for the saris team who are in eighth and there goes colia going
Through our start line she rolls on going Westward over in the direction of Bucky and Palace they’ll go right past the turn that they would take to the Finish they’re going to the base of Box Hill they go round the little roundabout and back on themselves it sounds like an
Awfully long way that 9.6k will rock through very quickly actually particularly with the racing we’ve got going on in front of us nice to see plenty of ride-ons being dropped for colomi she has done a brilliant ride already tonight what is yet to come because she shown quite superb
Resilience and ability to keep going again and again and again this might not be the end of her if she’s caught here two coming front end yeah sorry just look at the picture and Pitch we’ve got selain columia our leader but look at the effort of Ellena wisman you know
Just trying to get in contact and as soon as she gets into the draft of Colombia it’ll makees things so much easier for her uh but it’s hard to cross the Gap she’s still not quite on it’s about 7 of a second and you’re really feeling for and Nathan just explain to
Us um for those people who are watching you haven’t raced on how how hard it is actually when you’re on your own to get into that draft code yeah really you you know it’s you second guess whether or not you’re there a lot too like it feels like I should be
Maybe I don’t and and then like you start getting a little bit of draft and you’re like you want to completely back off you want to rest right you want to be like okay I’ve made it and then it’s and then sometimes you end up having to
Do two or three more efforts and I’ve actually tried going across before almost it and just didn’t put that little bit extra in which then ended up then I just didn’t make it I mean it’s really sometimes just a few meters but she’s on now and as you can see look at
How much of a difference columi doing 4.6 4.5 I think it is Weissman all the way down to 2.5 at times huge energy reserves what I want to know is how long colum is going to allow her sit there though before she says no sorry your
Rest is over you got to start working I know it was hard to get here but you asked for it yeah yeah but look at what look at the difference it’s made if they start relaying together once viman has that little bit of rest and you what
You’d imagine that the Belgium for the Sarah no pins team will start riding but as since this conversation’s gone on the two out in front have opened up a lead of 18 seconds now jez with 8.1k to go so about 5 miles to go we’ve still got that
Horrible little section to go through the underground and up the Steep brutal escalators but it’s heading towards a 22 lead now yeah and now this could be what I was hinting at possibly happening in the men’s race map where we see two Riders from teams who aren’t a threat to
The overall at the moment getting clear and then our leading teams of Coalition Alpha a only and hexagon looking at each other and going well we don’t need to chase this although Wilkinson is on the front they’re not exactly firing away to chase these look at the Watts perilo
Much higher in our leading two Riders and as we know Sarah sopin and team castelli team castelli sitting second from the bottom in the classification going into this they’re not a threat now we’re getting to the very pointy end of this with gr PRI they those leading
Three ride teams sorry all want to be the winning team at the end of next week’s points Hunter that’s what we’re seeing isn’t it it it is a wonderful opportunity for those two Riders well that’s the thing you know we’ve had we had a 14 Rider front group um colomi
Left that group Harris is now trying to get across the Gap she’s at 25 seconds 7.3k to go this is you know this is possible for Colombian visman to to to do something visman should I say do something pretty special here but there’s only 12 Riders behind everybody’s going to be looking to
Coalition Alpha to shut this gap down um and I think that’s opening the door to Colombia wisman to pull off something a bit of a coup here something you wouldn’t expect but um you you’ve got to Duff your cap whatever happens now uh the woman of the match for me has been
Selena colomi of Team cell she has really made this race she’s been brave totally and it’s not over Matt either yet she seems to have the resilience to keep going again and again and again let’s watch when we go back to her picture in picture when we see her
The thing that isn’t hanging on though is her towel she’s had that towel around her neck from the beginning and it’s gradually dropping to one it’s just about a drop off it’s entirely trivial I know but I can’t help but noticing it every time we go back to her hello Lou
Bates has come to the front and he’s doing a bigger turn here but this you look at the numbers though they’re still not pushing on as much as our two leaders who are consistently knocking around that 5 wat per kilo mark twos and threes behind them they might survive to
