Tiny Race Series – June 29 Routes, and Last Week’s Results
See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.
Now Shipping: the New Zwift Ride Smart Bike
Now Shipping: the New Zwift Ride Smart Bike
It was announced two weeks ago, and we published our full review a few days later. But today is the big day Zwift begins taking orders for the bargain-priced new Zwift Ride Smart Bike!
Pricing and Availability
Zwift Ride with KICKR CORE is now shipping to the US, UK, EU, Canada, and Australia. Orders may be placed at zwift.com and wahoofitness.com (Canadian and Australian customers must order via Wahoo).
Zwift Ride with KICKR CORE Pricing:
- USA: $1299.99 + $75 shipping
- EU: €1299.99 + €100 shipping
- UK: £1199.99 + £65 shipping
- Canada: $1,999.99 + $250 shipping
- Australia: $2,299.95 + $250 shipping
Order Now
Note: if you purchase Zwift Ride via the links above, Zwift Insider will be paid an affiliate commission by Zwift or Wahoo. Thanks for your support!
Key Features
- Virtual Shifting: flawless, instant, silent shifting via the handlebar controllers includes in-game gearing and shifting customization
- Easy Adjustability: use the integrated Zwift Key to easily adjust saddle tilt, height and fore/aft as well as bar height and fore/aft
- Real Feel: resistance changes to match in-game gradients, and Erg mode capability helps ensure you hit the right power numbers for your customized workouts
- Always Ready: with its small footprint and easy one-time setup, you don’t need to bother with moving your bike on and off the trainer
Specifications:
- Power Accuracy: +/-2%
- Max Power: 1800W
- Max Grade: 16%
- Rider Fit Range: 5’-6’6” (152–198cm)
- Max Rider Weight: 265 lbs/120 kg
- Product Weight: 78 lbs. (frame + trainer)
See a full list of detailed specs in our review, or get a quick rundown of Zwift Ride’s key features from Rahsaan:
Questions or Comments
Post below!
Watopian Weekly Season 3 Episode 1 With the Zwift Insider Eric Schlange!
Watopian Weekly Season 3 Episode 1 With the Zwift Insider Eric Schlange!
This week Hollie and Dustin talk to Eric Schlange, the Zwift insider. We cover so many topics. Everything from Dustin was right about June 12th – it was an expensive tablet holder – to how to contribute to the Zwift Insider website to what is coming to Zwift this summer to hardware, to how Mark King is one of the greatest bass players of all time and more!
SPECIAL THANKS to Eric Schlange for making this work!
Approximate Times:
- 00:00:00 Intros and Weekly Catch Up
- 00:15:00 Zwift Ride
- 00:27:00 Apple TV discussion
- 00:30:00 Who’s using what devices to run Zwift?
- 00:35:00 How Zwift are getting more riders
- 00:41:00 How Zwift are dealing with other platforms
- 00:46:00 MARK KING RULES!
- 00:50:00 HUD Refresh and new things coming to Zwift
- 00:53:00 Tim Hanson is a Legend – Zwift Race Score
- 00:58:00 Zwift Going Public?
- 01:01:00 Zwift History: What Happened to CVR?
- 01:06:00 PacerBot / Vacuum Cleaners
- 01:08:00 Sauce Discussion
- 01:11:00 What Watopian Weekly has in store this season
- 01:18:00 New Routes – THE GRADE
- 01:24:00 How to contribute to ZwiftInsider.com!
- 01:26:12 Closing of the Episode
Please e-mail any feedback or questions to: [email protected]
About the Podcast
Each week Dustin and the Queen of Yorkshire, Hollie, get together to talk about Zwift, life, and everything else. Watopian Weekly is available on Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, and iHeartRadio.
Tour de France 2024 Climb Portal Events and Climb Portal Challenge Announced
Tour de France 2024 Climb Portal Events and Climb Portal Challenge Announced
Zwift’s Climb Portal feature went live a year ago, in July 2023. This week, for the first time ever, Zwift begins holding group rides on Portal climbs! It’s all done in conjunction with the Tour de France, which kicks off along with the first Climb Portal events on June 29th.
What we have here is a compelling and rare mashup of virtual and real cycling worlds. While the men’s pro field races the climbs in real life, listening to the cheers of thousands while breathing in clear mountain air and battling the burning in their legs, Zwifters can ride GPS-accurate replicas of the same climb in game. That’s pretty cool!
