I RACED on Zwift EVERY DAY Until I Win! - Cat D Zwift Racing
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
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It doesn't matter what category you are racing and/or training in, it's as Greg LeMond said: "It never gets easier, you just get faster." So we all suffer the same ;)
True !
I started Zwift in December around 100kg, down to 90kg now, still haven't won a race. I enjoy watching your efforts, it resonates with me.
same here! keep pushing Rex! lets do it all together
10 kg down…Thats amazing! You can be proud 👍
You're doing an amazing job. Every single day you get on that bike and exercise is a win already. You're noticably getting better already & believe me, cycling only gets more fun from here on out. Keep it up, Benji!
I had fun watching your suffering. Er, I mean perseverance...
A bit of advice from experience, I'm not sure if anyone else has told you but if you fuel yourself while riding it not only keeps your energy up for efforts, but it curbs the massive hunger after you ride. Makes it easier to control the appetite. Good effort in the races keep consistent and watch the gains 💪
Benji, yours maybe the most important journey and voice in cycling at this moment. It's excellent to see someone begin the journey of immersion with a passion for the activity. Congrats on your progress so far and keep it up.
Agreed. He is a novice with lots of passion. So many people can relate to that. Way to go Benji
Good work Benji. Couple things.
1. Bigger guys tend to always be grinders (self included). Work on getting and keeping your cadence in the low/mid 80's as often as you can, but particularly on the inclines. Much less stressful on both legs and cardio for us bigger folks,. Plus you'll find once you get comfortable at those rpm's, smoothly closing gaps will be less likely to red line you.
2. Don't let the body weight fluctuation be big thing. Muscle weighs more than fat. Do work on your base miles, slow and steady. Building endurance will do more for weight loss than the short hard rides. The better your base, the easier it is to improve on power and less likely you are to hurt yourself.
Spot on sir! Zone 2/sweet spot is the way to go!
As a proponent of this, 80% of your training volume should be in zone 2/aerobic and 20% intensity.. I expect the quantity of top end riding every day is getting a little fatiguing for you.. rest a bit more .
Yeah and a daily diet of short, high intensity efforts makes you tired, hungry and on top of that extra hungry because you feel tired. While not burning that much energy. The plan and the video was fun though! And highly motivating it seemed. I get the comments from people with training expertise and/or experience and I count myself in that group, but a silly detour from the ideal structured training plan is something we've all done.
I could be wrong but I disagree with you on (the low /mid cadence in climbs) since you need to work on anaerobic fitness to use less muscle while on the climbs. on my races I keep high cadence mostly 90+ to 120 depending in how steep is the climb. and that way I can be ready to explode in my sprits I always start to sprint either when someone attacks within 100 meters or I just attack within 180 Meters.
@@OSODELANOXXE All relative to scale. Easier for someone lean in stature/mass to spin 90+rpm than those of us not-so-skinny. Just physics. If you've developed a solid spin that doesn't tax you aerobically, rock-on! Not everyone can do that. Observing Benj's video, appeared there were times he was crushing the pedals at upper 60/lower 70 rpm's. His physical set-up and comfort zone may never allow him to get it and keep it in the 90's. That's simply an ambitious ask for those with more mass in their legs. But if he can get and keep it into the low-mid 80's, he'll be better off than he is now, and I'm thinking this is a more realistic goal. It's really more to do with just finding the 'smoothest' place, with the least amount of wasted movement. Been riding forever, and am capable of keeping it in the mid 90's for entire rides were I to choose to do so. But 83-85 just feels good, it's where I'm smooth-as-glass, and is actually less physically taxing on me. We're all built different.
Great job mate, tug buddy loading
💛
I thought you never followed your buddy
Tug Buddies will be the title of your sex tape.
Was waiting for someone to acknowledge that gem of a t-shirt
Romandie highlights in my feed, but I'm glued to Tour de Benji. You're awesome, mate.
Hard work Benji, at your level you would really benefit from longer low intensity trainings, those will not make you feel as hungry as these short all out efforts and would build your base a bit more, like they say : You cant fire a canon from a canoo. Pleasure to watch ur vids man
Well done Benji, excellent effort - that win will definitely come - just make sure you have that celebration ready!! Top video mate 👍🏻
This is actually really inspiring mate. I'm so used to seeing absolute guns torching it on TH-cam so seeing someone more at my level and body shape just going for it is awesome! Makes me want to get out on my bike more and set some goals.
Loved watching this man. Keep it up!
