Points are available on each lap and for the first 30 finishers in each category
First 15 riders in each category across the New York Sprint line each lap earn points (35,30,25,20,15,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1)
Fastest 30 riders in each sprint segment on each lap earn points (50, 45, 40, 38, 36, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)
First 30 riders across the finish line at the end of the event earn points (100, 90, 80, 75, 70, 65, 60, 55, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)
These points are added and championship points are awarded to the top 30 point scorers. The best five of eight races count towards individual and team championships.
Championship Points for the top 30 point scorers (200, 180, 160, 150, 140, 130, 120, 110, 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2)
Individual and Team Competitions
Each rider’s best five Championship Points results will count towards determining the overall series champions.
The individual riders with the most Championship Points win for the season. There is also a team championship, with scoring based on your team’s four highest point scorers from each race. Team championship requires three finishers in each race.
This Saturday we’re spinning up the first in a set of weekly races dubbed the “Tiny Race Series”. Each week will feature four short events raced back-to-back in under an hour. It’s a great way to earn ZwiftPower ranking points, get a solid VO2 workout, and just have fun going all-out in a different sort of Zwift race!
The idea is to race all four events, earning points in each event based on your finishing position. The overall winners (available on ZwiftPower) are the riders with the most points across all four races.
With three timezones and four categories, we’ll be crowning twelve winners each week.
Just One Powerup
Each tiny race will feature just one powerup, given each time riders go through an arch. That way, everyone knows what everyone has, and there’s no “luck of the draw”! (See powerup details under “Route Details” below).
Schedule
Each race is on a different route, all around 5km long, so they’ll each take 6-10 minutes to complete. Races are scheduled 15 minutes apart, so you can sign up and race all four in under an hour.
There are three timezones/leagues set up so Zwifters can find a time slot that suits them well.
These may shift in coming weeks, but for the kickoff races this Saturday, here are the start times for each timezone:
Saturday, July 30 starting at 8am UTC (6pm AEST/4am EDT/1am PDT)
Saturday, July 30 starting at 2pm UTC (midnight AEST/10am EDT/7am PDT)
Saturday, July 30 starting at 8pm UTC (6am Sunday AEST/4pm EDT/1pm PDT)
As usual, Zwift will display preliminary results when you cross the line, but final race results will be on ZwiftPower.
Riders will earn points based on finish position in each of the 4 Tiny Races. The category winner of each week’s series is the rider with the most points across their timezone’s 4 races. Here are the links for each timezone’s results on ZwiftPower:
How the Race Was Won (On ZwiftPower): Zwift Classics, Watopia Cup
Having lost a significant amount of weight (32kg,) I’ve spent the last 12 months or so floundering as either a very, very low A or a high B. Racing A I struggled to even hang on to the front group on a flat route, and as a B I would lose the group on short inclines like the last of the Esses in Watopia or basically anywhere in New York.
Because my weight essentially determined the category I was in (obviously watts were also a factor) and I don’t have good one-minute power, racing was a struggle.
With my (not so) new (anymore) job, the times that I’ve been able to race have been limited. I will generally start at about 0830 and finish around 1900. I have meetings with my Californian colleagues once they wake up, with my being in the UK, so 1600-1900 is often a busy time for me. This means that I will generally ride between around 1300-1500 on a weekday.
I love my job and spending time with my US colleagues, but the times that I ride normally aren’t conducive to larger racing events. I’m also extremely thankful to be working for a company that gives me the flexibility to be able to ride 1-2 hours each work day, supporting my fitness and mental health by doing so. But through racing less, I’ve lost a decent amount of muscle and put on a bunch (11kg) of weight.
My team recently launched our new outlook on individual racing – firstly with our Crit Racing series and now with the Zwift Classics. This gives everyone a chance to race, with 16 options daily and a new route each week (with the Crit Racing series, there were 5 courses which changed daily). All of a sudden this meant there were races available, with decent attendances, times that suited me. Hello pain!
