The Syrup Cup: Maple Madness Race Series Announced
Cycling YouTuber and virtual racing enthusiast J. Dirom has just announced the second round of the Syrup Cup, a community-focused race series on Zwift designed for riders of all levels. The Syrup Cup brings together Zwifters from around the world for structured, regular competition — with a focus on fair racing, community spirit, and progression.
Maple Madness is all about that February energy – that in-between time where winter still grips hard, but the first signs of the maple harvest are starting to stir. The taps are in, the races are harder. It’s raw, cold, and competitive, with riders getting ready before everyone else even realizes the season has started!
J. says, “The Syrup Cup is designed like a local weeknight criterium — competitive, fun, and open to riders who just want to race hard and have a voice in the community.”
What Makes the Syrup Cup Special
Shared Coverage: Select races will be featured in post-race highlights and analysis across J. Dirom’s YouTube and social channels.
GC Rankings: Based on ZwiftPower times, with time bonuses (10, 6, and 4 seconds) awarded to the top three riders in each category. These bonuses are subtracted from the rider’s overall time.
Timeslot: Races happen weekly on Mondays at 6:15pm ET/3:15pm PT, which isn’t a common day or time for Zwift races.
Routes, Schedule, and Registration
Races happen weekly on Mondays at 11:15pm UTC/6:15pm ET/3:15pm PT. Riders are grouped using custom Zwift Racing Score ranges.
There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerup usage, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s go!
Looking at the Route
Each lap of Cobbled Climbs is 9.2 km (5.7 miles) long. A/B teams will race 4 laps (37km), while C/D will race 3 (27.8km).
The route is essentially Richmond’s 2015 UCI Worlds Course without the flat first half. What you’re left with are the pitchy parts: KOM intermediates for curvy, cobbled Libby Hill and short, steep 23rd Street, plus the third climb (Governor Street) which isn’t isn’t a points intermediate, but is draggy and painful nonetheless. Plus, it leads into the false-flat finish!
Here’s the lap profile, including the two KOM intermediates we’ll be contesting for points on each lap:
We begin at the standard Richmond start/finish banner, but make a quick left turn, and another left, onto the descent of E Main St. (This is the longest descent on the route, so enjoy it while it lasts.)
After some flats and rollers along the river the road tilts up and you know what’s coming: our first KOM of the day. Twisty, bumpy Libby Hill!
Hammer your way up this climb (most riders will finish it in 60-110s), then recover for a few seconds as you descend to the start of our next KOM: the short, straight 23rd Street KOM. This is essentially a “sprint-climb” (25-30s), which is why Peter Sagan was able to drop everyone in his famous attack here in the 2015 UCI Worlds race.
If you’re struggling, do everything you can to hold onto the wheels over the 23rd Street KOM, knowing you’ve got a bit of recovery just up the road on the Broad Street descent and the flat that follows. You can even supertuck the descent like Sagan did (but can’t anymore – thanks for ruining the fun, UCI!)
Less than a minute after the Broad Street descent, we begin the final climb of the lap: Governor Street! This is not a timed KOM, but it’s where the race-winning final moves are often made, and it feels so long in the final minutes of a race. (Expect riders to ride this conservatively until the final lap. Better to save your climbing efforts for the KOMs handing out points!)
Finish this climb as the road turns a hard left, then it’s ~600 meters of a false flat straightaway to the finish (or the start of the next lap).
For this race, four types of powerups are being handed out with equal probability at each arch. There are three arches per lap:
Lap Arch
Libby Hill KOM Arch
23rd St. KOM Arch
Cloaking (ghost): makes you invisible to other riders for 15 seconds. Disabled within 400m of the finish line. Use when you want to get away from one or more riders. Deploy then hammer, in hopes that you will create enough of a gap that your opponents can’t grab your wheel once it’s visible again. Since most riders won’t be looking to attack solo, this will be the most trashed powerup in the race by far.
Burrito: turns off the draft effect for riders in a cone-shaped window behind you for 20 seconds. Use when attacking off the front so opponents have to work harder to follow you, or in the peloton to make others work harder. A real heartbreaker, getting hit with this on a KOM segment!
Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing for 40 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) This will be quite handy in the long finish, if you’re with other riders.
Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) This will give you a nice edge on the 23rd St KOM, and on the finishing straight.
Bike Recommendations
The fact that 85% of this race’s points will be earned at the top of the two KOM segments makes us steer away from pure aero setups and look at climbing bikes and all-arounders instead. Because while a more aero setup has a pure time advantage on laps of the full course, it’s the KOM times that really matter.
