This page includes basic details for all routes on Zwift’s France world. For additional route details, click the corresponding link to be taken to that route’s detail page.
French cyclists use the term “casse-pattes” (literally “leg-breaking”) to refer to particularly difficult parts of a ride, or roads that awkwardly change gradient and break a cyclist’s rhythm. Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Casse-Pattes route covers the large outer loop of the map in a clockwise direction. The first 12km is pan-flat with two timed sprint segments, but then that rhythm is broken up in the back half by two timed KOM climbs.
Route Basics
Length: 23 km (14.3 miles)
Elevation: 145 m (476‘)
Lead-In: 0.9 km (0.6 miles)
Map: France
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 460 XP
French cyclists use the term “casse-pattes” (literally “leg-breaking”) to refer to particularly difficult parts of a ride, or roads that awkwardly change gradient and break a cyclist’s rhythm. Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Casse-Pattes route covers the large outer loop of the map in a clockwise direction. The first 12km is pan-flat with two timed sprint segments, but then that rhythm is broken up in the back half by two timed KOM climbs.
Literally “sweet France”, this route covers the upper loop of Zwift’s France map which was created for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France. It runs in a counter-clockwise direction, which means it’s just a reverse version of the R.G.V. route.
Route Basics
Length: 24.1 km (15.0 miles)
Elevation: 108 m (354‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: France
Restriction:
Achievement Badge: 480 XP
Literally “sweet France”, this route covers the upper loop of Zwift’s France map which was created for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France. It runs in a counter-clockwise direction, which means it’s just a reverse version of the R.G.V. route.
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, La Reine (translated “The Queen”) is the Queen Stage of the vTDF, taking riders up Mount Ventoux to the Chalet Reynard banner. It’s also the only route that isn’t listed in the France map’s route picker, indicating that La Reine will continue to be event-only even after the France map is added to the guest map rotation.
This route is an alternative way to ride Mount Ventoux, but be warned: it bypasses the Mount Ventoux KOM start line, so if you choose to ride all the way to the top, you won’t be listed on the leaderboard or Strava segments for the climbs! (If you want to ride the KOM start to finish, select the Ven-Top route.)
Route Basics
Length: 22.8 km (14.2 miles)
Elevation: 1181 m (3,875‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: France
Restriction: Event Only
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, La Reine (translated “The Queen”) is the Queen Stage of the vTDF, taking riders up Mount Ventoux to the Chalet Reynard banner. It’s also the only route that isn’t listed in the France map’s route picker, indicating that La Reine will continue to be event-only even after the France map is added to the guest map rotation.
This route is an alternative way to ride Mount Ventoux, but be warned: it bypasses the Mount Ventoux KOM start line, so if you choose to ride all the way to the top, you won’t be listed on the leaderboard or Strava segments for the climbs! (If you want to ride the KOM start to finish, select the Ven-Top route.)
Looking for a tour of France? Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Petit Boucle route is the longest on the map (along with Tire-Bouchon). Its name references Le Tour’s “Grand Boucle” nickname, which means “big loop.”
It covers all roads in both directions, except for the road up Mont Ventoux.
Route Basics
Length: 61 km (37.9 miles)
Elevation: 430 m (1,411‘)
Lead-In: 1 km (0.6 miles)
Map: France
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 1220 XP
Looking for a tour of France? Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Petit Boucle route is the longest on the map (along with Tire-Bouchon). Its name references Le Tour’s “Grand Boucle” nickname, which means “big loop.”
It covers all roads in both directions, except for the road up Mont Ventoux.
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the R.G.V. route covers the upper, larger loop of the map in a clockwise direction. The first 12km is pan-flat, while the back half includes a timed KOM and some rollers along the river.
“R.G.V” stands for route grand vitesse, or “high speed road”. A fitting name, since this route is definitely one for the sprinters. Though only 24km in length, it includes three timed sprint segments!