Ride on, Benji! It's really an honor for me to be featured on your video haha
Awesome to see another big fella like myself in the Zwift racing world!! I have done a couple while I was training for my first real world race on 4/22. I am around 123kg and FTP is currently 279w, I have another real world race 6/3 so will probably do another Zwift race or two before then, maybe we will see each other on the race course. Keep killing it man!!
Benji Boonen tearing it up on the cobbles! Well done mate you're doing great. I wish I had somewhere for a zwift setup but instead I'm still having to take my chances training on the treacherous English B-roads haha
A bumpier surface than a Belgian cobbled sections!
They are treacherous aren't they 😂 so sketchy . Try to stick to country lanes best I can but they are unavoidable sometimes..
Great stuff, Benji!!! You're building muscle at the moment and the weight will come back down soon enough if you keep it up. You're fitter now than when you started. Weight is one metric of the entire picture. Keep spinning and you'll find that top step of the podium. I'm inspired by your new content!
Benji, as a former D rider, you gotta use your weight as an advantage. On some of the shorter punchy climbs, you've gotta stand up a bit and use your body to turn the pedals. Great job!!
Hi Benji,
First time viewer here. I am a actuall Fitnesstrainer in real life and a triathlete myself. Even thou i ride in CatA in Zwift i was absolutly astonished by the effort you took in your races!!!! This was amazing and you will absolutly and with no doubt climb up the ladder if you keep on like you do right now. I would suggest focusing more on your diat (With your aproximate weight diat is about 80% of your fitness gain) and try to adopt it to your trainingsstyle better. Proteins are even more important for endurance sports then they are for weight lifting and your absolute weight is way less important then your bodycomposition.
I wish you all the good luck for your future and your first well deserved win soon
Video inspired me to do my first race. Enjoyed it more than I thought and ended up on the floor with a smile. Thanks for the motivation!
Don't forget you'll be massively increasing your muscle mass, don't get too hung up on weight.
You'll be so much leaner and I'm sure feeling better for that!
That was a fun watch. It was clear by your face that you we're giving your absolute maximum, great work!
all in for these! good luck benji, hair looks great... keep it up 💪
So much commitment, suffering, progress, Zwift race tactics and story telling in a single video. Had goosebumps in the last race, hoping you would not jump the sprint to early and get the first place. Keep up the good work. In the analysis in the end you had W/kg twice but the 15% gain should have been absolute watts.
great to see some other riders first few weeks on zwift. i'm a fellow big guy, currently riding around 92kg, started over 110 about 6 months ago. remember you have the advantage on the flats (overall wattage is more important than w/kg on flat), and the descents (heavier things go faster downhill). the little guys will eat you on the climbs, so time your efforts. If you haven't already start looking for some of the bigger/better mass start events (all grades at the same time) in and around fuego flats, and then straight out of the gate, start looking for the slower C grade packs to hold as long as you can. of course, just as you get good enough to win races in D grade, you will be bumped to C grade and then it starts all over again, but honestly, you arent progressing if you are winning easily every day anyway.
Well done,racing pushes most people harder than training ever does. Some nice power gains there!
Great work man! 2 thing's i'd like to share (just ignore if you allready know them :) )
- Racing every day will get you in an overtrained status where every workout (or race) is a pain and you stop improving, it actually hurts your training result
- Don't focus too much on weight. When building muscle (mainly from slow cadence work), you also gain weight. Per volume, muscles are much more dense than fat is, so gaining weight is not necessarily bad. Don't focus on it too much.
Love to see your progress videos, thanks for sharing all this!
I started Zwift racing in D cats also but got fitter with added training forcing me to push up to C cats. Downtown Dolphin is a perfect workout for TTTs (the climb imitates you pulling a group) .
All you’ve got to do is keep pushing and working on your 20 min power, keep it up and good luck
Super cool video. Absolutely crushing it!
You're embracing the pain and learning every race! Huge props, Benji 👊
That was absolutely fantastic, man. You should be so proud of yourself. I'm a D leaguer for life, but you are already past my best results. Well done.
One question: For me, Titans Grove is brutal when you are trying to maintain a high pace through those rollers after that little climb before it. I have tried to stay with faster people through that climb, but those damn rollers...normally I love them, but when I'm trying to push - worst thing ever .
Again, so damn good on you for that showing. You got me wanting to get back on Zwift now.
Veel respect Benji.. je bent een motivatie om mezelf ook te pijnigen en positieve gewichtsresultaten te boeken.. het zal niet via zwift zijn, maar via fitness :) doe zo verder :)
This is great man, i love watching people on zwift who arent pushing superhuman numbers. Makes me feel like im not alone :D
Nice video Benji, love your commentary 👌
Keep up the good work, your videos inspired me to ride more!
