Announcing the BIKES Five Tour – 5 Weeks of Varied Racing Starting November 4
BIKES France, the largest French-speaking community on Zwift, is putting on their first-ever “BIKES Five Tour” beginning November 4. Each week has its own challenges, and the team competition’s structure awards balanced squads with strong riders in every category. Read on for details…
A Fresh Approach
This series is a bit different than others, both in route choice and scoring structure.
The series consists of five stages – one per week – with each stage having a different profile/format: hilly, time trial, punchy, summit finish, fast finale. And when it comes to scoring, teams are ranked by their top-scoring rider in each category (more on that below). That means you need a strong team across all categories to complete.
Scoring/Ranking Details
For team ranking (you can also ride as an individual), every category has the same weight, and your team’s top-ranked riders in each category are used for your team total.
Riders are categorized by Zwift pace category, and each category has its own start time.
The points work like ZRL: the winner scores as many points as there are finishers, plus a bonus of 10/8/6/4/2 for the top 5.
Teams can have up to 16 riders: 3 A, 4 B, 4 C, 5 D. A club can also enter several teams if it wishes.
There are green jerseys (sprints) and polka dot jerseys (KOMs) in each category, based on best segment time (FTS), plus a women’s overall across all categories.
Results will be imported from ZwiftPower, and the standings will be online after each stage.
Schedule and Routes
There are two time slots per stage: Wednesday 19:30 CET (18:30 UTC) or Saturday 10:30 CET (09:30 UTC). Only the first slot you ride counts. (The second one can be used as a backup if something goes wrong in the first). You get one ranking per stage and per category.
To be ranked, you must register on their website bikesfivetour.com. Riders who aren’t registered on the site are not taken into account. The Tour standings only include registered riders.
Deadline: registration closes on Sunday, November 1. Teams are locked 2 days before stage 1; after that, no team changes are possible.
To take part, you need two registrations: 1) register on bikesfivetour.com, 2) sign up for the Zwift events of the time slot you’ve chosen (see 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 three climbs are accessible on a given day:
Climb of the month: the first climb listed on the calendar below rotates monthly. This climb is available only in France, and you can ride it by clicking the appropriate card at the bottom of your home screen under “Just Ride”.
Featured daily climb: the second climb listed rotates daily and is only available in Watopia. Ride it by clicking the appropriate card at the bottom of your home screen under “Just Ride”.
Climb of the week: the last climb listed rotates weekly and awards bonus XP upon completion. This climb is only available in France, and can be accessed via the “Climb of the Week” card on your homescreen.
Learn more about a climb by clicking it in the schedule below.
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.
Today, Zwift launches their much-anticipated Wild Isles Watopia expansion. Located west and south of Jarvis, the new roads provide a flatter connection from Jarvis to the Jungle. Read on for all the details including new routes, leaderboard segments, images, videos, and more…
Meet the Wild Isles
This expansion is visually inspired by California’s coast and particularly Santa Catalina Island. (Locals simply call it “Catalina Island” or “Catalina”, and it’s visible from Zwift’s Long Beach headquarters.)
Zooming into the map gives us a clear picture of this expansion. The unshadowed area below is the expansion:
Zwift says the expansion includes 18km of new roads, but my measurements show it’s closer to 20.7km. That means this expansion is about the same size as Watopia’s Southern Coast addition in late 2023.
You can see there are four distinct “areas” in the Wild Isles:
Caldera Cruiser: Named for the volcanic scenery, this is a slightly rolling crit circuit with its own start pens. A lap segment leaderboard tracks efforts in both directions.
Power Islands: This pan flat, distinctly-shaped circuit will include some new power segments, with fresh functionality, in the coming months. Flatlanders, rejoice: this is the new “flattest route on Zwift”, with exactly 0 meters of elevation gain per lap! While the flat, straight roads may seem boring to some, Zwift’s art team punched up the experience nicely with some really beautiful foliage and animated sea life. A lap segment leaderboard tracks efforts in both directions, and there are also lap counters near the lap arch.
Seafoam Circuit: Our second crit circuit complete with start pens, this section’s distinguishing feature is the bison herd, which is a very Catalina Island-esque thing to include! A lap segment leaderboard tracks efforts in both directions.
Avalon: Although it’s not a circuit in itself, this is absolutely a distinct area in the Wild Isles. It’s a re-creation of real-life Avalon, the only incorporated city on Santa Catalina Island. This section also includes the only sprint segment in the expansion, along with the distinctive Catalina Casino building.