Dropping My Cat
For my first attempt at racing in the Classics, I was a very, very low B (I think in Category Enforcement terms I was 3.21w/kg). I managed to hold the group at the start, but then there was a minute long 10% incline. I’ve mentioned my one-minute power! Bye-bye group! Came third last 🙂
On Friday my decline had steadily continued to being a Category Enforced C rider, coming in at a princely 3.196w/kg (I have received suitable levels of abuse from my team (thanks Sean, Simon!) and entered the 1310 race. There was a decent attendance with 22 C racers by the time the timer hit zero.
The route was Two Bridges Loop, starting with a gradual incline almost straight out of the pen, into the Esses, and then the start of the Reverse Hilly KOM, before taking the bypass back down the hill towards the start/finish line. Three laps of fun!
The Start
It’s probably been about a year since I last entered a C race, so I had genuinely no idea what to expect. I was worried that I’d lose the group on the first incline out of the pen, so I had a good warmup and was ready for battle!
It was the usual fast start to the race, but not too brutal and the first incline was relatively steady at around 3.5w/kg. I kept being a bit of a novice and poking my head out the front before being swarmed by the rest of the pack. I got to the top and tried my best to remain in the middle of the group. Then came the Esses – I’ve been dropped on the last of these so many times and again wasn’t sure what to expect, so kicked hard and hit the top in around 2nd place before coasting down the hill.
Then we came to the reverse KOM and I hit the start line, placed poorly, as usual, in the back half of the pack. Luckily I had a feather, which I used on the corner where the gradient spikes sharply and kicked. HARD. I moved my way to the front of the group and a few others kicked to go with me. By the time we reached the descent, we had a group of 6 with a lead of about 7 seconds.
We held our lead for most of the second lap until we were just about to hit the KOM again. I jokingly messaged and said we should try and break them again to get our little group back. This climb felt like the hardest of the three and I got shelled out the back of the lead group of about four by a couple of seconds. This meant I had to work really hard on the downhill, but thankfully caught the group by the time we were back on the flats and took a deep breath (or possibly more like erratic panting).
Final Lap Ramp
Beginning the final lap
For the final lap I figured no one was going to go absolutely berserk on the last climb, because hanging on to a lead with a group descending behind is probably ill-advised. But we still hit the climb hard and all six of us crested together and coasted down the hill.
At this stage, I’d already picked where I was going to start my sprint. Two bridges (funny, given the name of the route) from the finish line was a good marker and around 300m out and seemed a good place to ramp it up. I’m terrible at picking up on when others start to go and will always pick a point where I want to go from. I’d been ramping through my gears for about the previous 300m and then I gave it everything I had. I was at the back of the group of six and was worried I’d left it too late before I surged through in the last 50m and ROARED as I crossed the finish line! I had won!
But I hadn’t. I was in second place, 3s behind the actual winner. He’d played a tactical blinder and used his ghost powerup and had (presumably) gone about 5s earlier than anyone else. Because no one could see him, no one chased!
If It’s Not On ZwiftPower…
So whilst feeling a mixture of elation and disappointment, I did what any self-respecting Zwift racer would do and opened ZwiftPower. The racer who had beaten me hadn’t connected their account and because results are only real if they’re in ZwiftPower, I had won!
I’d had a thoroughly enjoyable 35 minutes or so and would encourage everyone to give the Classics a go. The fields are good, this one especially, is a really fun racing route and I can’t wait to do it all over again on the Casse-Pattes route in France!
Repack Ridge, Zwift’s first mountain bike trail, launched in October 2019 as a way to test steering using the Companion app. It was a fun little 3km stretch of singletrack full of the twists, drops, and scenic views mountain biking is known for:
But development on the mountain bike side of things essentially stalled after the Repack release. Sure, we’ve seen more mountain bikes added to the game (6 total now, including the initial “Zwift Mountain” bike). And the Makuri Islands Temple KOM has a singletrack width similar to Repack.
Yet it feels like Zwift has nearly abandoned the MTB side of things. And that’s a shame. Because just like the fun it brings to the outdoor riding scene, MTB has a lot of fun it could bring to Zwift. Here are some MTB-specific upgrades I’d love to see Zwift roll out in future releases.
