Today, Zwift launched a six-workout challenge designed to help users kick off the year with structure and momentum. The workouts are built by Kristin Armstrong, three-time Olympic gold medalist, bringing elite experience into an approachable and flexible training format.
The series runs from January 13 through March 15 and focuses on building durability and staying in control as fatigue builds. Read on for details!
Challenge Requirements
The Challenge features six stages, each with a short and long option:
- Find Your Rhythm (Short: 47 minutes / Long: 75 minutes): This first ride sets the tone. Today’s about finding rhythm and control, learning how to settle in, stay patient, and ride with purpose. Let the effort build naturally and stay focused and in the game from start to finish.
- Surge and Settle (Short: 45 minutes / Long: 70 minutes): Durability means keeping your rhythm when you legs don’t want to. This ride teaches just that, you’ll surge, settle, and keep the pressure on. Control your breathing, keep your form, find your focus, and finish smoother than you started.
- Torque and Flow (Short: 50 minutes / Long 70 minutes): Build muscular endurance through controlled torque and cadence variation. The goal is steady strength, not speed. Feel the load in the legs while staying relaxed. We’ll use low-cadence torque work to build resilience, then include high-cadence rev’s to train efficiency and recovery.
- Hold the Line (Short: 50 minutes / Long: 70 minutes): This ride starts with two strong efforts to put early stress on the system, by design. From there, you’ll shift to upper tempo work with varied cadence that teaches you how to stay steady after fatigue sets in. The goal isn’t just to hit the power, it’s to find rhythm and composure once your legs are loaded. Hold your focus, control your breathing, and stay smooth all the way through, that’s durability.
- Under Control (Short: 51 minutes / Long: 74 minutes): This ride is about composure under pressure. We start strong to build early stress, then spend time in extended tempo work to strengthen efficiency, focus, and control. You’ll feel fatigue early and have to manage your effort, that’s where durability is built.
- Built to Last (Short: 50 minutes / Long: 75 minutes): The final ride brings everything together. You’ve built strength, focus, and control, now it’s about putting it all to use. Ride steady, stay smooth, and finish strong.
Finish either the short or long workout in each stage, and you’ll complete the Challenge!
Joining the Challenge
Unlike past Challenges, everyone is automatically signed up for this challenge. As long as you’ve got version 1.105 or higher installed, you’ll see a progress bar on the homescreen:
Click that card to access the workouts in the challenge or see reward details.
Challenge Rewards
You will earn a total of 1500 XP as you move through this Challenge:
- Complete 1 Stage: 250 XP
- Complete 3 Stages: 500 XP
- Complete All 6 Stages: 750 XP
Read more about Zwift levels and unlocks >
Deadline
This challenge goes live at 9:00 PT on January 13, 2026, and ends March 15, 2026, at 23:59 PT.
(I recommend finishing before the final day, though, as past Challenges have ended earlier than expected in the past, and you don’t want to be caught out if that happens.)
Questions or Comments?
Post below!
Why do this with the “tour”?
Maybe it´s possible to do both at the same time. You chose your workout and then, Tour of Zwift course.
This is the way. tdZ stages don’t have to be chosen from the tdZ menu. Choose the workout then any route you want that is part of tdZ and you will get the tdZ route completion as well as the workout. Did something similar today by choosing ROTW and got the XP bonus plus tdZ route completion.
Fair point – I do enjoy the group rides myself, but I know it’s not for everyone.
I would rather do them separate. Will see how it shakes out…
My coach told me not to do any of these.
Obviously someone can do these workouts at whatever frequency they choose, but what is the “as designed” frequency? One workout per day? One per week?
Great question. Hi Eric, what’s your take on this?
My take is Zwift was conceiving it as a 6-week program, so one workout per week. But you could do 2 per week and I think that would be fine as well…
It really depends on your other training, for example your Fitness/CTL levels (or Training Score, in Zwift’s language). None of these workouts looks particularly difficult (to the level of definitely requiring a rest day), so someone who trains regularly could comfortably do these every other day, or even 6 days in a row. Occasional riders might prefer to do one per week.
I suggest that – as it’s a 6-week challenge – you can aim to fit in one a week, alongside other workouts, group rides etc. If you’re unsure about your fitness, try and do these workouts after a rest/recovery day. If you feel able to do more, go for it. The workouts definitely allow plenty of flexibility.
As an aside, a huge upgrade to Zwift’s UI would be to change from grading each workout out of 5 (which is next to useless), and instead stating the TSS/training load, which is the exact metric which feeds into Fitness/CTL/Training Score. IMO, that would make planning a training block, or even a single day’s riding, so much easier. (I know the TSS is available for workouts, but you have to click through to see it, when it should be front-and-centre).
Why is everything XP orientated these days. No more badges or other goodies. Even a cap would be nice.
Because Zwift messed up the XP system and want as many people as possible to reach level 100.
The practically give XP away now with these challenges and all the pointless new routes.
Hi Eric
Does this challenge also give additional 5% xp if using max level entry level bike?
I would bet so, but I haven’t actually tested that to confirm.
Sweeet!!
Yes it does give additional 5% xp
The timing on this is great since I still have these four routes left of Tour de Zwift Ultimate Challenge: Glyph Heights, Triple Loops, Yorkshire Double Loop, Innsbruck KOM After Party. I wasn’t looking forward to any of those routes, so at least I can ERG Mode through them with these workouts. I usually set ERG on KICKR BIKE V2 for routes I don’t want to do to some fixed power level until the route is complete and now I don’t have to. This is perfect. Thanks for this post, Eric!