Hey Benji. It is very impressive the job that you have done. Keep the races on. I started with Zwift 1 year and half ago and I lost in total 8kg - 1.26 Stones. I'm now in category B. Also I'm able to do 185 km per week but I keep normally around 100K also I do 85k rides with no problem.
Enjoy the prosess and doing such "small projects" like this nicely breaks up the monotomy of long-term training/lifestyle :) Performance gains WILL continue to come!
That is how I managed to stay focused for myself, and in the process lost 40kg of fat / gained 5kg of lean mass over the last two years. I still get equally exhausted on the bike though!!
Such a cool video and excellent attitude. Well done mate.
Respect man. I find indoor biking always so much more difficult than outside
That is what is great about Zwift, in races you can always have fun fighting with cyclists of same level! good job
Great job always fun to see people work hard in their category...almost more fun to watch beginners than a+ riders...
Racing at the lower levels on Zwift looks so hard. Such chaotic racing with big gaps in ability. Having a smaller margin of error in the various power zones also makes it easy to accidentally be pushed into the red too.
As someone racing in Cat B I can tell you that just like the real world "it never gets easier, you just go faster" still applies 😂
Great video. Learning zwift courses really helps too so you can anticipate small kickers that often result in being dropped.
Benji, I’m often around the top of D-Cat Zwiftpower rankings. When you’re big and especially TALL learn to outclimb people because the zwift algorithms don’t penalize your height as much! Practice your 5 minute power in case you don’t have a killer sprint since D-Cat seems to be full of sprinters…
You’ll see my sprint in the next video, haha.
Total champion effort Bloke! GO you good thing.
Great stuff. I race zwift about 5 times a week and it keeps your fitness high!! It's heaps of fun too. :)
I cant wait for the day Benji does his first outdoor race
You e done really well here. First time I've watched you. Enjoyed your video,keep up the hard work.
Another thing is always try to stick with the front group for 10% of the way because they will also get tired of trying to hold high wattages so early in the race & you’ll gain the chance to recover, whilst hanging in the middle of that group to let the draft pull you
Blijft erg leuk om te volgen, goed bezig Benj!
Great effort, you will get your win! Keep it up🚴
12:36 lol the cat back there
Goed bezig, ik heb nu zelf een zwift hub sinds een maand, dus ik ben de mogelijkheden nog aan het verkennen. Het lijkt wel of ik in het nadeel ben met mijn mountainbike op een rit zonder ERG. Dan lijk ik te weinig versnellingen te hebben om te kunnen volgen.
Goed bezig Benji, fijn om te zien dat het niet alleen ik is die zo af zie , nu weet ik dat mijn mederijders het even moeilijk hebben, maar we blijven doorzetten , want het fijne gevoel na de race is zo intens dat het een beetje verslavend werkt...😊😊
Good video. Great work with your racing/training Benji. Wish we could substitute the word 'weight' for 'trim'. It's difficult to pursue a goal of losing weight when one is exercising frequently with sustained effort. You are young and and obviously building muscle which is heavier than fat. Keep up the diet and exercise regimens and trust that the results will be there in time.
Awesome video. I am also a beginner of cycling as well.
I have requested following you in Zwift.
Ride on
Great video Benji, great progress !
You got this buddy!!!! Keep working on that Zwiftcraft! 💪🏽
I think that with your build a pancake flat, 5k sprint where you try to follow Cat C's is your best bet at winning a Cat D race.
Yeah, I tried but just came short of the front rider every time. So I just need a few more % improvement.
i know i shouldn't laugh but when you got so close and morris flew by i was hysterical
Brutal training program!!! Hope it suits you and you'll get better and better! I just started swifting aswell (wanna lose weight). Maybe we see each other sometime in the virtual swift world
ohyea zone 2 riding all I can say, its incredible boring but losing fat (weight) only comes if you let ur body touch that fat. Probably been said 20x already but here again hahaha
Hard work pays off!!
una cosa hermosa del ciclismo es que se mejora rapidamente y uno mismo lo puede notar facillmente. Vas muy bien benji!👍😀
Looking good and unbelievable PRs very impressive.
Ps: Very entertaining. 🎉
Fucking smashing it Benji boy. Forget about the destination, just enjoy the journey. Keep pushing on them pedals...BOSH
Loved the video and love the determination! ❤
1) Dont forget to use your power up!!!! It would have saved you here (3 minute 40)
2) My zwift racing was precisely the same! I got dropped in the first 2 minutes on average, now I am able to hold the main group for a while (C racing) and I am not THAT much better. You just get used to the rough start. Mostly if you push another few seconds the group settles down and you can maybe even cruise.
tour de tietema I love it You also said you'd come to belgium maybe we could ride together then. nice video and jersey ;)
You inspire me so much!
