Elite Community Racing Calendar Announced for Zwift’s 2024-25 Season

Last week Zwift began sharing details of the 2024-25 Elite Community Racing Calendar to elite teams and riders. This year’s season structure has been completely reworked based on feedback from participants in the 2023/24 Zwift Grand Prix and the inaugural Zwift Games, and Zwift says, “This has resulted in a number of improvements to the proposition for riders, teams, and fans.”

The season will consist of two blocks: the new Zwift World Series, which represents “regular season” racing, and the Zwift Games, which will serve as the season-ending championship for elite-level Zwift racers.

Below, I dive into the details of the upcoming elite-level racing season on Zwift. This information is meant primarily for elite racers who want to participate in the biggest races of the season. Community-level racing, which will run in conjunction with the elite-level races, will be covered in detail when information is released in August.

Zwift World Series Basics

The new “Zwift World Series” is a set of 5 “regular season” races. These are scratch races, so results are based on riders’ positions across the finish line.

Men’s and women’s events will be held back to back on the same day. The courses listed are illustrative only and subject to finalization, and each race will have community race events on the same course.

• Race 1 (Richmond, 42.5km, 555m elevation)
  • Qualifier: Sep 5, 17:00 UTC
  • Race: Sep 19, 17:00 UTC
• Race 2 (Watopia, 45.8km, 725m elevation)
  • Qualifier: Oct 3, 17:00 UTC
  • Race: Oct 17, 17:00 UTC
• Race 3 (Yorkshire, 29.6km, 548m elevation)
  • Qualifier: Oct 31, 18:00 UTC
  • Race: Nov 14, 18:00 UTC
• Race 4 (Makuri Islands, 53.3km, 557m elevation)
  • Qualifier: Nov 21, 18:00 UTC
  • Race: Dec 5, 18:00 UTC
• Race 5 (Watopia, 44.7km, 1493m elevation)
  • Qualifier: Jan 16, 18:00 UTC
  • Race: Jan 30, 18:00 UTC

How to Participate

There are two ways for elite-level riders to earn a Zwift World Series berth. Some who rode in last season’s Zwift Grand Prix will be granted a series pass, while others will earn their spot via a high finish in Open Qualifier events.

Series Pass

The top 8 men’s and women’s teams from the 2023/24 Zwift Grand Prix season will each be able to award three specific riders a series pass. These 24 riders per gender will not need to enter the qualification events, and will be expected to participate in all 5 Zwift World Series races. Those teams are:

Open Qualifiers

The remaining race slots (max field size per gender: 50) will be awarded through the Open Qualifier races held two weeks before each race. This is a new feature for Zwift’s elite-level racing that provides a chance for any Zwift racer from any team to earn their place on the start line! (It also provides an opportunity for teams with series pass riders to swell their ranks.)

The Open Qualifier events will award the first 26 racers a starting place to Race 1. Open qualifiers are open to all riders who have completed the pre-verification process, and there is no field size limit.

Interested in taking part in the Open Qualifiers, but aren’t yet pre-verified? Complete this simple form to register interest.

Locking In a Series Pass

Any rider who finishes in the top 10 of any of the first four races of the Zwift World Series or wins any prime will receive a Series Pass.

Classifications and Prizes

Per-Race Prizes

Each men’s and women’s Race in the Zwift World Series will have an individual prize pot based on riders’ positions at the finish line and a team prize for the best-performing team. Races 1-4 will also award bonus prizes at two prime locations.

Series Prizes

Individual racers will also have significant incentive to perform well throughout the season with a Series-wide classification and qualification for Zwift Games up for grabs!

Key Dates

Recognition for Elite Community Racers

New this year, Zwift is launching a system to recognize elite-level racers in game. Racers meeting the eligibility criteria below will be awarded the “verified” in-game badge typically awarded to “individuals with notable achievements – athletically or professionally.”

Eligibility Criteria:

• In order to qualify for a verified badge in game, racers must have completed 3 elite-level races during the last 12-month period. Elite races in scope:
  • For 2023/24 – Zwift Grand Prix and Zwift Games 2024
  • For 2024/25 – Zwift World Series (including Open Qualifiers) and Zwift Games 2025

Riders will retain this designation for a one-year period, with the list of verified current elite-level racers updated annually each April.

Zwift Games

As part of the elite racing calendar announcement, Zwift has also announced that the second edition of Zwift Games will be in March 2025!

Details for the community side of Zwift Games aren’t yet available, but the Games will serve as a season-ending championship for elite racers who have participated in the World Series. Zwift says “The primary means of qualification for Zwift Games will be performance throughout the Zwift World Series.”

How will it work? The top 50 overall points-scoring riders throughout the Zwift World Series will qualify for the Zwift Games.

Zwift says, “Zwift Games 2025 will also contain a number of updates based on the feedback received from participating riders in 2024, including a prize pot for the Overall Classification down to 30th place, so stay tuned! Additional details regarding Zwift Games 2025 will be announced later in the year.”

Got Questions?

If you’re interested in participating in the Open Qualifiers but haven’t yet been pre-verified, complete this simple form to register interest. Elite racers can direct further questions to [email protected].