Nice to see another progressive workout series from Kristin; would have been nice to get this as a series of group workouts with a jersey unlock though (you can never have enough hideous virtual jerseys…), not just XP.
I may be in the minority on this one, but I don’t like being automatically signed up for challenges. The nature of a “challenge” is it should be self-selected.
I personally am not one for structured workouts, and am not interested in a forced challenge cluttering up what is already becoming a busy home page.
More information isn’t always better, and I would appreciate choice rather than being coaxed.
Yes, all that clutter is likely to cause a Horrendous Crash (Flash) when you’re in Hot Puuuur-sooot! 😅
cu cu cu!
I think “signed up” versus not “signed up” is completely immaterial in this case. The only change is that everyone now sees a progress bar.
For all challenges, the challenge card shows up on your home screen, so the amount of clutter is the same. “Signing up” to the challenge literally just means clicking on the challenge card, and you were then “signed up”, even if you subsequently just went back to the home screen and chose your ride/workout separately.
This led to the situation (which I consider unfair; you may disagree) that two riders could complete exactly the same workout/route, and one would gain extra rewards (XP/kit) by virtue of having, at some point in the distant past, clicked on the challenge card, whilst another rider who hadn’t click on the card wouldn’t get the same rewards.
But in this case, the challenge workouts are only available through the challenge card anyway, and therefore you can’t “accidentally” complete the challenge. You don’t need to sign up in advance, but you do need to actively click on the challenge card to complete the challenge. Everyone may be theoretically “signed up” and see a progress bar, but it’s impossible to actually progress towards completing the challenge without going through the card.
16061980CLAUDHOBik 🏁🚴🏁🇧🇷👍🏻
I dont know why, but today I opened Zwift and the challenge is gone…
It’ll be back… maybe tomorrow. Zwift decided to roll back version 1.105 due to a bug, but said they should have a fix rolling out tomorrow.
It’s Back😊, Just did one of the workouts today.
and then it gone again on PC
Hey @Eric Schlange, I logged in this morning (Jan 17) and I still don’t have the banner (Game Version 1.105.2, iPadOS26.2) – any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
same here
also new update rolled out today
The challenge isnt showing for me? Is it because I have another work out plan on the go
Something to do with an update not working?
I don’t have this challenge even if I have the version.
Same here, nothing.
Ok today I saw it
Has this update rolled out yet? I’m on PC and still on 1.104. I even did a full uninstall/reinstall – but still on 1.104.
I just updated my phone app to 1.105. The challenge card shows up under Challenges, but no workouts show up on any of the weeks
1/17 banner for challenge is still now showing up after re-updating (on windows)
🙁 ?
Its the 18th and there is noch workout challange on PC for me 🤣
Ok on android i have the workout challange on my cell phobe but not on PC just checked updates there is no one
Right now only on ipad and iphone, i checked with my PC, and Mac still no update, on Android only shows challenge but no workouts
it came and went on PC – was there on sunday and gone monday
That’s challenge is not on companion app or on PC. Have zwift removed the challenge with the software roll back?
was on the home screen on Sunday now gone again on Monday
The bonus XP, is it per workout or per stage? Can I do the short and the long in stage 1 then the short in stage 2 for 3 workouts and 500XP?
My guess is it’s actually per stage, not per workout. But the language Zwift used for me was “workouts”. Hmmm… I’ll ask.
Zwift HQ confirmed that it’s per stage, not per workout. I’ll tweak the text above…
Thanks Eric!
was on the home screen on Sunday 18/01 now gone again on Monday 19/01
Just die the first Long workout, didnt get credit afterwards in the home screen…
Zwift told me “Okay, they can email [email protected] and we can credit progression for stage 1 (if eligible).”
Support already helped me in the Zwift Forum, thanks 🙂
Done the first challenge twice now, and no credit on the homescreen button thing – bit bored as I really don’t want to have to do it for a third time.
Entered the challenge in the usual way, by signing up through said button. It’s clearly not working..
Also having it duplicate rides on the TdF button is ‘disappointing’ …..
Time for them to also sort the levels issue out again….as someone on level 100 and have been for sometime I’m not sure what I’m chasing any more…..
[edit for clarity]
Hey James. I told Zwift about this. They said “Okay, they can email [email protected] and we can credit progression for stage 1 (if eligible).” Also, the guy I talked to said, “I’d also be interested in checking their account on the backend to see why they didn’t receive progression for completion.” If you want to email me your Zwift account ID or email address (eric@zwiftinsider.com) I can pass it along…
Thank you Sir, I wonder if it was a glitch in the matrix – rebooted everything (I really should take my own advice….) and I knocked off 6, 5, and 4 with no problem at all…
Will ping the support team still though just in case it’s helpful.
Many tx again,
James
Would it be possible to combine this with the “road of the week”?
Yes. Select the workout then the route of the week course
Since 22th january it appears on my win pc 👌
Not a lot of XP points really for an incentive on Fitness Tune Up.
True, but pick a tune up workout and do it on the route of the week to get more points.
good way to get up to speed for the spring
My only criticism is that they wait until the next segment starts to tell you what to do. This is particularly problematic when they change the cadence, power and want you to stand when the segment is only 10 or 15 seconds long
Kristin Armstrong, I love your workouts I did them after my little break because of illness and that was a good way to be back on track if I can say that.
I discovered this challenge a little too late and didn’t have time to do them all. I hope they come as standalone workouts soon, because I liked the layout.