Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24 Bolstering Zwift Strategies

Top Swiss Zwifter Kathrin Fuhrer Joins VBR TWENTY24 ESports Team

ROANOKE, Virginia — December 14, 2023 — It’s that time of year when Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 are fully immersed in the Zwift Grand Prix and ZRL race season. The Grand Prix presents a seven-round race series featuring the top men's and women's teams in Zwift, and ZRL is the world's largest virtual cycling competition, where 16,300 riders from 1,835 teams participated in the previous season. 

As the Zwift platform continues to recalibrate after the pandemic explosion of indoor cycling, the Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 team also continues to utilize the platform for training and racing. The collective impact of competitive opportunities, community interactions, and training, are valuable tools for the team. Our IRL (in real life) athletes continue to excel using Zwift for key power workouts, racing, and social engagement. 

Zwift as a company continues to innovate and excite, and promoting Kate Veronneau into a leadership role speaks to their commitment to women in cycling. I've known Kate for many years and it's inspiring to see a strong female advocate in our industry. I’m appreciative of their significant investment in IRL women’s cycling, a smart move with women’s sports taking a huge upswing in viewership this year.

The title sponsorship of Le Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift across the eight stages attracted an average live audience of 2.9 million, and in total the race achieved a cumulative live audience of 23.2 million people. A recent New York Times article highlighted that the share of women’s sports media coverage in the United States increased to 15 percent in 2022 from about 5 percent in 2018, according to the Wasserman Collective, a research think tank studying women’s sports, with predictions for 2025 approaching 20 percent. 

It’s incredibly encouraging to see Zwift supporting women at the highest level of IRL sport, while continuing to build at the community level targeting the recreational enthusiast on their indoor Zwift platform. Building this bridge between the two (ZRL and IRL) is exciting for the sport both from a participation and spectator/fan standpoint. 

In my experience, we are beginning to see conversion from indoor riding to IRL riding and racing. Our esports team captain, Kristin Kulchinsky, and VBR TWENTY24 UCI team powerhouse, Laurel Quinones, are evidence of this.

2023 Zwift eSports Roster

• Kristen Kulchinsky (USA)
• Kathrin Fuhrer (SUI)
• Emily Ehrlich (USA)
• Mairen Lawson (CAN)
• Laurel Quinones (USA)
• Madeline Kuntz (USA)
• Melisa Rollins (USA)
• Myriam Paquet (CAN)
• Sofia Arreola (MEX)

Looking forward to 2024/2025, we will continue to host our weekly community Zwift ride on Thursday mornings and our UCI team will leverage the power of Zwift for training. In 2025, the team will allocate a more robust budget specifically to our esports team, creating further opportunities to engage at all levels for our athletes and partners.

• Nicola Cranmer, Founder/General Manager

Photo above: Kathrin Fuhrer 7th place at UCI esports World Championships

Photo above: VBR TWENTY24 in New York City with Eric Min who was being honored at the Star Track Racing annual fundraising gala.

Over the past few years, I’ve gotten to know Zwift co-founder Eric Min quite well and his passion and drive are unmatched. While at the UCI World Championships in Scotland, I was also introduced to his Co-CEO, Kurt Beidler—always motivating conversations with their energy behind the sport and potential on all fronts.  

Photo above: Emily Ehrlich wins UCI Tour of the Gila Criterium by Brian Hodes

"Zwift is the perfect platform for pushing past your limits. On Zwift you have all the advantages and none of the distractions when pushing hard efforts. Your mental focus can be 100% on the efforts without worrying about external factors. Zwift efforts feel like the perfect laboratory setting for completely maximizing your body's capabilities. The key to why Zwift is so good at pushing your limits is because of the controlled safe environment of the indoor trainer combined with the motivation and competitive spirit of racing. These efforts i've been able to apply to my outdoor racing this year, culminating into my best season ever."

• Emily Ehrlich (USA) VBR TWENTY24 GC and TT athlete

Photo above: Kristen Kulchinsky and her elevated passion for IRL riding and racing

"We are many races in and it wouldn't be a Zwift season without ups and downs. With the ups and downs come opportunities to learn. I am learning that what is most important to my race results is not my power numbers but my mindset. I recently met Matt Stephens for the first time in real life and asked him how he managed race day nerves. While he did say that race day nerves could be detrimental, he tried to shift his thinking to actually welcome them. He said that if he didn't have any pre race jitters he noticed that he would go on to have a sub par race. So when he was on the start line and felt the nerves coming he would view them as a good thing. The trick was to just manage them in a positive direction at the right time.

One of my goals this year is to find that balance. This year in Grand Prix Round 2 we raced up Alpe du Zwift. In the past I have been able to go body blow for body blow on courses like these against some of my idols like Ashleigh Moolman Pasio so I had this race marked on my calendar! On race day I got a little too amped up. On the start line my heart rate was much, much higher than it usually is, which is already higher than on a training day. In hindsight I got a little too excited and pushed too hard at the bottom of the climb. I finished 7th on the day, a very good result but lower than I would have hoped and was capable of. It was clear that my race nerves were too high! I knew I needed to try to manage them a little better for the following races.

