The third edition of Zwift Games, the platform’s most popular stage race series, has just been announced. Racing begins February 16, but related rides kick off today!
Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about indoor cycling’s premier race festival.
Table of Contents
New This Year
Zwift’s learnings from previous Games have been applied to this year’s events, leading to various improvements, including:
- Fresh routes: Six new routes have been added to the game to host the Games stages.
- Road to Glory intro events: New to Zwift racing? These orientation events kick off today.
- Power metrics in leaderboards: Web-based GC leaderboards now include 90-day and Zwift Games 2026 power best metrics, so you can directly compare your Zwift Games metrics to recent performances.
- On demand: Zwift Games routes can be ridden “on-demand” as a solo effort beginning Friday, February 13 when the quest opens at 16:00 UTC. This makes it easy to recon the races, and you’ll also get credit for completing the stage! (Note: the bonus stage 6 can only be completed as an event.)
- Bonus Stage 6: for the first time, Zwift is offering a sixth “bonus stage” with two unique race formats:
- Individual Time Trial: This will be Zwift’s first mainstream TT experience
- Crit Cade: Gamified race in Crit City using steering, boosts, and hazards
- New unlocks: Of course, what would a big Zwift event be without new unlocks? This year features Oakley glasses and a helmet, Zwift Games 2026 kit, and a big XP bonus!
- Equipment not neutralized: This will be the first year that bike frames and wheels aren’t neutralized, meaning your virtual bike choices will affect your speed in game. Upgrades also count!
- Bonus XP at arches: Most Zwift Games races will give you a feather powerup in the start pen, and that’s the only powerup you’ll get for the entire race. Any arches you ride through without holding a powerup will give you a 10 XP bonus, and there’s an increased 5% chance that you’ll get a 250 XP bonus at each arch.
Most of these new items are discussed in more detail below. Read on!
Stage Details
Zwift Games is an escalating challenge! Stages get progressively more difficult, with each route both longer and more climby than the one before:
Stage 1, February 16-22: Sprint
- Makuri Islands’ Kaze Kicker (17.3km, 140m elevation)
- Powerup: Feather given in the pens
- Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage1 >
Stage 2, February 23-March 1: Sprint
- New York’s Hudson Hustle (20.4km, 216m elevation)
- Powerup: Feather given in the pens
- Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage2 >
Stage 3, March 2-8: Punch
- Richmond’s Cobbled Crown (24.3km, 288m elevation)
- Powerup: Feather given in the pens
- Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage3 >
Stage 4, March 9-15: Climb
- France’s Peaky Pavé (30.8km, 371m elevation)
- Powerup: Feather given in the pens
- Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage4 >
Stage 5, March 16-22: Epic
- Watopia’s Three Step Sisters (38.1km, 586m elevation)
- Powerups:
Feather given in the pens, and at the arches prior to the final two climbs(March 16 edit) watching YouTube race streams, it appears the Feather is given in the pens and at every arch on course except the Jarvis KOM. This includes feathers at all 10 arches up The Grade! - Sign up at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage5 >
Stage 6, March 23-29: Bonus/Optional Races
- iTT on Scotland’s The Epiloch (10.9km, 92m elevation)
- Scratch Race on Crit City’s Crit Cade (steering required) – learn more about Crit Cade events
Make-Up Races: March 30-April 5
See all upcoming races at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026
Standard Schedule
The largest race fields will be found in the Standard (mixed) events held hourly, 24x daily, at 10 minutes past the hour. These races alternate each hour between two different Racing Score ranges:
- Range 1: 0-159 | 160-269 | 270-389 | 390-509 | 510-650
- Range 2: 0-209 | 210-329 | 330-449 | 450-569 | 570-725
The two ranges give racers a choice between a stronger category that may help them get a faster course time (great for the GC competition) or a slightly weaker category that gives them a better shot at a race win.
Advanced Schedule
Racers with a racing score of 650+ can jump into the Advanced Races held every two hours at 15 minutes past the hour.
See Advanced races at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026advanced
Women-Only Schedule
Women-only races will be held 5x daily at 10am, 12pm, 5pm, 6pm, and midnight UTC.
