Folk had a similar discussion about bike choice for the ITT in the Worlds 2017. The fastest times set were on TT bikes. I’d wager the fastest times will be on TT bikes.
There are the same discussion about which bike to choose for the course on Zwift tomorrow. I’ll guess that if draft is on, S5/S-Works Venge with 858/Super9 combo will win out. If draft is off, my guess is on S-Works Shiv Disc with 858/super9👌
There’s so many times to choose from I’m thinking of doing the event several times. First time round a TT bike then maybe a lightweight bike next time. To be honest I doubt there’s much difference going up hill in Zwift on a TT bike compared to anything else. I can’t see it being worthwhile swapping bikes as you won’t make up the time lost by being on a lighter / bike better suited to climbing.
I did it on the TT bike, and made up a huge amount of time on the flat section. The climb only takes around 7mins 30s, I think the time is offset by the speed of the TT bike. I only got passed by one rider on the climb. He was doing 10+ w/kg on the Zwift carbon bike and unsurprisingly not registered on Zwiftpower.
I think the cones are set pretty low on this course. The guy just ahead of me got coned on the flat, at around 4km.
It’s a beautiful course. I’m really looking forward to see how the pro’s get on!
I’ve been in a Tour of Watopia stage with you in the past few weeks Andy: let’s just say you are quite a bit more accomplished than me, so I can imagine how you powered up it
Disc brake P5 for Dumoulin or some lighter rim model from Cervelos lineup? If he wins on a disc brake TT bike it’ll be a big boost for db TT bike marketing.
As far as I know the teams can choose which order to start their riders. Usually send out one decent TT guy early to go hard and give feedback and then let their team leader go last so they have more time check info. But they do get a bit strategic if they think the clouds or the wind is going to make the course slower later on.
I think another reason the top TT guys prefer to go last is so that they don’t have to sit in the hot seat too long if they have posted the fastest time.
I had a go at it last night on Zwift Giro d’Italia TT Challenge, didn’t watch the live event so didn’t know what I had let myself in for. If I known about that brutal climb for final 2.1km I would have gone 90% FTP for first 6km flat part and attacked the climb at the end.
I wish I’d seen GP Lama’s video on pacing strategy first!! He suggests riding just under FTP for the flat and over FTP for the climb. I looked at the times from the previous races and figured it’ll be around a 15-16 min effort for me, so decided to ride at a steady 110% of best 20 min effort. Sadly I wasn’t able to give it another go and try the pacing strategy suggested.