At the end of 2024, I was invited to join Zwift in Mallorca in April of 2025. My first reaction was incredulity: Could Zwifters ride outside in a group without crashing? After my husband told me he would divorce me if I didn’t go, I reluctantly agreed to sign up. I knew at least that I would meet people whom I respected and counted as friends in the organizers’ community. And if need be, I would give everyone a very wide gap.
To make the trip from California worth it, I also went before the start of ZCL to ride with my COALITION teammates on a different part of the island. Riding with the women that I had known for years was fun, and when I transferred to ZCL, I thought it couldn’t get better than that.
Turns out it could. The beauty of such a large group of bikers getting together to ride without their families in tow was as unexpected as it was awesome. Each day I chose whether I wanted to ride slow, medium, or fast and whether I wanted to go for a short ride, a medium ride, or a long ride. Those crazier-than-normal bikers got to choose a long, fast ride with an after-party thrown in. Each day I got to talk to another rider from a different part of the world who also loved Zwift. The group leaders were amazing, had different backgrounds and expertise, and made the rides enjoyable for all. And everyone got just what they wanted, whether that was a soul-crushing, hours-long climb or a sampling of pastries bookended with a flat, short ride. And after the rides? No one had anything else to do, so everyone hung out.
I saw so much potential in that gathering, which was big enough to support everyone’s perfect day. While in a small group setting, everyone has to sacrifice a little bit so everyone can get mostly what they wanted from the training camp. But in a bigger group, everyone got just what they wanted from the rides. As an extremely mediocre rider who values cookies and cocktails over a bump in FTP, I may have been an outlier in many of the groups. But I found former chef Karla to be similarly impassioned and the head of TBR (James) to be as curious about the island as me.
Even though I self-describe myself as mediocre, I also saw the potential for these days to teach me something about riding in groups. At home, I use my personal draft van, which is my husband, but I rarely follow a stranger’s wheel. I’ve always thought myself to be too old and too bad a biker to react to an unexpected brake or blind descent, but in that one week I learned that I was stronger than I thought. And I want more of it! I want to be in that position again, and this time, I want to bring some of my friends with me—friends that I am willing to brave Fox Hill three times for, for instance.
Benefits of Attending a Cycling Training Camp
Cycling camps can be awesome for so many reasons, both the stuff you can measure and the good vibes you can’t.
Increased Fitness and Endurance
Putting in sustained effort over multiple days typically results in a significant boost to cardiovascular fitness and muscular endurance. Getting intense, focused training is a massive plus. When you dedicate several days just to cycling, you can really dial in structured, high-volume workouts—something that’s tough to manage with all the usual daily commitments. Plus, pushing hard for multiple days usually gives your cardio and musclular endurance a serious upgrade.
Cycling camps are also perfect for honing your skills. You get the chance to practice things like riding in a group, descending, cornering, and pacelining in a supportive setting. And finally, you get vital exposure to different terrain, letting you take on challenging routes (think long climbs, technical descents, and varied roads) that you might not have back home.
Socializing and Community
Zwift Insider’s Monica SchlangeCav, signing Dan’s birthday croc.Dan, with his birthday croc.
Camps are fantastic for meeting people and making friends. You bring together like-minded cyclists from all walks of life, and that really builds a strong community feel. Going through the shared “suffering” and triumph on the road creates truly unforgettable memories. You also get insider tips and encouragement by talking directly with group leaders, former pros, or coaches who can give you personalized advice.
Making It Easy (Practical & Logistical)
Cycling camps take the headache out of everything. The organizers typically sort out all the meals, routes, support cars, and places to stay, so all you have to do is pedal. This is backed up by supported rides, which usually include a mechanic, sag wagons, and medical help. That takes a massive weight off your shoulders regarding potential mechanicals or emergencies. Finally, camps are usually set up in places with perfect cycling weather, which means reliable conditions for consistent, quality training.
Cycling camps are honestly a win-win-win situation, delivering major benefits: you get physically fitter and more skilled, you feel awesome thanks to the shared effort and achievements, and you make amazing social connections both during the rides and afterward. For the indoor crew, especially the Zwift folks, taking those technical smarts and building real-life community at camp creates stronger relationships out of the real bonds forged in game. When this motivated and organized group transitions from the screen to the open road, they’re perfectly positioned to bring a huge wave of new energy and camaraderie to the wider cycling community.
What About You?
Have you ever done an IRL training camp with Zwift friends? Share below!
How The Race Was Lost: Losing My Place in Yorkshire
Zwift Racing League teams headed to Yorkshire this week for a points race held on the 2019 UCI Worlds Harrogate Circuit. Over the years, this route’s sawtooth profile has struck fear into the heart of many a Zwifter, including myself. And our race was three laps long, meaning it would take us over an hour to finish.