The Finish yeah if this continues on if they get to under 5Ks to go the 25 second lead I think we need to bring Nathan in again here I think this is looking pretty good CU we continue to see Columbo and visis swapping five six wats a kilo and still behind um there’s
A surge Now by Wilkinson 6.6 wats a kilo especially up this drag Nathan this is where they could lose up to 10 seconds just in this few hundred met yeah they could lose a lot right here but the same time you know it’s 7 watts per kilogram versus 5 we’re not
Seeing orange numbers so it will bring back probably about 5 seconds after all this said and done it also a lot depends on how much Colombia and Wisin use the downhill they’re about to experience if they can carry a lot of like a lot of speed over this hump and then into the
Downhill and then look and see what that group does they’ve brought back like you said about 5 Seconds now it calms down was laying them on the front there at 2.5 it looks to me like there’s so much infighting here it’s going to have to be
More of a monster attack that goes I think that really starts to bring things back together and not as much of a working together you know we have a very different situation than the men’s situation where we had it down to about 10 seconds at this point that extra 12
Seconds and still going out not coming back this is going to be very Touch and Go much more of a 5050 situation I’m thinking here right now I do good just a quick one for me as well Nathan how’s Gabby she’s still hanging tough in that
Front group could be a really solid top 10 for her today man yeah you know you know early on I think she was a little surprised by her inability to kick right now she is has been a little bit under just a little bit not full on symptoms or anything but
I think as the race has gone on because of that endurance and her ability just to have uh the a rider who can handle a lot of attrition I think that it does favor her perhaps for a top five or even you know come in for a Sprint uh I’ve
Been dsing here and telling her hey watch what you’re doing there I don’t know I come I don’t know what doing that wait hold on a second and you know she almost actually started chasing Weissman for a moment hey that’s your teammate go on a second and now things are okay so n
Nathan dare I say it this is a good night for you you’re the Lynch pin in here you see it’s your own team team castelli your own racing team and then your wife’s team as well what’s going on here you got your who do I root for now
I mean who do I root for now is the big question right so it’s a winwin it’s a win win and even win if uh if Gabby can get get a good group Sprint but we’ll see how it goes I mean watch out for bats and uh it might be the Bates Harris
Move still tonight what Josh did was pretty amazing and I wouldn’t be surprised one bit if Lou tried pulling something similar well let’s see let me update people just in case they’ve joined us just late on in this women’s race what you’re watching is the penultimate race
In the zift Grand Prix this is the women’s epic points race Coalition Alpha who have bossed the series really so far in this whift gromi of started 2024 and here they are on 675 points because L Bates the British rider for Coalition Alpha has won every
Single Sprint so far Mau star a sitting second big thanks to MAA Sodom their consistent fast finishing uh M Star Rider in the dark blue in that group they sit second and Toyota Elite e cycling way down in third but way down in terms of numbers on 160 points
Coalition Alpha have more than bossed this they have crushed it but we are seeing a brilliant ride by this Italian Rider sandre colomi sorry Selen colomi who is in this leading group in the company of Weissman uh who has joined here as well two of the slightly lower
Ranked team Al worth pointing out the saris started this evening in eighth place but they’re not quite threatening the lights of Aion and Coalition Alpha and that is in a small part why these two have been allowed to go clear but it has to be said a lot of it has been
Under that really strong riding but Colombia because we’re consistently seeing their power much higher and again even now Matt with just under 4K to go now this chasing group is going nowhere near as hard as our leaders yeah they just started to pick it up the lead over
The bridge actually maxed out at about 31 and a half seconds rough it’s now come down to 25 seconds so it is on the decline uh but wisman and Colombia still relaying very well together wisman right in the red now looking at our heart rate 181 only two beats L for colomi they
Have ridden so aggressive today they’ve got a lead of 24 points .5 seconds I think it might be just enough for them to hold on they’ve still got to go through and back out across the bridge and into town before finishing on the mall of course but it’s looking good 24
Seconds to the group behind containing only 12 Riders and there’s a big attack now looks like Harris has now tried to clip off the front yeah they’re heading on their way back this this is the roundabout I think isn’t it is this the round about where they turn around I’m trying to remember