These races will use their own Racing Score-based bands: 0-199 | 200-299 | 300-399 | 400-499 | 500+.
If you’re a woman who hasn’t raced yet on Zwift, see our Women’s Racing homepage for a bit of inspiration >
GC Leaderboards
Zwift Games race results are delivered via leaderboards on Zwift.com. The following leaderboards are available:
- Overall General Classification
- Rankings for each stage (1-5)
- Ranking for TT (Bonus stage)
- Ranking for Crit Cade
Leaderboard rankings can be filtered by Gender, Racing Score band (buckets of 100), and Country. These filters can be used in combination.
View Leaderboards at zwift.com/racing/leagues/zwiftgames2026
This year, Zwift has added power metrics to the leaderboard, so you can compare your Zwift Games numbers to your 90-day bests. Here’s a mockup Zwift sent, where my League Best numbers may be a bit overstated…
View Leaderboards at zwift.com/racing/leagues/zwiftgames2026
Zwift Games Unlocks
A total of four in-game rewards are available to all Zwifters:
- Any one stage: Oakley Sphaera Strike Glasses
- Any three stages: Zwift Games 2026 Kit
- Any five stages: Oakley Velo Stelvio Helmet
- All six stages: 6000 XP bonus
Road to Glory Events
This year, Zwift has spun up special “Road to Glory” events to help newer racers learn the basics of Zwift racing. These group rides feature on-screen text throughout the event explaining powerups, drafting, Ride Ons, particular Watopia course features, and more. Rides are on 1 lap of Watopia’s Triple Twist, which is 24.5km long, with 201m of elevation gain.
I recently rode a Road to Glory preview event and found it well-planned, with many helpful tips packed into a relatively short time. I highly recommend it if you’re at all nervous about Zwift racing and looking for some hands-on training.
How to Register
No special registration is required – simply join any Zwift Games event to participate, or ride the courses on demand! Events should be available for signup beginning today (February 9).
See all upcoming races at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftgames2026
Questions or Comments?
Share below!
The black 2024 outfit is one of my favorites.
Would you know if you ride a course on demand, can it be completed with a workout too Similar to TdZ?
How are the courses going to be available on demand and for how long?
I’m sure it can. Ride the course in any way and you’ll get credit for it, like TdZ.
Is there also a way to get credit for stage 6 with a workout without doing the race?
Yes, it can, just load into the route and the load your workout, and ensure you do the whole route
Thanks for the nice overview! Very excited to join this event 🙂
Epic race to be just 38km long? What is epic about that? Epic failure?That is just under 1hour race for advanced. Quite short. Was hoping for at least 1h30mins.
100% agreed. Epic failure indeed. Too bad.
Relax its not real
Will we get the 10XP at arches if we are still holding our Feather Power Up?
No, you can only receive a power up if you do not have a power up at the point of going under the arch.
Thanks. Suspected that would be the case as that’s how it’s worked before – I’d expect most vaguely experienced racers to try to hold on to the PU for as long as possible so that rather blunts the benefit of the potential 250XP bonus, but the racing should be the priority here anyway.
Is it safe to assume that, like previous Games, all stages (apart from the iTT) will be scratch races? Thanks.
Yes.
“This will be the first year that bike frames and wheels aren’t neutralized”
Wow, I didn’t know they were.
That’s why you need to closely read Zwift Insider’s helpful posts. 😜
Raced the alpe on the beach cruiser, like to think it gave a psychological advantage
I have not been able to race for a while and my Zwift score dropped below 650, trying to get it back. I raced in the advanced field last year, is there any way I can get into this field this year? I’m probably a slim few who actually enjoys racing up a category. Thanks
Sure… just join a scored race this week in a high category and win it, while also setting some 90-day power PBs. Should do the trick. 🤷♂️ Lots of scored community races every week.
Can’t he just sign up for the Advanced? I didn’t think Zwift ever put a minimum score gate on public events?
They’ve had a minimum score gate on advanced ZRacing races for a while. It’s set that was for Tour de Zwift, in fact.