Eight different climbs will be featured on the same day they feature in the Tour, with events held hourly throughout the day:
| Climb (click for details) | Date | TdF Stage | Register |
| Côte des Forche (3km, 148m) | June 29 | 1 | Sign up > |
| Col du Galibier (Lautaret) (10.3km, 539m) | July 2 | 4 | Sign up > |
| Pas de Peyrol/Puy Mary (10.2km, 603m) | July 10 | 11 | Sign up > |
| Pla d’Adet (12.1km, 847m) | July 13 | 14 | Sign up > |
| Col de Peyresourde (Avajan) (8.3km, 559m) | July 14 | 15 | Sign up > |
| Isola 2000 (18.9km, 1145m) | July 19 | 19 | Sign up > |
| Col de la Couillole (18.3km, 1209m) | July 20 | 20 | Sign up > |
| La Turbie + Col d’Eze (15.2km, 616m) | July 21 | 21 | Sign up > |
“Grand Depart” Kit Unlock
Zwifters can unlock the new Santini TdF 2024 Grand Depart kit by finishing any of the Climb Portal events listed above:
You can also unlock the kit by finishing July’s TdF Mission (riding any two different routes in France or Paris) or by completing one of the portal climbs listed above as an on-demand free ride in the Climb Portal Challenge.
Climb Portal Challenge
It’s hard to miss the Climb Portal Challenge Zwift has just rolled out for the TdF! Click the homepage banner, register for the challenge, then you have access to all of the climbs above whenever you’d like.
Bring Your Climbing Bike
The Climb Portal events are technically group rides, not races. But you can still chase leaderboard placings and try to set your fastest time on each climb! Be sure to use a lightweight bike in game. Here’s a guide that tells you the lightest bike frame and wheelsets available at each Zwift level.
Questions or Comments?
What do you think of the Climb Portal event concept? If you’re planning on joining any of these TdF events, will you be going big on Isola 2000, or just knocking out the easy Côte des Forche? Or maybe you’re an animal and plan to do them all?
Zwift Update Version 1.68 (130844) Released
Zwift version 1.68 begins its phased rollout today. It’s a minor update, but includes assets for three different Tour de France-related initiatives launching this week, including a series of Climb Portal events held on ascents featuring in this year’s Tour!
Get all the details below…
Tour de France Series
Tour fever arrives on Zwift starting this Friday, and today’s update contains various assets to support all the fun! Zwift has planned three different TdF-related initiatives in game which we will cover in detailed indivdual posts later this week:
- Climb Portal Events: you read that right. Events will be held on TdF-related Climb Portals beginning this Friday!
- Vive la France! ZRacing: July’s ZRacing series will be TdF-themed, with all races on France or Paris routes.
- TdF Mission: the monthly mission for July has riders conquering any two routes in Paris or France.
There’s a “Grand Depart Kit” in game as well, and riders can unlock it in any one of three ways:
- Completing one of the climbs below as an on-demand free ride activity (see climb portal schedule)
- Completing one Climb Portal event (see dates below)
- Finishing the TdF Mission
The big news here are the Climb Portal events, as they have never been done before on Zwift! Since the Climb Portal launched over a year ago, riders have only been able to ride climbs as solo/free ride efforts. Zwifters have speculated for months about the possibility of holding events on these climbs. Now we get to see what it’s like attacking a climb with friends!
Eight different climbs will be featured on the same day they feature in the Tour de France, with events held hourly between 1am-10pm EDT:
- Côte des Forche: June 29
- Col du Galibier (Lautaret): July 2
- Pas de Peyrol/Puy Mary: July 10
- Pla d’Adet: July 13
- Col de Peyresourde (Avajan): July 14
- Isola 2000: July 19
- Col de la Couillole: July 20
- La Turbie + Col d’Eze: July 21
Registration Opens today – see upcoming events at zwift.com/tour-de-france-events >
Rolling Resistance Restored
In the previous update (v1.67), Zwift changed the rolling resistance of tarmac near the top of The Grade as well as the Epic KOM. This had the unfortunate affect of slowing riders on these sections, which made chasing PR times a more difficult proposition.
Today’s update rolls back those changes. While the road appearance hasn’t changed (they still look a bit snowy), the rolling resistance is the same as standard tarmac for the entirety of the Epic KOM as well as The Grade.
Read more about rolling resistance (Crr) on Zwift >
More Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
- Fixed an issue that could cause KICKR Bike handlebar controls to become unresponsive during or after events.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when teleporting to another Zwifter while riding on The Grade segment in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue on Climb Portal where results may not be displayed upon completion of climb.
