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Zwift’s “ZRacing” is the platform’s most popular ongoing race series, and it continues to evolve as we head into April 2025. Here are the changes Zwift is rolling out this month:
- Advanced Event Schedule Expansion: advanced races now happen every other hour, to increase availability.
- Advanced Event Minimum Score Requirement: to avoid riders joining these events in order to tank their scores, Advanced events are now “category enforced” at 650+, meaning you must have a racing score of 650+ to join.
- Advanced Event HRM Requirement: this isn’t really a new requirement, but lower-category events no longer require a heart rate in order to join. Zwift says requiring HRM “will bring the events into line with the minimum criteria to feature on ZwiftPower and is the first of a number of additional fairness measures we hope to add to Advanced events over the coming year.”
- Range 2 modification: these events now top out at 725 (up from 700). Zwift says “We hope this will provide racers with scores of 650-725 with a softer ‘Advanced’ transition.”
- Zwift.com-Based GC Leaderboards: an upgraded version of the Zwift Games leaderboards will be used for tracking the monthly ZRacing GC. More on this below…
For April, the series takes on “after party” routes which feature a climb in the final kilometers. Also, there’s a yet-to-be-revealed new route (on new roads!) for us to race in stage 5, April 28-May 4! Watch this space for more news on this front.
Read on for details about this month’s race routes and more!
April’s Routes
Here are the routes we’ll be racing in April:
- Stage 1 (Mar 31-Apr 6): Power to the Portal with Oude Kwaremont
- Custom Length (22.2km, 166m)
- Powerups: Feather, Draft
- Stage 2 (Apr 7-13): Neon After Party
- 1 lap (17.3km, 142m elevation)
- Powerups: Draft, Aero
- Stage 3 (Apr 14-20): LaGuardia After Party
- 1 lap (20.8km, 300m)
- Powerups: Feather, Aero
- Stage 4 (Apr 21-27): Queen’s Highway After Party
- 1 lap (19.8km, 301m)
- Powerups: Feather, Anvil
- Stage 5 (April 28-May 4): Hell of the North
- 1 lap (20.2km, 241m)
- Powerups: Feather, Draft
See upcoming Range 1 “After Party” events >
See upcoming Range 2 “After Party” events >
See upcoming Advanced “After Party” events >
See ALL upcoming “After Party” events >
New GC Leaderboards
Zwift debuted new web-based leaderboards at zwift.com for tracking the Zwift Games 2025 GC, and an upgraded version of those leaderboards will now be put to work for use in the monthly ZRacing series!
Access April’s leaderboard at zwift.com/racing/leagues/zracingapr2025 >
Your GC ranking is based on your best finishing time for each stage, and you can race each stage multiple times if you’d like.
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Choose Your Category
Zwift now schedules three different flavors of ZRacing events in order to encourage “Fairer, more competitive racing for everyone.” They each use different racing score ranges for categorization and are titled Advanced, Range 1, and Range 2. Click banners below to see upcoming events for each.
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Get the Badge
Each month’s ZRacing series has a unique achievement badge, which you can unlock by finishing every stage for the month. There are no makeup events, so if you miss a stage, you miss out on the badge and competing in the GC.
One and Done
Zwift has planned these events to deliver a solid 1-hour workout, so each race should only take around 1 hour to complete, including your warmup and cooldown.
Questions or Comments?
Post below!
New roads!
I’m looking forward to the first race, with the climbing portal finish. That’ll be a new experience for me at least (not sure if it has been done before).
We’ve done this for some of our hill climb events, but it’s a first in zRacing.
Edit: never mind, was answered below.
I assume this event is finishing at the top of the climb portal? (The full route linked above links back to the pens finish line)
Not the first time I’d say. When the “Power to the Portal” Route was released in the last december Off the MAAP event, they did a stage with it and ending on Old Willunga Hill.
But certainly nice that they keep doing that in events like this to change things up and event release some new roads as well.
Are these events coming with neutralized bike performances again as in March? So I can ride my BMX Bike?
Bike performance is not neutralised in these events.
Bike performance is neutralised for Big Spin, not for the races.
Mark: bikes were neutralized for Zwift Games in March.
Do you know if the portal route finishes at the top of the climb, or descends and completes the full route lap?
All of these events (including Power to the Portal) have summit finishes. It will finish at the top of the climb portal.
Thanks. I’d be pretty crushed to bury myself hanging on up the climb to realize there’s 3 miles left!
Just did it and I have dnf! Doesn’t finish at the summit still another 2km after descent.
They had to change it because it was broken for some people.
