The last events of Zwift Games 2025 happen this weekend, so this is your last chance to finish that unfinished stage… or improve your time on a stage you’ve already raced. Stages rotate throughout the weekend. Hup hup!
LEQP hosts perhaps the longest-running badge hunter series on Zwift, and this weekend’s ride is on Zwift Games 2024 Epic (81.7km, 878m). If you’ve never earned this route badge (1594 XP bonus!), or just a solid long ride with friends, join the fun!
The ECRO World Tour 2025 is now underway, hosted by the innovative Jonathan Morin (of Chasing Tour fame in past years). This weekend is the Chasing Wevelgem race! You’ll need to create an account on the ECRO website to access the race.
We’ve featured this event many times in the past, as it’s always well-attended and well-led at pace that helps everyone stay together. Experienced leaders and sweepers do their best to keep the groups together so everyone can work together to knock out a long ride!
This week’s ride offers two options: D cat is held at a 1.7-2.2 W/kg pace and C cat is held at 2.3-2.7 W/kg. Both groups are riding 9 laps London’s Greater London Flat for a total length of 110.7km and 524 meters of climbing.
The final stage of the Big Spin series is underway, themed “The New Millenium” and held on Watopia’s Waistband (27.7km, 101m). The big question is: have you won the BMX bike yet?
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!
Thinking of putting together an indoor cycling space? In this week’s top video, watch as one Zwifter converts his packed garage to an impressive Zwift setup.
Also included in this week’s top videos are videos about a Zwifter’s first race, a comparison of indoor and outdoor FTP tests, an overview of the TrainerRoad and Zwift integration, and fitness gains from Zwift racing.
New “Paincave” Setup & Zwift Ride Unboxing
Ryan Condon has finally made the move to upgrade his paincave. Watch as he puts together his new setup in his garage.
Sprinter Tries His First Zwift Race
Jeff from Norcal Cycling tackles a Zwift race with Dylan, who has never raced on Zwift before. Can Jeff help Dylan win his first Zwift race?
Zwift FTP Test vs Outdoors FTP Test
To accomplish one of his cycling goals, Nathan must increase his FTP to be more competitive in the higher Zwift categories. In this video, Nathan does an FTP test both indoors and outdoors to see how the numbers compare.
TrainerRoad x Zwift: The Ultimate Indoor Training Combo?
J Dirom covers the TrainerRoad and Zwift integration and shares his thoughts on the topic.
I tried Zwift racing for 4 months – this is what happened
After racing consistently for the last four months, Henry shares his takeaways from the experience and the progress that he has made.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Zwift’s Epic Race Series is known for its longer events, which many find especially welcome on weekends. Heading into April, organizer James Bailey has tweaked the series based on racer feedback. Key changes include:
Mass Start (with categories): these races have always been mass start, to help give everyone someone to ride with. They still are, but riders will be signed up to racing score-based categories.
Riders will be forced into the proper category (to counter some of the complaints about people racing up to reduce their racing score.)
Each category will wear the same kit, so you can easily spot the riders you are racing against.
Apart from the changes above, series distinctives remain: races are around 50km in length, without powerups.
Zwift’s “ZRacing” is the platform’s most popular ongoing race series, and it continues to evolve as we head into April 2025. Here are the changes Zwift is rolling out this month:
Advanced Event Schedule Expansion: advanced races now happen every other hour, to increase availability.
Advanced Event Minimum Score Requirement: to avoid riders joining these events in order to tank their scores, Advanced events are now “category enforced” at 650+, meaning you must have a racing score of 650+ to join.
Advanced Event HRM Requirement: this isn’t really a new requirement, but lower-category events no longer require a heart rate in order to join. Zwift says requiring HRM “will bring the events into line with the minimum criteria to feature on ZwiftPower and is the first of a number of additional fairness measures we hope to add to Advanced events over the coming year.”
Range 2 modification: these events now top out at 725 (up from 700). Zwift says “We hope this will provide racers with scores of 650-725 with a softer ‘Advanced’ transition.”
Zwift.com-Based GC Leaderboards: an upgraded version of the Zwift Games leaderboards will be used for tracking the monthly ZRacing GC. More on this below…
For April, the series takes on “after party” routes which feature a climb in the final kilometers. Also, there’s a yet-to-be-revealed new route (on new roads!) for us to race in stage 5, April 28-May 4! Watch this space for more news on this front.