#1: More Trails
While Repack Ridge and the Temple KOM offer a nice singletrack feel, there’s not one dedicated singletrack route in all of Zwift.
Making it happen wouldn’t even require Zwift’s art team to create new trails – they just need to create routes using existing trails. Two simple ideas would be a dedicated Repack Ridge route which loops riders, or bringing our Dirty Temple KOM Loop Rebel Route into the game.
But really, I’d love to see Zwift release some fresh singletrack specifically designed to deliver a MTB-like experience. Repack Ridge does a pretty good job of this, but more could be done. This brings me to my next point…
#2: More MTB Trail Features
I’d love to see new MTB trails with the features Repack Ridge has, plus more:
Narrower trails. This may require routes to be one-way only, but I’d be OK with that.
That “tree tunnel” effect, when the surrounding vegetation is just inches away from your bars.
Riding through a stream and splashing up water.
Tight turns and punchy short climbs for a rollercoaster feel.
“Flow” sections that are slightly downhill, rolling, twisting… fun!
#3: New Surface Type(s), Modified Speeds
One major component of Zwift’s physics is its Crr settings for various road surfaces. There’s just one dirt surface defined (aptly named “dirt”), which means we don’t have, say, rough and rocky dirt that rolls better on a MTB than smooth “gravel road” dirt that rolls faster on a gravel bike.
This should change. Make the singletracks include sections (or the entire trail) of rougher road that roll faster on the knobby, fat-tired MTB rigs. You could still ride them with a gravel bike, but you have to go slower and it feels silly, just like it would IRL. And a road bike should roll slower still, at speeds that say “I’ve made a terrible mistake in bike choice today.”
Beyond a new singletrack surface type, additional surfaces like mud or deep sand could make things even more interesting for mountain bikers.
#4: Steering Not Required
Steering shouldn’t be required on any new MTB trails, and in fact I think it should be removed as a requirement for Repack Ridge.
Most Zwifters don’t own steering devices. I personally own three (Elite Sterzo, Elite Rizr, and the Wahoo KICKR Bike), but I don’t use any of them regularly because I don’t really enjoy the steering experience. It’s not something I want to think about on Zwift, because it doesn’t feel natural (steering on a bicycle is often more about leaning and even countersteering than it is turning the handlebars).
Perhaps steering could be an optional mode, complete with speed penalties for poor steering like Repack Ridge has now. But don’t make us steer to enjoy MTB goodness.
#5: MTB-Specific Kit
Let me kit out my virtual self with baggy shorts, full-finger gloves, looser jerseys, and a full-face helmet. Or at least a MTB helmet with more head protection and a visor.
MTB riders have a particular look, and forcing them to appear like roadies in game almost feels like a slap in the face. Maybe we could turn leg hair on or off as well?
#6: MTB Racing Features
Back in 2019 we organized a few Repack Redux races on the newly-released Repack Ridge. They were sort of casual, fun affairs in the spirit of the original Repack races.
What if Zwift created some race-specific features for MTB events? One that comes to mind would be making passing much more difficult: perhaps an inability to pass other riders on narrow sections of trail, or requiring a BIG boost of power to make a pass. This would replicate some of the feel of IRL mountain bike racing, which is wholly different from road racing when it comes to overtaking.
#7: Base Resistance Slider
The highest gear on a typical mountain bike (34×10) delivers ~20% fewer gear inches than the highest gear on a typical road bike (52×11), and that can cause problems when going hard on Zwift… especially downhill!
If you’re riding your MTB gearing on a direct-drive trainer and need to sprint in a race, you may very well run out of gears.
One way to fix this would be Zwift adding a simple “base resistance slider” to their main menu. Default it to 0, but let riders slider it left or right to decrease or increase how much resistance is added to their trainer across all terrain. Slide it all the way to the right and it would feel like you’re on a 5% grade when you’re on flat ground (and a 5% climb would feel like 10%, and a 10% downhill would feel like a flat road… because Zwift halves the downhill resistance. Confused yet? Just trust the math.)
Like Trainer Difficulty, this wouldn’t change your speed in game – it would just change which gears you’re using, and let lower-geared riders avoid spinning out.