Where exactly where we are on the course yes so they’re on their way back back to River back in towards London and Lucy Harris has had a good night tonight for to toor Elite let’s not forget they started the day in uh seventh place but really down to Lucy Harris they are
Sitting third place on the night at the moment make a Sodom now making a little roll over the top of her as well the the the single Rider from mistar who’s kept them in second place on the night right now s Strom and she’s not just relying
On her sprinting either by the looks of it Matt she wants to push on see if she can get some separation indeed well these two have just uh just CLI clipped off a little bit they just they’re enjoying uh just a second and a half in
Front as we come towards this this real hard little kicker remember it Max is out at about 133% they’ve been brought back by the might of Al bat one of the most dominant Riders here but although it looks like they’re going to take the night because they’ve got three riders
In this front group or the second group on the road and a massive tally of 675 uh the win on the night although the Gap is coming down it’s still going to be hard to call 21 seconds so another 3 seconds have gone off the lead with two
And a half case to go in this all important climb which the group behind are just on now Matt this is really important let’s spot a couple of things here to point out hexagon started the day in third place they have not scored as far as I
Can tell I don’t think they’ve scored any points at all despite the fact they two riders in this leading group in the orange that is a bad night for them we can see them moving down we can see wul l call definitely moving up there in fourth place right now but aonian our
Defending Champions who came into to the night in second place are currently sitting in fifth they need a big final Sprint let’s not forget 300 points on the line so these Riders all of these what 14 riders in this leading group even the last of them will score 155
Points on the night but as we see Motas moving through exagon need to get some high points in there if they’re to maintain their Podium position going into the final round yep there a there is a lot to play for isn’t there of course there is um
Still a lot of potential moving around it’s a little bit closer at the top than is in the men’s league a little bit tighter so therefore an opportunity for some teams to Leap Frog others or even slip down but with 1900 M to go the Gap
Has gone out it does look as if the victory the individual victory tonight is going to go to either Seline colombi of Italy running for team castelli or the Belgian Rider visman of saris NOS because they got 27 seconds it looks like the pace and the shape of this
Group behind they’ve settled for third place on on the day yeah it does look that way Matt doesn’t it so we’re going to see a fascinating Sprint now 29 yeah so let’s call it 30 seconds back to the group that’s led by L Bates right now with all
Those leading teams in it Colombia and wisan have snuck away and made this work brilliantly between the two of them not sort of a sneaky move they’ve had to lay down some megawatts to stay clear and they’ve made it count too as well so I think imminently we’ll start focusing on
The two riders in the lead this is the third group on the road if I’m not mistaken who are one minute down as well so we’re getting a little look a bit further down the field that’s useful too gka Paul the German rider for Coalition Alpha she’s the next to that cers in
That next group but fact they’ve got two riders in that group behind as well unless Miss she made her way back up no there yeah yeah no there’s there’s two Coalition Al in the front and three in the third group on the road we’ve only
Got 1.1 K to go we need to head back to the front I think now to see who’s going to take this one right there’s been been a a little by the looks of it there’s been another question on our YouTube channel who do you think will win and 45% people chose
Wisman 30% chose columia and 23% thought the chase group would win let’s see though because we’re into the last 800 meters Lucy Harris is trying to get across oh now it’s calmed down a little bit between colombi and wisman wisman having taken the lead now the Belgian Rider faaris no pins they
Can’t mess around too much though cuz things are definitely hening up behind looking at the numbers but then again coli we go back to the front at a moment it looks like she’s laying down some big Watts six watts per kilo what’s going to happen between these two they can see
The Finish Line already wow I think Colombia’s going to do it Matt father and she would really deserve this what’s wisan got left colia just holding that little Gap it must be killing them right now look at the distance look at that and the effort between the two Riders at the bottom of
The shot the towel is still there for columi can she hang on why coming past her though Columbia’s done a lot of work mat no it is wow wow look at that Elena wisman through the Finish Line in the lead oh that was close wow oh wow wow Mary
Wilkinson was right there wow that is incredible isn’t it so um things really did close up come to finish as well we can just see in shot in our little screen other the viewers can’t either but Nathan is screaming instructions at Gabby his wife as she comes across the
