Winter Grand Tour (WGT), in association with Welsh Triathlon and Clifton Coffee:
This is a 9 round Zwift competition, with a bonus December run round. How will the indoor Zwifting performances relate to outdoor 5k efforts?
Check out the results page for the current standings and race reports.
The main aims for the winter series are for people to enjoy safe racing online, but also some legitimate competition with riders from other tri clubs. Welsh Triathlon will be joined by zwifters from Triathlon Scotland in this two-nation series. Do your clubs and countries proud!
2020/21 Winter Series fixtures:
Races are usually every other weekend – avoiding boxing day. All fixtures are Saturdays at 10:05 GMT. Links to the races will be emailed out in the week before each fixture. Races will last between 45 mins – 2hrs in total. There will be both mass starts and category-split fixtures:
- Rd 1: Nov. 7th: London 8 x 2 laps (40km), category split A-D (points of interest: Box Hill x 2) Zwift Power results
- Rd 2: Nov. 14th : Douce France (35km), draft disabled (Note: select a TT bike in-game) Zwift Power results
- Rd 3: Nov. 28th : Bigger Loop (53km), category split A-D (point of interest: Epic KOM) Zwift Power results
- Rd 4: December 12th : Volcano Climb (33km race), MASS start – expect a frenzied start Zwift Power results
- Rd 5: December 19th : Rider’s Choice – Achterbahn, Austria (2 hill climbs are going to split the field and really push the legs) Zwift Power results
- Rd 6: January 2nd : LaGuardia – 10 laps Zwift Power results
- Rd 7: January 16th : 60km TT : Greatest London Flat – Split Cats – Draft Disabled – racing for distance – a test of individual pacing and endurance – time to race like triathletes 😎 Zwift Power results
- Rd 8: January 30th : Hilly ‘TT’ Tour of Fire and Ice – draft disabled – mass start – the second of 2 rounds with the Zwift gameplay neutralised – pacing will be key and we’ll see everyone on the road together Zwift Power results
- Final round: February 13th : Bologna RACE finishing where the WGT all began, but this time it’s NOT a TT : 2 laps , separate cats, full speed Zwift racing to end the series, and twice up the iconic climb, made famous in the Giro d’Italia Zwift Power results
The series is 9 rounds in length, with your best 6 scores to count (you must score in 6 cycling rounds for a valid overall score. The run round is a bonus and will carry points too if you better one of your bike scores). A big “thank you” to 3R for letting us join their race slot on Saturday. Find out more about 3R here
Winter Grand Tour details
- You will be competing in Zwift race categories, both as individuals, for your tri clubs and also for your home nations: It’s the saltires vs the dragons!
- All abilities are welcome from race cats A-D
- If you go up a category mid-series you cannot take points with you – if you’re on the cusp of the category above, move up
- There will be prizes on offer from both home nations, for the top 3 in each category, for men and women
- We are pleased to welcome back our summer series sponsor: Clifton Coffee
- their coffee tastes great, they source 95{d9b36452821494a55f048609cfebf55fe4fb97c5d7d4f3820ee6382a21a50860} of it direct from origin and will once again be rewarding those podium positions. There will be a choice of beans, ground or capsules from a variety of sources and coffee-growing co-operatives
- Find out more about Clifton Coffee
- their coffee tastes great, they source 95{d9b36452821494a55f048609cfebf55fe4fb97c5d7d4f3820ee6382a21a50860} of it direct from origin and will once again be rewarding those podium positions. There will be a choice of beans, ground or capsules from a variety of sources and coffee-growing co-operatives
- Join the Facebook group for results, team collages, race updates, and plenty of friendly chat between clubs
- Updates will also be on Twitter using the hashtag #wintergrandtour
- All riders must be registered on Zwift power . This will be the SOLE source of race results so entering the correct race categories and being signed up is key. See more in “signing up” below
- If you want extra Zwift geek points your clubs are encouraged to choose the same in-game jersey 😎
- Sign up via your team captain, or to get your triathlon club involved just drop me an email. Registration details are below.
Output / performance validation
Zwift is a game, and whilst we expect some minor variations in virtual race performances, we want the series results to be as fair as possible for all competitors. There will be a 4-tier system of performance validation in place and everyone has a role to play:
- As an individual: Check your bodyweight is accurate, and up-to-date on Zwift and ZwiftPower. Also make sure you regularly calibrate your trainer
- As a club-mate: Check your performances against other athletes you know and race/train with. If there are huge disparities, there’s obviously something wrong, so get it sorted and let us know
- Video weigh-ins: these will start after 3 rounds. Podium occupants will be selected at random and requested to produce pre-race weigh in videos. These only take a few minutes and have worked well in the past. They are private and deleted after verification.
- Team challenges: Ideally we don’t want things to get this far, but if two different teams challenge the same rider’s metrics, further action will be taken and that rider will need to validate their performances by either using a secondary power source or another method
Signing-up
If you’ve raced the WGT before, it’s worth having a quick read. You may need to provide additional information to be eligible for prizes.
For those new to the WGT, a big welcome. Your Saturday mornings will never be the same again! You can sign up individually, or ideally via your club captain / directeur sportif. If you are signing up bulk entries, please complete this via Excel and email it over. Thank you, and see you in Zwift soon.
Sign-up here
For those who won prizes for the Summer Series, check out the brew guide from our friends at Clifton Coffee. We look forward to seeing a Clifton Race Team at the winter series.