On 3/31 the race did not finish on top of the hill and I was given a DNF .I stopped at the exit of the portal when it showed my time for the climb . The real finish line was 1.81 miles from the exit to the portal. So was given a DNF . 4/1 I went to that 1.81 mark , just a thin hard to see line. Never got credit for the 12 miles on 3/31 , because did not know I quit 1.8 from the finish line .
I know you are the organizer, but with the distance listed as 22.2km on here, it seems the SET UP was to finish at the lap banner for Power to the Portal. The summit would be 17.7km give or take
Almost 22 and a little Km to the finish line. Don’t stop until the race is concluded, There is no finish banner, only the blue bar in the center Hud display.
Keep riding until you see the Oude Kwaremont KQOM finish date.
The “GC” is not a “GC”. It’s a sortable table. We’re not racing against the same group with any consistency. “Final” places keep changing as riders ZRS moves them in and out of bins.
I, and many racers I talk with, have lost all interest in the “GC”.
I was never interested in it to begin with. Why bother comparing yourself against people who were in completely different races?
Until they have a “register for entire omnium” (for example, 4 Thursdays at 7:12 PM) option, it will be impossible to make GC very meaningful. If they did it like this, with time bonuses awarded for top finishers, it would actually be pretty cool. But then they would have to reduce the amount of available start times to improve turnout. Can’t make everybody happy, and I guess they prioritize participation over a meaningful GC.
Yes. Just finished. Nobody seemed to know where it was finishing. I think most of us aimed for the top of the climb. Luckily recovered a bit on the descent. Then sprinted to the marina, then we mostly dragged ourselves another 1 to 2k to the final finish l. I actually quite enjoyed the uncertainty!
link to GC seems broken and/or not live yet.
I suppose this is the way to reinforce the weight gain on disc wheelsets!
Summit finish = awesomeness! ^^
Will the GC also be actually be from people riding in that cat and not also people who ride a cat above to get a faster time ?
I really hope for a good update on that Leaderboard.. The one for Zwift Games was kind of useless. Why sort 0-100, 100-200 and so on? That’s not how we race? And you do want to be able to check out your Club without to much work.
I would like to see age breakdown
Racing on Zwift has been screwed to the max since the launch of ZRS. It’s not just a haven for tanking; we’ve also lost the essence of general classification. For me, the main motivation to race is the ability to compare myself with others. We really need a solid GC ranking system, particularly for stage races and weekly Crit/TT events @James Bailey.
Do you earn route badges for these events?
if we will have free choice of swapping between ranges, GC rank is useless. People MUST sign selected range for all monthly ZR events, and if promoted by score, no return. In addition to that, the ranking must allow to identify and find racers by more filters. Zwift games GC absolutely bad for finding riders, you ride most against.
it would be great, if the signup listing displays the actual GC position of the rider.
riding for GC podium require to race AGAINST your direct opponent, even for protecting your position or cutting time.
There needs to be more races scheduled during high volume times of day. 100+ in a single race category is just not something that Zwift does well. Performance is not the issue but instead the ability to tell what the heck is happening. Zwift’s UI doesn’t handle that number of racers well.
An event for cheaters[wpd-tenor full=’8F31uOtsNCYAAAAM/that%27s-crazy-bri-balram.gif’ preview=’8F31uOtsNCYAAAAe/that%27s-crazy-bri-balram.png’ width=’498′ height=’498′]
Power to the portal races are super fun!
Also stoked we have more advanced options. Honestly, this will keep me on Zwift a little longer while the weather warms up.
So more new roads coming, great news and for what we now pay it’s time we saw this level of improvements being rolled out on a regular basis.
Anyone having any issues with DNF on Stage 1?
Did the UK 5:10am, 510-650 slot, crossed the top of the climb portal in 3rd, no end of race pop up, still showed the race positions, kept going all the way to downtown but nothing happened.
Ended the race and showed DNF. Same seemed to happen with the guy who was 1st.
I had the same issue. We were 16racers, but the scoreboard only shows 3 finishers?! I have a DNF
I had the same issue as well. I got to the top.. no finish line, descended and kept going and it just kept going and started the route all over again. I finally pulled the plug after about 50 min. Didnt get a finish time.
Same, I thought people had quit thinking the top of the portal was the end. As I didnt get a result I just completed the route to be safe. Got DNF as well 🙁
Me and one other rider got sent up a different climb than the rest of the pack.
Happened to me today. I kept riding to attempt to “finish” until the bottom and through one more race stage gate and finally gave up – over 13 miles, “DNF”
DNF for me too last night 🙁
Stage 5: hilltop hustle? The route is described in ZCA.
