This is my third article on Jersey hunting, following those from about two and four years ago. It is an overview of what is currently available, a few tips, and a section about my personal motivations.
The Basics
Zwift has four types of jerseys that can be earned during a ride:
- Route (always orange, but different than the Standard Orange Zwift jersey)
- Sprint (bright green, although some sprints in France are a darker green)
- King/Queen of the Mountain (KQOM – red polka dot, except for Special KQOM jerseys)
- Special (various other jerseys that are associated with Leaderboards, like France’s Ven-Top and Watopia’s Fuego Flats)
- In most worlds, the Route, Sprint, and KQOM jerseys can combine to make more variations (more on that later)
What’s Possible
There are now 121 individual Leaderboard jerseys up for grabs (an increase from 95 from just two years ago). The current tally is:
- Watopia = 34 (Specials for Epic KQOM, Jungle, Alp du Zwift, Fuego Flats, Volcano, and Titan’s Grove)
- Makuri = 23
- France = 18 (Special KQOM for Ven-Top, the same design as Watopia’s Epic KQOM)
- Scotland = 9
- London = 8 (Special KQOM for Keith and Leith Hills)
- Innsbruck = 7
- Yorkshire = 6
- Richmond = 6
- NYC = 6
- Paris = 4 (no KQOM)
TdF KQOM Jersey (L) vs regular KQOM Jersey (R)
The Details
Watopia:
- 10 Special jerseys that are mentioned above (Alp du Zwift and Volcano have only forward segments)
- 4 Route jerseys: Hilly Loop and Jarvis Island, with forward and reverse segments for both
- 12 Sprint jerseys: 2 on Hilly Loop, 8 along the Coast, 2 on Jarvis (again, those include both forward and reverse segments)
- 8 KQOM jerseys: 2 on Hilly Loop, 2 on Jarvis, 3 associated with the Coast (The Grade, Itza, Mayan Mountain), and 1 for the Radio Tower
- The Hilly Loop (and most world’s) jerseys can be combined four ways – meaning, earning a Sprint-Route, will result in a split green/orange jersey; the Sprint-KQOM will be a green with a mountain border; Route-KQOM, orange with mountain border; and all three will be split orange/green with the mountain border. Again, both forward and reverse combined jerseys are possible.
- Jarvis Island Route, Sprint, and KQOM do not combine
France:
- A few things changed with the Tour de France jerseys that appeared in conjunction with the 2024 race:
- The Marina Sprint jersey, along with the Balloon and Pavé jerseys, turned to a darker green with the TdF sponsorships.
- The Marina Sprint orange jersey was retired, although the Leaderboard ranking still shows it as orange. It was the same as the Route jersey in other worlds.
- The Aqueduc and Petit KOMs turned to smaller polka dots with the TdF sponsorships
- With the latest France update adding new roads, the old (non-TdF) Sprint and KOM jerseys reappeared – but only for the new Leaderboards (eg, Sprinteur, Ventoux Half)
- Combined jerseys are not possible
- No Route or orange jersey
- 6 dark green (TdF) Sprint jerseys; 6 bright green Sprint jerseys
- 3 small polka dot (TdF) KOM jerseys; 2 KQOM jerseys (Mostly Ventoux and Ventoux Half)
- 1 Special jersey for the full Ven-Top segment
TdF Sprint Jersey (L) vs regular Sprint Jersey (R) in France. Note the Leaderboard still shows the Marina Sprint as an orange jersey, even though it’s been retired.
All of the other worlds remain unchanged.
More Info
Some Combined jerseys can be earned on a single route, meaning no manual turns are required. Just ride the route. These are: Watopia’s Hilly Loop, Paris, Richmond, Innsbruck, and Yorkshire.
Earning the Combined jersey in NYC with all three requires manually going to the KQOMs on the skyline. I’ve found it best to complete the Sprint which is on the Route, then head to the skyline for the KQOM. In practice, getting the longest segment out of the way gives more time to make attempt(s) on the outlier.
Combined London is similar. Doing the London Loop route includes the KQOM (Box/Fox). Then head to the Sprint (Classique) to attempt the triple Combined jersey.
Combined Scotland requires the most turning, since neither the Sprint nor the required KQOM are along the Loch Loop route. My recommendation for Scotland forward is to do the Route, head down to knock off the Champion Sprint, then U-turn and head up Sgurr North. For Scotland reverse, after doing the route, U-turn and head right up Sgurr South, then down to the Champion Sprint. There’s only one direction for the Sprint, but it combines with either of the other segment directions.
Route, Sprint, and KQOM Combined Jersey in Scotland
Again, neither France nor Makuri have Combined jerseys.
I had a fellow Zwifter ask about getting the unique London Special pink polka dot jersey (Keith/Leith), as her favorite color is pink, and she had never been able to snag one. I’ve found the easiest way to earn it is to select the London Loop. After earning the powerup at the start (hopefully the Feather), do a U-turn. Then as you’re approaching the Box/Keith split, turn left to go up Keith to make the attempt. My experience is that fewer people ride Keith than Leith, so there’s less competition. BTW, it worked for her on the first try!
The Special Keith (and Leith) KQOM Jersey in London
Speaking of powerups, having the right one for the right segment is key – ie, the Aero or Van for most Sprints, or Feather for a KQOM. If you possess the “wrong” powerup, you can try to score the needed one by trashing (or using) it, then going across a finish line. But there’s a catch. You can’t get a new one until you ride at least a kilometer (0.6 mile) after you claimed your previous one.
Personal Note
As a few Zwifters know, I keep myself motivated by, surprise, trying to earn Leaderboard jerseys. And to motivate myself even further, I’m trying to see how many consecutive free rides I can do, earning one. I just recently exceeded 250 in a row (and counting – knock on wood), which is over a 3+ year span.
For those who are interested, here are my unofficial rules to make the ride count:
- Free rides only. Events don’t count for or against the streak. That includes after the event is finished, when continuing to free ride is possible.
- Only once per day. Meaning, I can’t ride several times a day, and then count each ride towards the streak.
- But… if I do ride more than once in a day, and fail to get a jersey, then the streak would end.
- Coffee Stops not allowed during a segment.
- Rogue worlds not allowed – no using a hack to ride a world that is not offered on Zwift that day.
- Not required, but I try to get “photo” evidence of the jersey. I do this because in the post-ride summary, some segments don’t show the jersey being earned when it’s due to someone timing out or ending their session.
- Only Leaderboard jerseys count towards the streak. There are some segments where a jersey is not awarded for being on top of the Leaderboard. For instance, Watopia’s Volcano lap and Richmond’s 23rd St.
- I try to rotate among the worlds. But I’ll admit, I don’t find NYC, Richmond, Paris, or Innsbruck very fun. I sprinkle them in only occasionally.
I’m also trying to earn every jersey out there, and am currently at 112 of the possible 121 individual jerseys. It seems like every time I get close to earning them all, Zwift adds some more. Ugh.
Happy Zwifting!