Read on for details about this month’s race routes and more!
Zwift debuted new web-based leaderboards at zwift.com for tracking the Zwift Games 2025 GC, and an upgraded version of those leaderboards will now be put to work for use in the monthly ZRacing series!
Your GC ranking is based on your best finishing time for each stage, and you can race each stage multiple times if you’d like.
Choose Your Category
Zwift now schedules three different flavors of ZRacing events in order to encourage “Fairer, more competitive racing for everyone.” They each use different racing score ranges for categorization and are titled Advanced, Range 1, and Range 2. Click banners below to see upcoming events for each.
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.
All About the New Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 on Zwift
The recent big Zwift update included the welcome addition of several new bike frames, including two bikes from US-based Cannondale. The fastest of these bikes is the Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71, which is a top-spec racing frame ridden by the pros at EF Pro Cycling.
You’ll need to be updated to game version 1.86+ to see the SuperSix EVO LAB71 in Zwift’s Drop Shop. You’ll also need to be at level 40+ with 1,750,000 Drops to buy it. Here’s how it’s described in the Drop Shop:
“The SuperSix EVO LAB71 is the trusted bike of EF Pro Cycling, crafted for cyclists who demand peak performance. This fourth generation of the SuperSix EVO boasts razor-sharp aerodynamics and an ultra-lightweight frame, delivering exceptional performance across all terrains. From steep climbs to powerful sprints, this bike offers unmatched speed and agility. Every detail is engineered for excellence, making the LAB71 SuperSix EVO the ultimate race-ready machine that gives you a competitive edge.”
This is a pro-spec bike that the pros actually ride, which is fun. And reviewers say the IRL bike handles very well while being stiff in the right places and super light. But how does it perform in Zwift?
It’s rated 3 stars for aero, 4 stars for weight, like a handful of other top newish all-arounders. But a 4-star system isn’t the most granular of performance measurements, so we ran this frame through our precise tests to measure performance at nerd-level detail. Let’s dive in!
Note: test results below are from a 75kg, 183cm rider holding 300W steady using Zwift’s stock 32mm Carbon wheelset.
Aero (Flat/Rolling) Performance
The SuperSix EVO LAB71 is very slippery, trimming 61.4s off our baseline Zwift Carbon frame over an hour of flat riding.
That puts it within 1.6 seconds of the game’s fastest frame. And like we said with the S-Works Tarmac SL8, when you consider that our tests have a 1-second margin of error, one could reasonably lump this frame in with the other fastest frames in terms of performance on flat roads.
Climb Performance
The real-life SuperSix EVO LAB71 is known for its light weight as well as aero performance, so we expected it to climb well. We weren’t disappointed.
This bike shaves 52.3 seconds off of our baseline Zwift Carbon’s time on an hourlong climb, which means slots neatly into 3rd place in our rankings, just 3.7 seconds behind the S-Works Tarmac SL8 over an hour of climbing.
Upgrading Your Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71
Like all frames in Zwift, the SuperSix EVO LAB71 can be upgraded in five stages. As a high-end race bike, each of the five stages results in a performance improvement. The Cannondale SuperSix EVO LAB71 upgrade stages are as follows:
Ride 200km, pay 100,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
Ride 260km, pay 200,000 Drops for a weight reduction
Ride 320km, pay 350,000 Drops for a drivetrain efficiency improvement
Ride 380km, pay 500,000 Drops for an aero upgrade
Ride 440km, pay 750,000 Drops for a weight reduction
You can expect a fully upgraded SuperSix EVO LAB71 to be approximately 28 seconds faster on a flat hour and 36 seconds faster on an hourlong climb vs the “stock” SuperSix EVO LAB71.
Conclusions
While it’s not quite as fast in Zwift as the new S-Works Tarmac SL8, Cannondale’s SuperSix EVO LAB71 is within just a few seconds of this new standard… so close that it’s doubtful riders will notice the difference.
So if you’re a Cannondale fan, or just like the look of this frameset (it is a sweet paintjob, even if there’s no color slider), buy it and race it! Because it’s one fast bike.
Questions or Comments?
