Last week Zwift launched their next “mini Challenge”, celebrating new routes on France’s fresh tarmac/cobbles. Named “Hell of a Route Chaser Challenge”, the challenge is to complete five of the new French routes:
- Croissant
- 12.3km, 71m elevation
- Achievement Badge: 185 XP
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 5.9/100
- Hell of the North
- 19.8km, 241m elevation
- Achievement Badge: 395 XP
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 10.7/100
- Gentil 8
- 23.7km, 248m elevation
- Achievement Badge: 465 XP
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 12.4/100
- Bon Voyage
- 31.3km, 155m elevation
- Achievement Badge: 565 XP
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 14.3/100
- Three Musketeers
- 35.8km, 200m elevation
- Achievement Badge: 705 XP
- ZIMetrics Difficulty: 16.6/100
Note our ZIMetrics difficulty ratings for each route: they get higher as you move through the challenge!
Challenge Rewards
Your reward for completing all five routes? Boosted fitness of course. Because any ride is a good ride, right?
But also, you will surely earn a route badge or five, as these are all new routes. Each route badge is worth the amount of distance XP earned for riding the route’s length, meaning you effectively earn double XP the first time you complete a route and earn the badge. That means you’ll earn 2315 XP for these 5 route badges, on top of the regular distance XP you accumulate per km/mile.
Zwift has bumped up the challenge XP bonus as well, doubling it to 2000XP for this challenge. (You will earn 250XP for completing each of the first 4 stages, then 1000XP for the 5th, for a total of 2000XP.)
All told, that’s ~6630XP you will earn by completing this challenge.
Joining the Challenge
To sign up for this Challenge, just click its card on the home screen under “Challenges”:
If you see this screen, you’re signed up:
Clicking a route from this screen will take you into France to ride that route. But you can also ride these routes via other methods once you’re signed up. Ride them in events, as workouts, or even as free rides by choosing them from the route picker. As long as you sign up beforehand, completing the route via any of these methods will mark it as complete for the challenge.
You’ll know you completed the route for the challenge because you’ll get a banner on your screen:
Questions or Comments?
Before you ask: I don’t know exactly how long this challenge will remain available. Zwift tells me each mini challenge will typically last around 3 months, but also Zwift hasn’t been revealing precise deadlines on these challenges until a week or two before they expire.
Got other questions or comments? Share below!
Suppose we’ve done four of the routes prior to the challenge starting, Do we need to re-do them?
Bummer. Looks like you have to do them again. At least it doesn’t show that I’ve completed any currently, even though I have..
Yes. I had to do Minor Inconvenience of the North twice because I didn’t click on the ZChallenge card first.
I believe that the 2000XP earned for completing the Challenged is given out incrementally, and not all at the end. I think I got an extra 250XP bonus for the first four routes and bonus 1000XP for fifth route and completing the full challenge.
Correct. Updated above!
Completing a stage for the challenge gives a green banner. Completing a new route gives a blue banner. Different banners.
Can you start referring to these mini challenges as ZChallenges? ZHQ has been slow to pick up on the perfect naming convention for them and could use a little push to do so.
I see that clicking on it doesn’t actually register you – you then click on a free ride for your chosen route. I’m riding Sacre Bleu tomorrow as part of an event with Ascenders. How do I ensure that will count towards the challenge? (Just noticed Sacre Bleu isn’t one of the 5 routes – but the hypothetical Q still applies; How do you get a route done via an event to count towards the Hell of a Route Chaser Challenge?)
I just finished this challenge today. I selected/signed up for the challenge on the Home Screen and then rode the routes as part of either group rides or free rides. I did not need to select each route prior to the group ride in order for it to count toward the challenge. I did ride Croissant and Hell of the North routes as free rides and did select them through the challenge screen.
Hmmm, when I logged into Zwift just now and clicked on the challenge in the Home screen, there was no “Register/Sign up” button like I’ve seen on other challenges. Maybe when I log in to ride tomorrow (on a different PC) it will appear.
You have to click on the zchallenge card to register. It doesn’t say that anywhere, nor does the word “register” exist anywhere. Just more typical bad Zwift UI/UX
I went from Level 18.5 to 20.5 just doing these.
I saw and completed this challenge last week. I wonder why others didn’t see it.
agreed Paul, I thought I was going mad! and the 2000xp is split across the first 4 routes @ 250xp each and then +1000xp at the end of the fifth
I thought I was taking crazy pills.
It was even mentioned in the “what’s coming next” post from 4 April
”A new Route Chaser Challenge will be live in-game for Zwifters to explore the new routes and secure bonus XP for completion.“
you can now also expect it with a big route update as it is my third to complete (soon)
The first four routes give 250xp and the last route provides 1000xp for a total of 2k xp.
@Eric Schlange the duration of the challenge is specified in the screen of the challenge. It’s in the capture you posted with the progress. June 30th, or July 1st depending where you are.
Yep, saw that too. It coordinates well with the Zwift Camp Inside Out, complete both together..
It would be great if zwift would show our completed mini challenges in the achievement screen since they are no longer available to complete.
The UI for this is very flawed. There’s no information / instructions that you have to sign up for the challenge. Then you sign up by clicking on the challenge banner, with no feedback whatsoever. One shouldn’t have to specially sign up fot these kind of challenges in the first place. Many people did the routes and not get credit.
It’s really weird this challenge page has just been put up on insider. It was open all the precious week when the france map was in rotation.. Did them all then
I believe Eric is still on his European vacation. Give the man a break, he deserves it! 🙂
Yeah, I’m a bit behind here. Three weeks into traveling. Home tomorrow and we’ll get all caught up! 😜
Eric, when all this stuff dropped while you were on vacation in part at ZCL, I was thinking Zwift did you dirty. Keep up the good work!
Ha ha! VERY dirty.
I’d love to see “Belgium” in Zwift
Already several updates ago for all mini challenges they immediately write the end date. It is not a secret, at least for Android. This one will end on July 1st.
Ich habe die Challlenge heute an einem Tag gemacht und bin fix und fertig, aber auch total glücklich 😃 Fahre sonst 50km, auch mal 60km bis 80km und dann heute 120km. Bin von Level 25 auf Level 27 gekommen
Finished this challenge weeks ago and have not received the mission badge. Will I get it at the end of the month when the challenge concludes or have I been jipped?
Do these challenges even earn an overall badge? I’m not sure that they do… but I haven’t done any of them, so I can’t really check!
i thought these were availbe THROUGH June 30 (according to the banner in Zwift)? i did #4 this morning (June 30) and just went in this afternoon (430p CST) to do the last one #5 and the challenge is gone!? Ugh! i only had #5 left to do! 🙁
Likewise. Though I’m pretty sure mine was listed on Zwift dashboard as being available through to 1st July (maybe as I’m in Australia). Just jumped on the trainer now to tick off the final route and find it gone. Really disappointed. Given our human tendency to leave things to deadlines, I imagine a lot of people will be in the same boat.