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Chasing Yellow 21-Stage Grand Tour Begins June 29

Eric Schlange
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43
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

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!

“Itza Climb Finish” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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0
“Itza Climb Finish” Route Details

“Itza Climb Finish” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/itza-climb-finish/

“Oh Hill No” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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0
“Oh Hill No” Route Details

“Oh Hill No” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/oh-hill-no/

Top 5 Zwift Videos: All About the Zwift Ride

Oli Chi
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0
Top 5 Zwift Videos: All About the Zwift Ride

Zwift has just launched Zwift Ride, their all-new “smart bike,” which is essentially a smart bike frame mounted atop a Wahoo KICKR CORE Zwift One. Hear what some of the top cycling reviewers have to say about it (and read Zwift Insider’s review of the Ride here).

Zwift Ride Indoor ‘Smart Frame’ Review // $1299 Complete Zwift Cycling Setup

Shane Miller, GPLama, provides an in-depth review of the Zwift Ride smart frame. Is it worth the price?

Can We Hold Tour De France Pace? | Zwift Ride

As a fun way to test out the versatility of the Zwift Ride, members of GCN, GMBN, and GTN put their fitness to the test to see how long they can hold Tour de France or Tour de France Femmes pace.

New Zwift Ride – A Smart Bike Game Changer?

Road.cc talks through the Zwift Ride with product manager Graham Stoney, who helped to bring this smart bike to life!

Zwift Ride In-Depth Review: The Future of Smart Bikes?

There have been numerous iterations of smart bikes for indoor riding over the past decade. With the Zwift Ride, has Zwift finally nailed the perfect smart bike? Watch as DCRainmaker gives an in-depth review of Zwift’s new hardware.

The All-New Zwift Ride: Is This the Best Indoor Cycling Setup?

Tariq Ali from Smart Bike Trainers reviews the Zwift Ride. He covers everything from setup to ride feel, design, and more.

Got a Great Zwift Video?

Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!

“Coastal Crown Loop” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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0
“Coastal Crown Loop” Route Details

“Coastal Crown Loop” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/coastal-crown-loop/

Woman Racer Spotlight: Joanne Ernst

Karla Williams
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Woman Racer Spotlight: Joanne Ernst

Woman Racer Spotlight: Joanne Ernst

Name: Joanne Ernst

Hometown: I live in Boulder, Colorado but was born in Calgary, Canada. 

How did you get into cycling? I was a professional triathlete in the 1980s and have cycled on the roads (and now gravel, too) since 1983. 

How many years have you been racing on Zwift? Since 2018. 

Are you part of a Virtual team? I co-founded CrushPod, a team for women-only in January 2021.

What do you love most about racing? The opportunity to learn and improve.

What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)?  TTT, because that’s how CrushPod started and it is all about teamwork. As an individual I’ve fallen in love with points races. 

What is your favourite Zwift women’s race series? Tour de Boudicca because it’s a team competition and I love to race for the team.

What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? Winning the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona in 1985. 

What is your favourite food to eat post race? I always like a protein replacement drink like Cold Brew Instant Protein Coffee by Infinit or Endurox R4 in chocolate flavor. Then I eat whatever I can reach. 

What advice would you give to a woman entering her first Zwift race? Look for a team. You will make great friends that way and learn more quickly how races work on Zwift.

Any upcoming race are you looking forward to? The last race in the 2024 Iceni Women’s Series and then beyond that the ZRL Finals in April.

Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of June 22-23

Eric Schlange
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Notable Zwift Events for the Weekend of June 22-23

We’ve got an eclectic mix of rides on our list this weekend, from community-led rides on Watopia’s new routes to the final race (an iTT) of the Zwift Women’s Racing Series. See our picks below!

🤝 Community Rides On New Watopia Routes

✅ New Roads

Zwift released a Watopia expansion last week, and has asked community event organizers to help launch the expansion by hosting rides and races on the new routes! There are lots of events planned on the new routes, and you can browse them all at the link below. Find one that fits your schedule and pace goals, and knock out that new route badge with some friends!

Many events this weekend
Browse events at zwift.com/events/tag/thegrade2024

🥇 Zwift Women’s Racing Series – TT – Beautiful Bologna 🙂

　✅ Women Only　✅ iTT

Zwift’s popular Women’s Racing Series is in its last week (with a new series coming soon!), and Saturday is your last chance to finish week 8’s stage. It’s gonna be an all-out effort, too, since it’s an individual time trial on the Bologna Time Trial route!