My team (Coalition Delusion, racing in the Open Development B1 Lime Division) knew this wouldn’t be easy, and it wouldn’t be short. But you’re not a true cyclist unless you regularly run pell-mell toward the prospect of personal suffering. Let’s race!
Lap 1
73 riders left the Yorkshire start pens, quickly turning right to begin climbing Otley Road. (You’ll want to be nicely warmed up before racing in Yorkshire, as the work begins right away!) Otley Road is 1.6km long at 3.4%, a draggy climb that always seems to take longer than you’d think.
But this was a points race, and Otley Road isn’t a timed segment. With plenty of miles ahead, riders were clearly wanting to keep their powder dry. I sat in the wheels, doing the minimal work to stay in the group. I finished the climb in 3:22, averaging 3.96 W/kg.
What follows on the route is a bit of down, a bit of up, some false flat, then the lovely Pot Bank descent followed by another short climb and a descent to Oak Beck, where the Yorkshire KOM begins. Interesting things can happen on these in-between bits, but in a points race, that action is muted.
We hit the bottom of the KOM as a pack of 64, and I bumped up my power and used my feather powerup to stay near (but not on) the front if possible. New teammate Enrico was riding off the front (impressive!), so I eased even more, not wanting to give anyone a draft to chase him back (insert timely Team Jayco-AlUla reference 😜).
At the flatter section mid-climb I was positioned well, but when the second half began, lots of feathers popped, and I found myself sliding backward. By the time I rode beneath the KOM arch I had averaged 4.64 W/kg for 2:32 (tying my PR time), the pack was strung out, and I was in… well, I really don’t know what place I was in.
The rider list on my screen (see above) wasn’t showing my current place in the race, and I must say, I didn’t realize how much I looked at that HUD element until it was missing!
I had Sauce for Zwift up, which showed me in a group of 29… but that was a very strung-out group that was quickly breaking up.
(After reporting the bug via an internal Zwift channel, it appears that this happened to anyone running the latest Zwift version, v105, that released the morning of the race. The new version interacts with ZRL’s funky event config in an unexpected way.)
I figured the groups would come back together once we were through the sprint segment, and that is indeed what happened. By the time we finished the first lap, I was back in the front group of 28. With a 31-second gap to the closest chasing group of 5 riders, it seemed pretty clear that nobody behind would be bridging up.
Lap 2
The next Otley Road ascent was a bit more chill, taking 3:35 and averaging 3.57 W/kg. Nothing remarkable here, except for one Team Ukraine Mariupol guy, Klish, who attacked off the front. He would continue to do this on and off for the rest of the race, going off the front, getting caught, then doing it again. I’m not sure what the strategy was, but without a lot of TUM guys in the front group, I don’t think anyone was worried enough to chase him down in earnest.
As we neared the Pot Bank descent this time, I decided to put in a few hard pedal revs to go off the front and attempt a supertuck on the crazy steep descent. And it worked!
That gave me almost 20 seconds of no pedaling, which was quite nice.
Soon enough, we were at the start of our second Yorkshire KOM. This time, I had determined to save my feather powerup for the second half of the climb, where the road is just as steep as the start of the climb, but you’re more fatigued! Clearly others had learned the same lesson, as I saw zero feathers at the start, but a pile on the second bit:
This time up the KOM was definitely easier than the first. We were 8 seconds slower, and it took me 0.16 W/kg less, and I finished the climb in a much better position than the first time around, as well.
This is where my glycogen-depleted brain began to dream that I might be able to hang with the front pack to the finish. But those hopes were soon to come up against the hard wall of reality…
I would love to say that I was able to contest the sprint segment each lap, but since it was at the top of a climb, I was always gassed by the time I got there, and was only able to put in half-hearted attempts. I just hoped that my being in the whittled-down front pack would earn sufficient points.
We finished lap 2 with a front group of 18 riders.
Lap 3
As we climbed Otley Road for the final time, I was surveying the front group. How many riders were here from each team? I was happy to see that most teams only had 1-2 riders in the front, while my team and one other (SZR) had 3. That was a good sign.
We finished Otley Road in 4:01 this time, much slower than the previous laps. Fatigue was setting in, and everyone knew the final KOM would be a hard one!
I grabbed another cheeky supertuck on the Pot Bank descent, and soon enough, we found ourselves crossing Oak Beck and beginning the final KOM. It felt like the group was pushing hard up the first half, and I found myself sliding backward in the group. By the time we started the second half I was blowing up. It wasn’t that the pace was higher than previous laps. It was that my legs didn’t have any punch left. Even my feather powerup couldn’t save me.
I was dropped. 17 riders were up ahead, and I was all by myself, with the closest riders over a minute behind.
Doing whatever I could to keep pushing over the top and down the other side, I used my aero powerup on the descent in hopes that the pack would ease and I could catch back on. One rider had fallen off the group, and I caught and passed him on the climb to the sprint. (He would serve as a sort of “reverse carrot”, forcing me to keep my effort high to stay away to the finish.)
