Hank: We've trained long and hard. All our years of experience has come down
to this one event. This is our time to show the Zwift World what we're capable of.
Come on squad, we've got this. Come on. Come on.
[cheering] Participants: Five, four, three, two, one.
Hank: We've done a fair bit of Zwift racing over on GCN,
but it's all about to get very serious. Conor: Fairly serious, the first official
Zwift Racing League launched this year with over 1000 teams registered to take part.
Hank: Now it's for all capabilities but capped off at the Golden League,
the premiership, the invitation-only event. Conor: Now, it appears our invitation to this
top tier got lost in the post somehow, but we have been given a very special late entry
to race a Category A race with well, a team of ex-professional cyclists and fellow
international presenters to see if we can survive 47 kilometers of Le Petit Buckler.
That is in round seven of the league. Hank: Right, Conor, how are you feeling?
Conor: Terrible. You? Hank: Absolutely terrible, but well, I'm just
hoping our GCN teammates are going to be there to bail us out. Well, not Si, but we have got
Loïc from GCN en Français, an ex-[unintelligible 00:01:30] rider straight out of the world tour.
Then, we've got Sebastián Haedo, straight out of the world tour too, who presents for GCN
en Español. Then don't forget, we've got our new recruit over on GCN Tech,
Alex Patton, fresh from the racing scene too. I reckon we've got a pretty good team.
Simon: What about me? Hank: Yes, anyway. While we're warming up,
we should probably give you a reminder of how the Zwift Racing League works. It's done on a
team event, and the season's ranking is done on the team's accumulated points. There is
no limit to the amount of riders you can have in your team, but you only can run six in each event.
Conor: There's a Premier League for men and women, and then below that, there are
four different levels of league with multiple different races to suit different time zones.
Hank: Yes, we're racing in the Western Europe time slot, and the current leaders
are, Restart and Plastic Cockneys who are tied at the top of the leader board. I don't know
if we're going to be able to topple them, but we're going to give it our best shot,
aren't we, Conor? Conor: Yes, we're
going to try our best, Hank. Nathan: Here we go, as the
men are about to take off-- Hank: We're off, team.
Conor: Don't get dropped out. All right. Hank: I've got so much in my pockets;
I can't get out the saddle. Conor: Sprint, everyone remember to sprint at the
start of these Zwift races. Start fast, 2 minutes max effort. Don't get dropped, to begin with.
All right, Come on. Dave: That's Sebastián there,
these guys doing some psych-out head games on the rest of the field, as they look warmed up, primed,
locked, and loaded. Great to have GCN with us here today. All right, Nathan, it's going to be
a little bit of an extra throw down here on the start of the men's race. Oh, boy, buckle up.
[crosstalk] Conor: I'm
suffering. [music]
Hank: Wow, they're putting out some power already?
Conor: All right. Nathan: A lot of focus there,
290-300 watts, sitting well in the pack not putting too much out here, Dave.
Dave: Yes, he looks like a guy playing poker in Las Vegas at 3:30 in the morning in the
Sands Casino, right. He's not giving away anything with that face.
Simon: I'm slightly nervous that a [unintelligible 00:03:56] is going to go
and I don't want to follow it, but I'll be all right. Don't worry about it.
Hank: [unintelligible 00:04:02] my whole race career.
Conor: Don't worry, we've got Hank to chase it down if we miss it.
Hank: Patton looks like he's cruising. No, I can see some teeth.
Alex: I'm spending way too much time at 400 watts. I'm not got this much in the tank
but trying to sit in and save energy. It's getting tough now.
Conor: Good work, mate. Don't even look at the numbers, if they're high, just ignore
that. Focus on keeping in the pack. [music]
Alex: I'm trying to get back in, guys. I'm going to call out with a sprint.
Conor: We're 21.7 kilometers in, 25 kilometers to go, with that climb looming
its head, just going to do a quick check-up, see where my teammates are. Hank, starting with you.
He's still in the front group. How are you feeling, mate? How's the pace up there?
Hank: Pace is fast, so I know I keep it nice and together. I'm sitting around 19th position,
a few times on the front but I think I'm going to have to go early. I'm not going
to make it in the sprint, so I'm going to give it my own in the front. Back to you, Si.
Simon: Okay, I'm trying to recover a little bit before this climb but
I'm struggling a bit. I had to go pretty deep when it split. That's
definitely one life you've got. Conor: Good work, mate. I think that split
happened just when we were going over a cobbled section and the hammer just went down. The pace
was so fast. I was giving it all I could. I just didn't have the legs. My legs are so heavy.
Struggling to stay in, left the wheel so I've been dropped.
I'm out at the back and I'll be happy to make the finish line now
and try and cheer on Hank and Si, who are doing an absolute sterling effort here.
Simon: Let's try some distraction techniques, Hank. What's the capital city of South Korea?
Hank: Seoul. South Korea, not North.
Brutal. What's the capital of Russia, Si? Simon: Moscow.
Hank: Spain? Simon: Madrid. Actually,
I'm not sure about Russia. Hank: Poland?
Simon: Don't, mate, don't. I need to focus.
