This week, Zwift announced major changes to the platform’s schedule of women-only races. It’s all part of a long-running collaboration with a number of key community organizers and racers looking for increased participation in all levels of women’s racing. Read on for details…
Summary of Changes
Spearheaded by James Bailey – a long-time Zwifter turned key member of Zwift’s events team – changes to the women’s racing schedule can be summarized thus:
- The women-only category E has been removed from all mixed-category races
- Some women-only race events have been removed from the calendar
- A new slate of women-only races has been added to the calendar, housed under the FemmeCycle Collab (FCC) club but managed by various race organizers
The Big Picture
So why the change? Here’s what James says:
The attendances on both Women’s only events, and mixed events which have a women-only E category are as a rule, poor in attendance (sub 5 starter average). It is my belief that these are damaging to women’s only racing – turning up to your first race with no one else in your category, or a single person that drops you by some distance will not encourage you to come back.
Leading up to this change, there have been approximately 75 weekly events that were women-only races or mixed races with a women-only E category. Those E events typically saw 3-4 people show up, with a broad range of fitness levels, meaning women in these events didn’t generally get the experience of racing “together.”
Of course, low turnout in women’s races isn’t just a Zwift problem. It’s an ongoing challenge for outdoor race organizers as well! Zwift realized early on that their platform was an ideal home for both aspiring and experienced women racers, so they hosted women-only race events and group workouts. They also pioneered the Zwift Academy model just for women in its initial years, placing aspiring pros on WorldTour women’s teams. And Zwift is a multi-year sponsor of what are arguably the two biggest women’s races of the season: Paris-Roubaix and Tour de France Femmes.
Given Zwift’s investments in women’s cycling, it only makes sense that Zwift’s events team, in collaboration with the women’s racing community, would make strategic changes to the women’s race calendar with a view toward creating more compelling events. James says:
Having events created by a number of different teams increases fairness (and a lack of favoritism) as well as there being a single place where all upcoming events are easily seen. It also improves the ability to market the events.
New Schedule
The new women-only race events p/b FemmeCycle Collab are scheduled 5x daily during the week, and 4x daily on the weekends.
- Weekday times:
- 9:30am UTC/5:30am EDT/2:30am PDT
- 5:30pm UTC/1:30pm EDT/10:30am PDT
- 6:30pm UTC/2:30pm EDT/11:30am PDT
- 10:30pm UTC/6:30pm EDT/3:30pm PDT
- 12:30am UTC/8:30pm EDT/5:30pm PDT
- Weekend times:
- 9:30am UTC/5:30am EDT/2:30am PDT
- 2:30pm UTC/10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT
- 5:30pm UTC/1:30pm EDT/10:30am PDT
- 12:30am UTC/8:30pm EDT/5:30pm PDT
So far, September’s race schedule has women on the planned Zwift Racing League courses, giving them a nice preview of the routes they’ll be racing if they’re participating in ZRL.
See upcoming races at zwift.com/events/tag/womensracing >
Note: the above schedule may change in the coming weeks, as James will be reviewing the numbers to determine if the daily event volume needs to be modified.
Want to host a women’s race?
If you’re interested in hosting a women’s race event on Zwift, James says it’s best to email [email protected] with your event proposal. You may also submit the event request form here.
Fair warning, though: Zwift’s events team plans to closely evaluate race schedules and participation levels before adding more women-only race events. It may be that the best way to influence women’s racing on Zwift is to join the FemmeCycle Collab (see below) and let your voice be heard in that forum!
Connect with the Collab
Women interested in racing should join the FemmeCycle Collab (FCC) club on Zwift, since that makes it easy to find upcoming FCC events via the Companion app.
If you want to get involved in race planning or just want to offer feedback to race organizers, join the FCC Discord server: https://discord.gg/u5G3wbXZ
Full Speed Ahead
Several months ago, in partnership with the FemmeCycle Collab, we launched Zwift Insider’s women’s racing portal as a central place for women to learn about racing on Zwift. The portal’s pages (including weekly racer profiles, a women’s racing calendar, and a big list of women’s teams to join) have proven quite popular. We look forward to continuing our support of more women racing more often!
Questions or Comments?
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