Here are our test times, set with our standard bot (75kg, 183cm rider) at 6 W/kg (450W) on Libby Hill and 8 W/kg (600W) on 23rd St:
Bike + Wheels
Libby
23rd St
S-Works Aethos + ENVE SES 4.5 Pro
1:24.05
30.15
S-Works Tarmac SL8 + ENVE SES 4.5 Pro
1:25.18
29.75
S-Works Tarmac SL8 + DT Swiss 65
1:24.73
29.71
Tron
1:24.85
29.92
Notice how the lighter setup does better on Libby (a longer, slower climb) while the more aero setup is best on 23rd St (because it’s a higher-speed climb). Which setup do you choose? That may depend on which of the two KOMs you want to be set up for.
Our recommendation, then, is to use the newish DT Swiss 65 paired with one of these bikes:
Of course, your frame’s upgrade status should impact your decision. A fully upgraded Aethos will outclimb the other four frames, but that’s not the case when comparing un-upgraded versions.
Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.
Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. Here are the recons I’ve found (comment if you find another!)
J Dirom
John Rice
Strategic Options
Points Distributions, Cobbled Climbs
4 Laps
3 Laps
These charts show the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in a race with 60 participants. To learn how ZRL points races work, see this post.
How will these races unfold? What strategies will teams employ? Here’s what I predict:
Honey, I Shrunk the Peloton: The front group will get smaller on each lap, with a small pack of only 5-10 duking it out across the finish line. Some races will even see breakaway wins by just 1-3 riders.
First Lap FTS: Fastest Through Segment top 10 times will all be set on the first lap. Why? Because the pack draft will be largest then, plus riders will simply be too tired to better their times on subsequent laps.
Not Lonely for Long: Chase groups will catch some lone riders up the road at the start of each lap (through the flat/descent portion), but those same riders will attack again on the climbs and get away. Which begs the question: is it even worth chasing? On the other hand…
Never Gonna Give You Up: This is a longish race with lots of punchy climbing, and riders may have a hard time pacing their efforts properly. Some will push hard to make the front selection, but blow up on subsequent laps. Chase groups shouldn’t give up hope, because that front group will keep shrinking, and there may be opportunities late in the race for intermediate and high finish points if you’re in the first chase groups.
Spirit of Sagan: This course lends itself to breakaways, particularly on one of the final lap’s climbs. Riders who don’t fancy a pack sprint will try to get away on one of the final hills, grabbing max intermediate points in the process.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
Zwift’s Climb Portal gives Zwifters access to a growing library of famous real-life climbs in a gamified environment where roads are colored based on gradient. Learn more about the Climb Portal >
While the library of climbs continues to grow, only up to three climbs are accessible on any given day. The climb of the month (in green below) is available in France, while a second climb rotates every few days and is only available in Watopia. Both of these climbs can be selected at the bottom left of your Zwift homescreen (scroll down).
There is also a third place where another climb is featured: in the Climb of the Week box on the homescreen. Learn more >
Learn more about a climb by clicking it in the schedule below.
Zwift version 1.106 begins its phased rollout today. This is a minor update containing mostly bug fixes, but it also coincides with a broader rollout of the Personalized Recommendations feature. See details below…
Personalized Recommendations Rollout
Zwift rolled out the initial beta version of Personalized Recommendations to a small cohort in early November. This exciting new feature looks at your Zwift activities and any outdoor rides (if you’ve connected your Garmin, Wahoo, or Karoo account), then recommends a session for the day based on your habits, fitness, freshness, and in-game content.
Since the initial beta release, Zwift has made important changes to dial in (and dial up) features and functionality based on feedback and metrics. Personally, I’ve seen it evolve from a “5 out of 10” feature to, let’s say, a 7 out of 10. There are plenty of improvements still to be made, and lots of untapped potential, but it works quite well at this point.
So Zwift is doing a “Full English Rollout” of Personalized Recommendations this week. No, the feature isn’t being bundled with black pudding and baked beans. But if you have English set as your in-game language, you’ll see Personalized Recommendations on your homescreen by the end of the week. (As of Monday, January 26, approximately 30% of English users had the feature enabled.)
Not an English speaker? Zwift says Personalized Recommendations should be released for all other supported languages by the end of February. They’re just taking some extra time to make sure the translations are accurate.
Pairing Screen Changes
Today’s release includes some updates to the pairing screen UI. Icons now indicate how your devices are connected to Zwift: WiFi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, ANT+, or Sensor Relay (through a trainer).
More Missing Socks
Zwift’s release notes say, “Fixed an issue that could potentially cause cycling socks to be at their minimum height, or missing. Seems we caught the triathlon bug.”
We reported that Zwift had stolen socks in the previous update, and since then, an inordinate number of sockless avatars have been spotted on Zwift’s roads. Does this update fix the problem? Well, maybe. But it makes things worse before it makes them better.