- Fixed an issue that could cause leaderboards to be blank on some segments in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue where other Zwifters could briefly loop in a circle during group rides.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a small rounding discrepancy when a new FTP is detected after completing The Grade in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause training plans to scroll unexpectedly when selecting a week.
- Fixed an issue in Climb Portal where the Average Power and PR could overlap when the PR line chart was visible.
- Fixed an issue that could show an incorrect distance to a RoboPacer when riding ahead of the pacer group.
- Repaired an invisible pothole near the Italian Villas in Watopia.
- Fixed an invisible bump in the road near the entrance of the Road to Sky route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the waterfall to disappear in the Jungle Circuit route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some rocks to flicker on the Beach Island Loop route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a gap to appear near the opening of the volcano entrance in Watopia.
- Various visual improvements to The Grade expansion in Watopia including:
- Fixed an issue where some rocks and trees could unexpectedly disappear and reappear on the Coastal Crown Loop route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause rider and bike shadows to render incorrectly on the Coastal Crown Loop route in Watopia.
- We paved over some errant grass that was growing onto the roadway of The Grade segment in Watopia.
- The text in the “Your Grade” sign at the top of The Grade segment in Watopia is now translated into all supported languages.
- macOS: If Zwift is unable to save files locally, a message will be displayed with links to support and troubleshooting articles.
- Android: Fixed an issue that could cause a square-shaped shadow to follow Zwifters in bright areas. It was probably not a ghost.
- Android: Fixed an issue that could cause spokes to not be visible on the Comete Pro Carbon SL UST and Cosmic Ultimate UST wheels.
Discuss this release on Zwift’s forum >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
Elite Community Racing Calendar Announced for Zwift’s 2024-25 Season
Elite Community Racing Calendar Announced for Zwift’s 2024-25 Season
Last week Zwift began sharing details of the 2024-25 Elite Community Racing Calendar to elite teams and riders. This year’s season structure has been completely reworked based on feedback from participants in the 2023/24 Zwift Grand Prix and the inaugural Zwift Games, and Zwift says, “This has resulted in a number of improvements to the proposition for riders, teams, and fans.”
The season will consist of two blocks: the new Zwift World Series, which represents “regular season” racing, and the Zwift Games, which will serve as the season-ending championship for elite-level Zwift racers.
Below, I dive into the details of the upcoming elite-level racing season on Zwift. This information is meant primarily for elite racers who want to participate in the biggest races of the season. Community-level racing, which will run in conjunction with the elite-level races, will be covered in detail when information is released in August.
Zwift World Series Basics
The new “Zwift World Series” is a set of 5 “regular season” races. These are scratch races, so results are based on riders’ positions across the finish line.
Men’s and women’s events will be held back to back on the same day. The courses listed are illustrative only and subject to finalization, and each race will have community race events on the same course.
- Race 1 (Richmond, 42.5km, 555m elevation)
- Qualifier: Sep 5, 17:00 UTC
- Race: Sep 19, 17:00 UTC
- Race 2 (Watopia, 45.8km, 725m elevation)
- Qualifier: Oct 3, 17:00 UTC
- Race: Oct 17, 17:00 UTC
- Race 3 (Yorkshire, 29.6km, 548m elevation)
- Qualifier: Oct 31, 18:00 UTC
- Race: Nov 14, 18:00 UTC
- Race 4 (Makuri Islands, 53.3km, 557m elevation)
- Qualifier: Nov 21, 18:00 UTC
- Race: Dec 5, 18:00 UTC
- Race 5 (Watopia, 44.7km, 1493m elevation)
- Qualifier: Jan 16, 18:00 UTC
- Race: Jan 30, 18:00 UTC
How to Participate
There are two ways for elite-level riders to earn a Zwift World Series berth. Some who rode in last season’s Zwift Grand Prix will be granted a series pass, while others will earn their spot via a high finish in Open Qualifier events.
Series Pass
The top 8 men’s and women’s teams from the 2023/24 Zwift Grand Prix season will each be able to award three specific riders a series pass. These 24 riders per gender will not need to enter the qualification events, and will be expected to participate in all 5 Zwift World Series races. Those teams are:
Men’s Teams
- Abus-Synergy
- Next Esports P/B Enshored
- Coalition Alpha
- Wahoo Le Col
- Toyota Elite ECycling
- Hexagone
- Movistar ETeam
- Team Swedish Zwifters
Women’s Teams
- Coalition Alpha
- Aeonian
- Hexagone
- Wahoo Le Col
- Toyota Elite ECyling
- Movistar ETeam
- Virginia’s Blue Ridge Twenty24
- Saris|Nopinz
Open Qualifiers
The remaining race slots (max field size per gender: 50) will be awarded through the Open Qualifier races held two weeks before each race. This is a new feature for Zwift’s elite-level racing that provides a chance for any Zwift racer from any team to earn their place on the start line! (It also provides an opportunity for teams with series pass riders to swell their ranks.)
