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Castelli Podcast

Objective: inform and engage people to join the Castelli Zwift series

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0. SHOW INTRO
1
OVERALL SHOW INTRO
SJ
Soren
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Open
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1. INTRO
3
PERSONAL INTROS
RL
Perhaps we should kick off with a bit about who we are and our cycling background?
Great, and what about your connection with Castelli?
Both
Background: e.g. where we live
Cycling history and preference (e.g. road, gravel, MTB)
How we got involved with Castelli, and our current roles

Open
LB first
HOW WE MET
LB
And a bit about how we crossed paths...
Both
Close friends, though only met twice IRL
Maratona 2018 and 2022, as part of Castelli family

Open
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WHAT ARE ESPORTS?
LB
Being fully aware that many of our listeners may not be familiar with eSports, shall we a a bit about what it is
Both
RL: The official definition of eSports is:
“multiplayer video games played competitively for spectators”, though the indoor cycling world goes well beyond this definition
LB: Indoor cycling can be split roughly in to categories:
LB: Pure Training
e.g. TrainerRoad
for example, a 6 month workout plan with workout sessions to follow on software
RL: All Fitness
e.g. Wahoo X
combines workout plans, Sufferfest, with other elements such as cyclist-specific yoga, mental strength, mobility
LB: Remote Fitness Solutions
e.g. Peloton
similar to doing an instructor-lead spin class remotely
RL: Simulation / Gamification
e.g. Zwift, Rouvy, bKool and myWhoosh
virtual worlds with elements of cycling simulation and gamification, where you have the option to ride solo or with a group. Usually incorporates the following activities:
free rides / exploring
races
structured workouts
social rides
Gamification can include things such as route/badge hunting and power-ups such as aero, or lightweight boost
virtual worlds are:
fictional creations or
recreated from the real world either as a game or from video footage
LB: Explosion in popularity during the Covid lockdowns
LB: Some free, some paid for

Open
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2. ZWIFT
4
WHAT IS ZWIFT?
RL
With Zwift being the main home for Castelli eSport activities, should we do a quick intro to Zwift?
LB
Multiplayer virtual cycling platform
11 worlds, some fictional, some real world recreations such as Alpe du Zwift
Combination of cycling simulation and gamification
Explore, Train, Compete
free riding, structured workouts, racing
Open
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WHO IS IT FOR?
LB
So who joins Zwift to ride?
RL
Anybody looking to:
have a home for their indoor cycling
maintain or increase fitness
become part of a friendly online cycling community
compete in races
Pros using them as a serious training tool
2/3 of last year’s Tour de France start-list are Zwift users
Ashleigh Moolman Passio trained hard on zwift during Covid lockdown then took the QOM on Rocacorba in May 2020, by some margin too, some 4 or 5 minutes
and Matt Hayman trained on Zwift with a broken arm rested on a stepladder before going on to win Paris Roubaix in 2016 (can you believe that was 7 years ago!?)
Cav - Tour of Watopia
Open
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HOW TO GET STARTED
RL
What kind of equipment would somebody need to get started?
LB
Download the app to a device such as an iPad, Apple TV, Android or a computer
Need to connect cycling equipment, which can be
a bike and an indoor trainer
a smart bike
bike speed and power sensors
Other useful items include a fan (or two) and a stand for laptop/tablet
New stuff
Zwift Play
Virtual gearing
Open
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ZWIFT STATS
RL
Lars, I know you love your research, do you have any Zwift statistics for us?
LB
3 million accounts created (according to a Bloomberg interview with CEO Eric Min)
75% are doing structured workouts
25% are regularly doing events
Over 100,000 users each day
Peak Zwift was 49,114 concurrent users, in January 2021 (during covid lockdown)
An average session is 28km, so something like 45-60 minutes