Alas, the pack never eased in those final kilometers. Teammate Andrew finished in 2nd, the best finish for our team (chapeau!), new teammate Enrico finished 5th, and I finished in 17th place, just over a minute behind the leaders.
On the plus side, I didn’t even need to sprint, because nobody was nearby.
It took several hours for the results to be finalized (not sure why it takes longer sometimes), but eventually we saw we’d finished 4th overall:
Our rivals from last season, Team SEA, took first. They’re sitting in 1st overall after two races, and we’re in 2nd.
But here’s the thing: we only had 5 riders. So we’re pretty happy with 4th this week, knowing that having one more rider finishing mid-pack might have won it for us overall. That’s not bad at all, on such a hilly route.
Personally, I’m both happy and disappointed in my performance. On one hand, I didn’t think I’d survive in the front as long as I did. But on the other hand, getting dropped so close to the finish really stings! I can’t help but wonder if using my feather earlier, or gutting it out just a bit more, or being able to see my rider placing might have helped me stay with the front to the finish.
The truth is, I probably just wasn’t strong enough on the day. But I reported the bug to Zwift via a Slack channel anyway, asking, “Can I use this to excuse my getting dropped like a hot rock on the last KOM? Please?” Happily, Zwift’s VP of Product Mark Cote said I could, and admitted that Zwift was clearly at fault for my loss:
So that helps lessen the sting just a bit. 😉
We finished with our customary Discord team portrait, featuring “shadow-Captain Neil” (at bottom) who honorably did this event twice in one day:
Our top pick this weekend is everyone’s favorite sort of charity ride, where every kilometer you ride unlocks a donation for a good cause. Let’s max it out, Zwifters! See all our picks below…
This ride has lots of signups already, and it’s easy to see why: they’ve set it up so that, for every kilometer ridden during this event, BAUHAUS donates 10 SEK to the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation, up to one million SEK in total!
The ride is 60 minutes long, on Watopia’s Triple Flat Loops. Some quick math: if riders average 35 km in the hour, that means each rider can “earn” a 350 SEK donation, which means we need ~2,800 riders to max out the donation. Let’s goooo!!!
Tour de Zwift is the biggest annual tour on the platform – a celebration of discovery across all Zwift worlds! It kicked off last week with stage 1, and now we’re on stage 2, which runs through Sunday. Hundreds (sometimes thousands) of riders are joining each event, so you’ll always have some company.
The Vätternrundan group ride series is back for another year, and very popular! The premise of the series is simple: weekly rides increasing in duration until March 1, with the goal of preparing you to handle many hours on the bike when the IRL race day arrives in June. (The Vätternrundan Group Ride Series is part of Vätternrundan’s official training program.)
Of course, you can use this to train for any endurance ride you may have planned this Spring/Summer. This week’s ride is 90 minutes long, on France’s R.G.V., and there are two pace group options (1.8-2.2 and 1.5-1.8 W/kg).
Ever heard of “Sweet Spot” training? It’s a staple for many riders, since it lets you accumulate a lot of training stress in relatively little time without suffering at or above threshold.
The guy who created the sweet spot concept – coach Frank Overton of FasCat – is one of the leaders on these rides. There’s even a Discord channel so you can chat directly with him and other FasCat coaches. So cool!
This is a big ride on Watopia’s The Mega Pretzel (111km, 1659m), and the goal is for riders to do “freestyle sweetspot,” with groups naturally forming around each rider’s sweet spot zone.
Want to accumulate lots of miles quickly? Join this newish and popular group ride, which puts everyone on the fastest TT bike in game (Cadex Tri) with drafting enabled. It’s 100km, but it’ll be a fast 100km!
Riders are on Tempus Fugit, the flattest route in Zwift. Three different pace groups, released so the faster groups catch the slower groups over time.
Bike upgrading hack: on rides with forced bikes, whatever bike you’re on when you join the event is the bike that accumulates the distance/elevation/time. So, for example, you could accumulate lots of distance toward a road bike upgrade, while riding the Cadex Tri in this event.
We choose each weekend’s Notable Events based on a variety of factors including:
Is the event unique/innovative in some way?
Are celebrities (pro riders, etc) attending/leading?
Are signup counts already high, meaning the event is extra-popular?
Does the ride include desirable unlocks or prizes?
Does the event appeal to ladies on Zwift? (We like to support this under-represented group!)
Is it for a good cause?
Is it just plain crazy (extra long races, world record attempts, etc)?
Is it a long-running, popular weekly event with a dedicated leader who deserves a shout out?
In the end, we want to call attention to events that are extra-special and therefore extra-appealing to Zwifters. If you think your event qualifies, comment below with a link/details and we may just include it in an upcoming post!