The Open Qualifier events will award the first 26 racers a starting place to Race 1. Open qualifiers are open to all riders who have completed the pre-verification process, and there is no field size limit.
Interested in taking part in the Open Qualifiers, but aren’t yet pre-verified? Complete this simple form to register interest.
Locking In a Series Pass
Any rider who finishes in the top 10 of any of the first four races of the Zwift World Series or wins any prime will receive a Series Pass.
Classifications and Prizes
Per-Race Prizes
Each men’s and women’s Race in the Zwift World Series will have an individual prize pot based on riders’ positions at the finish line and a team prize for the best-performing team. Races 1-4 will also award bonus prizes at two prime locations.
Series Prizes
Individual racers will also have significant incentive to perform well throughout the season with a Series-wide classification and qualification for Zwift Games up for grabs!
Key Dates
| Now – end June | Chance for teams/ riders to ask any questions |
| Jul 8 | Zwift World Series Race Book, Rule Book distributed |
| Jul 15 | Deadline for teams to confirm whether they will take up Series Passes |
| Jul 15-Aug 18 | Performance verification window 1 All riders who want to enter races across the entire season must have completed pre-verification before the deadline |
| Aug 2 | Deadline for teams to confirm specific riders |
| Aug 29 | Zwift World Series Qualifier 1 registration deadline |
| Sep 5 | Zwift World Series Qualifier 1 |
| Sep 19 | Zwift World Series Race 1 |
| Sep 16-Oct 13 | Performance verification window 2 All riders who want to enter races or qualifiers for Races 3 onwards, including Zwift Games, must have completed pre-verification before the deadline. |
Recognition for Elite Community Racers
New this year, Zwift is launching a system to recognize elite-level racers in game. Racers meeting the eligibility criteria below will be awarded the “verified” in-game badge typically awarded to “individuals with notable achievements – athletically or professionally.”
Eligibility Criteria:
- In order to qualify for a verified badge in game, racers must have completed 3 elite-level races during the last 12-month period. Elite races in scope:
- For 2023/24 – Zwift Grand Prix and Zwift Games 2024
- For 2024/25 – Zwift World Series (including Open Qualifiers) and Zwift Games 2025
Riders will retain this designation for a one-year period, with the list of verified current elite-level racers updated annually each April.
Zwift Games
As part of the elite racing calendar announcement, Zwift has also announced that the second edition of Zwift Games will be in March 2025!
Details for the community side of Zwift Games aren’t yet available, but the Games will serve as a season-ending championship for elite racers who have participated in the World Series. Zwift says “The primary means of qualification for Zwift Games will be performance throughout the Zwift World Series.”
How will it work? The top 50 overall points-scoring riders throughout the Zwift World Series will qualify for the Zwift Games.
Zwift says, “Zwift Games 2025 will also contain a number of updates based on the feedback received from participating riders in 2024, including a prize pot for the Overall Classification down to 30th place, so stay tuned! Additional details regarding Zwift Games 2025 will be announced later in the year.”
Got Questions?
If you’re interested in participating in the Open Qualifiers but haven’t yet been pre-verified, complete this simple form to register interest. Elite racers can direct further questions to [email protected].
Top 5 Zwift Videos: Category B, Heat Training, and Zwift Fitness
As summer begins, the Northern Hemisphere’s temperatures are rising. This week’s top video features a rider racing in a heat-filled pain cave to prep for an epic (and hot) outdoor race!
Additionally, we’ve selected several Zwift racing videos, including one about a Zwifter’s journey to make the bridge from category C to B.
Zwift Race in the Heat
Tackling Category B on Zwift: My Plan and Progress
Is This My Last Zwift Race? (in CAT D)
6w/k on Zwift, how long can I hold on?
Am I Losing My Zwift Fitness? // Hilly Route Reverse
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Chasing Yellow 21-Stage Grand Tour Begins June 29
Chasing Yellow 21-Stage Grand Tour Begins June 29
Chasing Yellow is back for its third year with its biggest tour edition yet! Inspired by the Tour de France, Chasing Yellow is a 21-stage race where riders race every day of the TdF with a mini Zwift version of the in-real-life course. The tour runs from June 29th through July 21, with just 2 rest days on the schedule, and it’s the queen tour of the year-long Chasing Tour competition.
