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Zwift Games Announced: “Largest Cycling Esports Competition Ever Held”

Zwift Games Announced: “Largest Cycling Esports Competition Ever Held”

Today, Zwift announced plans to hold the inaugural “Zwift Games” beginning in late February 2024. While we don’t have all the details, this looks to be unlike any competition we’ve seen on Zwift, offering a large prize purse and competition across three disciplines in what Zwift describes as “the most democratic cycling championship ever held.”

The entire press release can be found below. We’ll share more information in the coming weeks as it is made available.


Zwift, the global online fitness platform, is set to redefine and amplify cycling esports with the launch of Zwift Games. Set to become the largest cycling esports event ever held, the Zwift Games are designed to give any cyclist the chance to enjoy fun and challenging virtual competition and to compete alongside thousands of other Zwifters. 

The Zwift Games are open to all, providing an open qualification pathway to the Zwift Games Elite Finals and the chance to be crowned overall Zwift Games Champion. Qualification races will take place in late February 2024, with Zwift Games Elite Finals to be held over the first two weeks of March 2024. The Zwift Games will crown men’s and women’s Champions across the three medal disciplines, as well as overall male and female champions. Winners will also take home a share of Zwift’s biggest-ever prize purse. 

To give Zwifters a look at the future of Cycling Esports, Zwift will also host exhibition races that showcase the latest innovations in Zwift racing.  

Uniquely, any Zwifter from around the world will be able to enter any of the Championship events and experience the fun of competition. Zwifters interested in participating in the Games without vying for the overall crown of Zwift Games Champion world title can enter community events linked to each Championship. Such an open competition promises to make the Zwift Games the most democratic cycling championship ever held. 

The Zwift Games will include the following three championship races: 

The Sprint Championship: This race is built with the best elements of the Zwift Battle Royale pioneered for the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. A challenge for the best cycling esports sprinters, racers will tackle several events back-to-back on a variety of courses, including some that are new to Zwift. Qualifiers will be open to all Zwift riders with the top finishers progressing to the finals. 

The Epic Championship: This is the race for Zwift’s steeliest athletes, those who like to go long. This grueling race will be at least 60km long, and will test every facet of competitors’ resolve. The race will make use of Watopia’s new Coastal Causeway and a new route. An Epic community event will take place at the same time as the championship, and any Zwifter can participate in either event without a qualifier, creating what may be the world’s largest-ever cycling esports event! 

The Hill Climb Championship: Since it first opened in 2018, the Alpe du Zwift has been a Zwift monument and right-of-passage for the more than 600,000 Zwifters who have navigated its 21 hairpin turns and scaled its heights. During the Zwift Games, the mountain goats of Zwift racing will have the chance to race from the bottom of this icon to the top and definitively establish who is the best Cycling Esports climber. With so many racers attempting to set a fast time on the iconic course, we could see new records for the ascent. Interested in participating in a group climb, but not looking to race? You can join in the accompanying community challenge, which will also feature the Alpe and other iconic Zwift climbs, that all have different levels of challenge.  

Like all Zwift races, parity will be a central pillar of the Zwift Games. Race distances will be equal for men and women, and prize money will be split equally. 

Further details, including the exact dates, formats, information on global broadcasts, and prize purse distribution will be shared in December.


Your Thoughts

Share below!


Tiny Race Series – November 11 Routes and Last Week’s Results

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Tiny Race Series – November 11 Routes and Last Week’s Results

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


Zwift Racing League 2023/24 Round 2 Week 1 Guide: London Loop Reverse

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The first race of Zwift Racing League 2023/24 Round 2 happens Tuesday, November 14. We’ll be in London for a two-lap scratch race on the London Loop Reverse route.

With custom powerups and a tough key climb, there’s much to discuss along with our usual topics of bike choice, strategic options, and crucial segments. Let’s go!

Scratch Race Scoring for Round 2

WTRL has changed how scratch races are scored for round 2, so this is the first race using the new scoring scheme.