Route Basics
Length: 24.1 km (15.0 miles)
Elevation: 107 m (351‘)
Lead-In: 1 km (0.6 miles)
Map: France
Restriction:
Achievement Badge: 480 XP
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the R.G.V. route covers the upper, larger loop of the map in a clockwise direction. The first 12km is pan-flat, while the back half includes a timed KOM and some rollers along the river.
“R.G.V” stands for route grand vitesse, or “high speed road”. A fitting name, since this route is definitely one for the sprinters. Though only 24km in length, it includes three timed sprint segments!
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, Roule Ma Poule is essentially the reverse version of the Casse-Pattes route, covering the full outer loop in a counter-clockwise direction with a different start/finish location atop the Petit KOM.
Route Basics
Length: 23 km (14.3 miles)
Elevation: 145 m (476‘)
Lead-In: 3.1 km (1.9 miles)
Map: France
Restriction: none
Achievement Badge: 460 XP
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, Roule Ma Poule is essentially the reverse version of the Casse-Pattes route, covering the full outer loop in a counter-clockwise direction with a different start/finish location atop the Petit KOM.
Looking for a tour of France? Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Tire-Bouchon route is the longest on the map (along with Petit Boucle).
Its name translates to “corkscrew” in French, and that’s exactly what your ride may feel like as you cover all the France map’s roads in both directions (except for the road up Mont Ventoux).
Route Basics
Length: 61 km (37.9 miles)
Elevation: 431 m (1,414‘)
Lead-In: 3.1 km (1.9 miles)
Map: France
Restriction:
Achievement Badge: 1220 XP
Looking for a tour of France? Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Tire-Bouchon route is the longest on the map (along with Petit Boucle).
Its name translates to “corkscrew” in French, and that’s exactly what your ride may feel like as you cover all the France map’s roads in both directions (except for the road up Mont Ventoux).
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the “Ven-Top” route is named for the massive climb it contains: Mont Ventoux! This GPS-accurate model of the world-famous climb is by far the toughest ascent in game, climbing 1480 meters (4857′) from the beginning to end of the timed KOM segment.
Route Basics
Length: 20.9 km (13.0 miles)
Elevation: 1534 m (5,033‘)
Lead-In: 0 km ( miles)
Map: France
Restriction:
Achievement Badge: 420 XP
Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the “Ven-Top” route is named for the massive climb it contains: Mont Ventoux! This GPS-accurate model of the world-famous climb is by far the toughest ascent in game, climbing 1480 meters (4857′) from the beginning to end of the timed KOM segment.
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What does R.G.V mean? Do you know?
I imagine it’s Route à Grande Vitesse, or High Speed Route, which would be a play on T.G.V. (Train à Grande Vitesse – High Speed Train), which is the name given to France’s inter-city high speed trains.
Great!! Thanks
The river road section, is this similar to Titan’s Groves rollers?
No—it’s quite a bit flatter. Very twisty, but pretty flat!
From riding it, it looks like there’s potentially going to be some gravel or MTB routes in the future.
Second that. There is a route forestiere which goes up ventoux (or down) and popular with MTB and runners. That would be a cool addition.
On ” La Riene” you say:
but it looks like this route does include the full “Ven-top” route. Where is the Mount Ventoux KOM start line located?
I have just ridden the ‘Roule Ma Poule’ route and the Mt Ventoux KOM banner was about 2km from the start of this, on the way up to the Petit KOM banner. It was roughly where the turquoise line is in the attached screenshot. Eric is right that the ‘La Reine’ route will bypass it but so will the ‘Ven-Top’ as well as this starts much higher up the mountain. I haven’t ridden Ven-Top yet so can’t say whether there is a separate KOM banner, but the one I highlighted was definitely a ‘Mt Ventoux’ banner. Very strange.
No, Ven-Top begins near the start pens – in the same place as Roule Ma Poule, in fact. The map animation doesn’t show that, but that IS where it starts.