Line too and that is uh the vast majority of our leading group I think all of our leading group in now so well looks like Gabby’s finished inside the top 10 as well so a good finishing Sprint for her this is the next group coming in right now don’t forget the
Clock is now going 7 minutes is the uh the gap for the Riders who are going to count in those counting positions to score points in this penultimate round of the zift Grom Prix the powerups the drafting powerups are all being dropped right now now as these Riders make their
Way towards the Finish Line This is the second group on the road looks like I think sandre netian has dropped to that group as well by the looks of it that we didn’t know I didn’t notice her going out of the bat but she’s the next of the exagon riders in
That group as well they’re coming across the line right now wow what a finale Matt Stevens that was a bit of a good round that epic literally epic wasn’t it yeah it was great and um we we talked I mean Colombia unfortunately um will have to I think she’s still she’ll be disappointed
But upon reflection she made the race she made that selection um I don’t think there’s going to be any doubt about the Coalition Alpha win on the night they got fifth and sixth Mary Wilkers and Lou Bates um scoring a lot of points inside the top 10 to augment that um the 675
Points that they scored out on the road so I think it’s going to be a coalition Alpha route but what an important victory for the rider from SAR noin they started um today’s round in eth place with only 50 points U but I think that individual win is uh well Fortune favor
The Brave and both Colombia and wisman took a risk colomi was the rider that really forced the pace on the climb and for me she’s the woman of the match but wisan is the winner but uh great riding and something we potentially didn’t expect uh two Riders to go clear and
Take the individual win on the night but um another strong strong evening from a points perspective from a team perspective from Coalition Alpha I think I think what excites me Matt watching that and I’m really exciting I’m really excited for the the kind of the ongoings with gr Prix over the
Coming Seasons bear in mind this is only the second edition of it and there was Coalition Alpha last year coming 10th watching Aon and thee of them as they took the win learning from it obviously bolstering their roster as well with the right kind of riders not just good
Riders but the right kind of riders for the format of the zift gr Prix and it has worked they absolutely crushed it this evening really crushed it I mean in the end makoda strom’s mvar points have dropped down a little bit because she where she was in that final Sprint
Actually but uh certainly in the end she’s moved down the final Sprint has really been important um and it’s going to be fascinating to see the impact of that on the the general classification going into the final round and I love I absolutely love the points Hunter Matt
Figur I hate to say it the reason I love it so much is because there’s so much opportunity for Jeopardy there so much opportunity for things to go wrong this this tonight was yes as you said a real endurance test there was a strong tactical element to it but also in in a
Way the strongest and the best Riders boiled to the top and it was fascinating to see uh Colombia and WIS really taking advantage of that in the end but but next week the final round there is there is quite a lot of opportunity to get things wrong in the points Hunter isn’t
There and suddenly find yourself out of it having scored just you know one point or something oh definitely I couldn’t agree more it set things up really nicely I think I’ve really enjoyed this Rift Grand Prix so far great race tonight should we let’s bring in uh
Nathan again Nathan uh Gabby 10th in the end for SAR snow pins but importantly they bookended the top 10 they’ve got the win on the night I know they’re not your team but you going to there’s going to be a bit of some happiness there for
You but your overview of the race I thought it’s a spectacular race tonight yeah really good race both the men’s and the women’s race both of them had Breakaway situations the race the racers made the race for sure there wasn’t uh you know in in in the local
Mountain biking crowd uh at at the elite level we we call it holding hands we’re not holding hands today nope not holding hands and uh and and and I liked it that uh there was aggression you know I saw also in chat you know a shout out to
Team castelli and you know being super aggressive on the day for sure so that was really great to see you know I think columia getting uh you know s Bradley’s actually in chat letting know that he thinks he should get the combative award definitely uh maybe not win the day but
Definitely made the race extremely interesting and really cool to see that the Breakaway uh was able to stick away stay away on the day yeah definitely I think uh I know it’s unofficial that there’s no we don’t actually have a most aggressive Rider but I think collectively Nathan between me you and