If you set a 90 day PB 5 minutes your seed score will be recalculated, and if it’s higher than your current score you’ll be moved up to that level.
If you want it to go higher then look for the races with the smallest fields that you think you will do well in. Crit Club is usually a good option for this.
Do you have to burn your feather to get the 10/250XP at each arch?
Yes, of course. Otherwise you don’t get any other item.
Eric didn’t word it as clearly as he could have, thus multiple people asking the same question.
Clarified the text above.
They dropped range 2 to 699 ZRS? COME ON ZWIFT. Cat 5 level power gets you above 700 and suddenly you can’t race at a decent time anymore.
Zwift seems to think I can change my entire life around when they offer the Advanced Races but I can’t. I have a full time job, a wife, and five kids. I can ride on Zwift at the specific time I can ride on Zwift. It’s not movable. So instead of just letting me have a race with 10 other people, which was fine for years, suddenly Zwift has decided I’m too strong to be allowed to race. And the frustrating thing is I’m not that strong. 3.9 wkg FTP is just not that strong compared to elite Zwifters.
For YEARS I raced this great race every Tuesday night at 8pm after I got my kids to bed that was a KISS race that had mixed racing. This was before ZRS. I was a B, but the front of the field was As and Bs. It was always a small field. Maybe 12 Bs, 5 or 6 As, something like 20 Cs, a handful of Ds. But because it was mixed racing, it was still a race. And a course that raced for a full hour. It was there all winter every winter for years. Great racing. Then they launched ZRacing, ZRS, and did all the race culling nonsense and that race is gone and in its place is NOTHING, because ZRaces are too short, and already I can only race range 2 because I’m usually at about 715 ZRS. Now I won’t even have that.
I don’t mind at all getting rid of races when there are 15 races during the same hour slot. That makes sense. But every hour there should be at least 1 race available to every Zwifter even if its low participation. Not every other hour. Every hour. And for low participation time slots, there should be exactly one race available.
I am heartened to see some 25 mile courses in this Zwift games. ZRacing is too short.
Range 2 is still 0-725, same as in ZRacing.
Typo by Eric then?
Was given incorrect info. Fixed above now.
Yep, I even doubled checked my event setup before replying. If you need me to prove it I happily will.
I trust you’re correct, just wondering where the 699 in the original post came from.
Did i understand correctly, I can just solo ride these stages and get the 6k exp? No need to race or anything
Correct. Doesn’t sound like much fun, but you can do it. 😋
What counts as six stages for the XP bonus? Either of the two bonus stages, or are both #6’s necessary? I’d guess that since some folks cannot do the Crit Cade stage because they don’t have the hardware, only one is necessary.
Yes, doing either of the stage 6 events will give you credit for finishing stage 6.
It is more fun when riding with likeminded riders. The races are mostly cheats. No fun getting smack around by a fake cheating zwifter running tour de France power.
“Mostly cheats,” eh? What are you basing that conclusion on?
That sounds like somebody who doesn’t race….🙄
I’m glad they did this. The only time I race each year is for Zwift Games or when there is something else to unlock in another race. I like being able to play the game just to unlock stuff, especially for those of us who do more solo stuff on this than anything, it’s nice to not have pressure for a schedule or pace. I like doing workouts I haven’t completed yet on new routes.
That kit is 🔥
let’s go!
No neutralised frames/wheels this Zwift Games, is an awful decision.
Race rookies especially, but anyone without a stage 5 SL8 Pro plus the top three wheelsets (DT 65; DT 1100; Enve 4.5 Pro), will be at an unfair disadvantage against those with such upgrades… Quite possibly gained before exploits were closed ~3 months after upgrades began!
I disagree that it’s an awful decision, although I understand the point you’re making.
I think if Zwift is going to include upgrading as a game feature (which they have) because they believe it drives engagement (which it does), it should matter in Zwift events.
There’s been plenty of time for people to get a frame upgraded without exploiting any loopholes or doing extreme distance.
Race rookies are also often under-seeded due to never having done a max effort 5 minute.
How confident are you that steering is disabled?