Scratch race scoring now awards 80 finish points for the winner, decreasing in 1-point increments for everyone else with all riders receiving at least 1 point for finishing.

See ZRL scoring details at wtrl.racing/zwift-racing-league/#scoring

Looking at the Route: London Loop Reverse

All categories are racing two laps of the London Loop Reverse route for a total race length of 29.8km with 462 meters of elevation. Here’s what the route looks like on lap one, starting in the start pens:

Clearly the Fox Hill KOM is the big climb/feature of this route. Notably, the climb actually begins before the KOM start line. On your first lap the road will tilt up around 2.1km, with the KOM officially beginning at 2.7km.

The average gradient of the Fox Hill KOM segment is 4.3%, but don’t let that fool you: the last 1/3 of this segment is downhill or flat, meaning the climbing portion of the segment actually averages 7.4%. From the start of the climbing (before the KOM start line) to the top of the climb you’ve got 2.3km of distance to cover.

As you pass through the KOM banner you’ll receive an anvil powerup. Expect everyone to use their anvils on the Box Hill descent, and watch that you don’t get dropped off the back as riders accelerate! Use this section to recover as much as possible, and be sure to give a good kick up and over the ramp out of the Underground station so you don’t get dropped from your group.

We’ll loop back again through the start/finish area, picking up a feather at the start/finish arch and starting our second lap. Rest up, because it’s almost time for another go at Fox Hill!

The finish will be interesting this week, as it’s not one many racers are familiar with. With 1.4km to go the road tilts up, making this a great place to launch a long attack. Then with 500 meters left the road tilts downward, giving us a very fast run-in to the finish line. Anvil powerups will be useful here.

Read more about the London Loop Reverse route >

PowerUp Notes

Anvil powerups will be awarded at the arch atop Fox Hill, while feathers will be awarded at the start/finish arch before we start our second Fox Hill climb. That means each rider will receive two anvils and one feather.

Lightweight (feather) (given at start/finish banner, end of lap 1): reduces your weight by 10% for 30 seconds. Use on Fox Hill climb, when weight matters the most.

Anvil (given at Fox Hill KOM banner): makes you heavier for up to 15 seconds, so you can descend faster. The amount of weight added is based on a percentage of your body weight, and that percentage increases as riders get lighter. It won’t hurt you, as it only adds weight when the road is at a -1.5% decline or greater. Use it on descents, including Box Hill and the run-in to the finish line.

Bike Frame + Wheel Choice

An all-arounder like the Tron bike is a good choice for this race since the most arduous efforts and key selections will happen on the climb up Fox Hill.

That said, if you’re confident you can hang with the front group up and over Fox Hill, you may want to go with a super-aero finisher such as the Venge + Disc combo since all the points in this race will be earned at the finish line.

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

More Route Recons

Many recon rides are now being planned each week on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re unfamiliar with this course, jump into an event and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming London Loop Reverse events.

Si Bradeley

Strategic Options

How will the race unfold, and what strategies will riders employ in the first race of round 2? Here’s what we predict:

  • Major selections on Fox Hill: expect the field to be reduced by 50-60% the first time up Fox Hill, then further reduced by 30-50% the second time up. Your 5-7 minute w/kg will be crucial.
  • A wild finish: with all the points waiting at the finish line, riders will be putting extra thought into how to finish strong. Expect long attacks from 1.4km out, and a very fast final 500 meters thanks to saved anvils.
  • Chasing on the flats: riders who lack the W/kg may find themselves dropped on Fox Hill, but able to chase back on during the Box Hill descent or the flats that follow. But climbers will want to work on the second lap to stay away from chasing sprinters! Who will win the game of tug-o-war?
  • Saved anvils: expect riders to save their second anvil, using it in the final kilometer instead of on the Box Hill descent.

Your Thoughts

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

Fast Dirt: Testing Zwift’s Rolling Resistance Changes

Fast Dirt: Testing Zwift’s Rolling Resistance Changes

Zwift’s physics, like outdoor physics, are influenced by many factors including rider weight, virtual bike choice, power output, and virtual environment (gradient, air resistance, rolling resistance, etc).

