Home Blog

Wattage Cottage Episode 5: Garmin + TrainingPeaks and Femmes Fever

Eric Schlange
-
0
Wattage Cottage Episode 5: Garmin + TrainingPeaks and Femmes Fever

Wattage Cottage Episode 5: Garmin + TrainingPeaks and Femmes Fever

On July 22, Garmin announced its acquisition of TrainingPeaks, including TrainingPeaks Virtual. Dave, Shane, and Eric unpack theories about why Garmin made this move, and how Zwift may respond to a company with a big war chest buying a well-engineered indoor cycling platform.

Then we move on to Tour Fever – specifically the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift currently underway. What sort of impact has Zwift’s long-term sponsorship of the marquee women’s cycling event had on the sport? Has it moved the needle? Will it continue to do so?

Of course, Zwift’s in-game Tour Fever series is underway as well, wrapping up next week. How has it been received by the community? Are people chasing the bucket hat, or have they become conscientious objectors like Eric?

Zwift rolled out the Paris expansion just in time for Le Tour while also adding a pile of Tour-raced bikes and wheels to the Drop Shop. What does the community think of the new roads, and what do riders think of the new bikes? Eric discusses the fresh quandary facing Zwifters: is it worth buying and upgrading another bike, just to gain a second or two?

After a check-in with Shane and Eric to learn what they’re cooking up in their respective labs, Dave tries to start a fight by setting the co-hosts up for a bit of a debate. What’s better: one company owning your device, data, training platform, and virtual world? Or a messy, competitive market with multiple innovators who don’t always play together nicely but keep each other honest?

And that’s a wrap. Thanks for listening! Leave a review if the show is landing for you, and share us with your cycling friends. Word of mouth is how independent podcasts grow.

Listen On:

Meet the Team

  • Dave Towle: The voice of American cycling, having called some of the biggest races in the country for decades. Find him @davetowleannouncer.
  • Shane Miller (GPLama): Based in Australia, Shane is one of the most followed and trusted cycling tech reviewers in the world. Find him at @gplama.
  • Eric Schlange: Founder of Zwift Insider, the internet’s most comprehensive and reliable resource for Zwift routes, updates, and platform intelligence. Find him @zwiftinsider.

Share Your Thoughts!

This is just an early episode of what we hope is a long-running and useful community Zwift podcast. Share your thoughts below. We’re listening!

Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of August 8-9

Eric Schlange
-
0
Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of August 8-9

As the women’s Tour de France wraps up IRL, some major events are wrapping up on Zwift. See the last stage of Tour Fever featured below, and the final stages of the Liv/Giant du Tour races as well. Read on to see all of our picks!

🥇 Liv/Giant Du Tour

A group of female cyclists with brightly glowing wheels race on a virtual road lined with orange banners. Text reads “Femme Cycle Collab” beside a colorful circular logo. The scene appears in a digital or video game environment.

✅ Popular　 ✅ Stage Race　 ✅ Women-Only Option

This 9-day race/ride tour celebrating Le Tour de France Femmes has been very popular, and this weekend it wraps up! Saturday’s Stage 8 is on Sugar Cookie (39.2km, 259m), and Sunday’s stage 9 is on Mayan 8 (26.1km, 249m).

Multiple time slots on Saturday and Sunday
Women-only events at zwift.com/events/tag/livdutour
Open events at zwift.com/events/tag/giantdutour

🤝🥇 Stage 5 – Tour Fever

✅ Popular　 ✅ Unlocks

Zwift’s big Tour Fever series is almost wrapped up, with stage 5 happening this week and makeup events happening next week.

Stage 5 features Double Espresso (33.7km, 231m) as the long route and La Boucle (19.2km, 126m) as the short route. Choose to ride or race!

Multiple time slots this weekend
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tourfever2026stage5

🤝 HCT Host: Banded Z2 / Base Ride

✅ Banded　 ✅ Beginner-Friendly

Looking for a slightly longer ride at a flexible pace? Check out this banded event from HCT. As long as you keep pedaling, you’ll stay with the group. And there’s a Discord channel enabled for voice comms!

This week’s ride is on Watopia’s Shoreline and Summits (50.3km, 792m).