Considering adding virtual shifting to your setup with the new Zwift Cog & Click v2 package? In this week’s top video, hear from one Zwifter as she tries the Zwift Cog & Click for the first time.
We’ve also included videos about the latest Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 update, an epic Zwift race, collecting Halo bikes in Zwift, and brutal FTP tests.
Zwift Cog & Click – Is It Work It, and Do You Actually Need It? (I was unsure!)
Long-time Zwifter Katie Kookaburra tries the Zwift Cog and Click with her Tacx NEO trainer. Watch as she fits the cog to her Tacx trainer, rides with virtual shifting, and shares her thoughts.
The latest Wahoo KICKR CORE 2 update brings Zwift controller bridging via WiFi to the trainer. Hear from Shane, aka GPLama, as he explains what the feature is and how it works.
I Lost 8kg For This Zwift Race
After adjusting his weight, training some more, and upgrading his cycling cleats, Luke Goldstone is back at it with another Zwift race.
Do I Have All the Halo Bikes in Zwift? 10 months of Bike Upgrades
As a top indoor cyclist, Josh Harris logs a significant amount of time on Zwift and has upgraded several Halo bikes. In this video, he walks riders through his upgrade process and the different frames he has unlocked.
Zwift’s FTP test… broke me.
ROARDADS shares why he wants to reach the top ten on his local “Golf Climb” and tackles an FTP test to set a benchmark for his upcoming training to reach that goal.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Today, we release the last of three special “full map” Rebel Routes. We recently published The Full Makuri and The Full New York, but today’s is the big one, covering every road in Watopia, Zwift’s biggest map!
But first, credit where credit is due: Zwifter Tim Nikkel gets the kudos for putting in the work to devise this route, sharing it with us via the ZwiftMap website. With so many intersections in Watopia, computing the shortest possible route is no easy task. But Tim figured it out! (At least, we think so. Tim says, “I do not claim that this is the shortest route possible, only the shortest route I’ve found. Due to how my program works it cannot prove that this is the shortest possible route.”)
We’ve released these three “full map” Rebel Routes in hopes that Zwift will adopt them as new fondo routes. It’s been way too long since we’ve had fresh fondos, and there are so many great new roads we could use!
This route in particular would make a splendid Gran Fondo course. It would be the second-longest route in Zwift (behind The PRL Full), with 250 meters more elevation gain than the PRL Full. A difficult but doable challenge for a well-trained rider!
About Rebel Routes
“Rebel Routes” are Zwift rides not available on Zwift’s routes list, thus requiring manual navigation.
The reward for your rebel ride? Exploring a new route, knowing you’ve gone where few Zwifters have gone before. And a Strava segment rank in the tens or hundreds instead of the thousands! Rebel Routes are also included as a separate category on our Veloviewer Route Hunter leaderboard.
Route Description
A complete turn-by-turn tour of this route would take much too much space. So we’ll summarize it instead.
Start by selecting the “Oh Hill No” route from the Watopia route picker.
The Full Watopia is bookended by the biggest climbs in Watopia, starting with The Grade + part of the Epic KOM (including the Radio Tower), and finishing on Alpe du Zwift.
After descending from the Radio Tower, you’ll loop around onto the Epic KOM Bypass road and head to the Mayan Jungle, then down to the southern coast road to take in this long stretch of shoreline.
Continue up and over the rollercoaster road through Titans Grove, then head into Watopia proper to cover most of those roads, including ascending the Volcano KOM. You’re well past the halfway mark!
Descend from the Volcano, head out to cover the Jarvis loop, then ride through the Ocean Blvd tube and hang a right to enter Fuego Flats.
From the Flats to the climbs, you’ll head up the Epic KOM forward, but turn left to head down The Grade, then turn right to descend the Mayan and Itza KOM roads. 20km to go!
Knock out the remaining Mayan Jungle dirt, then turn right and head up the Alpe. The route finishes at the top.
Please note that the Strava segment includes the turnaround road atop the Alpe, because we figured everyone would ride that road anyway as they finish their climb and want to come around to descend the Alpe. Being at the top of the Alpe means you get another ~12.5km of distance once the route finishes, if you just let your avatar coast to the bottom. Why not? You earned it.Make it an imperial century!
Speaking of turnaround roads, it’s worth mentioning that this route doesn’t attempt to cover every bit of pavement on the roundabouts and turnarounds in Fuego Flats, the LAX Roundabout, and Ciudad La Cumbre. Doing so would add significant distance, and these are really just turnaround points built into the game. The route also leaves out the Climb Portal, for obvious reasons (the climbs it leads to rotate regularly). And this route doesn’t include Repack Rush, since that road requires steering to access.
Turn By Turn Directions
Be warned: this route has a lot of turns. Begin by choosing the Oh Hill No route, which starts you at the base of The Grade, heading in the right direction.
