Peak Zwift season is underway, as evidenced by the number of riders jumping into Tour de Zwift events! That’s our headline event this week, but we’ve also got four other popular (and possibly crazy) rides to feature. See my picks below!
🤝🥇 Tour de Zwift, Stage 1
✅ Popular ✅ Unlocks ✅ Race If You Want
Tour de Zwift is the biggest annual tour on the platform – a celebration of discovery across all Zwift worlds! It kicked off this week with stage 1, which runs through Sunday. Hundreds (sometimes thousands) of riders are joining each event, so you’ll always have some company.
Read all about Tour de Zwift 2026 >
Each stage has 3 route length options. For stage 1, those are Shisa Shakedown (53.3km, 557m), Chasing the Sun (35.1km, 316m), and Turf N Surf (24.7km 198m).
Hourly events all weekend!
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tourdezwift2026
🤝Vatternrundan Group Ride Series #1
✅ Endurance Training ✅ Progressive Series
The Vätternrundan group ride series is back for another year, and it looks to be as popular as ever! The premise of the series is simple: rides increase in duration from January 11 to March 1, with the goal of preparing you to handle many hours on the bike when the IRL race day arrives in June. (The Vätternrundan Group Ride Series is part of Vätternrundan’s official training program.)
Of course, you can use this to train for any endurance ride you may have planned this Spring/Summer. This week’s kickoff ride is 90 minutes long, on Watopia’s Waistband, and there are two pace group options (1.8-2.2 and 1.5-1.8 W/kg).
Sunday, January 11 @ 8am UTC/3am ET/12am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5203595
🤝January Resolution
✅ Strava Challenge ✅ Beginner Friendly
Take on the January Resolution Challenge with the folks at Pas Normal Studios! To complete the challenge, ride a total of 1000 km during the month of January. Mix and match outdoor with indoor rides, make them long or short… all that matters is the total distance ridden.
Sign up for the Strava challenge >
This particular ride is led by ambassador Amos Fun. It’s 75 minutes long and open-paced on Watopia’s Big Flat 8 route.
Sunday, January 11 @ 4pm UTC/11am ET/8am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5290365
🤝MSR 300 Minutes of Happiness! MSR & ENJOYYOURBIKE
✅ Endurance Challenge ✅ Unique Event
This is a rather crazy event, which is exactly why I picked it. 300 minutes on the Champs-Élysées loop in Paris! The nice thing about riding on a shorter circuit (it’s only 6.6km long) is that you can find a group at any time. But you can also try to challenge them! Or just challenge yourself!
How many km can you ride in 5 hours, or how many laps? Who will win the green jersey?
Saturday, January 10 @ 8am UTC/3am ET/12am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5333176
🥇CTT Winter Series on Zwift
✅ Popular ✅ Race of Truth
The popular new TT series from Cycling Time Trials (CTT) – the national governing body for time trials in England, Scotland, and Wales – is back after its holiday break.
Read all about the CTT series >
Saturday is your last chance to complete week 7’s race on three laps of Richmond’s The Fan Flats (19.5km, 36m), which is a repeat of the third week’s race. Set a course PB and you’ll earn series points to boost your overall ranking!
Multiple timeslots Saturday, January 10
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/cyclingtimetrials
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!