I had adjusted my socks back to roadie height after the v105 release took them away. But once today’s v106 release was installed, my socks were, once again, missing:
Zwift assures me that this is known behavior, and once you fix your socks in v106 they’ll be fixed for good. But I say fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…
New RoboPacer (Sofia) and Expanded RoboPacer Routes
There are two late additions to Zwift’s release notes for this update, both related to RoboPacers:
Introducing Sophia! Our 10th RoboPacer rides at 0.8 w/kg, ideal for new and lower-FTP Zwifters.
Expanded the route rotation for RoboPacers to include more pacer-friendly routes from our recent map expansions.
Next, they’ve modified and expanded the list of routes used by RoboPacers “to include more pacer-friendly routes from our recent world expansions.” This means you can expect to see a much wider variety of routes, especially on maps with lots of routes like Watopia, Makuri Islands, and New York. And you can expect to see newer routes in the rotation, especially on recently-updated maps like France and New York.
This is an entirely fresh set of routes, although it appears that we’ll be seeing the old routes rotated in as well. So instead of Watopia’s RoboPacers just rotating through the same 9 routes (changing weekly), they will be rotating through, perhaps, 15-20 routes.
Another good example is France, where RoboPacers are now mostly on routes that include the new cobbled roads from the April 2025 expansion:
While three of the routes on France’s new rotation were included in the old rotation as well, I have a hunch we’ll see this and other maps’ rotations change in the coming weeks as Zwift tightens up their route selections based on user feedback and metrics.
What do you think?
What do you think of Zwift’s RoboPacer changes? Share your thoughts below!
Planning a ride with a friendly RoboPacer but aren’t sure which route they’re riding? We’ve got you. This is Zwift’s cycling RoboPacer route rotation schedule for upcoming days. According to Zwift, Robopacers swap at 00:00 Pacific Time/08:00 UTC. Click a route for details!
Watopia is available every day while the other maps rotate as “Guest Worlds” according to the calendar below. This gives Zwifters access to three worlds (Watopia + two guest worlds) at any given time.
Looking to add some watts to your top-end power? In this week’s top video, hear about one Zwifter’s experience with using strength training to increase sprint power.
Also included in this week’s post are videos about pain cave setups, climbing “The Grade,” tackling Alpe du Zwift, and completing the Rapha 500 in one ride.
Does Strength Training Improve Sprint Power? I Tested It
After 10 weeks of consistent strength training, Maan De Beul puts his sprint power to the test both indoors and outdoors. Has he gained notable gains from strength training?
Inside My Cycling Pain Cave: Bike, PC Streaming & Full Setup Tour
Ed Laverack gives viewers a tour of his pain cave that he recently put together.
Is The Grade Actually a Good FTP Test?
Tom Bowers Cycling gives “The Grade” an all-out effort to see where his fitness is at. Tom also compares the FTP generated by “The Grade” and past FTP tests.
Finally! I Attempted Alpe Du Zwift
By popular demand, Jessica Strange tackles Alpe du Zwift for the first time. Can Jessica finish this famed climb first try?
Attempting to Cycle 500km in One Ride!
As if completing the Rapha 500 in one week wasn’t hard enough, Thomas Martinez decides to challenge himself by completing the entire Rapha 500 in one ride.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Zwift’s 10-Year Anniversary kit (which was originally only going to exist in game, but people liked the look so much that Zwift eventually had it produced)
This means I’ve grown very familiar with Pedal Mafia’s offerings. Fortunately, I like the fit and feel of Pedal Mafia’s stuff!
This year’s Tour de Zwift kit is nearly identical in construction to the Watopia Essentials kit I recently reviewed, since both are based on Pedal Mafia’s workhorse “Core” collection. Therefore, much of the content below will be duplicated from my recent review. (The two kits are built the same, but of course, use very different colors.)
Note: You may have noticed cycling influencers wearing this kit recently in social media posts. In the past year or two, Zwift has clearly pivoted away from traditional paid marketing campaigns and leaned instead into the influencer space, where you get more bang for your buck. That’s why you’re seeing more big-name riders pitching Zwift Ride and early-release versions of Zwift merch. And while I’m not a big-name rider by any stretch, I was sent this kit free of charge, like other “Zwinfluencers.” It’s how the cycling world works these days!
Also: sizing can be tricky with cycling kit. For reference, I’m 5′-10″ tall (178cm) and currently around 185 lbs (84 kg). I put my actual measurements in the text below where appropriate.
Tour De Zwift 26 Bib Shorts
Priced at $168USD, the bib shorts are from Pedal Mafia’s Core collection. (This is the more affordable “do everything” collection vs the more expensive “Pro” line.)