Hank: This is what we do here at GCN, distract each other from the pain.
Great tactic until you forget to pedal and then you get dropped and then it doesn't work.
Dave: That's going to be Si Richardson that we're looking at right now,
flogging himself like a rented mule here. Nathan: Six, seven watts per kilogram. This
is going to be the storytime right now whether or not the GCN boys are able to
make this because this is-- Dave: This is the big test.
Nathan: Yes, this really is. You're all in at six to seven watts per kilogram for a solid
three minutes or so. It just looked like Loïc is now making a little bit of a move, Si's
falling off pace. He need to hold the wheel, focusing in 183b sprint, a little bit of a smirk
there. That's the suffering smirk I think. Dave: Come on,
Si. He's done it though. He's getting back up into the slipstream here. What a fighter,
this guy is. He probably only weighs like 65 kilo and 5 kilo, that's got to be hard.
Sebastián: Come on, Si, come on. Conor: Come on, Hank.
Hank: The climb defeated me. It just was too long. It's too fast. Si's up there. He's
fighting but he's fishtailing off the back. Fingers crossed he can stay in there. I lost hope.
Simon: I'm dangling off the back.
10 seconds. I can't close it. Dave: Si, as well, it looks like
getting dropped off, going to have to make the chase,
showing what the quality is out here but we will have a board at the end of the
day just for the GCN boys, where they end up amongst each other. That is going to be
a board that we will have so be on the watch out. Conor: I'm in 115th place out of 124 riders
in this category A race and it just goes to show how many quality riders are in these races. It is
really tough competition. Category A races, they are kind of more elite riders on Zwift
and I tell you what, they've given us a bit of a kick-in today. Myself,
especially. I was actually feeling quite confident coming into this, did a little ride this morning.
I've been blown away today. Hank: It's bringing back some
great race memories. We've had Si upfront, Sebas, Loïc, and Alex here, fighting there to
hold us in the front. It's been great. I just wish we were able to have this team in real life.
Conor: I'll say what, it's been a lot of fun, hasn't it?
Even if we have got a bit of a kicking. Simon: I got some familiar names around me,
people that I recognize from Zwift and also from racing. It's quite reassuring to
see that they've been dropped too. Dave: Riders all the way open now, Nathan,
and that's going to be James Barnes up on the front here. There's the finish line.
Nathan: He's not going to hold on. He's getting swamped. Cormac McGeough, was it? Oh,
Ashton, I think. Dave: Almost.
Nathan: And Nielsen. Dave: Wow, what a finale that was.
Simon: Okay, Flamme Rouge, 1K to go. I've been gurning for so long,
my face has gone all twitchy. Oh man, they're sprinting. They're sprinting.
They've put me back to the 61st. Conor: Come on, Si, top 60,
you can do it. It's like a personal battle, come on. To the line. Hank's
inside. I have 800 meters to go as well. Nathan: 184 b sprint. Looks like it's
been a tough day. This is the reality of ZRL, right? Jumping into the midst of this. This is
quite the group. Conor:
Come on. Hank's got the earpiece out and everything he's just full
effort. He's giving it all he's got. Come on, Hank.
Hank: Wow. That was savage. Sebastián:
Oh, I love it. Conor: Sebastián,
how are you? Have you finished? Sebastián: I finished in the
70 position. 4 minute 50 down. Conor: Oh, good effort, Sebastián. We've
got three riders in the top 70. Hank: Yes.
Conor: I think it's a really good result. Simon: Yeah, it's a nice positive spin,
Conor. I like it. Three in the top 70. Smashed it. Do you agree?
Conor: I mean, there is room for improvement. Simon: Now the feeling that with that effort
in my legs, I reckon next week it'll make all the difference, being able to hang in there.
I think the final round is the team time trial so maybe we should pass nicely and see whether
they'll let us in. Dave: You jumped into the
deep end of the pool, boys. Some high-level racing going on out here and to be honest, this is one of
our most competitive categories with the Europe, Middle East, and Africa West. Simon Richardson
takes it for the GCN boys. Hank fights his way to the silver medal and then Sebastián Haedo, the
Argentinean assassin there, and he's going to round out our top three there for the GCN boys.
Hank: Oh, what an epic race. Thank you so much for Zwift for allowing us to jump in on the
Zwift Racing League. It was absolutely brutal but amazing, good fun. We were able to race as a team,
the GCN Dream team so thank you to Si, obviously, to leading the team in, and then we've got
Patton and we've got Sebas. We've also got Loïc joining us, and obviously,
our very own, well, Conor Dunne. I'm done and I guess it's time for me to
go and get the beers. Hey, Conor. Conor: Yes, could you pick up one
for me? I think I might be a while still. I've got seven kilometers
to go. I am actually in last place, Hank. Hank: My warm-up's done so time for me to go
and get a shower. I'll see you later, mate. Conor: Yes, I'll plug on. I'll get to
the finish. Don't worry. Hank: See you, team.
Conor: Yes, thanks, Hank, thanks. Okay. Oh, come on, Conor. You can do this. Get to the finish.
Come on legs. [00:13:09] [END OF AUDIO]