Yesterday’s Zwift update to game version 1.52 included three notes about rolling resistance changes:

  1. Reduced rolling resistance proportionally across road, gravel, and mountain bike wheelsets when riding on dirt road types.
  2. Reduced rolling resistance for the ENVE G23 wheelsets to match other gravel wheelsets on gravel and dirt road types. 
  3. Corrected the rolling resistance of the Zwift Mountain bike wheelset on brick road types.

The first change is the biggest news, but I’ll cover all three notes below. Let’s dive in!

Faster Rolling Dirt

Rolling resistance is known as “Crr” in the cycling world (read all about Crr on Zwift), and yesterday’s update significantly lowered the Crr of dirt surfaces throughout Zwift. Here is a table showing the old and new dirt Crr values for each of Zwift’s three main bike types:

Old CrrNew Crr% Crr ReducedWatt Reduction*
Road.025.01636%80W
MTB.014.0129%36W
Gravel.016.01225%36W

* “Watt Reduction” represents how much less power riders will need in order to travel at 40kph with the new Crr values. This assumes a 75kg rider on a 7kg bike.

While this change has made the dirt roll faster for all bike types, the change isn’t as “proportional” as Zwift’s note may imply. As you can see, road bike riders are saving 80W with this change, while MTB and gravel riders are saving 36W.

Another way to look at it: if you’re on a road bike going all-out while climbing up the Jungle road (a regular occurrence in races), this change gives you back 80W that would have previously been used to overcome rolling resistance. That’s a lot of watts!

So, how much faster is the dirt? We ran some tests with our bots, using a 75kg rider holding 300W steady.

Our first test was on Makuri Islands’ Kappa Quest route, which features the map’s key dirt section (the Temple KOM climb) plus some tarmac. It’s a great test route to show how changes in rolling resistance affect particular sections and overall lap times on mixed-surface routes.

Old Kappa Quest Times

BikeClimbDescentForestTarmacLap
Zwift Concept Z1 Tron (Road)7:362:241:535:1217:05
Trek Supercaliber (MTB)7:112:201:465:3816:55
Specialized Crux (Gravel) with
Zwift Gravel wheels
7:112:221:495:2916:51
Specialized Crux (Gravel) with
ENVE G23 wheels
7:012:211:485:2716:37

New Kappa Quest Times

BikeClimbDescentForestTarmacLap
Zwift Concept Z1 Tron (Road)6:552:171:455:1216:06
Trek Supercaliber (MTB)6:522:171:435:3316:25
Specialized Crux (Gravel) with
Zwift Gravel wheels
6:432:181:445:2716:12
Specialized Crux (Gravel) with
ENVE G23 wheels
6:432:181:445:2716:12

A few notes on the results above:

  • Previously, the Tron bike was 35 seconds slower up the Temple KOM compared to the Crux gravel bike. Now that gap has shrunk to just 12 seconds, which is right around how long it takes a well-trained rider to swap bikes in Zwift.
  • The Tron bike essentially matches the gravel and MTB’s times on the descent, thanks to its superior aerodynamics and newly-reduced Crr.
  • Zwift has updated their stock gravel wheels to match the name-brand gravel wheels, so all available gravel wheels perform identically. This is probably a good move. Less confusing!
  • You may notice this week’s update also made the MTB faster on tarmac. More on that below.

Jungle Lap Times

Of course, the Mayan Jungle is where Zwifters encounter dirt most often. This is especially true now that Zwift has opened up their southern coast road! How did the dirt Crr change affect Jungle speeds? We did some test laps of the Jungle Circuit:

BikeOldNewDifference
Zwift Concept Z1 (Road)14:57.813:35.51-1:22.3
Scott Spark RC (MTB)13:53.0913:18.05-0:35.0
Specialized Crux (Gravel) with
ENVE G23 wheels
13:53.6313:20.22-0:33.4

Wow! While all three bike types got faster, the road bike got much faster.

To Swap, or Not To Swap?