Jez jez I hope you’re on side mate I think uh the woman of the match uh is going to be uh is going to be Seline colomi so big thank up from us unofficial of course but yeah I think that’s well deserved and a a great race
As we’ve got 43 Riders home 5 minutes has now past so um and there’s a group at 623 so the next five or six rides are going to come home within that s minute time uh cut yeah uh and then we’ll get the final scores tted up but no doubt
About the winners tonight that’s for sure absolutely and it’s going to be interesting one to watch this group come in that group who at 623 uh not only have they got to stay under under the 7even minute Mark but they’re going to sprint out their finishing positions too because they’re
All scoring points and they’ll all be adding to their team tally so it’s a wonderful night where look at this we’re watching this Sprint happening they’re dropping their power ups and they’re going to be absolutely smashing it to try and score as highly as they can from
The group they are in as well great racing great format all the way down through the field as well and that is quite some finishing straight as well isn’t it I think it’s almost the it’s the color of the the the Mal or the mall whichever one you choose and this is a
Bit of a mall rolling towards the line as well it’s uh gosh it’s a hard finishing straight that as well it seems to G for an eternity it really it really does it’s probably the longest the longest 600 M oh there we go there’s the cut off it’s 57 Riders have scored
Tonight JZ there’s the red on the right hand side just saying that anybody else unfortunately uh will not score tonight got a feel for Hannah Danel the uh Swedish Rider because she’s going to be the first of those who doesn’t score unfortunately as well despite the the
Pedigree of the Riders here so 80 started and only 57 are going to finish within that time Gap that shows just how hard it was at the front and and you know it’s always fascinating watching that Sprint there in front of uh Bucky and Palace as it is on this PRL half
Course in London as well Matt but now we’re looking up the shots of the climb which has really forged it all Box Hill once again uh a brilliant zift climb a brilliant IRL climb as well but absolutely crucial to the the racing we’ve seen happen this evening as well
Yeah definitely and in both the men’s and women’s races there were selections made we knew it was going to be a race of attrition even more attritional in the women’s race but but it’s good to see Riders actually making the race getting a result in terms of a result on
The night we know that the zwift Grand Prix is all about the team but I tell you what to have a top a Podium spot in his zwift Grand Prix as an individual regardless of the team is something massively important for the for these Riders it really really is especially
For the likes of wisman and Colombia who are riders that have been around for a while are respected but haven’t really ever had a result like this and you know a result like this for any Rider in any sport in in in in fact could actually
Change the course of of of um well certainly going to give them a lot of morale and also maybe give them a new sense of belief about what they can do if they race aggressively um and as Nathan was talking about earlier on this particular round with its 69.7 K is
Another facet that I think will be a regular feat don’t think we’re using too often but it’s something that Roger going to have to think about uh and it does suit certain um certain other types of riders and they’ve come they’ve come to the four today the riders with that
Real ability to take a lot of punishment who race aggressively but can also race at or near and around threshold for for an hour and a half you know and that’s how long this has taken tonight it’s been a big big day in the office absolutely and not just for the Riders
But for us it’s been a long broadcast this one this evening I hope you enjoyed it excuse me uh Nathan can I check in with you one last time it’s been absolutely brilliant having you with us this evening joining Matt and I here first of all uh Nathan how is Gabby next
To you absolutely exhausted I expect after a long one like that but is she happy with that she seems pretty happy she she actually said she said that was the minimum of her sa satisfaction like that like I had to get a top 10 is what
She was like you know she uh she came in she was like oh I don’t quite have what maybe she would used to wanting to have as far as the power goes tonight and then um you know up front I I saw her have a moment of
Decision of like how she was going to deal with her expectations of herself you know so um I encouraged her to let go of those expectations and to um not get down on herself if the heart rate was higher than usual the power wasn’t there to go for sprints and then you
Know she has a really high expectation of herself to be at the front and be in contention for all of those different situations and when that wasn’t happening I saw a moment where she could shut off and go oh it’s just not a day and everything’s bad but instead of no
