All About Tour de Zwift: Ride 2023

First launched in 2017, Tour de Zwift is the biggest annual tour on the platform – a celebration of discovery across all Zwift worlds!

This year’s tour has just been announced. Beginning January 9, it consists of eight stages, each hosted in one of Zwift’s worlds. Each stage has three route options based on how far you want to ride.

So grab a friend and join the biggest party of the year! Here’s everything riders need to know about this year’s TdZ.

New This Year

Fresh Route Badges

Recently-launched route badges will be available on certain stages (you can also earn these badges by free riding the routes anytime you’d like.):

TdZ will be the first chance anyone gets to unlock one particular route badge, though. On stage 8, we’ll be able to ride the “Rolling Highlands” route on Zwift’s new Scotland map!

Pacer Groups

This year, multiple Robopacers will be in each event, riding at different paces. Join the category riding the route you want, then find a RoboPacer to group with once the pack gets rolling, so you can ride at your pace with others!

Note: Robopacers will be at the starting line when you join an event and can be identified by the beacon next to their name on the leaderboard. Only one Robopacer per event will have a beacon atop their avatar and be visible on the minimap.

And More

We all love Ride-Ons! During TdZ events, participants will be able to give new TdZ branded Ride-On bombs. 

Speaking of branding, Zwift is partnering with Pedal Mafia to bring the Tour de Zwift collection to life, including cycling kit, run shirt, towels, socks, and more. (Hot tip: an early bird sale will be happening Dec 20-Dec 31 where Zwifters can get 20% off the entire collection and an additional 5% off bundle purchases.)

Ride Categories

TdZ events are group rides, not official races*. The ride category you join determines which route you will ride:

  • A: Long Ride
  • B: Standard Ride
  • C: Short Ride
  • D: Women-Only Ride (uses the Standard route)

Category groups will leave the pens two minutes apart, with A starting first. Late join will be enabled for TdZ events beginning January 25th.

*Some riders will race the stages, while others will treat them as social rides. Events do not count for ranking points on ZwiftPower, but everyone is free to go as easy or push as hard as they’d like. Just have fun!

Stage Schedule and Route Details

Stage 1 (Jan 9-12): Yorkshire

Stage 2 (Jan 13-15): Richmond

Stage 3 (Jan 16-19): France

Stage 4 (Jan 20-22): London

Stage 5 (Jan 23-26): New York

Stage 6 (Jan 27-29): Watopia

Stage 7 (Jan 30-Feb 2): Makuri Islands

Stage 8 (Feb 3-5): Scotland

This is your chance to experience the thrill of fast laps on a route designed to test the mettle of the athletes competing in the 2023 UCI Esports World Championship. Welcome to Zwift’s new Scotland map!

  • Long Ride: Rolling Highlands, 3 laps
  • Standard + Women-Only: Rolling Highlands, 2 laps
  • Short: Rolling Highlands, 1 lap

Make-Up Week: Feb 6-12

If you missed any stages, they will all be available to ride during the make-up week.

Registration

Registration for TdZ is now open online and in game. Sign up at zwift.com/tour-de-zwift/ride.

Unlocks

Riders will unlock items progressively as they complete TdZ stages:

  • Socks: 1 stage
  • Backwards Cap: 5 stages
  • Kit: 8 stages

There’s also an event badge to unlock! After completing the tour, Zwifters will earn this badge which will be displayed with other achievement badges. 

Questions and Comments

Share below!

Eric Schlange
Eric Schlangehttp://www.zwiftinsider.com
Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. He lives in Northern California with his beautiful wife, two kids and dog. Follow on Strava

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