(This feature could actually add some interesting training angles to Zwift as well. For example, roadies could bump up their base resistance across all rides so they’re forced to ride lower gears with less flywheel inertia, as a way to train for long climbs.)
#8: Speed-Based Lines/Behavior
Currently on Zwift, your avatar takes the same line around corners and other road features regardless of speed. Of course, this isn’t how cycling works in the real world (which is why we’d love to see smart autobraking), and it’s certainly not how riding works on narrow dirt trails.
What if your avatar took different lines or somehow behaved differently based on the speed you’re traveling into a feature? For example, perhaps you overcook a corner and go off the trail a bit into slower-rolling weeds and rocks.
This might be too much to ask until Zwift builds braking controllers into the game, but perhaps for now this feature could just penalize you for going too slow. Examples:
Jumps! Hit the feature with enough speed and you catch air. Too slow and you get auto-braked as you roll over the backside like a n00b.
Steep climbs: if your speed drops too much, your avatar gets off and pushes the bike up the hill (we’ve all done it IRL). Imagine a race with a mixture of riders still pedaling and avatars frantically scrambling up the punchy climb! (This could also work in water or sand crossings.)
Your Thoughts
Would you utilize the MTB-specific features above if they were released on Zwift? Do you have any great ideas for additional features for the fat-tire crowd? Comment below!
Thanks, Nathan
Special thanks to Nathan Guerra of Zwift Community Live, who took the time to bounce ideas for this post back and forth. While I’m just a casual mountain biker, Nathan is a pro-level rider who was ranked #1 in the USA multiple times. I ran my ideas past him to make sure they made sense, and he added a few ideas of his own!
It’s Castelli’s Epic ride on Tuesday 26th July, at 6:25pm BST/10:25am EDT/7:25am PDT.
For those not familiar with the “Castelli Epic,” these are monthly rides that are bit longer than normal which give you the opportunity to win some premium cycling apparel from Castelli.
This month, Castelli are giving away their Climber’s jersey 3.0 SL and Premio bibs. These are premium offerings and I can personally testify to their quality, having treated myself to the previous model of the jersey which this latest version builds upon.
As usual, you get a chance to win these items by staying close to the yellow beacon during the ride and at a set point, a photo will be taken and the closest will win.
Leading the event is Castelli Ambassador Lars Blesvik.
If you have not ridden with Lars before, you are in for a treat. Riding with Lars is like riding with an encyclopaedia of cycling. His knowledge seemingly knows no limits and he will be discussing the history of the Tour de France Femmes.
Lars has the most incredible ability to tell a story at the same time as keeping the required pace on Zwift, whilst simultaneously fielding questions – not an easy task by any means. Add to this the fact that this month’s ride is ascending the Alpe du Zwift, being hosted on the “Road to Sky” route, it it’s clear this event is really going to test his skills.
For those that are interested in joining Lars and the rest of the team for the ride, you can sign up here.
More About the Apparel On Offer
The Climber’s jersey is an update from last year’s model, with refreshed designs. This is a premium product and part of their Rosso Corsa range.
Key features of the jersey include:
CFD-based fabric placement and seam construction
Engineered rapid cooling, light weight and aero efficiency
The Premio Bibs are “next level” when it comes to cycling shorts, Castelli classes them as “comfort performance short.”
Their specifications are impressive and this is reflected in their price tag, which makes having the chance to win a pair an opportunity not to be missed. Specifications include:
Gradient stretch woven fabric for the right support in the right place
Woven fabric weighs 30% less than comparable knit fabric
Perforated back bib panel with lie flat bib straps that don’t bind at shoulders
Integrated gripper elastic at leg ending holds short in place without need for extra silicone grippers
Laser-etched logos with RossoCorsa at centre back and black scorpion shadow logos at lower legs
This week saw the launch of The Wrap, a new weekly vod/podcast series presented by Zwift Community Live. The show is all about showcasing the awesome Zwift community, from upcoming events to must-have tech to community guests to the all-important avatar fashion segment. The live nature of the show means that hosts Nathan Guerra and Anna Russell can interact directly with those watching, gaining valuable insights and opinions across a wide range of topics.