Nope! It’s a different route, on NEW roads…
This race is broken – a lot of riders are getting DNF’d and misrouted
No route map
No GC
Is this years April fool zwift racing
I got a very unusual bug when I finished the portal climb. It kicked everyone out but I carried on out of the portal until the end of the route. Then in the results I got a DidNotFinish. But looks like everyone in the group got a result. Strange.
Same here (per a post below)
Looking at results on Zwift Racing, there’s seemingly loads of people completing over 100% race distance but getting DNF.
I reached out to Zwift who said I must have had a connection drop issue initially, but as I raised the point there’s 50+ riders I can see on ZR I think it must be a bug on their end. They are investigating.
…and the published amount of climb is incorrect.
Stage 1 didn’t end on the climb. We descended back into downtown and then started the loop again. Eventually everyone just dropped.
April fools joke from zwift?
I can see results… I’m just not in them. I rode 25 km and never saw the finish line.
In my race one rider dit not turn left up the climp. But me and the pack went up the climb and then down again, but most riders stopped or costed after the top. For me and others the race continued and completed the lap. On zwift the winner was the rider that did not go up the climp…. Well i guess he crossed the finish line first.
Looks like a similar thing happened in the other pens.
All in all a weird experience.
Where the heck is the finish line?? Rode through the finish line at the top of the portal, and rest down hill, but no result and marked as a dnf.
Sounds similar to what I and a few in my race experienced. It would be nice if zwift can collect the data and repost results. Regardless… I’m going to try it again Wednesday.
FYI, this happened to me as well. I sent in a credit form and got a response that my finish would be corrected. Also, there was an apology on the Zwift Beginners FB page. Some people hadn’t restarted Zwift (like Apple TV or iOS users) so the correct race xml didn’t get loaded and some racers went elsewhere. Other people like us didn’t finish at top of portal. That is still under investigation, but to fix it now, the rest of races apparently will finish after a full route, which means the race continues through and after the descent.
Hi Eric, is there a scheduled PRL Full group ride in the near future. Look to collect the badge. Thanks Geoff
Here’s a link to see upcoming events on that route. Just make sure it’s set to show all upcoming events, not just the next few days. https://zwifthacks.com/app/events/?route=The%20PRL%20Full
Stage 1 some races finished at the summit and others didn’t! How will they do the GC?
Summit finishes won’t count. Those racers will need to re race for them to count, due to a Zwift bug.
Hello Eric, i just finish race 1, there is a thing i don’t understand, some rider haven’t do the uphill , so there a huge gap between them and the “uphill rider” , around 28min against 35min…seems there is a bug.
It is a whole disaster, thus I would not describe it as a bug. Due to Zwift’s lack of quality control, we gradually grew accustomed to the reality that every update brings a significant number of issues. Even the racing is in deep crap right now. They cannot continue to operate in this manner.
I finished the race – all 10 stages of the portal, and it looked like I was headed down when I logged out. When I looked at my status I the companion app, I had a DNF. What is that all about?
What is going on with the GC for stage 1?! Just finished a really hard race with what felt like a good time (new FTP high) but am 1000/4000 on GC. Would normally expect to be in top 1-2% based on previous racing. The current fastest times are just not possible for the course I did. Some serious issues going on.
Allow me to pile on. Rode the Stage 1 this morning, and instead of a summit finish on Oude Kwaremont and 18.5 km as described above, I wound up on Cote des Forche (???) for what felt like a much harder climb in the middle of the route, and needed to descend back down and keep driving until 26 km before crossing an unadorned line in the road for my “finish,” far behind the pack. Beats getting a DNF like a lot of people are describing, but boy that didn’t seem like what it was supposed to be. Also, though I’m far from a great climber, it seemed slightly screwy that I could ride with the lead pack till about halfway, but then finish 10 MINUTES behind, on a ride that ultimately took about 45 minutes. Feels not quite right, for sure.
Just a heads up for those racing stage 1: Be very careful with the end of the stage 1 route. It is NOT the top of the climb portal arch, it is NOT the main arch in downtown Watopia!
It IS a few hundred meters or so after exiting downtown Watopia. It does not have an arch/banner, it is just a line on the road. The best way to know the distance is to ONLY use the HUD when you exit the climb portal, and only pay attention to the progress bar that shows the lead-in distance and the finish line. Every thing else is a bit confusing, but that is the one item to use for your final sprint.
Don’t be like me and sprint to the top of the climb portal arch, then again in downtown Watopia, and then watch your competitors fly past you while you wonder why the race isn’t over. Good luck, and RIDE ON!
Wish I’d read this an hour ago 🤣
me too😭
This exact scenario happened to me. I sprinted to the traditional downtown arch that is used for pretty much every Watopia race only to see the race was still going. Luckily I realized it soon enough to still get 2nd. Had it been the normal arch then I would’ve gotten 1st. Maybe it was Zwift’s idea of a cruel April fool joke.