Notable Sites
Most of the Wild Isles are exactly that: wild! But the Avalon area includes many buildings and a busy harbor. The famous Catalina Casino is located on the south end of town, just like in real life. The Queen Mary, formerly docked off the coast of Jarvis, occasionally makes an appearance, and seaplanes fly in over the road and land in the harbor as well. There’s also a tantalizing gravel road – currently inaccessible – climbing into the hills behind the town
Catalina CasinoAvalon HarborCheck out that gravel road!
I suppose Zwift couldn’t call it the Wild Isles without including some new wildlife. Dolphins play in the waters as you ride past, and a whale even breaches (although I haven’t seen it happen yet)! The Seafoam Circuit’s bison herd mirrors the real-life island’s herd of ~150 American bison, and you’ll also spot some new birds, hermit crabs (if you look closely), and new plants.
Hey big guy!Playful pretend bison at the entrance to the herd’s territoryHermit crabColorful flowers on the Power IslandsDon’t touch the cactus!Humpback whale breaching
This being an archipelago, there are plenty of bridges in play. Most are wooden, and there are some nice visuals as you ride below bridges or take one to cross over scenery below.
There are lots of other sites to see, but I’ll leave you with these very California-feeling “Bike Route” and Highway 1 signs I spotted. See if you can find them for yourself in game!
Cycling Routes
Today’s launch adds 9 cycling routes to the game. Click the route name for a few more details. (These route homepages will become much richer once the expansion goes live and we can add photos, text descriptions, videos, etc.)
Caldera Coaster (5.9km, 12m):A simple lap of the caldera portion of the expansion, corresponding to the “Caldera Cruiser Reverse” lap segment (below). This is a fairly flat figure 8.
California Dreamin’ (21.2km, 106m):Starts in the caldera area of the expansion, but heads over to the Hilly KOM and a few other old-school Watopia proper roads before coming back to the caldera to complete the circuit.
California Roll (33.9km, 139m):A flat route the covers all the road of four different Watopia circuits: the new Seafoam Circuit, the Caldera Cruiser, the Volcano Circuit, and the Flat Route.
Four Foalsmen (70.2km, 578m):The baby brother of the Four Horsemen still takes on four KOM segments (Titans Grove, Volcano, Jarvis, Hilly), but with much less climbing than its big brother.
Laps, Camera, Traction (26.4km, 217m):Starts at the new Seafoam Circuit, then heads through Avalon to the Jungle, where we complete a figure 8 before heading back to complete the Seafoam Circuit.
Pacific Pursuit (54.2km, 381m):A scenic route that takes in a diverse set of Watopian biomes. From downtown Watopia to the Wild Isles, into the Jungle and across the Epic KOM Cutoff before heading out to Fuego Flats and returning to downtown via Titans Grove.
Seafoam Circuit (4.1km, 18m):A short figure-8 circuit hosted in the bison-friendly Seafoam Circuit island group. This route is analogous to the Seafoam Circuit Reverse lap segment (below).
The Watopia 150! (151.6km, 0m):We can all agree this one is just a bit crazy, right? It’s like a drawn-out Cirque du Suffer. 30 laps of the expansion’s “Power Islands” section, which has its own “Lightning Lap” segment (see below). And 0 elevation across 150 km? Move over, Tempus Fugit. There’s a new flat route in town.
Watt Goes Up Must Come Down (62.5km, 776m):Start at the caldera, cross the power islands to the Seafoam Circuit, then ride down through the Jungle and out onto the Southern Coast Road. That’s the flat bit done. Now it’s time to climb! Climb The Grade, keep climbing over the Epic KOM, then go out to Titans Grove before returning to complete your big loop.
Three more routes will become available next week for Tour of Watopia’s stage 5:
Long Ride: One Ride to Rule Them All (38.7km, 506m)
Standard Ride & Race: Molten Momentum (20.8km, 245m)
Short Ride: Crit Cross (13.5km, 36m)
Running Routes
Three running routes have also been added – one for each of the new circuits.
Lava legs (4km, 11m): This fairly flat figure 8 covers the Caldera Cruiser leaderboard segment.
Lightning Lap Run (5km, 0m): This pan-flat route covers the Lightning Lap Reverse segment.
Seafoam Scamper (3.6km, 19m): A short figure-8 circuit hosted in the bison-friendly Seafoam Circuit island group. This is the same route as the “Seafoam Circuit” above.
Leaderboard Segments
This expansion adds 8 leaderboards to the game. 6 of these are laps – forward and reverse versions of each of the new circuits. Then there’s also the new Sunset Sprint in Avalon. (Like the routes, these segment pages will become richer as we add more content in the coming days.)