Open
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3. CASTELLI ON ZWIFT
6
BRIEF HISTORY
LB
How did Castelli’s presence develop on Zwift?
RL
We’ve been running events on Zwift since 2017
At the time I was running a separate community on Zwift, originally launched for my local club, which grew in popularity
Zwift began becoming more popular with some brands from the cycling world. Som combining the Castelli connection I had, with the experience of leading a Zwift community, we launched a new Castelli event series called the Rosso Corsa ride, at that time with myself organising and leading rides

Open
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HOW DID WE GET HERE
LB
How did the community and rides evolve from there?
Is there anything you think has made the community grow?
RL
Since that time, the community has grown, as has the leadership team and number of rides on offer
we are currently running 6 rides per week
with 15 ride leaders from around the world
some are employees,
some ambassadors
and some are enthusiastic, long-standing community members who have become fantastic ride leaders
we average something like a thousand to 1,500 riders per week across all events
the rewarding aspect is that we have many returning regulars which really adds to the community feel
we make an effort be very welcoming during events, especially to newcomers, as the rides can be quite chatty

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OBJECTIVES
LB
Do we have any particular goals for our rides and community?
RL
Our main objectives are:
1. Help participants with toward their fitness goals 2. Build and engage with our online community 3. Have fun while doing it!

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SCHEDULE / RIDES
LB
And how are those objectives reflected in our event offerings, what’s a typical weekly schedule?
RL
As mentioned we currently run 6 events per week, these include:
A weekly workout series, called Squadra Castelli
for this, we’ve just launched a a 6 month training plan between October and March, focused around endurance events, broken down in to 3 workouts per week
A weekly social social ride, called Roll with Castelli
this is usually a relaxed pace chatty ride with a race effort to finish for fun
we also run a monthly ‘Epic’ edition,
where we offer a prize, usually in the way of some Castelli gear
and usually an interesting story from the cycling world, narrated by your fine self
Then, we have a weekly women’s social ride, called Castelli Donne
for that we have a fantastic team of 4 ladies leading the rides
And finally, we just launched our first race series, called Castelli Competizione
this runs each Friday, structured in to 5-week seasons

Open
Lars stories, Epic rides - prizes
SPECIAL EVENTS & GUESTS
LB
Do we have any special events or guests worth mentioning?
RL

Guests

Sure, in terms of guests, we’ve had a number of pro cyclists, triathletes and other names from the cycling world, some arranged with a Q&A format, some have simply shown up on the rides, which is the beauty of Zwift. To name a few, we’ve had Q&A rides:
Luke Rowe
Salvatore Puccio
Cameron Wurf
Laura Phillip
Jason Osborne
which have been fantastic, great engagement from participants and our guests
We’ve also had people such as:
Sir David Brailsford
Sir Chris Hoy
Dame Sarah Storey
Fausto Pinarello
Cristiano De Rosa

Events

In terms of special events, in the past we’ve had:
the Giro di Castelli multi stage events
single event eFondos - which is a long distance ride
and, of particular note, we had the ‘Ride with Reggie’ event in 2021 with ex NBA basketball legend, Reggie Miller, to raise awareness and funds for diversity in sport
Coming up in Spring, we’ll run another eFondo event with a special prize on offer, so, one to look out for

Open
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KITS
LB
Do we have Castelli assets in game? and how to they link with real life?
RL
We currently have 7 Castelli kits for use on our events:
4 are based on Aero Race and Climber’s real life jerseys
We have a special edition kit that was designed specially for the Ride with Reggie event
Then we have the distinctive PinkWave kit, which is the first designed specifically for Zwift. Though, after some demand, that has now changed, with the Pinkwave available to in the real world also
We rotate kits between events and are usually unlockable for participants
We also have the Castelli Maglia Rosa kit, though as this is a grand tour leader’s jersey from the Giro d’Italia, this isn’t available for unlock