Prior to this week’s change, riders would often swap to a gravel or MTB when hitting key dirt sections like the Temple KOM or Jungle Circuit in a race. If you were able to swap quickly this was a smart move in many situations, since you could put a lot of time into your non-swapping competitors.

But given the results above, does it make sense anymore to swap from a road bike to a gravel or MTB when hitting the dirt?

Probably not. Certainly, if you’re in a situation where you’ll need to swap from road to gravel/MTB then back again, a swap no longer makes sense because you aren’t saving enough time swapping to make up for the cost of both swaps (approximately 25 seconds).

With that said, swapping may make sense if it’s a one-way swap. For example, if you’re in a Makuri Islands race that finishes atop the Temple KOM, it may make sense to swap to a gravel bike when you hit the dirt, since you can stay on that bike all the way to the finish line. (This would especially make sense if you’re going for a fast segment time and make the swap before the KOM start line).

ENVE G23 Fix

Zwift’s update 1.51 included a config error for the ENVE G23 gravel wheels – they didn’t get updated to roll faster on gravel like all the other gravel wheels. This week that error was fixed, so now the ENVE wheels match the performance of all other gravel wheels.

I already mentioned this above, but it’s worth noting again that Zwift also changed their Zwift-branded gravel wheels to match the performance of the name-brand gravel wheelsets, so all the gravel wheelsets now perform identically.

Faster MTB Wheels

Zwift says this week’s update “Corrected the rolling resistance of the Zwift Mountain bike wheelset on brick road types” but it would be more precise to say Zwift has made their MTB wheelset roll slightly faster on nearly all surfaces.

Along with the dirt change already noted above, this week’s change reduces the MTB wheels’ Crr from .01 to .009 on the following surfaces: Pavement, Sand, Brick, Wood, and Cobbles.

You still won’t be seeing many mountain bikes out there on Zwift roads, but at least they’ll be a bit faster.

Questions or Comments?

What do you think of Zwift making their dirt faster? Will you be doing any swapping in the future? Share below!


Zwift Update Version 1.52 (122317) Released

The latest Zwift update has been announced and will be released in phases over the next few days. Starting this week, Zwift will be rolling out releases on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays.

This release doesn’t include new features, but makes changes to how Zwift works in areas like rolling resistance, HUD elements, and steering. Let’s dive in!

Rolling Resistance Changes

Zwift’s release notes say, “Reduced rolling resistance proportionally across road, gravel, and mountain bike wheelsets when riding on dirt road types.” There are two additional rolling resistance-related notes as well, and we’ve included them below along with a note from us:

  • Reduced rolling resistance for the ENVE G23 wheelsets to match other gravel wheelsets on gravel and dirt road types. This is just a fix for a config error introduced in version v1.51. Now the ENVE wheels match the performance of all other gravel wheels.
  • Corrected the rolling resistance of the Zwift Mountain bike wheelset on brick road types. Zwift actually adjusted the Crr of the MTB wheels on all hard surfaces, dropping it from .01 to .009. So the MTB will be slightly faster on pavement, brick, wood, cobbles, and sand… but still quite slow compared to road or gravel bikes.
SurfaceOld Road CrrNew Road CrrOld MTB CrrNew MTB CrrOld Gravel CrrNew Gravel Crr
Pavement.004.004.01.009.008.008
Sand.004.004.01.009.008.008
Brick.0055.0055.01.009.008.008
Wood.0065.0065.01.009.008.008
Cobbles.0065.0055.01.009.008.008
Ice/Snow.0075.0075.014.014.018.018
Gravel.012.012.009.009.009.009
Dirt.025.016.014.01.016.012
Grass.042

This is bigger news than the gravel resistance changes in version 1.51, because the dirt surface is used in more places on Zwift, including notable sections like the Mayan Jungle and Makuri Islands’ Temple KOM.

How much has rolling resistance changed on Zwift dirt? Quite a lot – especially for road bikes.

