Fresh off their record-breaking sub-3 hour 150km, Team Innovation is attempting to become the first to 200 Zwift km in under 4 hours on Saturday, February 25, 2023
They’re at it again! Here’s all you need to do to become a Zwift record-holder, and claim strongman and woman bragging rights. They say this is it, so don’t miss out!
Show up here, throw down short pulls of 5.5wkg+ at the front, and recover at 4wkg+ in the draft. They’ve chosen a rig for you—Cadex TT frame with a DT Arc disc wheel. The TT double draft is on, and the leaders are ready to go. All you must do is maintain a team speed of 50 to 51km/h for slightly less than 4 hours. No worries!
Check out the Cool Video! It will make you want to ride through a wall!
The Innovation Cycling squad is confident. They’ve been successful before, and they know what it takes to do it again. On December 10, 2022, the group put around 50 riders over the 100km mark in under 2 hours.
Then followed it up with an epic sub-three-hour ride on January 14, 2023, to claim the Zwift record for 150 km.
The amazing effort was highlighted in this report featured by Cycling Weekly.
The Successful Sub-2 hour 100km
They chose Watopia’s flat and fast Tempus Fugit this time with its slight undulations to take full advantage of pack dynamics for recovery. The key was a solid organization, with two to three riders hammering at the prescribed wattage while the others stayed primed and ready to pull through.
The group sacrificed themselves like soldiers going to war during the sub-3 hour 150 km ride, with 60 combatants remaining after an hour, and down to 40 after two hours.
The collective effort built up a two-minute buffer after 50km but gave back a minute by 100km. With teeth-gritted and hero pulls till the end, 29 strong men and women crossed the line in under three hours, with less than 60 seconds to spare.
For one of the riders who fell on his sword, “it was like going to war for Team Innovation, and it was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m sure that goes for everyone involved!”
A Bit About Your Brave Leaders
Romaric is a 45-year-old family man living in the French Alps who started Zwifting in 2016 after a bad bike crash left him with a shattered femur. Since then, he’s logged over 155,000km and many at a high rate of speed.
Romaric holds the Zwift 24-hour record set in 2021 when his group covered 1028km at a grueling average pace of 42.8km/h. The record remains, and you can check Strava if you want.
Joining Romaric to lead the sub-3 hour attempt are Team INC wattage cottages Markus Meir, Matthias Petry, David Cresswell, Ben Finesilver, and Andreas Dietrich.
A Brief History of Team INC—Innovation Cycling
Kyle Augustin formed Team INC (Innovation Cycling) in February 2017. Chris Loake and Gavin Richardson were on the first rides and remain ride leaders today alongside a large core group of fantastic and brilliant ride leaders and racers from various cycling backgrounds. Together they aimed to be Relentless by removing the friendly back-patting and adding some discomfort to Zwift group riding. In a Type II fun and supportive way, of course!
They do this by leading rides using FTP percentage or color zones rather than wkg and organizing training adapted to an individual rider’s ability. The iconic Alien head on the INC in-game kit comes from the early days they rode together in the Dell Alienware threads.
Team INC has grown to embrace the mantra, “If you didn’t vomit, you didn’t try hard enough.” Despite where you fall on the “healthy relationship with exercise” spectrum, suffice it to say that they’re a hard-working bunch.
History Made, and then Do IT Again!
“The tactics are simple,” says Romaric, “encourage the group to hang on while recovering and pull hard when one of the three at the front.” He and his leadership team monitor the pace and take it to the pointy end when the speed dips below 54km/h.
Sound like fun? Join Romaric and the Team INC crew on Saturday and find out. If it’s all you hoped and dreamed, then you’ll have punched your ticket for the first sub-4 hour 200km on Zwift!
Semi-retired as owner and director of his private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice after over 20 years, Chris is blessed with the freedom to pursue his passion for virtual cycling and writing. On a continual quest to give back to his bike for all the rewarding experiences and relationships it has provided him, he created a non-profit. Chris is committed to helping others with his bike through its work and the pages of his site.
In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to New York to support the charity he founded, TheDIRTDadFund. His “Gain Cave” resides on the North Fork of Long Island, where he lives with his beautiful wife and is proud of his two independent children.
You will read him promoting his passion on the pages of Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. Chris is co-host of The Virtual Velo Podcast, too!