Saturday, August 8 @ 2:15pm UTC/10:15am ET/7:15am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/5664375

🥇 Turbo Ten p/b HPRT

✅ New Race　 ✅ 10x　 ✅ James Bailey

Join the fourth running of a wild new race concept from the mind of Zwift events whisperer James Bailey: TEN back-to-back races, lasting a total of ~1 hour and 55 minutes. Riders are categorized using compound score, everyone starts together, but you’ll be able to tell who you’re racing against by the letter on their jersey.

Read all about the Turbo Ten >

Sunday, August 9 @ 2pm UTC/10am ET/7am PT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/turboten

🥇Tiny Races – Variations on a Loop

✅ Unique　✅ 12-Race GC　✅ Popular

This week, all four Tinies are on Watopia’s Two Bridges Loop, but each race is longer than the one before, beginning with a short race to the JWB Sprint Reverse line and ending with a full loop of the route! Each race’s finish varies from the others, and you get one aero powerup each race.

Saturday, August 8 @ 3 different timeslots
Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces

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!

“Urumaze” Route Details

Eric Schlange
-
0
“Urumaze” Route Details

“Urumaze” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/urumaze/

Top 5 Zwift Videos: Tour de France, Indoors vs Outdoors, and FTP Tests

Oli Chi
-
0
Top 5 Zwift Videos: Tour de France, Indoors vs Outdoors, and FTP Tests

Missing the Tour de France already? In this week’s top video, watch as one rider takes viewers behind the scenes of the individual time trial at this year’s Tour.

Also included in this week’s picks: pacing indoors vs outdoors, tackling FTP tests, and fueling before Zwift races!

Behind the Scenes at the Tour de France

Thomas Martinez, aka the Cycling Tattooist, shares a behind-the-scenes look (courtesy of Zwift) of Stage 16 of the Tour de France (ITT).

Is riding indoors damaging your pacing outdoors?

Pedal Pulse breaks down the differences between riding indoors and outdoors to explain why it often feels easier to sustain an effort indoors than it does outdoors.

FTP Test – How much fitness have I lost?

After ~6 weeks of trading cycling for running, Giorgio Coppola puts his FTP to the test. How far off is he from his previous result?

I Fueled Like a Pro for This Zwift Race… Did It Work?

How much does fueling before your races influence your performance? FlandRider walks viewers through his pre-race meal routine before breaking down his recent Zwift race.

My First-Ever FTP Test!

Join Charlie Bonisch as he tackles his first FTP test in episode 2 of his prep for IRONMAN New Zealand.

Got a Great Zwift Video?

Share the link below, and we may feature it in an upcoming post!

Tiny Race Series – August 8 Routes – Variations on a Loop

Eric Schlange
-
0
Tiny Race Series – August 8 Routes – Variations on a Loop

Tiny Race Series – August 8 Routes – Variations on a Loop

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.

“Mech Isle Mayhem” Route Details

Eric Schlange
-
0
“Mech Isle Mayhem” Route Details

“Mech Isle Mayhem” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/mech-isle-mayhem/

“Makuri Madness” ZRacing Series Announced for August 2026

Eric Schlange
-
40
“Makuri Madness” ZRacing Series Announced for August 2026

“Makuri Madness” ZRacing Series Announced for August 2026

Zwift’s “ZRacing” is the platform’s most popular ongoing race series, and in August riders take on new Makuri Islands courses. With a new Women-Only option and up to 1500 bonus XP available, there’s something for everyone! Read on for details…

New This Month

Women-Only Events

Two daily women-only races have been added, at 4:30pm UTC (12:30pm ET/9:30am PT) and 5:30pm UTC (1:30pm ET/10:30am PT). See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/zracingaug2026women.

New Makuri Routes

Zwift Event Manager and hero of the people James Bailey has created four new Makuri Islands routes for this series. He even got free reign to name them! That means four new route badges, which means a nice chunk of bonus XP. See details below…

Bonus XP

You’ll earn a chunk of XP for each stage you complete, including 1000 XP for your first stage! Total XP for completing all four stages is 2000 XP (1000 XP for first stage, +500 for two stages, +300 for three stages, +200 for four stages).

