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This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay
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No pro's personal coverage this week? Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxnVDlCGVE

Looks like Reece did well in this weeks race. where was lucy? Was told she did another race, what was it? Hopefully eric did some footage did some video of Paula
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
No pro's personal coverage this week? Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxnVDlCGVE

Looks like Reece did well in this weeks race. where was lucy? Was told she did another race, what was it? Hopefully eric did some footage did some video of Paula

The novelty of these is wearing off a bit (for me).

My main take home has been that a lot of the triathletes are way stronger than I thought.

Other than that it's become a bit dull.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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I really wanted to be captivated by it, but unfortunately I don't think the software is where it need to be for this to be a spectator friendly event.

I think there's 3 main issues.

1. People being able to occupy the "same" space
2. Zwifts weird drafting algorithm.

I think these are likely tied together. You should get a way better draft when you're in a big group in zwift than you actually do. But also the group moves way faster than it should and appears to be determined by the collective effort of the group, not the guy on the front of the group. So even if you have some people try and make a breakaway, pushing more power than anyone in the group doesn't mean you're going to stay away. This makes all of these races essentially threshold tests with no real breakaways, just folks slipping off the back over time.

3. So we're setup for a sprint finish every time, but you can't hardly ever tell what happened at the finish line.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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Lucy won the tour for all race (muir and mountain course i think) the day before with a great solo break on the climb. much much deeper field than zpro tri, and a very impressive win. about the same level as lionel's win on the richmond course. i thought today's races were a bit dull as well, but that is a function of the crit course. not super exciting to watch. both fields seemed like they weren't pushing too hard, and it was really bizarre to watch the women's finish with the top 2 "only" pushing 5-6w/kg through the final turn. maybe the display was lagging, but neither of them really sprinted at all. don't quote me on those last numbers, but that's what i thought i saw for the final 20 seconds.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [jflan] [ In reply to ]
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just rewatched the end. they hit about 7w/kg in the final 100m, and 8 in the final second. maybe it was cat and mouse, but zwiftpower says Astle's 15 second sprint is 9.5w/kg, and she didn't get anywhere near it. i think they got surprised by how quick the finish comes up after the final turn. you really need to start your sprint well before the final turn.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [bluefever] [ In reply to ]
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bluefever wrote:
synthetic wrote:
No pro's personal coverage this week? Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxnVDlCGVE

Looks like Reece did well in this weeks race. where was lucy? Was told she did another race, what was it? Hopefully eric did some footage did some video of Paula


The novelty of these is wearing off a bit (for me).

My main take home has been that a lot of the triathletes are way stronger than I thought.

Other than that it's become a bit dull.

but did you watch any of the feed i posted? I like when they go to the view of the athlete in real world mode. I think Lucy's videos are best because she also shows her screen view. You can hear them swearing and what not... something you wont see in a real race. Also get to see the differing set ups. Ronnie Schildknecht looked like he was using a dedicated watt bike.

Now that lucy did do the race before will be nice if there was a video since she went against stronger competition
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
bluefever wrote:
synthetic wrote:
No pro's personal coverage this week? Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxnVDlCGVE

Looks like Reece did well in this weeks race. where was lucy? Was told she did another race, what was it? Hopefully eric did some footage did some video of Paula


The novelty of these is wearing off a bit (for me).

My main take home has been that a lot of the triathletes are way stronger than I thought.

Other than that it's become a bit dull.


but did you watch any of the feed i posted? I like when they go to the view of the athlete in real world mode. I think Lucy's videos are best because she also shows her screen view. You can hear them swearing and what not... something you wont see in a real race. Also get to see the differing set ups. Ronnie Schildknecht looked like he was using a dedicated watt bike.

Now that lucy did do the race before will be nice if there was a video since she went against stronger competition
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I love all of that and think the format has a lot of potential, but a lot of the races, I've watched have been sprint finishes. The last one, which was a crit was the same, there were a few males that made a break, but no-one went with them. It would be more interesting if there were breakaways, chase packs etc
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [Sean H] [ In reply to ]
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Sean H wrote:
I really wanted to be captivated by it, but unfortunately I don't think the software is where it need to be for this to be a spectator friendly event.

I'm not sure how it's a watchable product. The 15 minute vlog that covers part of this is, but watching someone hammer on a trainer is entertainment? I guess in the same sense as watching Fortnite, but I don't do that either.

Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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I was pretty interested the first 2 weeks that they did this race series, but haven't tuned in really since then. I definitely enjoy seeing these familiar names race against each other, often some who normally wouldn't be competing at the same distance which is cool.