Read about bike choice on this route >
Read more about the Women’s Racing Series >

Saturday, June 22 @ 2:30pm UTC/10:30am EDT/7:30am PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/4326709

🤝 JETT Endurance Ride 100km 2.5~3.3w/kg

✅ Endurance Challenge　✅ Pace Options

Here’s a popular long ride with two pace options: B group at 3-3.3 W/kg, or C at 2.5-2.9 W/kg. Both groups will be riding 100km on France’s Tire-Bouchon route. Choose your desired pace, listen to the ride leader, and get that endurance work done!

(Both categories have a leader (yellow beacon) and sweepers.)

Saturday, June 22 at 8:05pm UTC/4:05pm EDT/1:05pm PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/4419592

🥇 Tiny Races – VO2 Max + zMAP Categories

✅ Unique Race 　✅ Popular Event　

We’re continuing to experiment with novel ways of categorizing Tiny Race riders, and this week we’ve added zMAP ceilings to each category so larger riders can’t wipe up the fields.

Give them a try, and let us know what you think by commenting on the Tiny Race homepage!

Three timeslots available every Saturday
See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/tinyraces

🤝 Ascenders Team [AsC 3.0] Ride

✅ Endurance Challenge　✅ Legacy Leader

Looking for a longer group ride? Veteran leaders from the Ascenders team lead the AsC 3.0 Ride every Saturday. It’s actually two rides in one: the B category goes a bit faster (3.2-4 W/kg) while the C category is paced at 2.5-2.8 W/kg. You can also join the crew on Discord to pass the time with voice chat.

This week’s B group is on Watopia’s The Big Ring, while C is on the Douce France loop.

Saturday, June 22 @ 11:04pm UTC/7:04pm EDT/4:04pm PDT
Sign up at zwift.com/events/view/4419616

How We Make Our Picks

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!

“Glyph Heights” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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0
“Glyph Heights” Route Details

“Glyph Heights” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/glyph-heights/

Community is Power – a Look at the Rocacorba Collective Perspective

Beccah Niesen
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1
Community is Power – a Look at the Rocacorba Collective Perspective

Community is Power – a Look at the Rocacorba Collective Perspective

Bikes can transform lives. From the early days of women’s suffrage to the provision of Buffalo Bicycles to communities across Africa to facilitate the movement of people and goods over rugged terrain, bikes have been moving communities forward for over 100 years.  In the last close to 10 years, Zwift has become another platform for continuing to move communities forward.

There are many teams on Zwift that use their events and their membership to do good in the world.  From fundraising efforts to raising awareness for good causes, the platform makes it possible to interact with riders from every part of the world while riding.  One team, Rocacorba, is taking this to another level by empowering women through access to and use of the platform itself.  The team is working with the Khaltsha Cycling Academy (the “Academy”) to get young women onto Zwift to build their power – through physical watts but also self-confidence and resilience.  

The Academy, located in Khayelitsha Township in South Africa, empowers young girls through biking by partnering with Rocacorba Collective and real-life pro cyclist Ashleigh Moolman Pasio.  This partnership marries up riding in real life (“IRL”) and riding and racing on Zwift.  Young women in the community gather at their capsule-sized container with access to academic assistance, high-speed WiFi, smart trainers, and Zwift accounts.  The Academy, in other words, is providing the tools for these young women to be empowered academically, socially, and physically. 

By including these young women in the Rocacorba team – training rides and team interactions specifically – these women see the wonderful wide world of racing from a community level on Zwift to the outdoor athletes sponsored by Rocacorba.  Seeing women around the world working hard on their own fitness and racecraft while supporting each other in a team environment provides these young women with examples of how individual growth can be richer and more satisfying within a community.

In their first year (2022-2023), the partnership supported 30 young women in training for the iconic Cape Town Cycle Tour held in Cape Town each year in March.  Rocacorba raised money to train, equip, and support the women, and Ashleigh rode the Tour with the women to witness their accomplishment.  The partnership continues to raise money to keep access to these resources for the women in the community.

 “I’ve been fortunate enough to have raced the biggest races in the world, and even win a few of them.  You can have the best equipment and best abilities, but if you don’t believe in yourself, it’s nearly impossible to succeed.”

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio

The Academy exposes these young women to elite athletes like Moolman Pasio who invest time and effort into them.  Rocacorba’s contribution to the Academy hinges on the idea that supporting these women through their training inside and outside will give them not just a glimpse into the athlete mentality but a sense that every rider matters – that we are all capable of working hard and doing great things.  

Further reading: How Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio is using virtual cycling to change the narrative for African girls

Rocacorba believes that community is power, and that self-confidence is key to success (in Zwift and in life).  This position aligns closely with many international women’s organizations and with our own at FemmeCycle Collab.  Ride on, together, women of Zwift!

“Mayan Mash” Route Details

Eric Schlange
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0
“Mayan Mash” Route Details

“Mayan Mash” Route Details

See zwiftinsider.com/route/mayan-mash/

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