Wow, Eric, thanks for all you do! I love that the world names on the calendar are clicks-through to the worlds and routes.
Am i the only one who sees the potential for zwift to add the Malaucene side of the Ventoux in the future? The layout of the roads seem very similar to the real-life roads between Bedoin and Malaucene
If Malaucéne is added then so should Sault. Virtual Les Cinglés
I’m pretty sure that at Chalet Reynard there is at least a visual representation of the Sault road branching to the left on the descent…that would be so cool if I could do a virtual Les Cinglés to add to my real one!
Malaucene IRL is probably one of the most beautiful rides I have ever done. Hard work, but stunning. You are in the forest for ~18KM and as you pop out of the forest, 3km from the top, you get your first spot of the Iconic summit. Still some riding left, but the toughest bit is behind you…
Mont ventoux has somewhat of a unique flora (small, crooked trees in “la first”) I have done it many times, but it looks really that this is just a GPS accurate map. Are there any realistic visuals until the top section ? Also, this looks like it starts roughly right before the turn into the forest in saint Esteve, not baudoin ? (E.g does it skip the first 5km at 4%).
It actually starts earlier than the game animation shows… here’s the full route from the spawn point: https://www.strava.com/segments/24682608
See Ven-Top route details here: https://zwiftinsider.com/route/ven-top/
There have definitely been graphical liberties taken for the forest section – but perhaps an hour of 10-11% climbing through trees would be a little dreary. AllI remember about the real climb is wanting it to end!!! The section after Chalet Reynard is much more accurate is appearance
So will you only be able to ride the 3 stages on the 3 weekends?
It looks that way, yes. This won’t be your only chance to ride France/Paris, but it WILL be your only chance to ride the 2020 Virtual L’Etape du Tour.
Really want to ride these and am bummed they’re event only for now.
So just enter the event?
I notice from the download on the AppStore that France is an event only world. Will this change after TdF
Yes.
Roule Ma Poule and Tire-Bouchon are both going to be fantastic routes for racing with hilltop finishes.
Thanks Eric for the effort you put into this website, it is a fantastic resource for all of us Zwifters and must be hard work to keep it all up to date. Looking forward to exploring all of these new roads over the next few weeks…
One tiny observation: Froome did run up part of Ventoux, but not all the way to the finish line. He first had a neutral service bike, and then got a replacement team bike to complete the stage.
Good point! Reworded a bit.
Do you actually get bonus XP for La Reine? Unusual for an event-only route. I don’t see any badge for it in my list, or is it a hidden achievement?
Btw, I tried the tire-bouchon, absolutely loved it.
I don’t think you actually do! I just removed it.
When will these be available for us with shut-in legs?
Just rode Ven-Top, aka Ventoux KOM. The report given is accurate, about a 1.8km lead in, which is slightly up hill with about 59m gain before the start of the KOM. Somewhat disappointed that the climb is not segmented like Alpe du Zwift, so it’s just one long slog up. I didn’t know what to expect, and after doing a double Innsbruck Reverse KOM yesterday, just didn’t have the legs to do much more than 2.7w/kg the whole way. Long stretches of 10 or 11 percent gradients after the first km or so, only letting up for a bit before… Read more »
Are there plans to add these routes and KOMs (along with the Paris routes) to the Veloviewer Route Hunter Leaderboard? Perhaps once they go live for freeriding?
Yup!
The Marina area seems very similar in layout and visuals to La Rochelle where there is also a near by island (IL de Re)which is famous for its cycling routes incidentally
I wonder if there will be a reward at the top of Ven-top like for AdZ with the spinner? Maybe socks this time? I don’t need any more virtual gloves…
Nothing at this time–although Zwift could always add something!
Unless I’m missing it, the one variation I’d like to see is a short loop that went round and round the petit KOM, would be good for punchy intervals
I wil ride tomorrow, really look forward to it. Hope it will remind me of home (Bretagne). Let’s hope we will be ride these world free after the tdf.