Like there’s a long race there’s a lot that can play out hang on maybe things will come around in the end and ends up with a top 10 and and and actually assisting their teammate because you’re not going to drag Gabby up right like that’s a that’s a thing that ended up in
That situation there since she didn’t chase her teammate then Gabriella was able to sit in and people are thinking a little bit more whether not they’re going to do work and bring Gara up to her teammate Nathan please don’t take this the wrong way but in a week from now I
Hope I’m not talking to you because I hope you’re racing you know what I mean well that’s going to take a lot of intervals and and and a slight Miracle but hopefully I hope you’re right too I hope you’re right too I appreciate it listen get get well mate it’s been great
Having you on with us again this evening give our best to Gabby well done to both of you and uh and and do get well won’t you thanks for being with us Nathan cheers thank you cheers everybody I I think we can bring you up to speed with the Finish Line
Points maybe tearing that up let’s have a look at them right so these are the Finish Line points for the Riders across the line as we said 300 points for the first finisher and uh after that incredible ride by Elena Weisman doing the right thing really joining out with
Colomi sitting on and waiting timing her finishing Sprint I thought colomi had it there in the end Matt but wisman just had that little bit left to come over the top of her didn’t she yeah she certainly did it was it was a tight one
And it was a long drawn out Sprint I don’t think Colombia is necessarily the most explosive of riders so rather than try and go from a slow speed she just picked it up and they’re both at the very end barely mind they’ve been riding at threshold so uh in the end it was
Wiman who just had enough in the tank to take the individual win and 300 points for the team yeah yeah absolutely it was Mina Quan the Finish rider for Toyota Elite the final Rider on the podium at the Finish there Zoe langum coming through looking stronger and stronger as
The race went on for Wula call in fourth place and I was wrong I need to make that very clear I was totally wrong lates didn’t win everything but she did win every Ascent of Box Hill she was sixth in the final Sprint alongside Mary Wilkinson again those two seemingly
Locked together in uh locked together in wats and wheels those two for Coalition Alpha in fifth and six so more points for them as well uh Hill Sodom simen and Gabby Guerrera who we were just hearing about in 10th Place sealing out that top 10 look at
The points as well still 175 points for Gabby Guerrera there in 10th place as well and there are the points down to 20th as well and they take us outside that leading group because moras and ettien uh were hoovering up I think I think moras was the first of those
Riders outside that leading group in that second group we saw come in as well you can see in amongst the points there where just just how important it was to sprint out their finishing places as well anything you’ve noticed in that top 10 there Matt I know I think the there’s
A couple of riders that we haven’t spoken about and they were the ones that came first and second so Wiman of columia you know for you in favor of the brave but the rest of it was just the hitters that we know can perform over this distance and of course a big shout
Out uh to Gabby Guera as well she’d be pretty happy with that lot to take from it as well and a lot to take from it from us I mean it was uh I think uh as we were talking about um the format I think has worked I think it’s so great
To have the to chop and change different formats to get Riders thinking differently teams thinking differently thinking outside the box and and not always having something to look back on is a good thing in terms of uh the way we move forward with this series but uh
Yeah no doubt about the dominance of Coalition Alpha but there to work for it today uh it was a real entertaining proposition yeah just looking down through Riders from 2 first down to 30th gotta Paul was another of those Coalition Alpha Riders who was in that second group Vicky whitew right there in
The middle of it as well and of course we saw Marine mu very active early on in the first few hour sents of um box hill and in the end she was 24th in that second group as well and there it is down to 30th Clutterbuck I think
Possibly the next of the M Star Riders behind Sodom as well I should have looked on that page just before it but uh we are getting closer to being able to bring you the series points and that’s the one you’re really going to be waiting for now as well it’ll come to us
Imminently while Matt and I watch yet another Ascent of boxill up through the leafy trees blowing and I think we’re going to see some changes looking at the uh the points that have been happening there as well because things were so close going into this evening between hexagon aonian and Coalition Alpha and