Episode 1 covered the topics of Zwift and IRL racing: are they in complement or competition? How has Zwift motivated and created a thriving community? A wrap-up of the week’s events: Wednesday Worlds, Zwift Classics, Watch the Femmes group rides, and the upcoming SISU racing Women’s Tour. The Fashion spotlight was on the Vegan Cyclist Eliel Fruit FUNdo kit and must-have tech showcased the Voice Attack app for voice-controlled bike changes.
Catch the show next week for all things Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (make sure to join our virtual league team #84607887), new tech, and fashion of the week.
SISU Racing has announced a second season of their innovative race series featuring a fun twist: it’s focused more on your segment time through a KQOM climb section than on your finish position.
The SISU KQOM series begins July 26th and runs weekly through September 6/7 for a total of seven races.
Finishing Points 25,20,15,12,10,9,8,7,6,5 (and 4 for all other finishers)
The top 30 riders in each race are then awarded the following Championship Points based on their combined KQOM and Finishing Points position in the race:
Each rider’s best four Championship Points results will count towards the championships.
The individual rider with the most Championship Points wins for the season. There is also a team championship, with scoring based on your team’s four highest point scorers from each race. Team championship requires three finishers in four races.
The men’s Tour de France is coming to an end but the women’s event, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, is just commencing! So this week’s events reflect an exciting weekend of racing ahead.
To tie into this, I am highlighting the events that run throughout the weekend, but in particular this event: Stage 1 of Zweift’s Watch the Femmes Mission. This 29.7km group ride a 4-lap event on the Champs-Élysées mirroring the start of the Women’s race which commences on Sunday.
Ride it like a race, ride it like a social ride. Just be sure to Watch the Femmes!
The penultimate stage of the Tour de France usually consists of a time trial or a race that more often than not has a mountain top finish. For that reason I have selected this event, since it finishes on top of the Epic KOM.
Race the “Climber’s Gambit” course and enjoy a battle up the Epic KOM to the finish. In addition you unlock the new Mountain Massif jersey for your efforts!
I decided to give this a try this week. It was fun, consisting of 3 laps of the “Two Bridges Loop” totaling 21.8km.
I misjudged the climb at the end of the lap. This bit split the pack and I was left time trialling with a group of 4 for the remaining 15km. It’s surprising how quickly you get out of practice with Zwift if you don’t race events like these regularly! So, if you want to rediscover your technique, this is a good event to try.
The end is in sight for those valiant Zwifters who have tackled the 17 previous stages of the Chasing Yellow event series. I’m not sure what is more impressive (and difficult), racing the stages or being able to juggle your agenda to compete in all the events! But as they say in cycling, “Chapeau” to those that have managed the task.
This series finishes with stage 18 on the Champs-Élysées. I would like to think this will mirror the Tour where there is a leisurely ride until the final lap when people will sprint, but this is Zwift, so I am sure the racing will be flat out from the start of this 5-lap, 36.3km final stage!
A huge “congratulations” to those who have completed the entire challenge, which involved 18 stages, 558km, and 8,764m of climbing.
The Women’s Tour de France (formally named “Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift” returns on July 24th after 33 years of absence. Episode Two of Wahoo’s Open the Road series explores the inevitability of change as it relates to the past, present, and future of women’s cycling.
While the men’s side of the sport has grown and seen teams spend more money and use more resources than ever before in the pursuit of performance and winning, the women’s side of the sport has not kept pace. With the addition of the women’s World Tour, the women’s Paris Roubaix, and now the return of the women’s Tour de France the momentum appears to be in favor and the demand for women’s racing is at an all-time high.
Change and progress are inevitable. Whether it be the changing of the seasons or technological advances that push humanity forward “change is meaningless unless we see it through.” It is the responsibility of each rider, race organizer, and fan to see the change through, to play their part in the progress and growth of the sport we are all passionate about.
The 7 Deadly Wins challenge is my personal mission to collect a gold trophy in every Zwift Classic, no matter how many tries it takes. You can follow the highs and lows on my Youtube channel, Zwiftaholics.