Fast forward to Grand Prix Round 4. The race was a straightforward one that finished on a downhill sprint. If a fifty minute climb is my bread and butter then that makes a downhill sprint finish not my jam! Going into the race I knew that it was just about getting the best result for my team. On the start line I still felt a little nervous but my heart rate was much lower than before the Alpe race. To my surprise I finished 4th place (3rd in the group sprint). Success!

My challenge now will be to try to take Round 4's more laid back pre race energy into the races to come on Zwift and my IRL hill climbs this summer!"

• Kristen Kulchinsky (USA) VBR TWENTY24 eSports Captain

Photo above: Esports Director Josh Lipka with captain Kristen Kulchinsky

The team has been gaining momentum all Grand Prix season and finished a much closer than would appear 4th place in Round 4. As the 2022/23 ZRL champions (crowned after a Team Time Trial) we hope to better that result in Round 5's TTT. We have dusted off our pacing spreadsheet and have been practicing our paceline. 

The TTT is my favorite discipline on Zwift. In other types of races teams can get away with just smashing the pedals at the right time. Sometimes that is only at the finish line sprint. The TTT requires so much more. It requires trust in the pacing strategy. Trust that your teammates will be patient and not pull too hard early so everyone can pull through later. Trust that they won't let a gap open either in front or behind them. They need to trust they will look out for and make it as easy as possible for each other.

It takes courage to push yourself to your limit. With the right pacing strategy there inevitably comes a time where you start to think you can't pull through again. Sometimes you're wrong and you push past former limits. Sometimes you're right and you get dropped. Nobody wants to push so hard that they don't make it to the line with the team. It's so easy to sacrifice your team's finish time by backing yourself off a little bit. The TTT requires you to let go of your ego and fully commit to your role even if it means "looking bad" to the viewers who don't know.

These are just a couple things that can be difficult for people or teams to surrender to. So far I have seen them come easy to the VBR Twenty24 team riders. I think that's why their best event on Zwift is the TTT. This doesn't just stop on discord with Zwift season, it continues into the IRL season. It doesn't surprise me that we see VBR Twenty24 performing so well outdoors where team cohesiveness, trust, and self sacrifice is even more important.

See you on December 14 for the TTT.

• Josh Lipka (USA) VBR TWENTY24 eSports Director Sportif

Photo above: Kathrin Furer races from home in Glanerland, Switzerland

"This summer I had some decisions to make about my next season on Zwift. Considering work, convenience and personal preferences I was looking for an esport only team with like minded riders having the goal of a pure and professional esport women team. I chatted with Kristen Kulchinsky and found soon that we had the same mindset, passion, dedication and goals, it was an easy decision to team up for season 2023/2024 with Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24. 

TWENTY24 is a well known and strong IRL team and wants to build up a same strong esport team on Zwift. Nicola Cranmer - our founder of development and Pro Cycling as well as head of Management in our team, has just been highlighted as one of the most influential people in American cycling. She brings with her fearless and passionate drive loads of valuable and powerful vibes into our team. Especially her enormous impact on the women's side of road and esport cycling. 

We are mid Zwift Grand prix season and still building up our team with a group of extremely motivated, and strong women. Our DS Josh Lipka has an incredibly keen eye for detail and the calm and constructive communication before, during and after a race pulls the team forward and brings the best out of every athlete. 

Fun is always a big part of what we do, which keeps us cool in races and makes it easier to get the best out of yourself in every single race. For us it's not about perfection but about the journey when everyone gives their best. I love our team work and support everyone puts in for the other riders. My switch to T24 is definitely a great match for me."

• Kathrin Fuhrer (SUI) VBR TWENTY24 Zwift ESports Athlete

Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24 Athletes and Zwift

Former D1 rower Laurel Quinones had a breakout season landing on the podium in several of North America's marquee events. Laurel was recruited for our Zwift esports team and quickly we saw her potential in IRL. She is a KX3 athlete.

"Zwift training has enhanced my outdoor riding. The Zwift platform allows me to have very focused workouts without any distractions, where I can nail sessions and easily track progress. As someone who works full time, Zwift is super time efficient and enables me to quickly gain fitness for outdoor races. The social aspect of Zwift is great for keeping motivation high during the tough winter prep for spring races."

Laurel Quinones (USA)

Junior athlete Lauren Weigel won the first ever USA Cycling 17-18 gravel national championships this year as well as scoring great road results throughout the season. Lauren lives in Minnesota and frequently trains on Zwift. She is coached by KX3 coach Kaitie Keough who also leads the winter junior team Zwift rides to build team Camaraderie and fitness.

"Zwift training helps me get through the winter months when I can’t get outside. It allows me to hone in on fueling, performance, and efficiency. This makes for a better IRL racing season! It's also as lot of fun to be able to train with teammates who are based all over the country."