It’s not mentioned in the event description or the forum post, and the zwifthacks tags are showing steering enabled.
Well, I was quite confident until you posted this. 😋
Zwift told me it would be disabled when I was putting this post together before the events were put on the calendar. When they told me it was disabled, I said “boo” because I like being able to steer in races!
But you’re right, they are tagged as having it enabled.
I’ve reached out for clarification and will reply here with the final word and update above if needed.
Reply from Zwift: steering IS ENABLED, just like ZRacing events. Let’s goooo!
Great. More completely unregulated racing sponsored by Zwift. Legit question: what is the point of having different racing categories if one can just put in whatever fake weight and fake height they want to use? And don’t forget about using a spinbike or wheel-on trainer to further inflate your numbers.
I can’t be the only one that finds it frustrating that Zwift like to promote racing on their platform and actually have Zwift Games, a ‘celebration of racing’, but have zero enforcement of any kind. They also ignore any kind of questions related to cheating on their own forums. But hey, fast is fun!
Boring.
It’s all crap without elite racing. My2cents
For the route badge hunters and XP grinders – Any double or bonus XP for completing the race instead of solo riding?
heres hoping the core2 temp sensor and HRM issues are fixed by the time this one hits the pens!
“Race or Ride your own way”
Turn up, cheat and move on – The ethos of zwift racing these days.
God forbid Zwift actually commit to delivering fair racing.
And just exactly how are they going to do that? No matter what they put in place, there will always be those looking to game the system and cheat.
Just to confirm, we can ride all these routes, earn the badges and XP, plus the 6000XP bonus, starting on Feb 13? Only asking because I’m 5000XP away from level 100 and having ankle surgery on Feb 16, so I’m killing myself to get to level 100 before surgery!
And for anyone wondering (since I couldn’t answer this before it happened to me), I had the level transitioning mark from Level 63>>98. When I completed level 98 with 807,000XP, I still had 20,000XP left to go before reaching Level 100. It was a bummer since I earned the 807,000XP mentioned to be at level 100. Zwift said they are “looking into it”, but I didn’t want to risk it so I’m trying to reach 827,000XP for level 100. My legs might fall off first, but I’m going to try!
You better hurry up and get there. During the Thanksgiving ride Eric Min said new levels are coming. I would suspect sometime this spring or summer.
Thanks for the good information Eric!
Do you know how the GC will be calculated? Is it the combined times from the fastest race of each stage I will do or is it regarding my best position?
Thanks in advance for some info on that!
Keep up the good work! 😇
Same as GC for all other ZRacing. Fastest time by stage. Everyone goes into one list and you can filter that by ZRS ranges.
What time on the 13th can we start chalking the routes of the board?
To be fair the ultimate challenge of the Tour de Zwift and the long stages alone were all more epic than this plan for Zwift Games. It seems to be just another event. And with only races, without group rides, it also doesn’t give me any shivers.
Three Step Sisters looks like it’ll be a fun queen stage. The ITT is a cool addition, hopefully we see a lot of sign-ups.
I’d like to see Zwift offering some in-game prizes for winning one of the races, something like a pair of socks with a gold band or maybe a golden helmet. It would add some prestige to the event.
Do you have to race to get the unlocks or can you free ride the routes?
Free ride
You’ll get the unlocks and XP, but I’m pretty sure you won’t be in the GC. That’s okay by me. I’ll probably do most of the rides, the longest ones at least, in banded group rides.
The powerup setup is weird: you get a feather at the start but you have to get rid of it almost immediately if you want to get the XP bonuses. If not immediately for sure before you need it at the final kickers.
Is the XP really worth having, you will only go through a few banners getting you 10xp (slight change of a 250 bonus).
Especially when you take into account these are new routes so Route Bonuses apply, plus the XP per KM and also if you ride all 6 stages another 6000xp.
I did one of the Tour stages as a race and it was nice to see good numbers in my range. Hopefully I’ll see similar numbers and I can employ my usual tactic of doing no work at all until things get busy.
But I’ll just skip all the ranking and classification carry on. I’m here for fun, not humiliation.
