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“Best Of” ZRacing December 2023 Series Details

Eric Schlange
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14
“Best Of” ZRacing December 2023 Series Details

“Best Of” ZRacing December 2023 Series Details

Zwift’s “ZRacing” is the platform’s most popular ongoing race series, and in December we’re racing some of the best routes used in the past year of the series. Enjoy the sights: sequoias, castles, pavé, and even a monster (Nessie) if you get lucky!

Read on for details about race routes, the overall monthly GC competition, and more.

Best Of – December’s Route Schedule

Here are the routes we’ll be racing in December (click route for more details):

  • Stage 1 (Dec 4-10): Sand and Sequoias
    • 1 lap (22.5km, 180m elevation)
    • Powerups: Lightweight (Feather), Draft Boost, Anvil 🛈
  • Stage 2 (Dec 11-17): Castle to Castle
    • 1 lap (23.2km, 140m elevation)
    • Powerups: Lightweight (Feather), Aero Boost, Draft Boost 🛈
  • Stage 3 (Dec 18-24): Rolling Highlands
    • 2 laps (23km, 183m)
    • Powerups: Feather, Cloaking (Ghost) 🛈
  • Stage 4 (Dec 24-30): R.G.V.
    • 1 lap (24.8km, 133m)
    • Powerups: Draft Boost, Lightweight (Feather) 🛈

See upcoming Best Of events >

Zwift Community Live(stream)

Nathan Guerra at Zwift Community Live is providing commentary and a live stream of each Monday’s 6:10pm UTC/1:10pm Eastern/10:10am Pacific race. Click here for the playlist of upcoming ZRacing broadcasts.

Series Structure

The ZRacing series consists of monthly sets of weekly races. Each race is scheduled for seven days (beginning 1:10am UTC on Monday and running through to the next Sunday). Timeslots are consistent week to week and month to month.

Races are scheduled ~15 times each day, so there are plenty of available times to find a race.

See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/zracingdec2023

Monthly GC on ZwiftPower

Each monthly series includes a time-based GC (general classification) tracking riders’ best finishing times for each week’s race. The overall winners in each category for the month are the riders with the lowest overall time for that month’s set of races.

See December’s GC on ZwiftPower >

With over 100 weekly timeslots available, riders can race each week’s event multiple times and try to better their finishing time. Tip: the fastest times usually come from the largest race fields!

You must use a heart rate monitor and be on a smart trainer, smart bike, or power meter to show up in ZwiftPower results for this series.

If you aren’t signed up for ZwiftPower, check out our post How to Sign Up for ZwiftPower (and Why Every Zwifter Should Do It).

Get the Badge

Each month’s ZRacing series has a unique achievement badge, which you can unlock by finishing every stage for the month.

There are no makeup events, so if you miss a stage, you miss out on the badge and competing in the GC.

One and Done

Zwift has planned these events to deliver a solid 1-hour workout, so each race should only take around 1 hour to complete, including your warmup and cooldown.

Questions or Comments?

Post below! 

Zwift Companion Version 3.53: “Keep Everyone Together” Option Added for Club Events

Eric Schlange
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46
Zwift Companion Version 3.53: “Keep Everyone Together” Option Added for Club Events

Zwift Companion Version 3.53: “Keep Everyone Together” Option Added for Club Events

Yesterday Zwift released the latest version of the Companion app (v3.53) which includes a much-anticipated feature: the “Keep Everyone Together” setting for Club events!

The toggle is on the event settings screen when creating/editing a Club event.

Important Note: you can’t enable “Keep Everyone Together” when “Event Results” is enabled. Because it doesn’t make sense to show event results if everyone is being forced to stay together!

Why Banded?

Zwift says the “Keep Everyone Together” option “makes it easier to spend time with friends and socialize while you pedal, even if your group has a wide span of fitness levels.” And they’re not wrong. If you want your group to stay together at whatever pace each rider desires, without a lot of messaging and hassle, this option makes it happen.

A Bit of History

Zwift has had “Keep Everyone Together” (aka “rubberbanding”) capabilities for years. (In a rubberbanded ride, all participants stay together, regardless of their power output, as long as they pedal.)

Rubberbanding was first used in group workouts, then expanded to Meetups and made available as a custom, by-request setting for group rides.