Lauren Weigel (USA)

Cuban sprint sensation Marlies Mejias Garcia won sixteen races this year in the U.S. including road races and criteriums. she is coached by KX3 coach Kristin Armstrong who regularly uses Zwift training for key workouts. Marlies has been to two Olympics and continues to grow as an athlete from year to year and is looking towards her best season yet in 2024.

"Zwift has been a very useful training tool for me to practice timed efforts and pain thresholds. I am able to remain very focused on hitting power targets without distractions. I also have a 4 year old daughter so i am able to train on days when she may be sick home from school."

Marlies Mejias Garcia (CUB)

Join us this week on our weekly

Zwift Community Ride in Richmond, Virginia

Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY24 are now in our 19th year of operation developing high-performance athletes and the next generation of competitive cyclists. Success in aligning student-athletes with college scholarships through cycling. Support of the multi-discipline athlete. Adaptive, dynamic, versatile, resilient, and committed to growing diversity in the landscape of women’s cycling. Our weekly Zwift group ride is in its 3rd year and is led by Ultra-cyclist Amanda Coker. Richmond, Fan Flats.

We would love for you to join us on this good vibe, fun social ride!

7:00am MDT / 9:00am EST / 2:00pm CET JOIN HERE!

"Since July 2019, VBR Twenty24 has been hosting a social group ride on Zwift every Thursday at 9am ET. The ride consists of an hour at 2 w/kg average where riders come to chat about updates from the team, cycling in general, share stories, and of course swap jokes. What makes this ride so enjoyable is never knowing what each ride will bring; the conversations change every week because people from all over the world join our group ride. For those interested in joining our ride, everyone is clothed in the VBR Twenty24 team kit (a perk you can only experience during the team ride!).

We roll out and maintain a steady 2 w/kg around the Richmond Fan Flats course, a course choosen due to its flat terrain and the fact that it's in our head quarter state of Virginia. Riders are encouraged to hang around my yellow beacon to keep the group together and moving swiftly. As the ride rolls along we talk about the team and all of our accomplishments, sharing race updates, news, and answering any questions our new cycling friends and fans may have. Members of the team often join us on the ride as well as our team owner, Nicola Cranmer. It's a great opportunity to get the chance to chat with professional and elite cyclists! Beside members of VBR Twenty24 joining us, Eric Schlange (creator of Zwift Insider) regularly joins us and shares all the new and improved updates that have happened on Zwift most recently. In fact, Zwift Insider has coined the VBR Twenty24 Road to Paris group ride as the "Best Group Ride on Zwift"! A great honor we uphold and one that I do my best as the team group ride leader to maintain each week.

The biggest group ride we have ever had on Zwift actually crossed over the 1,000 rider mark, an exciting ride full of wonderful conversations. With that said, we do have days throughout the year where the weather is too beautiful for our cycling friends to miss out on riding outdoors and our numbers are low. I just look at those days as opportunities for our regulars to talk more and have more one on one conversations! As the temperatures start to drop our numbers rise and we start to see new faces on the ride, which brings new questions and new friends to our team following. Since starting our group ride on Zwift, I have met so many wonderful people from around the world; it is such an amazing community of riders and I am thankful for all of those that choose to join our ride every Thursday."

• Amanda Coker (USA) Ultra Athlete and Zwift Community Leader

New opportunities for 2024 include The Zwift Games. Open to all, the Games will provide an open qualification pathway to the Zwift Games Elite Finals and the chance to be crowned overall Zwift Games Champion. Qualification races will take place in late February 2024, with Zwift Games Elite Finals to be held over the first two weeks of March 2024. The Zwift Games will crown men’s and women’s Champions across the three medal disciplines, as well as overall male and female champions. Winners will also take home a share of Zwift’s biggest-ever prize purse.

Zwift Racing

Tune in to Zwift Youtube today at 12:00 PM Mountain time for Round 5 Women's Team Time Trial on the Triple Flat Loops in Watopia!! TTT our favorite!!!

Upcoming races

Echelon Racing League (ERL)

WTRL ZRL Tuesdays Weekly

Zwift Grand Prix

Zwift Games

Gratitude to our 2024 Partners

Virginia's Blue Ridge, Virginia is for Mountain Lovers, Zwift, FELT Bicycles, Zipp, SRAM, Quarq, Violich Farms, Berglund Automotive, American National Bank, Carilion Hospital, GroundForce IT, Wild Health, Domestique Foundation, Roanoke College, Velotec, Kenda Tire, Oakley, Speedplay, KASK helmets, PACE Ranch, Wahoo, Velo Saddles, Training Peaks, Arundel Cages, Camelbak, Access, The Roanoke Times, KX3 Sports, DZ Chamois Cream, Hyperice, Park Tool, Seasucker Racks, Sock Guy, McNeil Roofing, Karen Malkin Health, NormaTec, Access PR, USA Cycling Foundation, Victory Circle Graphix, Cardinal Bicycle, Bauer Haus, KX3 Lifestyle and Coaching, The HEMI Gravel Race, Barbara Kreisle Photography, Roanoke Gas, Gentry Locke, Lab Sports Performance.