As someone who has never raced, I was thinking of doing the Road to Glory event today. However, it seems to be for category A. Will other categories be included at some point?
It’s for all riders… it’s not a race event.
It’s confusing, then, that it has A beside it.
Hey Matt, sorry for the confusion. we updated the remaining events to show E group instead of A
Just completed it. It’s really not much of a group ride, and for me I was effectively doing it solo, since everyone else was 10+ minutes ahead of me.
Are all of the road to glory rides A cat?
I asked this as well. They aren’t supposed to be, but you would get that impression. I joined one today, and was quickly left behind. The event ended before I got to the end of the route (it lasts 60 mins, and it took me 70 mins to complete it). There is a bit that explains drafting, and asks you to try it, but that’s not possible when the nearest rider is way ahead of you. In saying all that, there were only 35 participants in my group. I suspect that, like you and me, people aren’t joining because they think it’s Category A. At least I got the route badge.
Thanks for the reply…I have not raced on Zwift and decided to give it a try with the Zwift games next week. Figured this would be a good introduction to racing. Like you mentioned there is no way I can keep up with the A’s.
I was the same, but you could still do it. It’s not a race.
For whatever reason, Zwift labeled them as A. But they’re really an open-paced group ride, so they should be “E”, for “everyone”.
Thanks, signed up! 👍
Could you speak to one of your Zwift contacts to get it changed to E? I’m sure lots of people will avoid it otherwise.
I already put in that request. But it doesn’t sound likely at this point.
Thanks anyway.
You underestimate your own power – now shows as E. Thanks.
Yeah, they changed their minds overnight. 😀
Getting into the race labeled as Cat A wouldn’t bother me (Cat E). I’d just wave goodbye to them as we left the starting pens. 😀
I’ve never ridden a TT on Zwift, where is the timing taken? Is it from the moment you start rolling? Once you get out of the pen area? After the lead-in?
Your TT time will match the “elapsed time” timer in the top-center HUD. This timer begins when you cross an invisible line near the end of the start pens, typically. So, basically the timer begins within about 20 seconds of you starting to move forward…
Rode the road to glory event this morning but companion failed to generate the map option fore most riders; so couldn’t actually use any power ups we were supposed to be learning about!
Again, this happened for me too. However, I have the Zwift controllers, so I could use those to select the power ups. For me, the companion showed the screen for erg mode, although I could change gears. I think Road to Glory was a good idea, but it hasn’t been implemented very well.
I did the introduction ride and the UI was lacking the pop up elevation graphic when approaching a hill. I know the course so not a big deal but Zwift should make it available for the races. Earlier Eric said steering would be disabled, steering worked in the event but strangely the steering icon in the rider list was not showing for anyone, myself and others were clearly steering.
Hey Eric, just wanted to say this website absolutely sucks to look at on mobile. The pop up ads crowd the whole screen on top and bottom and then come right back after you try to close them. Won’t be a viewer if this is how you plan on running it. Thanks.
Silly question but how are dates determined. I previously did the Tour of Sufferlandria on The Sufferfest/Wahoo X and for each date they used the first start of that date in Oceania to the last hour of that date on the other side of the world. Giving you a 50 hour win for each date. Reason for the question is that I am likely not to have access to Zwift during the stage 2 window but I am back on 2nd of March when stage 3 week starts. I like to do things in the right order so if I can get stage 2 in on 2nd of March EU morning, that would work well with my neurotic brain.
Are we going to be able to ride the new routes today? Don’t see anything of them showing up yet in game or on the Companion app.
II’m very curious to see if this will work, as long as the challenge isn’t visible on the dashboard yet.
Hey folks – For clarity.
The Zwift Games quest will open at 1600 UTC today (Friday 13th eek). This will allow you to start completing the routes on demand, perhap as a reccy?
The races will begin at 1610 UTC on Monday 16th.
Here’s a question, more about ziwftinsider.com than anything, but it’s happening on this page and others. Why do I keep getting a “http://www.ojrq.net is blocked” when I clink on a link to go to the sign up pages for the races? This is happening every ZI page with a link going to zwift.com.