Laps of Two Bridges Loop clock in at only 7km, so efforts up the punchy start of the Reverse KOM sure do come around quickly. I now know this is especially the case when you have an opponent who’s decided to essentially punch you in the face every time you climb it.
I’m quickly learning that scoping out a Zwift Classics signup list any earlier than 5 minutes before the start is not time well spent. Whether it’s the appeal of this specific series or the easier access to upcoming races in the new home screen I don’t know, but it feels to me like race fields are exploding in the hour before the banner drops.
As the clock ticked down, what had looked like a relatively thin field suddenly featured some fearsome rivals. In my stream I called out Andrii Karanfilov and Andrew George; both had impressive ZwiftPower rankings, strong 20-minute power, and potent sprints. They were names I would get to know well over the next 30 minutes.
The first climb was uneventful, with barely an orange number to be seen, which lulled me into a false sense of security. After binning my first three powerups (anvils and ghosts) and rolling yet another ghost I decided to have some fun on the climb and launch a fake attack to see if I could trick some opponents into burning a match. It worked, but like a careless camper on a windy summer’s day, that spark turned into a fully fledged forest fire.
George surged after (invisible) me, kicking from 6 W/kg to 9 W/kg and leaving me scrambling as I zapped back into view. The attack sparked a reaction from Karanfilov, who popped a feather and also surged past.
What started as a cheeky tactic to trick my opponents into wasting some energy……quickly backfired on me as I was forced into an all-out effort just to hold on.
We crested with a three-second gap, but the group behind bunched up nicely and took advantage of the pack dynamics on the descent. 15 riders from the starting group of 46 remained in contention as we got the bell for the final lap.
Here’s the video stream, queued up to the fun part so you can catch the final climb and the finish:
We had a lively chat window for the stream and they were all calling for an all-out effort on the KOM. I hit the segment with that plan in mind, but with no sign of last lap’s aggression at first I decided I’d sit in and take my chances in a reduced bunch sprint. George had other ideas. He once again lit up the second half of the climb, launching a 10+W/kg attack that only Karanfilov, myself, and a Danish rider called Lyksted could follow. And he got his gap.
We were out of the draft but it wasn’t enough of a gap for George to push on solo for the line. At 700m to go he sat up, our group of four holding a slim two-second gap on a fast-closing chasing pack. They wound us in just as we hit 300m to go, but with several riders pushing 5+ W/kg just to close the gap there were some tired legs.
George, Karanfilov and I all had the same idea, launching simultaneously at the second last bridge (seasoned Zwiftaholics viewers would know this is the optimal time to go). There’s a sizeable mental component to sprinting, and a “good head” as I heard one pro put it is just as vital as good legs. Putting myself out there with this challenge, having a great group of friends cheering me on via Facebook and YouTube, and knowing the calibre of the riders I was up against definitely had me in the right frame of mind to throw everything I had at these last few seconds.
Added motivation = a new peak power PR on Zwift
The result? A new power PR on Zwift, my best race-ending 15s sprint in well over a year, and a shiny gold trophy, crossing the line a fraction of a second before George and Karafilov, who were only 0.04s apart themselves. It was a fittingly close finish to an epic battle, and one I am very glad not to have to go back and try again.
Off to France to Watch the Femmes
We’re climbing again next week, taking on the Petit KOM around Casse-Pattes. Given that I literally wrote the book on this course (OK fine, not the book, but I did do the blog post) I should have the strategy sorted. To be honest, though, it’s quite simple. There aren’t enough lumps and bumps to shake out any serious contenders until the race hits the steeper ramps of the KOM. It’s anywhere from a hard two to five-minute effort for the Bs, depending on when racers choose to make their move.
I’m unlikely to be the fastest rider up the KOM, so I’ll need to hope we can regroup on the descent and reel in any flyers in time for the flat sprint finish through the marina.
And if watching me on YouTube isn’t exciting enough, there will of course be the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to light up your screens this week! The women’s peloton has delivered some incredible racing in 2022 and the stars are certainly lining up for this one. Speaking of which, I might need to channel my own inner Lorena Wiebes at the end of this week’s Classic if I hope to keep the streak alive.
