Watching Z Pro Tri Series: The Low-Down
Lionel Sanders must have been pretty peeved after race-1 last week. After smashing the Canadian Hour Record, he got pipped in the sprint in the first November Z Pro Tri Series race. What does a guy have to do?
Whatever it is, he'll be doing it in just under an hour.
The second weekly version of Z Pro Tri Series racing starts 45 minutes from the publication of what you're reading: 11am PST (on the U.S. West Coast), and 2pm Eastern Time. Here is the link for the Youtube Livestream.
Antony Costes is a shark at these short races, that go off every 15 or 20 minutes and are over in a flash. He won last week, and Lionel will be looking to reverse that. Knowing precisely when to step on the pedals (300 yards to go? 200 yards?) is the trick and, of course, being well-placed when you do so. Very much like the sprint in pro bike racing.
Here are the current standings, with Costes, Sanders and James Cunnama the top 3, while Emma Pallant leads the women and Melanie Maurer just behind.
There's no telling who'll prevail at this. It's not like who has the fastest bike split in an Ironman. Yes, Lucy Charles is a top woman Zwifter, but in these short races Pallant are Maurer constantly driving the pace.
Lots of these folks have webcams on them as they race.
Here's how it works. The entire broadcast, each week, takes about 2 hours if you watch the whole thing. The men race 3 times, as do the women. The races are short, from 12 to 20 minutes each. The formats change, so, a points race in Crit City, a scratch race, and then a hill climb, which is a non-drafting TT style.
This is week-2, today, and next Wednesday is the finale, week-3. Boom. Done. This is not just bragging rights for these racers; there's money on the line. Next week, the finale, same time, same day.
Beyond all of that, remember our 9 (!) weekly Zwift events: 5 rides, 4 runs. You can always find them here.