Straight (Right) to Radio Tower
Straight to Radio Tower
Left to Bonus Climb
Left to Islands/Jungle
Straight to Italian Villas
Right to Sequoia Circle
Right to Epic KOM
Straight (Right) to Epic KOM
Right to Epic KOM Bypass
Straight to Jungle/Alpe
Left to Jungle Reverse
Right to Mayan Bridge
Left to Mayan Loop
Straight (Left) to Jungle Loop
Right to Cuidad La Cumbre
Straight (Right) to Cuidad La Cumbre
Straight (Right) to Fuego Flats
Straight (Left) to Fuego Flats
Left to Epic KOM
Straight (Right) to Epic KOM
Right to Titans Grove
Straight (Right) to Ocean Blvd (this is the entrance to Repack Rush, and the turn UI only pops up if you have steering connected)
This is a route we’ve raced before in ZRL, but it was done as a points race in the past, with a custom finish line. So while it may be a re-run of a course, the race will unfold very differently!
There’s much to discuss, including crucial course segments, powerups, bike decisions, and strategic options. Let’s dive in!
Looking at the Route
One lap of Countryside Tour is 16km (9.9 miles) long, with 185m (607′) of climbing. A/B categories will race 3 laps (48.2km), making this the longest race of Round 3 for A/B teams! C/D will race 2 laps (32.2km).
The race begins at the “main” Yumezi start pens near the lap start/finish banner. This is a downhill start, so riders will get up to speed quickly as we descend to the farmland flats. Enjoy the easy start. You can see from the route profile that the spiciness is up the road!
The first 5km will probably be quite docile, as the road is flat and there is no incentive to attack the sprint since this isn’t a points race.
After the sprint, a slack and therefore draftable climb begins, taking you through Village Onsen and the Fishing Village before turning left onto the big feature of this course: the Temple KOM.
This dirty little bugger (literally, it’s a dirt road) has hosted many ZRL battles over the years. It’s 2.5km in length and averages 3.6%, but don’t let those numbers lull you into a sense of security. This climb is almost entirely dirt, which means it rolls slower than pavement. It also includes some hard punches at 7%+! While a gravel bike would indeed perform better than a road bike on this climb, you’ll probably want to avoid that option (more on this below under “Bike Recommendations”).
The Temple KOM is where the first real selection of the day will happen, as the pack inevitably strings out over the draggy climb.
Once you ride through the KOM banner in the giant mystical tree it’s a twisty dirt descent back to the pavement of the Castle/Marketplace area, then more descending to the lap start/finish line.
Heavier riders can use this descent to chase back onto the wheels, and heavier riders will also have the advantage on the downhill finish in the final lap. (Of course, lighter riders will know this and work to drop the heavier riders on the Temple KOM.) Good luck to all!
Three different powerups are on offer for this race, given with equally-weighted probability at each arch. There are three arches in each lap of the route: the lap arch, the Countryside Sprint arch, and the Temple KOM arch.
Lightweight (feather): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on climbs, where weight slows you more than it does on flats and descents. This is the one you want heading into the Temple KOM, for use on the steepest dirt slopes.
Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing for 40 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) This powerups lasts the longest and is most useful when sprinting in a pack at the finish, or if you’re wanting some recovery on the flats/descents while sitting in the wheels.
Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents), especially when no draft is available (although it is still useful when drafting.) This powerup gives you the maximum speed advantage in the fast final sprint. Also useful if you’re in the wind, trying to bridge up to riders ahead.
Bike Recommendations
With the dirt Temple KOM looming, many riders will be wondering if a bike swap makes sense here like it has in some previous races.
But here’s the thing: much has changed since those past races. Zwift’s pairing screen no longer works quite as smoothly as a brake hack. Gravel vs road bike performance has changed. This is a scratch race, not a points race. And it doesn’t finish at the top of the Temple KOM!
I did some bot tests with various bikes, to see how much faster the gravel bike was up the Temple KOM. Here are the times, using a 75kg rider at 300W steady:
Specialized Crux with Zwift Gravel wheels: 6:32
S-Works SL8 with ENVE 4.5 Pro wheels: 6:54
S-Works Aethos with ENVE 4.5 Pro wheels: 6:55
Tron bike: 6:58
A gravel bike can trim 22+ seconds off your Temple KOM time, as shown above. But keep in mind you have to stop moving before you can swap bikes, and you’ll have to swap at the bottom and top of the KOM. How do you quickly stop moving when braking is disabled in ZRL races? Answer: you don’t. The pairing screen only works to stop you once you go to zero watts, which takes a few extra seconds.
So swapping to a gravel bike is off the table.