Zwift’s code for keeping riders together hasn’t always worked optimally, though. First, group workouts were super slow for stronger riders. Secondly, and perhaps a bigger issue, a longtime bug led to Meetups sometimes getting stuck at unrealistically high speeds, which is why you see Strava climb segments topped by riders holding over 45kph doing very low power (see Box Hill, for example).

The great news is, Zwift put in a lot of work to improve their algorithm for keeping riders together, and rolled that out months ago. Feedback from Zwifters indicates that it has greatly improved the experience for group workouts, Meetups, and banded group rides.

Questions or Comments?

Share below!

Zwift Racing League 2023/24 Round 2 Week 4 Guide: Suki’s Playground

Eric Schlange
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1
Zwift Racing League 2023/24 Round 2 Week 4 Guide: Suki’s Playground

The fourth race of Zwift Racing League 2023/24 Round 2 happens Tuesday, December 5, and we’re in Makuri Islands for a scratch race on a new-to-ZRL course.

Let’s dig into crucial sections along with powerup tips, bike choice notes, and more!

Looking at the Route: Suki’s Playground

Never before raced in ZRL and rarely used by race organizers, Suki’s Playground in Makuri Islands will be unfamiliar to many racers. That said, it traverses well-known Yumezi roads, so the learning curve shouldn’t be very steep.

All categories will race two laps for a total of 36.8km with 300 meters of elevation gain.

This route is quite flat apart from two climbs on each lap. Smart racers will anticipate attacks on these climbs, and strong racers will initiate those attacks to thin the herd as the race progresses.

Here are the key points in the race:

  • 5.5km and 23.8km: the longest climb of each lap (2.6km) takes you up into the Castle area and through the marketplace
  • 16.1km and 34.4km: starting just like the first climb, this shorter climb (1.5km) stays right and takes you down to the lap banner
  • Finish: the final 700 meters of this route are downhill, so having an aero boost powerup ready will be a huge advantage!

Read more about the Suki’s Playground route >

PowerUp Notes

Three types of powerups will be awarded during this race: the feather, van, and helmet. Powerups are weighted equally in terms of probability. A total of 4 powerups will be given during the race at the Start/Finish and Country Sprint banners on each lap.

Lightweight (feather) (33%): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on uphills to save some effort where effort will be highest.

Draft Boost (van) (33%): 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.) Great for recovery.

Aero Boost (helmet) (34%): 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.) If you want a shot at the podium, you’ll probably need to use one of these in the final seconds on the fast, downhill finish!

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

An aero bike is the way to go on Suki’s Playground, because the climbs are so short and fast that a lighter bike won’t make much difference. So we recommend the Venge S-Works or Felt AR frames with the DT Swiss Disc wheels.

The Tron bike isn’t a terrible choice here, but you’ll lose a bit of speed in that crucial final downhill sprint.

See Speed Tests: Tron Bike vs Top Performers (Scatter Plot) for more nerd-level detail on frame and wheel performance.

Venge + Disc
Tron bike

More Route Recons

Many recon rides are held each week on the upcoming ZRL route, and they even give you double XP! If you’re unfamiliar with this course, jump into an event and do some recon.

Si Bradeley

Oli Chi

Strategic Options

How will the race unfold? What strategies will riders employ in this scratch race on an unfamiliar route? Remember: in a scratch race, only the finish matters. Here’s what we predict:

  • Attritional Climbs: the finish favors heavier sprinters, so lighter riders may need to go all-out to drop punchy sprinters on the climbs if they want a shot at the podium.
  • Chasing It Back: the pack will string out and split on each climb, but some riders will be able to chase back on during the descents and flats that follow.
  • Tough Finish: the final 2.3km will be brutal, as it begins with a 1.5km climb and finishes with a downhill sprint! Expect lighter riders to attack hard on the climb in hopes of getting away from the sprinters who would otherwise beat them on the downhill. Team tactics could be really interesting here…
  • Hold Onto Your Helmets! We’ve already said this above, but we want to be crystal-clear: the aero powerup will be a huge advantage in the finishing sprint. With only four powerup arches in the race, once you get an aero you’ll probably want to save it for the finish.

Your Thoughts

Any insights or further thoughts on this race? Share below!

Tiny Race Series – December 2 Routes and Last Week’s Results

Eric Schlange
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0
Tiny Race Series – December 2 Routes and Last Week’s Results

Tiny Race Series – December 2 Routes and Last Week’s Results

See zwiftinsider.com/tiny for current Tiny Race details.