We need a LR breakdown of your tactics for these races
So proud of you and your progress ♥️♥️
Great video. I love watching zwift pain faces. USE YOUR POWER UPS though! Each time you got dropped you had PUs which could have helped you
Problem with the power-ups is that my laptop's too far away. 😂
This is why we have the companion app. Get zwift to buy you a huge red button and strap it to your handlebar. Smash your forehead against it to activate power up when the pain becomes too much
You videos are motivating me to race on Zwift, trying to go back on shape but still probably group D let’s race on day together 🤪
Fk! Benji is back! Pain for Gain, Again!
I Fu..k love this video, its just to motivating!
Great pain face, great video 💪
Good Job! man, As a suggestion; keep working on high cadence during climbs it seems that you are pushing bricks. when going uphill, your cadence drops and you use more power to keep up with the gruppetto thats why you get dropped. try working on your overall cadence and pedal up until you feel your cadence is high while maintaining the same watts/K without muscle fatigue. Its been A while since I haven't Zwift. I wont a couple of CAT C races but the climbs also kill me when riding with more experienced C riders. Also try Natural Beets those will give you super powers trust me. Keep Zwifting.. see you in watopia #Mad_ Derailleur
Keep doing it! Go higher and higher, get fitter = you will get faster :)
Benji! Awesome video as always, thanks! But what's your tshirt at 7:20 - I need that in my life 🙂
Coming soon on LRCP :)
Good efforts, when you start your sprint, choose a slightly lower gear, higher rpm, better sprint & power - 100rpm+.. Maybe also try and stick to 80-90 rpm when riding intstead of 70s..
Great video thanks 😊 level 13 on zwift cycling in 5months, only completed one race cat D, 34. 18stone 13pounds, 56years male .😊thanks
Love this- top work!
Hey, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!!!being a bigger rider, what bibs and chamois do you recommend?
Excellent attitude and work. You will loose weight before you know it. Right now you are probably increasing weight because you build muscles. Just keep cycling, and remember to take some easy days as well to let muscles build themselves up again. 💪👊
nice! die races maken uw wel helemaal kapot, was ook eens eventjes verslaafd. Best maar max 1 tot 2 races per week doen
Cool video man, keep it up
look for volume instead of intensity mate, keep moving and you ll do even greater, kudos
Waarschijnlijk is uw extra gewicht te zoeken bij extra spieren in de benen en dat zou dan ook al direct uw extra wattage verklaren denk ik?
Goed bezig!
You're doing a great job.
Bro super proud of you 🎉❤
Respect dude🙌
I came 5th in the A cat and the snobs started crying saying I'm cheating lool I can't stand the snobs on there but love zwift. good luck
I was in the lead group of my first Zwift race a few weeks ago and blew up 200m from the finish. Cat D but seeing everyone else putting out 3-4w/kg the whole way was demoralizing.
Doing great benji! Keep doing races as it might motivate you to push harder than in training sessions. Try to work on standing on the pedals, that will definitely help your racing. Might feel uncomfortable in the beginning on a trainer, but it really makes punching a lot easier.
Great video! Keep it up!
Great video once again!
Nice one Benji!
I know this Vid is a couple of months old, and firstly Beni, thanks for making and sharing and more importantly WELL DONE.
But....... I just got a smart trainer and plan to go on zwift soon but I found it very confusing,is it a question of get out there and you'll pick it up with time or is there an easier way
Cheers and keep Zwifting (Is that the term).
Love seeing this!
Maybe a 'hot' tip: use more fans. From what I can see your hair isn't moving enough :p
If you are having fun your are winning ! Stay blessed !
Cat at 12:37 and 12:40
You make it so dramatic! Morris with the kilowatt in his back pocket the whole time. Have you asked Patrick to commentate one of your races?
I've gone from 70Kg 195W (2.79W/Kg) to 73Kg 210W (2.88W/Kg) in a similar length of time but I can see the weight gain in my leg muscles so I'm not worried.
Muscles are heavier than fat, so they say. What about your waist and thigh circumferences? Are trousers looser now? Well done mate. Love your work.
laughed so hard on this one wtf xD
Hopefully that means you enjoyed it :)
Nicely done! What time of day do you ride? I'd love to race you sometime.