Old CrrNew Crr% Crr ReducedWatt Reduction*
Road.025.01636%80W
MTB.014.0129%36W
Gravel.016.01225%36W

* “Watt Reduction” represents how much less power riders will need in order to travel at 40kph with the new Crr values. This assumes a 75kg rider on a 7kg bike.

Why the change? We think it’s because Zwift has heard many Zwifters saying, “We love the new coastal road, but don’t like slogging through the slow Jungle.” These Crr changes will speed up the Jungle significantly, especially for road bikes, possibly bringing an end to the Zwifty practice of bike swapping.

Learn more about these changes by reading our followup post, “Fast Dirt: Testing Zwift’s Rolling Resistance Changes.”

Power Display

We previously noted that Zwift’s power numbers were updating rapidly (several times per second) when connected to trainers like the Zwift Hub or Wahoo KICKR which broadcast at higher frequencies (aka 10Hz “race mode”).

Today’s update reduces the refresh rate to approximately 1Hz if you have power display set to 3 seconds, while preserving the instantaneous updates if you’re set to “instant”. As it should be.

Watopia Expansion Cleanup

Heading out from the Jungle to the new coastal road

As often happens after a big expansion, Zwift had some cleaning up to do once Zwifters began exploring the new tarmac. Three minor improvements were made on the new southern coast road:

  • We mowed – and then paved over – the grass that was incorrectly growing on one section of roadway.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause black squares to appear in some areas.
  • Improved rendering and reduced frequency of objects and buildings “popping in” on approach.

Steering Improvements

Zwift continues to improve the game’s steering functionality, with every update including a note or two about steering changes. Here are the two notes from today’s update:

  • Fixed an issue that could potentially cause Zwifters with steering enabled to get pushed toward the center of the road when drafting a rider to their left.
  • Zwifters can now filter events based on whether steering is required or not.

Slowing the Band(its)

Zwift says this update, “Improved the behavior of the “Keep Everyone Together” (i.e. rubber-banding) option in group rides to maintain more realistic speeds on routes with high gradients like Alpe du Zwift.”

Our guess is this is aimed at rides like Sunday’s BanditZ Tronathon, a social banded ride which takes riders up Alpe du Zwift. While Zwift doesn’t say whether this change is intended to slow riders down or speed them up, our money is on banded rides being slower up the Alpe.

More Release Notes

Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:

  • Zwift Hub: Zwifters who use Play controllers with Zwift Hub updated to firmware 5.2 or newer will now receive an in-game tutorial introducing them to Virtual Shifting and letting them choose whether to have it enabled or disabled by default.
  • Zwift Hub: For Zwift Hubs that are updated to firmware 5.2 or newer, fixed an issue which could cause the spanner/wrench (i.e. calibration) icon to briefly appear on the Pairing screen after pairing the Hub. Manual calibration is no longer applicable because Auto Calibration is in effect.
  • Fixed missing shadows from some trees on Alpe du Zwift.
  • Workout Editor: Fixed an issue that could cause the numbers on the duration timeline to flicker.
  • Ride leader fences will now be enabled by default.
  • Fixed a visual issue that could affect the nameplates of Zwifters behind you.

Android:

  • Fixed a potential crash that could occur when opening the Settings screen.
  • Fixed a potential crash that could occur when exiting Zwift.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause the game to momentarily dim after hitting a boost strip on Repack Rush.

Discuss this release on Zwift’s forum >

Questions or Comments?

If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!

Top 5 Zwift Videos: Watopia’s Southern Coast – The Community’s Perspective

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Zwifters rejoice! Zwift has recently released the first expansion to Watopia in 3 years! With game version 1.51, riders can now access the new southern coast of Watopia, an expansion that takes riders from the Fuego Flats desert to the Mayan Jungle. Watch these videos to see what the community has to say about the new expansion.

Watopia Southern Coast Road Expansion: New Zwift Roads

Shane Miller, GPLama gives Zwifters the full rundown on the new expansion. He provides details on the courses, sprint segments, and some other easter eggs that Zwift has included.

How tough can it be?! New routes added to Zwift!

After receiving the new update, Katie Kookaburra hops on Zwift to check out the new routes. Watch as she talks about the new expansion and explores the new roads.