Zwift Grand Prix: Round 4 Men’s ZRL TTT Report

Zach Nehr
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1
Zwift Grand Prix: Round 4 Men’s ZRL TTT Report

Zwift Grand Prix: Round 4 Men’s ZRL TTT Report

The Team Time Trial (TTT) was back for Round 4 of the 2023/2024 Zwift Grand Prix. Sixteen men’s teams took on one lap of Watopia’s Waistband in the classic TTT format, mimicking the upcoming round of the Zwift Racing League. Five riders from each team started together, and the team’s time was taken from their third rider across the line. 

Watch the Livestream

It was the first time that time trial bikes had ever been used in the Zwift Grand Prix, and it all kicked off with Primór RWB esports. Each team set off in one-minute increments, with the goal of setting the fastest time over the 27.8km course. 

There were three time splits across Watopia’s Waistband, where teams could see how their times stacked up against the competition. Saris | NoPinz was one of the pre-race favorites, and they set the early mark at the first intermediate time check. The other pre-race favorites were Coalition Alpha, Wahoo Le Col, NeXT eSports pb Enshored, and ABUS – Synergy. 

At the halfway point, Wahoo Le Col had set the fastest time, with NeXT eSports pb Enshored and Beastmode p/b ROSE not far behind. The other favorites were losing time, and they would continue to do so all the way to the finish line.

In the back half of Watopia’s Waistband, teams were really piling on the pressure in hopes of increasing their average speed. Teamwork was paramount, and the fastest teams were the ones who stayed together and rolled the smoothest turns. 

Led by Marc Mäding, Beastmode p/b ROSE surprised the favorites by coming through the finish line with a time of 34:54, more than 15 seconds ahead of Saris | NoPinz and Movistar eTeam. But it wasn’t long before Wahoo Le Col came roaring into the desert, crossing the finish line in a time of 34:37. 

Wahoo Le Col had laid down the mark, and now it was up to Coalition Alpha, NeXT eSports pb Enshored, and ABUS – Synergy to challenge them for the top spot.  Coalition Alpha lost time in the second half of the race, ultimately finishing in 6th with a time of 35:06. 

ABUS – Synergy, leader of the Zwift Grand Prix standings, finished just one second slower than Coalition Alpha, earning them 7th place. 

Coming into the final kilometer, it looked like it was all coming down to NeXT eSports pb Enshored. After losing a few seconds to Wahoo Le Col in the opening kilometers, NeXT eSports pb Enshored had begun clawing back time on the roads of Watopia. They were getting closer and closer, and as the finish line neared, all five riders from NeXT eSports pb Enshored sprinted to the line – but was it enough?

Less than a second… Wahoo Le Col took the win by less than a second. NeXT eSports pb Enshored finished in second place, while Beastmode p/b ROSE surprised many of the pre-race favorites to finish on the podium. 

Round 4’s TTT offered a big shakeup to the Zwift Grand Prix – Series Results Men, with NeXT eSports pb Enshored jumping into second and Wahoo Le Col making the leap into third. The points gap from 1st to 6th is only 23 points, and there are still three rounds to go. 

Coming Up Next

The men’s Zwift Grand Prix field returns in less than two weeks for another round imitating the Zwift Racing League: a 23.7km points race on The Muckle Yin will include five intermediate sprints and points at the finish line. FTS and FAL points are available for the Top 10 at each intermediate sprint. 

The women’s 2023/2024 Zwift Grand Prix continues this week with the Scratch Race on Suki’s Playground on November 30th.

Top 5 Zwift Videos: Smart Trainers, Alpe Du Zwift, and Gamified Racing

Oli Chi
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1
Top 5 Zwift Videos: Smart Trainers, Alpe Du Zwift, and Gamified Racing

Looking for a new smart trainer? Learn about the history and different types of smart trainers from our first video this week. Additionally, we’ve selected videos about all-out Alpe Du Zwift attempts, Zwift’s new gamified racing, tackling the Four Horsemen course, and an amazing Zwift Racing League comeback.

10 Years of Direct Drive Smart Trainers // Generation I vs Generation II

If you’re in the market for a new smart trainer, I would highly recommend taking a look at GPLama’s video comparing different trainers across the years.

