When asked about competitive women’s-only racing on Zwift, most people would immediately think of the Zwift Racing League (ZRL). This popular series offers women fast, electrifying racing against other women of a similar ability, while also working closely with up to five teammates to maximize the team result. For many racers, ZRL is the only women’s specific series they participate in during the year. But it only runs between the months of September and March.
Fortunately, there are a growing number of women’s only race series that could engender as much competitive spirit within the women’s community on Zwift. The recently-held Iceni Racing Series is one example. It offers women another opportunity to compete in the “off-season” in a fun, supportive environment.
So, what can you expect from a women’s race series like Iceni?
- Varied, strong fields. Shorter, smaller series like Iceni offer an opportunity to race against larger fields, challenge you with a variety of different race formats, and require strategic planning for multi-day stage events. In March of 2024, the Iceni series had over 250 participants over the 4 weeks of racing. Races occur in the cross-over season, where those in the southern hemisphere start to move indoors and riders in the northern hemisphere are not yet transitioning to outdoor riding.
- Individual style racing. Iceni is also an individual performance race series, which makes tactics very different.
- All female broadcasting/commentating. Having an all female broadcasting team adds a special sauce to this series. With only 4 races, more time is spent covering each race in more depth.
Here’s what women had to say about the racing:
“Team eSRT took part of the ICENI race series, we had a blast!
Thank you Aeonian race team for a fun well organized series! 🙂
Team eSRT had a great series, our women performed, helped and pushed eachother, fun series, great efforts and results we all can be proud off! 🙂” – Team eSRT
“Thank you Karla for including us Aussie girls this time around.. I truly appreciated it.” – Tammy (AHDRL CherryBombs)
“Just to say the eSRT ladies all enjoyed racing the ICENI series so thank you so much for highlighting and giving an opportunity to celebrate Womens racing – the livestream was exceptional and the commentary was impressive. Congrats to all riders and all involved in bringing an awesome Month of Women’s racing!!!” – Vinnette Powell, eSRT
More praise for the series:
“A Great Series, thank you Karla awesome to have such many ladies to fight with throughout the month!”
“Awesome series, cheers for putting it together! Great challenge and great competitors”
“I really enjoyed it Karla – really appreciate the effort you put in to organising and manage all the races. Great fun watching the YouTube coverage too.”
Get Racing!
If you’re interested in joining a women’s series, please take a look at the coverage from this year, below. Join a series that works for you by clicking on the race calendar from the women’s home page.
Right now, you can find the Zwift Women’s Series, which spans eight weeks and offers multiple opportunities to race per day and a catchup day on Saturday. If you’d like to try out something like the popular weekly Team Time Trials, look into joining a women’s team.
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