Aonian have not had the best of nights either they had a better final Sprint there though as well but hm H it’s going to be interesting to see where they slipped because there were only tiny gaps between them Matt there were just nine points between our leaders Coalition Alpha and aonian just five
Between aonian in second and hexagon in third and actually Wahoo lall were only four points off the podium in fourth I’m fairly confident in saying Wahu lall are going to be moving up onto that Podium the question is how far will aonian slip or will they I am a mathematical numpty
As we all know so I might be wrong I think it’s best that we we wait until the official points but no I think you’re quite right what what it is going to make is there’s no doubt about the dominance of Coalition Alpha they’re going to have to have an absolute
Nightmare of a final round to lose this is this is their series to lose we know that but certainly there is a real battle uh a a realistic battle uh that um if if one all you need is one bad night at the zift Grand Prix and you can
You can lose a lot of points and therefore rods are going to Leap Frog over you but I think you know once we get the final Point score caral Alpha will have moved clear even further but ionian exagon and Wahu l um will be very very close and there’s a
Bit of a drop off there so the final spots on the podium moving into the final round next week um are going to be well pretty tight but hopefully we can get those points to you uh very very quickly yes now next week we’ll just remind you don’t worry don’t go anywhere
Folks cuz hang in there wait to see the team score because the team score is going to be the crucial thing in this RI Grand Prix going into that final round but Matt’s already mentioned it there next week’s final round is definitely my favorite format the points Hunter I’ll
Remind you this is the one whereby it’s a points race just like tonight except the big difference is every time you score any point you are removed from the game as an individual Rider you’re gone so you’ve scored if you score a point you’ve scor that’s what you’ve scored on
The night for your team and you are gone and as we get further and further through the race the uh the number of points sorry the um the total points that can be scored get higher but you risk hanging on getting dropped and not scoring any points where you could have
Gone for some early points and get out the game so tactically Matt it is a a mega mega one for the brain to try and work out isn’t it and and I’m pleased to say it’s back in Yorkshire the Royal pump room 8 is the course for next week
I do like that course yeah no it’s it’s a good it’s such a Punchy course I mean all the courses uh that we have on zwift that are used in the zwift Grand Prix where you can free ride as as much as you want have have their own clear
Identity but in terms of what I like I I like a Punchy hard course and with not a lot of flat that’s where when I when I could ride well that’s where i’ go pretty well and but I do like the Royal pump rooms course it’s a it’s basically
Uh that what it offers up is is the world championship course and every single permutation of Direction you can go so you basically cover the whole course in its various permutations but there’s hardly a stretch of Flat Road at all it’s super Punchy a lot of elevation
And some steep long climbs on it so um it’s a real Racers course um but the are going and about they how they play it as you said once you scored the race it’s uh oh I think we’ve got the team points ready J right then let’s have a look at
Them here we go this is points on the night Coalition Alpha as we said having absolutely hammered it 1,517 points for them ahead of Wahu LOL who finished second on the night toyoto alite e cycling in third I’m just checking my brains right is points on the night
Isn’t it this is not overall just yet we’ll be able to bring you that in just a moment so tly he’s cycling in third on the night as wellan down in fourth hexagon did manage to do quite well in that final Sprint in the end they’re in
Fifth place no regardless of the fact that M stroom sted so hard to pick up as many points she could on Box Hill they are down in sixth place which is actually higher than their classification so that might help them a little bit tonight Sodom again their key
Player 620 sorry 67 points for them uh Team castelli Elite despite the fact that they had sandre Colombia in second place in that final Sprint still finishing in the top half in seven saris noow pins the team of our winner of course in eight the head of next Esports
Beast mode BL 13 Rocka corba AA Synergy down in 13th Place Swedish swifter is in 14th Virginia’s Blue Ridge 20124 we didn’t mention them at all all evening and we didn’t really mention primore either unfortunately those two down in 15th and 16th Place but everyone battling every one of the Riders
Particularly every one of the riders that finished within the time cut well end to end because that was an absolutely Savage Race I think we can now bring you the team points based on that the penultimate round going into the Final Round Here We Go Coalition Alpha of course extending their lead 155
