We typically highlight interesting community events in these posts, but this weekend we went with all Zwift-owned events since there are some interesting things going on in that space. See our picks below!
🥇 Zwift Hill Climb Racing Club – The Grade KQOM
✅ FTP Test ✅ Unique Event
Zwift’s Hill Climb Racing Club has been holding events regularly for over a year, but this weekend’s events are special since they’re hosted on the new Oh Hill No route!
Hill Climb Club races aren’t like normal scratch races: all that matters is your time up the selected climb segment. This weekend, that climb is The Grade, so you’re doing two things in this race: competing with others, and taking an FTP test!
Multiple timeslots Saturday and Sunday
See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/hillclimb
🤝 Climb Portal Challenges: La Turbie + Col d’Eze
✅ New Roads ✅ Unique Event ✅ Kit Unlock ✅ Popular Event
The Tour de France is almost done, which means we don’t have many more chances to take on the TdF-themed climb events in the Climb Portal!
This Sunday is the last stage of the tour, and it’s a time trial. It’s also our first chance ever to ride the La Turbie + Col d’Eze climb, which is what the pros are racing in the closing TT of this year’s TdF. This climb’s no joke: it’s actually two climbs, with a bit of descent in the middle. 15.2km total length, with 616 meters of climbing.
Hourly events on Sunday
See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/climbportalevent8
🤝 Welcome Ride | Zwift Academy 2024
✅ Beginner Friendly ✅ Popular Event
Zwift Academy 2024 was announced this week, and Zwift is hosting lots of “welcome rides” to orient first-timers to the program. Zwift says, “In this ride, we’ll guide you through this year’s exciting program and offer insider tips and strategies to maximize your performance. Don’t miss it!”
The rides are open-paced, 30 minutes long,and hosted on Zwift’s new Mayan Mash route. (30 minutes isn’t enough to finish the route, but you can keep going once the event ends to unlock the badge!)
Hourly timeslots Saturday and Sunday
See upcoming events on ZwiftHacks
🥇 Zwift Epic Race – Loop de Loop
✅ Endurance Challenge
Looking for a longer race this weekend? Check out the Epic Races from Zwift. They alternate route every hour, and the odd hours this weekend are 6-lap races on the newish Loop de Loop route. That means 74.7 of racing, including 6x up the Hilly KOM!
Events every two hours on Saturday and Sunday
See upcoming events on ZwiftHacks
🥇 Zwift Women’s Racing Series – Long Scratch – Sugar Cookie || Using Racing Score
✅ Racing Score ✅ Women Only
The latest round of Zwift’s popular Women’s Racing Series is well underway, and using the new Zwift Racing Score metric for categorization.
This Saturday is your last chance to finish this week’s stage, which is a longer scratch race on Watopia’s Sugar Cookie (39.2km, 259m).
Saturday, July 20 @ 2:30pm UTC/10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT
Sign up at https://www.zwift.com/events/view/4430959
How We Make Our Picks
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
- Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
- Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
- Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
- Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
- Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
- Is it for a good cause?
- Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
- Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!