This race’s key climb is long and steep enough that you should steer away from pure aero setups unless you’re very confident you can hang with the front pack up and over the Temple KOM. For most riders, a strong all-arounder is probably the best move, given the mix of a key climb and a fast downhill finish. There’s no perfect setup for everyone, but our recommendation for most would be the new ENVE SES 4.5 PRO or DT Swiss 65 wheels paired with one of these bikes:
Lots of recon events are scheduled on upcoming ZRL routes, led by various teams. See upcoming ZRL recons for this race at zwift.com/events/tag/zrlrecon.
Additionally, riders in the Zwift community do a great job every week creating recon videos that preview the courses and offer tips to help you perform your best on the day. I’ll add them below as I find them!
J Dirom
John Rice
Strategic Options
Forming a cohesive strategy for this route was a real challenge in past years’ points races, but much of the complexity is removed in this scratch race.
Remember: all that matters is your finishing position.
With that in mind, here are some of the strategies we’ll be seeing next Tuesday:
KOM Attrition: Strong climbers who lack the weight or pure wattage to win in a downhill pack sprint will be smart to push the pace up the Temple KOM on early lap(s). It’s not so much about forcing an early selection – it’s about forcing sprinters to burn matches, so they get dropped on the final KOM.
Final KOM Fireworks: The last time up the Temple KOM will be the key selection point of the race. Climbers were just trying to hurt everyone else on the early laps, but here they’ll try to make everyone explode, so the climbers don’t have to sprint against heavier, more powerful riders in the finish.
Table Scraps: Most of the field will be dropped from the front up the final Temple KOM. Riders who find themselves in that position will be fighting for lower points, but don’t give up! Each and every point will be crucial in a race where you may only have 1-2 teammates in the front group.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!
Zwift Ideas: Quick Map Expansions with Big Impacts
Since launching, Zwift have added or updated their road networks 32 times. On 11 of these occasions, they added a new world, or 2 worlds as was the case with Paris and France both dropping at the same time. The other 21 updates have been to expand possibilities in existing worlds with either large new networks or a few simple connector roads.
Watopia accounts for 14 of these as Zwift’s largest world. Makuri Islands and London have both had 2 updates, and France, New York, and Richmond just 1 each. That means Paris, Crit City, Bologna, Innsbruck, and Scotland have never been updated and remain today as they were at launch.
Interestingly, Zwift hasn’t launched a new world for 3 years (Scotland was launched at the start of 2023). If you look at the release timelines in this article, you can clearly see a change post-2020. The rate of new km’s has not changed dramatically, but the rate of new releases has definitely slowed, and if you look at the launches of new worlds, this has almost stalled.
If we use Paris + France as the chronological midpoint, we had 8 new worlds before COVID and 2 new worlds after it. Scotland was a small world in terms of map size with around 15km of new roads, but Makuri Islands has been a huge addition with 3 large segments released in stages.
The trend has been to add roads to existing maps. We know Watopia is constantly being extended, but the last 2 updates have been on the rotation worlds of France and New York that many probably thought would never be updated.
That got me thinking: what about the other rotation maps that we’ve previously seen as “finished?” Can they be updated and given a new lease on life, too? What updates be time efficient enough to have a chance of implementation, yet have a big enough improvement to make them worth the effort?
Aside from a world’s total road length, what often makes a big impact is the number of junctions and connecting roads which open new route options for racing and free riding. The Epic KOM bypass was a short addition but created many new routes. Some maps have many junctions and connectors, but others are much simpler and therefore have very few route options. The worst of these “limited” worlds are:
Bologna – 1 road
Crit City – 1 loop
Paris – 1 loop
Innsbruck – 2 loops
Richmond – 2 loops
Yorkshire – 2 loops
As an example, if you ignore Ven-Top, the original France map was also only 2 loops and offered very few route options. In early 2025, Zwift added 2 new roads, amounting to just 3km of tarmac, yet the result was a plethora of new routes and therefore increased value to all the existing roads.
Here are my thoughts on quick-win expansions with increasing difficulty.
Innsbruck
Innsbruck routes all fall into 1 of 2 categories. Those that go up the KOM, and those that don’t. If you avoid the KOM you have 2 options, Legsnapper or Legsnapper Reverse. Ignoring the KOM portion as being a big project to expand, the lower single loop circuit has many interesting features, but everyone usually just saves their legs for the Legsnapper each lap. What if there was a new short 400m long road opposite the pens taking you straight to the bottom of the Legsnapper? Better warm up well for those race starts, although that’s just 1 of many possibilities.
The Red road on my map does just that, but also creates 2 crit-style loops which can be combined or isolated in many ways. Laps of the northern loop gives you little respite from the Legnapper, while the southern loop is rather gentler other than the rise over the railway bridge which may become a valid attack point. Perhaps you fancy 10 Laps of the southern loop with a Legsnapper afterparty or Pretzel routes to break your legs in both directions?