Can I Break 50 Minutes on Alpe Du Zwift?

Max from The Watt Life has been hard at work training to break 50 minutes up the Alpe each day. Watch as he gives a recap of his previous attempts and commentates over his sub-50-minute attempt up the Alpe. 

NEW Gamified Crit City | Zwift Play Test: Gabi vs Nathan!

Watch as Nathan and Gabi Guerra test out the new gamified Crit City race format. Can Nathan hold Gabi off for the win?

The Four Horsemen on Zwift!

Ryan Condon is currently on a mission to improve his fitness and lose weight in the process. In his latest video, he tackles the Four Horsemen course after two unsuccessful attempts. 

Zwift Racing League Comeback After Disastrous Start

After some technical difficulties, Scott, aka Zwifter, chases from the back and sees how many spots he can gain in his team’s Zwift Racing League B1 race. 

Got a Great Zwift Video?

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

“End of Year Epic” Mission Announced for December

Eric Schlange
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7
“End of Year Epic” Mission Announced for December

“End of Year Epic” Mission Announced for December

Zwift has rolled out a fresh Mission for December, and it’s all about accumulating distance. See below for details!

Note: signups opened this week, but the Mission doesn’t begin until December 4.

Getting Started

To begin the Mission, select the mission card on your homescreen and click to register:

Once you’ve registered, clicking the mission card will show your Mission progress.

Completing the Mission

To complete the mission and earn the achievement badge, accumulate at least 365 kilometers (227 miles) of riding between between December 4-31.

Do It All

For many serious Zwifters, 365km in a month isn’t much. So why not make it interesting? Accumulate the required distance by riding every road in Zwift, which will put you at ~387km if you do it perfectly with no repeats.

Questions or Comments?

Post below!

Virtual Velo Podcast, Episode 34: WTRL’s Martin Carew on Zwift Racing League

Eric Schlange
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1
Virtual Velo Podcast, Episode 34: WTRL’s Martin Carew on Zwift Racing League

Virtual Velo Podcast, Episode 34: WTRL’s Martin Carew on Zwift Racing League

The Zwift Racing League is quite possibly the largest community-based racing league in the world. Does it also have the most cheaters, cruisers, and sandbaggers?

WTRL’s Martin Carew is here to say he’s doing things on his end, but can he and is Zwift doing enough? In episode 34 of the Virtual Velo Podcast, Chris and Si ask those questions and more!

Martin explains the built-in anti-cheating system he has in place, the challenge of finding the perfect balance between credibility and inclusivity, and the limitations he faces.

Plus, the guys introduce a new recurring feature they call “Cycling Shorts”: a complete rundown of cycling esports headlines, insider information, investigative reporting, and industry trends. Another way that the Virtual Velo Network is your central source for cycling esports!

Chris also shares insight from his conversations with Eric Min, USAC’s Jim Miller, Matt Stephens, and other cycling dignitaries while covering the Star Track Benefit for Cycling Weekly.

Follow the Virtual Velo Podcast on Spotify, Apple, Google, Amazon, Stitcher, Castbox, RadioPublic, or Podbean.

Zwift Fondo Series 2024 Announced

Eric Schlange
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21
Zwift Fondo Series 2024 Announced

Zwift Fondo Series 2024 Announced

Zwift’s annual fondo series is a popular tradition where thousands of riders push themselves to finish long rides. The series kicks off this weekend, and Zwift has made some fun changes this year:

  • A progressive route schedule which gets slightly longer each month, using new routes each month
  • An expanded event schedule for more availability
  • A fresh kit to unlock each month

Here are all the details about this year’s fondo series…

Zwift Fondo Schedule

Fondo weekends will happen once a month for three months, beginning this weekend and ending the last weekend of January 2024:

  • November 30, 2023 – December 3, 2023 (Feast Fondos)
  • December 29, 2023 – December 31, 2023 (Holiday Fondos)
  • January 26, 2024 – January 28, 2024 (Gourmet Fondos)

Each weekend’s fondos kick off Thursday morning at 5am UTC (12am EST, Wednesday 9pm PST) and are scheduled every three hours until Monday 5am UTC/12am EST/Sunday 9pm PST).

See Upcoming Zwift Fondos and Sign Up

Fondo Routes: “The Feast”

Each month will feature different routes, most not used in Zwift fondos of years past. Riders can choose between a short, medium, and long route (traditionally called the Bambino, Medio, and Gran Fondo, respectively). As the series progresses each month, the short, medium, and long options get slightly longer.