August’s Routes

Here are the routes we’ll be racing in August:

  • Stage 1: Mech Isle Mayhem (Aug 10-16)
    • Distance: 20.4km / 12.67 mi (1 Lap)
    • Elevation: 121m / 397 ft
    • PowerUps: Feather, Ghost
  • Stage 2: Urumaze (Aug 17-23)
    • Distance: 26.8km / 16.65 mi (1 Lap)
    • Elevation: 202m / 663 ft
    • PowerUps: Feather, Aero
  • Stage 3: WhatYumeziWe’reLost? (Aug 24-30)
    • Distance: 17.6km / 10.93 mi (1 Lap)
    • Elevation: 288m / 945 ft
    • PowerUps: Feather, Draft
  • Stage 4: Twilight Crit (Aug 31-Sep 6)
    • Distance: 21.2km / 13.17 mi (5 Laps)
    • Elevation: 116m / 381 ft
    • PowerUps: Draft, Aero

See Women-Only ZRacing events >
See Range 1 ZRacing events >
See Range 2 ZRacing events >
See Advanced ZRacing events >
See ALL ZRacing events >

Post-Race Analysis

GC Leaderboard

Zwift’s web-based leaderboards track the monthly GC competition. Access the ZRacing leaderboards at zwift.com/racing/leagues/zracingaug2026.

Your GC ranking is based on your best finishing time for each stage, and you can race stages more than once to try for a better time.

Your Racing Profile

In May, Zwift launched the new “Racing Profile Page” at zwift.com, bringing all your Zwift race results together in one place so it’s easier to track performance and results etc. This page continues to be built out, including the addition of a power dashboard (see below). Sources tell me a ZRS history chart is arriving very soon!

Your profile is available at zwift.com/racing/me.

Category Options

Zwift now schedule four different flavors of ZRacing events in order to encourage “Fairer, more competitive racing for everyone.” There’s the new Women-Only events, then the other three use different racing score ranges for categorization. Click banners below to see upcoming events for each:

Questions or comments?

Post below! 

“WhatYumeziWe’reLost?” Route Details

Eric Schlange
-
0
“WhatYumeziWe’reLost?” Route Details

“WhatYumeziWe’reLost?” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/whatyumeziwerelost/

Zwift Update Version 1.119 (164079) Released

Eric Schlange
-
14
Zwift Update Version 1.119 (164079) Released

Zwift version 1.119 begins its phased rollout today. This minor update includes a flashy new bike, more route badges for runners, and various minor tweaks and fixes. Read on for details!

New Bike: Canyon Aeroad CFR CANYON//SRAM

This release includes a new Canyon Aeroad with a sweet Canyon//SRAM paintjob:

This frame performs exactly the same as the Canyon Aeroad CFR Alpecin Premier-Tech released last month… meaning it’s quite fast! Rated 3 stars for aero and 4 stars for weight, it’s available at level 30 for 1,750,000 Drops just like the Alpecin Premier-Tech version.

Route Changes for Runners

Most routes on Zwift don’t award a completion badge (and bonus XP) to runners. Zwift is working to change that, though, starting with this update. Once you’ve installed version 1.119, the following routes will have achievement badges and XP available for runners:

The following routes are no longer available for runners and are now cycling-only, presumably because of their length:

Opened Routes

Not included in Zwift’s release notes, but included in this update: the three event-only routes launched in the recent Paris expansion are now open for free riding. Those routes are:

Release Notes

Zwift supplied these additional release notes:

  • Fixed an issue that could potentially cause Power Bests shown in the post-ride Progress Report to be inconsistent across multiple activities.
  • Improved the accuracy of estimated route completion times for routes that feature climbs.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause Zwifters to not receive the correct amount of Drops after completing the Indoor Outdoor Challenge.
  • Android: Improved Android graphics and texture quality, improving the clarity of kits, accessories, bikes, and terrain.
  • iOS, Android: Fixed an issue that could cause settings sliders to not be draggable on touch screen devices.
  • iOS/tvOS: Increased the minimum required iOS/tvOS versions to 15.0 (released in 2021) which affects a very small population of Zwifters.

Discuss this update in Zwift’s forum >

Questions or Comments?

If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!

“Twilight Crit” Route Details

Eric Schlange
-
0
“Twilight Crit” Route Details

“Twilight Crit” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/twilight-crit/

123...544Page 1 of 544