New Zwift Coastal Roads in Watopia

Tariq Ali from Smart Bike Trainers talks through the different parts of the new expansion as he rides through the new roads. Additionally, he provides details about the new routes.

New Zwift Watopia Expansion! 8 New Routes and 19km of New Roads

If you’re looking for some quick and concise information about these new roads, tune into DesFit’s 4-minute video. This covers route details, sprint details, and more!

Big Zwift update! First Ride On 19km Of New Roads In Watopia

Road.cc rides the new roads and talks through each of the different sections of the expansion. Details on routes, potential future expansions, and some easter eggs are also included in this video.

Got a Great Zwift Video?

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

What are these new buttons on Zwift’s action bar?

What are these new buttons on Zwift’s action bar?

The most recent Zwift update added two buttons to the action bar:

What do they do exactly? Zwift’s release notes don’t mention them, so I decided to do a little testing…

Getting Them To Show Up

First things first: chances are you aren’t even seeing these buttons in your action bar. The action bar’s options change based on what you’re doing in Zwift, and these new buttons only show up (as far as I can tell) in one very specific scenario.

First, you have to have a smart trainer paired as “controllable”. Next, you must be in workout mode. Lastly, you have to have Erg mode turned off.

So these only show up for smart trainer users who are doing a workout with Erg mode turned off. But what do they do?

Resistance Changer

The buttons show a smart trainer with a + or – sign next to it. Mouse over them and the + says “Harder” while the – says “Easier”. Click the + button and your trainer resistance will increase. Click the – button and it will decrease. You’ll even see a little vertical resistance meter moving up and down to the right of the main center HUD element:

See resistance gauge to right of center HUD

So these are trainer resistance adjusters. Interesting. But why has Zwift added this option to the game? I have three theories…

Theory 1: A Niche Feature

It’s possible that the current scope and functionality of this feature is all that’s planned. If so, what problem is Zwift trying to solve?

It would be a very niche issue: if someone was doing a workout on a low-geared bike (such as a MTB or city bike) and preferred doing workouts with ERG turned off, this feature would be helpful.

In this scenario, the workout may ask you to put out a higher number of watts (say, 450W) but you may not have a high enough gear to give you the resistance needed to hit those power numbers. Bumping up your trainer’s base resistance level would basically make your bike feel like it has higher gears.

Theory 2: An Unannounced Beta Test

Perhaps this is a new feature Zwift plans to roll out to the action bar in all scenarios, but they wanted to test the feature with a more limited audience. Having it only show up when Erg mode is off would let riders “in the know” test the feel and functionality of the resistance changes before a larger releases.

Theory 3: A Mistake

Lastly, there is the possibility that these buttons are still under development and weren’t supposed to be included in the public release.

Potentially Useful

Easier is good

My hunch is that theory 2 or 3 are correct, and Zwift plans to roll this feature out to the action bar in more scenarios. At least, I hope that’s the case.

Why would Zwift release such a feature? Because it lets you dial in your mechanical gearing for a better experience. Depending on how your bike is geared you might spin out on hard sprints or descents (gearing is too low overall) or you might grind to a halt on steep climbs (gearing is too high overall). This has always been a problem for people who ride mountain bikes on Zwift (real ones, not virtual ones), and while virtual shifting solves the problem, it only solves the problem for people who own a Zwift Hub trainer with a Click or Play controllers for shifting.

Adding these resistance-changing buttons to the action bar in (almost) all ride scenarios would let all smart trainer users dial in their gearing nicely. The only time it wouldn’t make sense to show the option would be while doing a workout in Erg mode, since the game is setting the proper resistance automatically.

It’s worth noting that Zwift is saving the resistance setting between sessions, too. This indicates that Zwift sees this as a way to dial in your trainer not just for specific times on specific workouts, but for your training overall. So I’m hopeful that this feature will be available in more scenarios soon.

Questions or Comments?

That’s my take on Zwift’s unannounced action bar addition. But what’s yours? Share below!