I’ve also added a second Blue road which is also 400m long and opens more options, but I don’t think it adds enough extra value. It could, though, serve as an alternate connection. The best bit is that both these roads exist in real life, and much of the graphics for them appear to already exist in Zwift’s map.
Yorkshire
This is probably the least tarmac for the most possibilities. The red road offers the biggest wins with just 600m of road needed, plus most of the graphics of the environment will already exist. A shortcut between Otley Road and the top of the KOM will create a Pot Bank bypass or pretzel options, although it doesn’t play nicely with the KOM banner position.
There are also 3 similar length connection options shown in Blue. Any one of those would add a different dynamic and again should mean limited effort compared with the reward. The most northerly of the 3 is my preference as a KOM bypass, but all are equally viable. None of them work nicely with the KOM segment, but the most southern works with the sprint just fine. Just 1.5km of new road and how many new route options? Anyone fancy Yorkshire KOM repeats? As with Innsbruck, these roads also exist in real life, too.
Crit City
This is the only fictional route on the list, and the smallest map in the game with just 2km of roads. Despite being an event-only map, it’s a very popular race map with races here several times every day. There are also plenty of options for alternate routes without straying too far from the pens. Many of the side roads are visible from the current route, and as it’s not modelled on a real location, Zwift do not need to replicate, just create what they want.
Given that crits are very short circuits, adding 2km of extra roads should be possible and offer many new potential routes. Going further though and adding the Blue roads would transform the map. Who knows what lies on those roads as they don’t exist yet, but I’m curious what the Zwift design team’s imagination can do with them. (And yes, the map looks like a running mushroom.)
Bologna
This is an interesting world, as it’s just 8km of road, up and down a hill. Like Crit City, the map is event-only and tends to only be used for occasional time trials. The route starts quite flat for the first 6km before turning quite sharply, both right around a hairpin and up a brutal climb. These factors mean the route is rarely ridden, and I’d bet many casual riders don’t even know it exists.
The climb portion follows the Portici di San Luca (the longest portico in the world) to Santuario Madonna di San Luca, a shrine at the top of the climb where you do a 180-degree turn and return to the start. The route only follows the portico for roughly half of its total length, however, as we deviate from its route at the hairpin. The map design team would have to do more work than adding a mere 400m link road, but any additions here may bring this map out of obscurity and allow regular racing on it.
The portico stretches along the shown red road to the Porta Saragozza, after which there is a maze of narrow roads and further porticos which Zwift can use to create a circuit back to the start pens and finish banner. We would now have an interesting ~10km loop with a reverse option, and an afterparty finish for the daring. As with Innsbruck’s Leg Snapper, the climb in Bologna renders the rest of the route into conservation mode. Offering an alternate section without the climb would create compelling alternative routes for an otherwise little-used map.
Paris
This map came out alongside France during the COVID pandemic to host a virtual version of the 2020 Tour de France. I can’t fault it for being limited in scope, as it was rushed out alongside a bigger map and was intended to replicate the iconic TdF finishing circuit, which it does very nicely. However, as a single loop, it has just 2 route options which are largely the same other than sprint and finish line locations, and is therefore only really used for racing.
Recently, the tour has added an extension to this route which goes north, meandering through Paris to take in some short but tough cobbled climbs around Montmartre. The entirety of this new section can be traced on the Zwift route map already (although it really tested my MSPaint skills), but I highly doubt it’s been rendered in game beyond some low-resolution outlines. This would take a bit of work to achieve, but would make this iconic route even more interesting, varied, and current to the real-life route.
Richmond
I almost didn’t add this map, it’s been updated once already, and I don’t see any easy or valuable additions. The map as it is, bears similarities to my proposal for Innsbruck, with 2 loops, 1 flat and one with punchy climbs. A quirk, though, is that when the map was updated to be rideable in both directions, the junctions circled in red and the road between them don’t quite work as expected. I’m not even sure if you can do a proper U-turn here, as it’s actually 2 roads rather than 1. The sprint is only on 1 of the roads for example.
Another quirk is the 2 roads alongside each other I’ve circled in blue. I’ve seen many Zwifters propose a junction here. It would be very little work as no extra road would be needed, but I’m not sure how much value it adds. I’m more interested in what possible routes lie north, south, east, and west to expand this map, and I have no idea if any gains would be worth the effort.
Other Maps
For me, the other maps are fairly strong and don’t have any low effort and high return options. (Not that I think adding 400m or road is low effort, but relative to adding the long rumoured Mt. Fuji to Makuri Islands, it is a walk in the park.)
London has a lot of route options already, and a lot of variation too. There are certainly options to travel further north and take in the sights of Oxford St, Leicester Square, St Paul’s, and Covent Garden, but that would be a lot of work, and I’m not sure it would add any new dynamics.
France has just had an update, but many would love to see an alternate route up/down Ven Top. I’m just not sure how many riders would go up there vs the time to make it.