Here are the routes for this weekend (Nov 30-Dec 3):

  • Gourmet Fondo: France Classic Fondo
    • Custom Length: 91.5km/56.9 miles, 686m/2,250′ elevation (this appears to end at the Ballon Sprint)
  • Savory Fondo: Tire-Bouchon
    • 1 lap (63.7km/39.6 miles, 589m/1,932′ elevation)
  • Feast Fondo: Casse Pattes
    • 2 laps (46.5km/28.9 miles, 310m/1,017′ elevation)

Fondo Routes: “The Holidays”

Here are the routes for the weekend of Dec 29-31:

  • Jolly Fondo: Gran Fondo 2022
    • 1 lap: 92.8km/57.7 miles, 1116m/3,661′ elevation
  • Spark Fondo: Big Foot Hills
    • 1 lap (69.7km/43.3 miles, 713m/2,339′ elevation)
  • Festive Fondo: The Big Ring
    • 1 laps (51.1km/31.8 miles, 273m/895′ elevation)

Fondo Routes: “New Year’s”

We don’t yet know the routes for the weekend of Jan 26-28 since they haven’t been added to the calendar, but we know their lengths:

  • Triumph: Gran Fondo
    • 1 lap: 97.7km/60.7 miles, 1148m/3,766′ elevation
  • Rise: The Pretzel
    • 1 lap: 72.7km/45.2 miles, 1333m/4,373′ elevation
  • Elevate: Eastern Eight
    • 54.1km/33.6 miles, 413m/1,355′ elevation
See Upcoming Zwift Fondos and Sign Up

Kit Unlocks

This year, you can unlock a different fondo kit each month by completing any of the three fondo distances. Here’s a shot of all three kits:

These kits are exclusive, meaning they will never be available anywhere else. A true badge of honor!

Is this a race?

Officially, no. But hundreds (possibly thousands) of riders will turn out for each of these popular “fun race” events, and the front of each category will certainly be filled with strong riders going all out.

With so many riders taking part, everyone should be able to find a group going at their desired pace. You do you!

How the Categories Work

Unlike other Zwift events, the A, B, and C groups don’t refer to rider strength or fitness. Instead, they correspond to route and distance options:

  • A Group (~90 km Gran Fondo)
  • B Group (~70 km Medio fondo)
  • C Group (~50 km Bambino fondo)

Questions or Comments?

Post below!

How Many Kilometers (or Miles) of Road Does Each Zwift Map Have?

Eric Schlange
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35
How Many Kilometers (or Miles) of Road Does Each Zwift Map Have?

How Many Kilometers (or Miles) of Road Does Each Zwift Map Have?

A Zwifter recently asked me how many miles of roads are in Watopia, and I had to confess, to my abject shame, that I didn’t know.

So I set out to find the answer. It took some doing – lots of clicking on route details and mousework on Strava – but I’ve computed road length estimates for every map in Zwift as of October 15, 2025.

MapKmMiles
Bologna8.05.0
Crit City1.91.2
France5534.2
Innsbruck23.214.4
London40.925.4
Makuri Islands70.944.1
New York21.313.2
Paris6.64.1
Richmond16.210.1
Scotland14.38.9
Watopia136.484.8
Yorkshire13.88.6
Total408.5253.8

Note: I didn’t double-count road length in the above table. For this calculation, a 10km stretch of 2-way road is worth 10km, not 20km.

That’s Not All, Folks

I didn’t include the experimental Gravel Mountain map in the list above since it’s never been open to the public for free riding or events. This map contains a single loop of dirt road that is 5.2 km (3.2 miles) long.

Also not included on the list are Zwift’s Climb Portal roads, since I wasn’t quite sure how to best count them. They aren’t freely accessible roads, plus they technically exist in two places and are thus seen as different roads by Strava if you ride them in Watopia or France. That said, it’s worth mentioning that there are currently 421 km (261.6 miles) worth of Climb Portal roads spread across 44 different climbs which rotate on a set schedule. That’s a lot of new “tarmac!”

Add the Gravel Mountain loop and colorful Climb Portal roads to the list above and you’ve got 834.7 km (518.7 miles) of roads in Zwift.

Your Thoughts

Share below!

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