When comparing your maps with Strava and Veloviewer, your maps are rotated 90 degrees clockwise, so I think your maps should be rotated 90 degrees anti clockwise!
Magnificent. Like Lanser-Kopf until Chalet Reynard. And if you’ve got that far, completing the ascent is a choiceless-choice. The iconic meteo-rocket summit skyscraper is tantalisingly obscured until the final push and the inclusion of the Tom Simpson memorial detail is touching.
Don’t hesitate. The sense of achievement will wash away the lactate and you can freewheel back down to Saint-Estève feeling good.
Is it possible to use your influence to get a ZwiftInsider segment from the Junction at the to of the Petite KOM to Chalet Reynard and to the Ven Top summit? Would be nice to track public times on Strava regardless of whether we pick La Reine or Ven Top
Will Paris and France be available for everyone to train on like a London, Whatopia etc
Yes, probably around August 10th it’ll become part of the rotating guest world schedule.
It would be such a shame to not release these two “worlds” for general consumption. I really wish they would release the Japan world, regardless of the Olympics.
@Eric Schlange do you know if I was to manually navigate to any of the other routes, would I still get the route badge provided I started and ended at the correct locations? Thanks
You will not.
Thanks, that just saved me from doing the entire route with no reward 😅
Will the France routes and maps stay on the weekly schedule from now on, or is it only for the month of August?
Just rode Roule ma Poule, actual distance / elevation is 26.6km / 263m. Nice change of scenery.
The maps are too small to a good view of the course
Is it true that you get 1220XP for Tire Bouchon, and only 420 for Ven-Top?
Yes. Route badge XP is entirely distance-based.
Great site with really useful information. My go to site for Zwift info.
Thanks for keeping it up.
Hi, yesterday I did the Tire Bouchon challenge and when I checked out the details, I did about 64,3km, that’s ok. But the elevation meters were quite a bit more….596m vs 431m? I climbed 3 times the hills. Strange? Or went something wrong?
An additional picture to show the amount of hills I climbed 🙂
Leo Missler did you check the route desription above?
“The route begins (and ends) at the Petit KOM arch. That means a significant lead-in from the start pens, so be ready for some climbing out of the gate!”
The first segment on your strava picture is also called Start Pen lead in. That’s the extra 108m.
hi eric! do you have a list of how many bidons apply to each route for paris and france? i want to do your route challenge and include these new routes!
Yes, see https://zwiftinsider.com/printable-list-of-zwift-routes-by-difficulty/
what is stronger de ventoux or alphe de zwift??
Ventoux is about 50% more difficult than Alpe du Zwift.
are these maps still available on zwift or was that only for a limited time?
All maps rotate based on a monthly guest map schedule. See the current schedule here: https://zwiftinsider.com/schedule
Eric why do some maps appear so meaningless in GOOGLE MAPS ??? Maps are out of reality
This should be faster than Alpe to get the Tron bike, right?
just finished two full laps (30.30 miles 874 ft elevation) on Roule Ma Poule and no banner no completing the route
I guess someone owe me a banner😠
Is there a way to see all the routes with the distance and elevation on one page for quickly figuring out what to ride? Thanks.
Sure, here you go: https://zwiftinsider.com/routes
If I do La Reine in the TdZ, will I get the achievement for the Ven-Top course?
Nope.
Strava killed Aqueduct KOM
https://www.strava.com/segments/24700976
? That link loads up just fine for me, Steve.
Did Ventoux yesterday and when it uploaded there was no time given. Gutted, it nearly killed me lol
The “Jump to …” section on all route map pages does not include the page for the French maps. Could you please update when you get a chance?
Brilliant resource and work by you all 👍👍👍
Think I got the wrong map , I did this map last night , I was still climbing the hills at nearly 8miles, and it said it was 38’6 miles long ,