We aren’t linking to that URL… a quick Google search says that’s associated with adware software, so my guess is you’ve got some ugly software on your system that is hijacking your browser sessions.
To be fair, you’re not linking to zwift.com Eric, you’re linking to sjv.io, who knows what other sketchy tracking domains we get redirected through before finally reaching zwift.com
Am I the only one who is seeing the Zwift games stage 6 in the app as empty (no routes to ride)?
No, that’s likely because they are Bonus scheduled events of specific formats:
There is not much gamification to a race where you are steering on a route on your own.
There will also be an Individual Time Trial option, but that requires a TT event with TT pens.
That’s what I was wondering, but then in the app it shows that stage 6 is available Feb 13-end of games so I was wondering if I can free ride it now…
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage6a
https://www.zwift.com/uk/events/tag/zwiftgames2026stage6b
They are only accessible as events. You cannot free ride them.
Got it, thanks. I guess this “On demand: Zwift Games routes can be ridden “on-demand” as a solo effort beginning Friday, February 13 when the quest opens at 16:00 UTC. This makes it easy to recon the races, and you’ll also get credit for completing the stage!“ is only true for 5 of the 6 stages then
Are there age considerations built into the bands, ie If you are 20 yo or 70 yo, are you racing on equal terms or is there a handicap system to provide a level playing field, that gives everyone a fair chance of keeping up?
Age is not directly used as a factor in the racing score algorithm. It’s based on your power numbers and race results.
I feel like last year to make that like a goal to do the route not necessary in a race mode. It’s good anyway 🙂
Can I schedule the new routes for a group ride? I tried this morning but the new routes were not available.
Not yet. That’ll probably happen once the Games are finished.
Thanks.
Excuse me for bad reading/knowledge but I read this “on demand” as do the stages whenever you like.
For the 6th stage it seems like you need to do it between 23-29th of March or on the Make-Up Races 30th March- 5ht of April?
So the 6k XP bonus is not possible to do “on demand “?
Edit: As there is no possibility to create races within small clubs I’m guessing this is a No😪
You can only ride stages 1-5 on demand. To complete the series and get the 6k XP you will need to enter one of the events for Stage 6a or 6b which start on March 23rd.
Looks like you already completed these yourself or is it different James on the leaderboard? 😂
Quite strange to first announce that games can be ridden on-demand and then reserve the last stage to ZHQ only…
Just did the Road to Glory ride and, given the purpose, was surprised that it was not a “banded” group ride. Likewise, for the Power Up and drafting instruction, it would have been really useful if Zwift had my hologram riding with/without the benefit to actually see the difference. Missed opportunity.
As of today, Feb. 16, I have completed 5 stages as ride. When the bonus stage will be available to get the 6000 xp bonus ??
Its described in the article, late march.
what a move…just to connect the player’s another month in the game… 😕
It appears ZRS score changes are turned off. Don’t mean to judge but that’s an odd choice they’ve made
Seems it was a server side issue which has been resolved
Just finished stage 1 in a category above mine and couldn’t stop thinking if a gravel bike might have been the better choice. All uphill parts are on dirt roads. Sure you would have to put out more power on the plateau but all in all it might be a more steady effort to hold the wheels.
Definitely not a good idea. Most of what looks like “dirt” in Makuri Islands is Zwift’s “sand” surface, which rolls like tarmac. A gravel bike will slow you down significantly on stage 1’s route.
https://zwifterbikes.web.app/ tells you all you need to know.
thank you for the great content that answers all of my questions
maybe dumb question-if I free ride all 6 routes, do you still get the extra 6k xp points. Just wondering. Thanks
Nope, because you can’t free ride all 6 routes. Stage 6 is event-only and not available for free-ride.
The new routes still say “Event Only” for me when I try to add them as a route to ride to “MY LIST” via the companion app. Is an update required to be able free ride these new routes?
The only way to ride the routes on demand is to start Zwift, then click the big Zwift Games card on the homepage. Choose your route from there, then enjoy your ride!
If the equipment is neutralised then, can you use a TT bike in the “normal” stages?
It’s not neutralized.