The most distinctive thing about these shorts is their bright turquoise color, which will certainly stand out in a crowd. I’d go so far as to call them high vis shorts, which isn’t something you see every day!
Speaking of colors, it’s worth noting that, like any non-black kit, sweat darkens these shorts (see the second photo below), which may or may not concern you.
I have a 34.5″ waist and 39.5″ hips, so I went with the medium bib as recommended by the sizing chart.
The Tour De Zwift 26 bibs aren’t indoor-specific, so they don’t include some of the extra-breathable features indoor kits often have, like mesh panels, minimal chamois, or super lightweight strapping. That said, the brace paneling on the back and lower front is nicely perforated, even though the straps themselves are not, and the main short fabric (75% recycled warp knit lycra) is just the right thickness to allow sweat to evaporate indoors while still working well outside in most conditions.
While I haven’t had time to run the Tour De Zwift 26 bibs through the wringer across many rides (since they were just released), I do own multiple pairs of Pedal Mafia’s core bibs, so I know what kind of durability to expect. I’d say these shorts hold up as well as other mid-range bibs, with the first point of failure for me being some frayed stitching in the inner leg area due to saddle rub. (This hasn’t affected the feel or wearability of the bibs, but it’s something worth noting.)
Chamois fit is a very personal thing, but I prefer thinner pads, especially for indoor riding. I’d say the Tour De Zwift 26 bibs’ chamois is on the thin side as chamois go, while still having plenty of thickness for all-day/outdoor wear.
Leg length on Pedal Mafia bibs tends to be on the longer side, as this “pro look” is the trend in today’s kits. I don’t particularly love super-long legs, as they aren’t helpful for indoor riding. That said, I ordered the medium bibs, which fit great on my frame.
If you look closely, you’ll see some nice finishing touches on these bibs: a little pocket on the back brace to hold a gel or even your phone, a logo on the chamois, plus the feel-good factor of 75% recycled lycra composition… these aren’t just basic bibs. They also feature an extra-wide leg gripper, which is actually the only difference I can see between these and the Watopia Essentials bibs, which feature a Pedal Mafia-branded leg gripper via the more “generic” diamond gripper of the TdZ bibs (see below).
Watopia Essentials leg gripperTour De Zwift 26 leg gripper
Tour De Zwift 26 Jersey
The Tour De Zwift 26 jersey, like the bibs, is based on Pedal Mafia’s “Core” line. Priced at $128USD, this is a well-made, indoor-friendly jersey with some nice finishing touches.
It’s interesting that the IRL jersey doesn’t quite match the in-game jersey, for whatever reason. The overall color panels match, as do a few of the graphics and their placements. But there are lots of differences, too. How many can you spot? 😄
Based on my chest measurement of 38″ (and my experience with wearing other PM Core kits) I went with a medium jersey, as I prefer a tighter fit.
While the sizing chart would have placed me in a large jersey (just barely), I went with a medium because I prefer a tighter fit, and because I’ve got a few medium Pedal Mafia core jerseys in my closet already. These jerseys fit nicely, with plenty of length in the arms and rear torso without being too long in the front. (I hate it when jerseys bunch up in front when you’re hunched over the bike.)
While this isn’t an indoor-specific jersey, it is a very breathable top that works well outdoors in summer heat as well as indoors on the trainer. The arms and side panels use a 3D mesh material that keeps you dry and cool without being so fragile that it breaks down in the wash (not an easy balance to strike!). The front and back use a denser but still lightweight perforated fabric that provides more coverage but still wicks sweat and allows airflow for drying.
In my experience, it takes a lot of riding to wear out a jersey, unless it’s a super-light one made specifically for indoor riding or hot weather. All of my Pedal Mafia Core jerseys have held up well with no tears from washing or frayed stitching, so I expect the Tour De Zwift 26 jersey to do the same.
There are lots of small finishing touches on this jersey. These include a PM-branded waist gripper, a tag with spaces to write your emergency details, a zippered side pocket, and various TdZ 26 graphics (see pics above).
Final Notes
Overall, I’d say the Tour De Zwift 26 kit does what Pedal Mafia’s core line is known for: walking the line between quality and price. It performs where you want kit to perform, without soaring into the upper price ranges.
The colors will be a sticking point with some, for sure. The bright bibs, especially, will prove to be a fashion bridge too far for some riders! But others will love the distinctive look of this kit. Tour de Zwift kits have historically been playful and brightly colored, and this year’s design clearly builds on that tradition.
Lastly, I should mention: it’s always fun to have the same in-game kit as you’re physically wearing, like I’m doing above. To unlock the TdZ 26 kit in game, you must complete all 6 stages.