We can assume Makuri is not finished, as there is an enticing bridge to nowhere leading east from Mech Island before the canyon.
New York has just had a huge update, but the map is very linear, with essentially 3 additional circuits dotted along a long and flat (apart from escalators) road. I would imagine it is too much to ask for an alternate route from Prospect Park to Central Park on the east side of the Hudson, especially not so soon after this previous update.
Watopia is almost certainly not finished, and there are many ways they could expand it, from simple link roads to large updates. There are also plenty of roads to nowhere teasing us with potential new routes! (The blocked-off mine entrance as you descend towards the jungle, and the barriered road by the southern Tempus Fugit turn around are 2 good examples.) A quick search on the forums will show you many riders’ dreams and ideas for new roads such as linking Jarvis to the base of the Alpe.
Of course, as Zwift’s biggest map, it also has hundreds of possible routes available, as last year’s ZRL route design competition showed. For example, the Southern Crit (below) is one I’d like to see. Try to make your own here: zwiftmap.com/watopia
Wildcard
My final option for minimal effort and maximum reward is Gravel Mountain. It must be in the game, as I managed to ride it last year due to a glitch, and it seems to be basically finished. Ok, I get it, lots of people are gravel averse, including myself, but at the same time lots of people don’t like climbing, or crits, or TT’s, or workouts, or racing, or steering, or RoboPacers, or even cycling. I know some who only use Zwift for running. So why not put a nearly finished map to use and let people ride it?
What About You?
What map expansions would you like to see? Share below!
Today, Zwift launched a six-workout challenge designed to help users kick off the year with structure and momentum. The workouts are built by Kristin Armstrong, three-time Olympic gold medalist, bringing elite experience into an approachable and flexible training format.
The series runs from January 13 through March 15 and focuses on building durability and staying in control as fatigue builds. Read on for details!
Challenge Requirements
The Challenge features six stages, each with a short and long option:
Find Your Rhythm (Short: 47 minutes / Long: 75 minutes): This first ride sets the tone. Today’s about finding rhythm and control, learning how to settle in, stay patient, and ride with purpose. Let the effort build naturally and stay focused and in the game from start to finish.
Surge and Settle (Short: 45 minutes / Long: 70 minutes): Durability means keeping your rhythm when you legs don’t want to. This ride teaches just that, you’ll surge, settle, and keep the pressure on. Control your breathing, keep your form, find your focus, and finish smoother than you started.
Torque and Flow (Short: 50 minutes / Long 70 minutes): Build muscular endurance through controlled torque and cadence variation. The goal is steady strength, not speed. Feel the load in the legs while staying relaxed. We’ll use low-cadence torque work to build resilience, then include high-cadence rev’s to train efficiency and recovery.
Hold the Line (Short: 50 minutes / Long: 70 minutes):This ride starts with two strong efforts to put early stress on the system, by design. From there, you’ll shift to upper tempo work with varied cadence that teaches you how to stay steady after fatigue sets in. The goal isn’t just to hit the power, it’s to find rhythm and composure once your legs are loaded. Hold your focus, control your breathing, and stay smooth all the way through, that’s durability.
Under Control (Short: 51 minutes / Long: 74 minutes): This ride is about composure under pressure. We start strong to build early stress, then spend time in extended tempo work to strengthen efficiency, focus, and control. You’ll feel fatigue early and have to manage your effort, that’s where durability is built.
Built to Last (Short: 50 minutes / Long: 75 minutes):The final ride brings everything together. You’ve built strength, focus, and control, now it’s about putting it all to use. Ride steady, stay smooth, and finish strong.
Finish either the short or long workout in each stage, and you’ll complete the Challenge!
Joining the Challenge
Unlike past Challenges, everyone is automatically signed up for this challenge. As long as you’ve got version 1.105 or higher installed, you’ll see a progress bar on the homescreen:
Click that card to access the workouts in the challenge or see reward details.
Challenge Rewards
You will earn a total of 1500 XP as you move through this Challenge:
This challenge goes live at 9:00 PT on January 13, 2026, and ends March 15, 2026, at 23:59 PT.
(I recommend finishing before the final day, though, as past Challenges have ended earlier than expected in the past, and you don’t want to be caught out if that happens.)
As of January 13, 2026, there are 239 routes on Zwift that award a route completion badge. A few of these are event-only routes, but the vast majority are free-ridable.
We had many requests for a more printable version of our Master Routes List, specifically for riders looking to get all the route badges. So we created a printable list of badged routes, sorted by difficulty.
This printable list is current through January 13, 2026. You can find an always-up-to-date live list of badged routes here.
Routes are organized into 5 groups based on difficulty described as the number of water bottles (bidons) you may need to finish the route, assuming 1 Bidon per 40 minutes of riding at 2 W/kg.