New This Year
This is the first time Chasing Yellow will cover all 21 stages (previous years only covered 18). That also means the overall distance is more challenging than ever, covering 860km total, which is quite a step up from 558km in 2022 and the 707km covered in 2023.
Adding to the excitement, Chasing Yellow will feature 7 of the newly-released Watopia routes included in The Grade expansion. What better way to experience new roads and tick them off your route completion list!
Schedule Details
Each race is scheduled at four different times throughout the day, so you can find a slot that works for you:
- 9:30 UTC / 5:30 EDT / 2:30 PDT
- 12:00 UTC / 8:00 EDT / 5:00 PDT
- 17:30 UTC / 13:30 EDT / 10:30 PDT
- 0:00 UTC / 20:00 EDT / 17:00 PDT
Note: thanks to the Chasing Series’ novel time gap system (see below) you don’t need to race the same time slot each day.
Stage Details
- June 29, Stage 1 | Itza Party | 45.7k / 506m
- June 30, Stage 2 | Hilly Route Reverse | 37.0k / 372m
- July 1, Stage 3 | Douce France | 42.0k / 250m
- July 2, Stage 4 | Mayan Mash | 38.0k / 755m
- July 3, Stage 5 | Chasing the Sun | 40.0k / 345m
- July 4, Stage 6 | Watopia’s Waistband | 42.0k / 129m
- July 5, Stage 7 (ITT) | Eastern Eight | 25.0k / 134m
- July 6, Stage 8 | Rolling Highlands | 41.1k / 308m
- July 7, Stage 9 | Serpentine 8 | 45.7k / 398m
- July 9, Stage 10 | Casse-Pattes | 46.9k / 290m
- July 10, Stage 11 | Snowman | 44.0k / 578m
- July 11, Stage 12 | Country to Coastal | 38.0k / 334m
- July 12, Stage 13 | Park Perimeter Reverse | 39.4k / 504m
- July 13, Stage 14 | Achterbahn | 56.0k / 1348m
- July 14, Stage 15 | Peak Performance | 41.0k / 725m
- July 16, Stage 16 | Tides and Temples | 36.5k / 460m
- July 17, Stage 17 | Coastal Crown Loop | 35.6k / 372m
- July 18, Stage 18 | Sand and Sequoias | 42.8k / 292m
- July 19, Stage 19 | Quatch Quest | 46.2k / 1683m
- July 20, Stage 20 | Surrey Hills | 44.1k / 1029m
- July 21, Stage 21 (ITT) | Glyph Heights | 33.4k / 537m
Access race passes here (chasingtour.com registration required) >
Rules & Categories
Chasing Tour rules are quite simple:
- Riders must register for the Chasing Tour at www.chasingtour.com
- Heart rate monitors required
- No ZPower riders
Categorization is different than typical Zwift races, since the Chasing Tour is using the zwiftracing.app ranking system to provide categorization. All categories will start at the same time and be visible to each other during the race. If you need help determining your category, see the CATEGORIES section of the Rules page.
GC Competition Details
In addition to the individual race competition, Chasing Yellow (and all other stage races in the Chasing Series) has a GC competition. It works using the novel “time gap” system, explained below:
- Stage races evaluate a rider’s combined time over the course of multiple stages (race events).
- In an effort time normalize times across multiple time zones a time gap system will be used.
- The 1st placed rider in a race event will earn a time gap of 00:00:00s.
- Each following rider’s time gap will be calculated as a difference from the first rider’s time (ie: +00:00:05s).
- The time gap logic will apply to each race event time zone.
- Riders will then be globally ranked based on their overall combined time gaps throughout the tour, with the rider with the lowest overall combined time gap finishing in 1st.
- If a rider misses a stage they are given the last finishing time for the stage.
- For Chasing Yellow a rider must complete all ITTs (2 stages) and at least 16 of the 19 road stages. In short, a rider can miss 3 non-ITT stages and still qualify for overall GC placement.
- Don’t worry if you miss a stage, riders still earn points from the individual race events they complete within a stage race.
Questions or Comments?
I plan to race Chasing Yellow this year, as a fun challenge that’ll boost my fitness. (Unfortunately, my ZwiftRacing.app vELO ranking puts me into the bottom of category B, which means I probably won’t be much of a contender.)
What about you? Will you be racing Chasing Yellow? Got questions about the series? Share below!