Open
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4. CHIT CHAT
4
GAMIFICATION
RL
Do you have a preference for the gamification vs simulation aspect of Zwift? Using power-ups in races for example
Both
pure simulation vs gamification
Open
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OTHER PLATFORMS
LB
It’s worth mentioning that we are always considering other cycling platforms to enhance our community activities
RL
We recently had a weekly ride on the Wahoo RGT platform, hosted by former Tour de France yellow jersey weaerer, Alex Stieda. Sadly, Wahoo RGT recently ceased operations
we may also try the myWhoosh platform, who are beginning to offer community rides, and also worth noting that that is currently a free option, with no subscription necessary
we also provide support for the virtual Giro d’Italia on the bKool platform

Open
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UCI ESPORTS WORLDS
RL
On the subject of other platforms, any thoughts regarding the UCI eSports World Championships from Zwift to the MyWhoosh platform?
LB
UCI eSports zwift → mywhoosh
Open
dont mention money of UCI eSports, though will be interesting to see how its delivered.
INDOOR vs OUTDOORS
RL
what’s your rough split between indoor / outdoor cycling during the winter months?
Both

Open
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5. INSIDER GEAR
1
INSIDER GEAR
RL
In terms of real life kit for use indoors is there anything specific that Castelli is offerring?
LB
Insider Jersey with sleeveless options
Insider shorts with the Progetto X2 Air Skin care layer (without the Cushioning Layer)
Accessories (towel, sweatbands)

Open
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6. COMMUNITY
3
COMMUNITY
RL
How can our listeners get involved with the Castelli community?
LB
We try to keep it simple using the ‘Squadra Castelli’ label, to which there is
the ‘Squadra Castelli’ Zwift club
the ‘Squadra Castelli’ Zwiftpower Race team
and last, but certainly not least, is our ‘Squadra Castelli’ Strava club
this is really the hub of our cycling news for the eSports world as well as much of our other social content
then, of course, there are our Strava Challenges, which are well worth getting involved with

Open
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STRAVA CHALLENGES
LB
Would you like to elaborate about the Strava Challenges?
RL
Sure,
Strava challenges are a form of gamification, where participants are challenged to ride a certain distance or duration over a set period, say, a couple of weeks, for example
everybody who completes the challenge is rewarded with a discount to use on the Castelli Cycling website and usually there are prizes to be won also
We’ve had 6 challenges over the last few years. We first ran a series based on the cycling Monuments, coinciding with the real world races and most recently we just finished our Castelli Keep It Up challenge.
It’s a fantastic way of engaging with participants, while doing the thing we love. And, for example, we had over 300,000 people join the recent Keep It Up Challlenge

Open
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ANYTHING ELSE
LB
Anything else worth mentioning before we sign off
RL
For those looking for some motivating tunes for your workouts, we have our Squadra Castelli Spotify playlist on Spotify, which has become quite an eclectic mix and is open for people to add to

Then of course we have the Castelli Podcast, covering a wide range of topics from the Castelli cycling world

And, for anybody wishing to join our Castelli rides on Zwift, we’ll leave a link in the episode show notes
Open
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7. OUTRO
1
OUTRO
LB
That seems like a good place to call things a wrap...
LB
Encourage to join the community (Strava, Zwift club, Zwift rides)
Thanks for listening
Welcome feedback

Open
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Links

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Freedom day Rocacorba ride
Freedom day Rocacorba assault ... it felt so good to ride outside today!
www.strava.com
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Zwift
Zwift is virtual training for running and cycling. Smash your goals and compete with others around the world. With structured workouts and social group rides. iOS and Android compatible. Trusted by the pros. Try free for 14 days.
www.zwift.com
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Squadra Castelli
Just as Castelli produces high technical performance cycling apparel for all levels of cyclists, Squadra Castelli welcomes all types of athletes, from the professional Grand Tour winner to the local sportive rider. Join our club. Ride your bike. Get on the leader board. ------- Rides: www.strava.com/athletes/castelli-cycling Stories: https://castellicycling.exposure.co/ Zwift Events: https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/rollwithcastelli Zwift Club: https://www.zwift.com/eu/clubs/squadracastelli/join ZwiftPower Team: https://zwiftpower.com/team.php?id=12707
www.strava.com
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