Points overall having won tonight’s round ahead of aonan while hula call let’s look at the gaps between them that’ll be the interesting one to look at now Matt you’re a far better mathematician than me looking at what’s closable and what can be done in that final round in the points under where as
I remind viewers there’s an awful lot of opportunity for Jeopardy hexagon have hexagon moved up how many places of hexagon no they’re sorry they started the day in third they’ve dropped one to Fourth it’s waho lall who’ve now moved up into that top three so the top two
Remain as they were but a bigger gap between them now between Coalition Alpha and aonian it is Wahoo lall and hexagon whove changed places Wahu lall now up on that Podium to Elite e cycling in fifth they’ve moved up two places tonight hats off to them that’s a great move getting
Closer to the podium as well let’s see what they can do a great ride VI Toyota tonight two Place lift up into that top five fantastic Virginia virgin’s Blue Ridge 2024 in sixth place so they’ve dropped one tonight uh saris noin moving up one place from 8th to 7th after tonight’s
Score and team Swedish zwifters where were they Deary me they’ve dropped from sixth to eight so not a great night for the Swedish team this evening that’s the top eight for you wow uh ma star in ninth which I think is where they started yes it was it’s where they
Started this evening next Esports were in 10th and they finished they’re still in 10th now uh be beast mode and ABA Synergy have swap places so um beast mode now just ahead of ABA Synergy and they’re ahead of castelli bl13 Rocka corba Collective and primore rwb who
Still S on no points I tell you what Matt I’m going to say it right now I am absolutely behind the women in green prore rwa racing Without Borders next week to score some points I’m desperate for them to get off that nilp point though I’m all in for that and I’m
Saying it right now I really want them to get that next week so come on ladies raise yourselves for that final race in the points Hunter next week there it is and here’s the as well yes absolutely thanks Matt for Point mat Matt do you want to run us through these because
I’ve been walking you’ll be you’ll be FR so yeah AA Synergy now with one one round to go uh still have a pretty decent lead AA syy there in front of next Esports but it’s closed at the top 138 to 143 so going into the final round
So it is next Sports have closed up quite a bit after today uh third place uh by waho LOL who moved up from fourth dropping down from third to Fourth Coalition Alp with 113 Toyota staying steady in fifth place there with 110 exagon steady again in sixth with 96
Mistar they’ve actually moved up from eighth place now occupy seventh with 74 points and a singular Point behind them dropping down this week Beast Mode Power by Rose with with 73 so still pretty tight between the first two places all it needs is a bad day for Abus and we
Could see teams moving up the nether reaches this is Bale 13 in 9th team s in 10th saris no pins in 11th food Pon with 12th restart Power by Alex Co coaching in 13th 14th team castelli elite dpack elite uh in 15th with nine points and at
16th propping up the rest at the moment uh with eight points that’s prore race Without Borders and sports Matt thank you for bringing us your never reaches sorry NE reaches I do like that oh uh thank you everyone that’s been watching all around the world to this the biggest zwift Esports
Racing anywhere in the world the best riders in the world right here in the zwift Grand Prix we have just seven days six days in fact to wait until we bring you the final round you will not want to miss the points Hunter next week it is
Epic I am absolutely love it I love the smell of Jeopardy all around it in every one of those points let’s see if our leading teams can hang on and who might surge to move up those rankings make sure you’re with us do not forget this is all teeing up everything that’s going
To happen in March in the zift games the biggest ever zift racing event it’s going to be Mega in March we’re really looking forward to bringing it to you Matt Stevens thank you so much for your company and time again this evening cheers mate I’ve really enjoyed it and
I’ll be I think I’ll be with you again next week for the final absolutely I’m very much looking forward to I might be a little bit tired cuz I’m also doing commentary on the tour down under next week so I’ll be a little bit tired but I will be suitably pepped by
The fact we’ve got the points Hunter coming I’m really looking forward to that don’t forget to join us next week folks it’ll be similar timings to that you can follow it all on swift.com thank you so much for your company from Matt Stevens and from me jez Cox until next
Week’s conclusion of this zift gr PRI thank you and goodbye He
3 Comments
Where can I follow the teams, the points, the standings etc. completely forgot this was even going on until today and don’t remember where in the story we are.
A bit annoyed that first climb for men’s race wasn’t shown.
Finally a great comms team, with Nathan adding his magic as well. Great work production team.