I read this comment before the race, and I still found the finish line to be significantly further than I expected.
Just found this on Facebook Zwift Beginners Group posted by James Bailey (Admin) regarding Stage 1 finish (maybe Eric can confirm this is accurate?):
After Party – Power to the Portal
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to post to offer a sincere apology for any of you that took part in this race today and experienced one of two problems.
1 – A relatively small number of racers did not do the expect Oude Kwaremont climb at the end of the race. This is due to an xml change at our end. Devices normally reload our xml file when they log in, but some iOS users (namely ATV) do not always relog in, unless the app is force closed. If you plan on entering this event this week, please ensure that you have completely restarted Zwift on your device.
2 – A larger number of Zwifters did not complete the event at the top of the climb as the event was designed to do. Our team are investigating this presently. I did test this prior to publishing the events and had no difficulties when doing so.
As a workaround, I have set the remainder of this week’s events to do a *complete* lap of Power to the Portal, which means you will go up the climb, down the climb, and then finish at the Watopia Marina arch.
I understand that this is not a perfect solution and will have repurcussions with the event leaderboards, with some riders having been able to complete a shorter route than others. I’m afraid that at this stage, it is the best solution.
Again, I’m really sorry to any of you that have been impacted by this.
Thanks,
James
Strange things are going on here. Lost the leading group during the climb in the portal and got some seconds (!) behind. But according the results, in the end I was 6 minutes (!) behind the first group??? So I lost 6 minutes on approximately 4km?
There’s all sorts of issues going on it seems, the current GC leader finished in 9 minutes! I’ve seen races where people didn’t finish the route and were classed as the winner.. I think this week needs to be re-run completely…
This was a frustrating week…didn’t quite have legs for this course on Monday, finished 7th…worked it better to finish 1st at the top of the Kwaremont, only for the race to finish 2-3 km later? Will have another go on Friday…is it the finish line going to be as it was today, i.e. 600m after the Downtown finish line?
I should have read these comments before racing.. just finished. Yes, also in my race the finish was at that location. Very annoying.
eric,
as the de facto comm team for zwift, maybe add a header at the top of this article describing the bug. I raced today, not knowing the issue. I quit after 22-23k of what showed as a 18.7k race. Digging through comments here to go to the forum to see a screenshot of a facebook post from zwift describing the issue is a poor way for zwift to communicate the problem.
That said, have fun this week.
I’m confused. I attempted Stage 1 Power To The Portal tonight. My portal was 2,020 ft of elevation. I dropped out, but when I look at all the other racers, it appears as though they had a different portal. What did I do wrong?
Power to the Portal would have been great if it had a finish line and at least distance to go! Missed out on a first A win😭😭😭 slow pedalling after sprinting the normal finish line in Watopia town in a state in a state of confusion!
There’s still people on the leaderboard, and very near the top, that didn’t go up the climb portal, not sure what if anything can be done about the GC, it’s pretty messed up..
What I’m hearing from within Zwift is that this first week is going to be removed from the GC entirely. Bummer, but I’m not sure if there’s any better solution at this point.
Any well-run private company’s normal response is to terminate employees whose work habits consistently fall short of expectations and replace them with fresh hires. There are plenty of qualified ex federal programmers and managers on the market.
ZHQ seems to be saying something different in a comment of the FB post regarding these issues – in Zwift Riders FB page. This was later than your last comment here, yesterday (James Bailey wrote there that this week’s results cancelation was considered by him – but decided against)
Je ne comprends vraiment pas l’intérêt d’avoir une arrivée inconnue. J’étais parti dans l’idée que l’arrivée était au sommet du Oude Kwaremont je n’ai rien vu qui indiquait qu’elle était en fait 3 kms plus loin…
l’arrivée au sommet du la montée mystère du Portal Climb est déjà une surprise en soit pour certains, pourquoi rajouter de l’incertitude?
Are there going to be make up stages in the After Party Race Series available if you miss one?
I don’t think so. There never are (unlike the Zwift Games, Tour of Watopia, etc.).
Is Stage 5 using Hell of the North route?
I just checked the leaderboard, and my stage 1 result hasn’t registered. I have all the data from my entry on the companion app, but no “score” on the results page. Anyone have a tip on how I can get help fixing this?
This is my first time trying this race series, and had a usual first race. The portal climb ended up being a different climb and not the Oude Kwaremont. The group split, and it seems the second group had that climb, and the first group had a much longer climb (Cote des Forche). Did anyone else experience this? Is there a remedy?