I'd like to see them switch up the format and do something different. Okay cool, they're all hanging in the pack for 30 minutes and here's a sprint finish...which you can almost never really tell who won. They should do something similar to what Super League Triathlon does with their Eliminator race. Have check points every 5k and the last X amount of participants across that banner get dropped from the race. I'd be more inclined to watch this as it provides excitement throughout the entire race to me.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [awobabobob] [ In reply to ]
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I like the idea of checkpoints. Other possibilities for races in the series:
1) Hill top finish (e.g., Innsbruck KOM After Party)
2) Race up Alpe du Zwift (e.g., Road to Sky)
3) Use TT bikes so there is no draft effect

The point is to switch up the type of races/format to maintain interest.
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:
bluefever wrote:
synthetic wrote:
No pro's personal coverage this week? Youtube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtxnVDlCGVE

Looks like Reece did well in this weeks race. where was lucy? Was told she did another race, what was it? Hopefully eric did some footage did some video of Paula


The novelty of these is wearing off a bit (for me).

My main take home has been that a lot of the triathletes are way stronger than I thought.

Other than that it's become a bit dull.


but did you watch any of the feed i posted? I like when they go to the view of the athlete in real world mode. I think Lucy's videos are best because she also shows her screen view. You can hear them swearing and what not... something you wont see in a real race. Also get to see the differing set ups. Ronnie Schildknecht looked like he was using a dedicated watt bike.

Now that lucy did do the race before will be nice if there was a video since she went against stronger competition
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Web results

Can't speak for Lucy, but having been an official on the moto in elite world championship racing, I can confirm that Pros do swear in race (I won't name names, since I actually do get along with the athlete who I am thinking of, but I can think of an athlete was berating us for not penalizing someone else for drafting... And for what it's worth, I didn't disagree with her complaints, but I was not assigned to their field so I wasn't in the position where I could confirm a call, there was another official ahead who had that call, I was waiting for a safe section to pass to drop AG penalty notifications at the sin bin...).

People need to remember it's not all watts/kg on Zwift... when there's an incline that is a huge factor, but on the flats, it's straight up watts that dictates pace... Heavier riders on the flats can be laying down much lower watts/kg and have no problem keeping up, or even pulling ahead, because in absolute power outputs, they're laying down the same or higher wattages... A flat sprint, will not always be won by the highest w/kg, it will be won by someone who times their effort well, and throws down a massive wattage...
I find I enjoy the coverage for the most part, in that the races are short and action packed (not like watching 8hours of ironman...), you get to see different set-ups, and get a more personal view of the athletes and how they are responding during the race... A lot of the race dynamics are dictated by the course, and very much like an actual bike race, a non-selective course most often leads to a non-selective race... Once you start throwing more terrain in, things split up more and you increase the odds for breakaways to survive. Even the Zwift double draft underestimates how much easier it is to sit in a pack while racing (you can't coast on zwift, whereas you often can in bike races while sitting in the peloton, unless the pace is on)... What the double draft does is make it more difficult to chase back on when dropped out of the back... As a general trend in most flat Zwift races, they tend to select more out the back then out the front... Would love to see them do one of these on Alpe de Zwift or the Innsburckring course where it would be much more selective...
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [Sean H] [ In reply to ]
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Sean H wrote:
I really wanted to be captivated by it, but unfortunately I don't think the software is where it need to be for this to be a spectator friendly event.

I think there's 3 main issues.

1. People being able to occupy the "same" space
2. Zwifts weird drafting algorithm.

I think these are likely tied together. You should get a way better draft when you're in a big group in zwift than you actually do. But also the group moves way faster than it should and appears to be determined by the collective effort of the group, not the guy on the front of the group. So even if you have some people try and make a breakaway, pushing more power than anyone in the group doesn't mean you're going to stay away. This makes all of these races essentially threshold tests with no real breakaways, just folks slipping off the back over time.

3. So we're setup for a sprint finish every time, but you can't hardly ever tell what happened at the finish line.

100%
No 2 and 3 ruined it for me! The algorithm is so wierd, breakaway can push 9w/kg and the group goimg 8w/kg will still wheel them in wtf?
The finish, noone can see what happens, commentators or spectators alike, its so anti hyoe as it can be
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Re: This weeks zpro .... sanders, barclay , findlay [synthetic] [ In reply to ]
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synthetic wrote:


but did you watch any of the feed i posted?


Yes, I've watched them all, athough I ended up flicking through this one. I really liked the first two of the series - the data was really interesting as it was the first ime I could see what wattage and HR people like Costes, AB, Kanute etc have.

Now I'm watching the same riders show the same data and it's dull. It's a repeat of what I saw before. Their setups don't interest me at all. They use dedicated bike and trainers like the rest of us.

Just my pov, lots of other people seem to enjoy it, that's great.
Last edited by: bluefever: May 23, 20 4:16
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