The new routes are available in game starting today, so you can free ride them whenever you’d like.
Want to ride these as events? Pacific Pursuit, California Roll, and California Dreamin’ are featured Tour of Watopia stage 4 routes, so any ToW events you do this week will be on those routes.
I’m sure these routes will feature heavily in community events as the week unfolds and ride organizers update their group rides and races. In fact, I’m planning to feature The Watopia 150 on this week’s Thursday Pizza Burner. Join me!
Ride-Through Video
Here’s a simple ride-through covering all the new roads, if you want to see them in “living” color:
The UK and Europe changed their clocks over the weekend, and the US and Canada are next. Cyclists know what this means: no more after-work rides. And more Watopia! (Which is actually perfect, since the expansion launches today.)
As riders head indoors in earnest, Zwift has just announced their second sale of the season. It’s a 48-hour “flash sale” with 15% off the Zwift Ride package and 20% off the Wahoo KICKR CORE.
The New Zwift Ride – 15% Off
With a strong feature set priced well below other smart bikes, the Zwift Ride has been the best deal going since it launched in the summer of 2024. Then the KICKR CORE was updated, and Zwift made further improvements to the frame, making it more adjustable and accommodating to a wider range of riders (read details here).
The updated KICKR CORE from Wahoo builds on the strong reputation of the original CORE by adding WiFi connectivity, Race Mode, Bluetooth Bridging, and more. If you’re looking for an affordable first smart trainer, or looking to update your aging trainer, look no further.
Key Specs
Max Wattage: 1800W
Max Incline: 16%
Max Decline: -10%
Power Accuracy: +/-2%
Connectivity: WiFi, ANT+ FEC, ANT+ Power, Bluetooth FTMS, and Zwift Protocol
A bit of inside perspective: the KICKR Core and JetBlack VICTORY are basically tied for the title of “leading mid-budget smart trainer”. They match each other almost perfectly feature-for-feature, while the KICKR is priced a bit higher than the VICTORY. Today’s sale puts the KICKR’s price just below the JetBlack VICTORY, though, in most markets.
A final note: the shopping links in this post are affiliate links, so when you shop through them, Zwift Insider earns an affiliate commission. Thanks in advance for your support!
While Tour of Watopia is well underway and ever-popular, this is zFondo weekend as well, and there are lots of popular community events happening too! See below for my picks this weekend, including a rare running event.
✅ Bonus XP ✅ Popular ✅ Endurance Challenge ✅ Jersey Unlock
This is the second of this season’s zFondo weekends, and it’s on a route we’ve never fondoed before: Makuri Pretzel (77.6km, 616m). Join whatever pace group you’d like, and hang with that group’s RoboPacer (or try to beat it)! Fondos aren’t official races – some treat them as personal challenges, some as a race. You do you.
This new ride from the ZDR squad, in collaboration with WBR500, is sort of a stripped down and fast version of the popular Sunday WOW ride we often feature (see below). That means fast TT bikes and disc wheels, with drafting enabled.
There’s only one category for this ride, though, and the stated pace is 3.5-4.2 W/kg. Spicy! This is 3-hour ride on Watopia’s Tick Tock (double XP!).
Want to rack up miles fast? Join this popular group ride, which puts everyone on a fast TT bike (Canyon Speedmax CFR) with double draft enabled.
Everyone is on Watopia’s Beach Island Loop this week (double XP!), and there are five pace groups to choose from. This is the special monthly kit unlock event, which is extra long (100 miles).
Bike upgrading hack: on rides with forced bikes, whatever bike you’re on when you join the event is the bike that accumulates the distance/elevation/time. So, for example, you could accumulate lots of distance toward a gravel bike upgrade while riding the Canyon Speedmax CFR in this event.
If you’ve always wanted to climb the epic Alpe du Zwift, but find the prospect a bit intimidating, why not try it in a banded ride? The beauty of banded rides is, as long as you keep pedaling, you’ll stay with the group and move along up the road.
Zwift’s first big tour of the 2026/27 season kicked off last week, which means we’re on stage 3 this week. You can free-ride the routes whenever you’d like, or race them… but the biggest turnouts are for the group rides. Highly recommended.
I usually feature 5 events, but wanted to throw a 6th in this week – and it’s a running event!
This is a fun one from the folks at ZwiftHQ. The category you choose determines which costume you wear. Everyone starts together, running two laps of the Volcano Circuit for a total of 11km.
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!