Got questions or comments about this frame? Share below…
Important note: this post contains speed test results for Zwift frames or wheels. These results may change over time, and a bike's performance relative to others may also change. We don't always revise posts when performance rankings change, but we do keep current, master versions of our speed test results which are always available. See the frame charts, wheel charts, and Tron vs Top Performers for current performance data.
Zwift just released their long-awaited Bike Upgrades functionality, and there are lots of questions swirling around about how exactly it works.
We already published All About Zwift’s New “Bike Upgrades” Functionality, which is a good introduction to the new feature. Today, though, I want to dig into specifics about upgrade stages and their effects, because Zwift doesn’t make this very clear in their UI.
As an example, here’s what I saw after buying and equipping the zippy new S-Works Tarmac SL8:
As Zwifters have noted, when it comes to upgrading this frame, all the game tells me is how far I need to ride in order to unlock the stage 1 upgrade.
It doesn’t tell me what that upgrade actually is.
And it doesn’t tell me how many Drops that upgrade will cost.
Zwift may tweak this UI in the future, but until then, here’s some documentation so you can figure out exactly what work is involved, and how much it’ll cost, to upgrade a particular bike in Zwift.
Figuring Out Your Upgrade Scheme
If you want to know exactly what it’ll take to upgrade a bike, first you have to figure out which category Zwift has assigned it to. Bikes have been placed in one of three categories:
Distance: ride X km to unlock upgrades
Duration: ride X hours to unlock upgrades
Elevation: climb X meters to unlock upgrades
If you pull up your bike in your garage, you can quickly figure out which category it is in based on what the game tells you to do to unlock stage 1. In my S-Works Tarmac SL8 example above, you can see it’s telling me to ride 200 kilometers, which means this frame is in the “Distance” category. (Where almost all road bike frames live, by the way.)
Next, within each category, bikes are further divided up into entry-level, mid-range, and high-end bikes. Entry-level bikes are easier to upgrade than mid-level bikes, which are easier to upgrade than high-end bikes.
Cross-reference the work required for a stage 1 upgrade with the lists below, and you can figure out if your frame is classified as entry-level, mid-range, or high-end. Again, looking at my S-Works Tarmac SL8 screenshot above, the game says I must ride 200km to unlock stage 1. That means this is a high-end frame, based on the Distance-Based Upgrading table below.
(If you don’t want to try to figure out what scheme your bike uses, or want a reference sheet that doesn’t live in the game, there’s a long table at the bottom of this post that says exactly how each frame in Zwift is classified.)
I realize this may seem quite complex. But here are two pieces of good news:
You don’t have to understand it to enjoy using it. You can just ride, and upgrade your bike when the game notifies you. Or don’t upgrade your bike at all, and just keep doing what you’re already doing. You do you!
The upgrading scheme makes actual sense, even if it’s somewhat complex. It is related to what we would do with our IRL bikes and riding. Zwift doesn’t just pull this stuff out of thin air – it’s the work of experienced game designers who love riding their bikes. (I know because I’ve spent a lot of time chatting with them.)
With all of that said, let’s dive into the details of how each bike frame can be upgraded in Zwift.
Distance-Based Upgrading
Almost all road bike frames in Zwift fall into this category, so it’s the largest category by far. Basically, this category contains all the road frames that aren’t strictly climbing bikes. Examples of bikes in this group include the Specialized Venge, Pinarello Dogma, and Specialized Project 74.
Here’s a table showing how far you’ll have to ride for each upgrade stage, how many Drops you’ll need to spend to make the upgrade once you’ve unlocked it, and what exactly each stage upgrade is:
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Totals
Entry-Level
km
100
130
160
190
220
800
cost
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
150,000
400,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
5% Drops
5% XP
Mid-Range
km
160
200
240
280
320
1,200
cost
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
750,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
5% Drops
High-End
km
200
260
320
380
440
1,600
cost
100,000
200,000
350,000
500,000
750,000
1,900,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
Weight
Halo
km
550
1,050
1,600
2,150
2,650
8,000
cost
400,000
800,000
1,200,000
2,600,000
5,000,000
10,000,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
Weight
Duration-Based Upgrading
This category contains only TT bikes at this time. Examples of bikes in this group include the Cadex Tri, Felt IA 2.0, and Pinarello Espada.
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Totals
Entry-Level
hrs
2
3
4
5
6
20
cost
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
150,000
400,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
5% Drops
5% XP
Mid-Range
hrs
4
5
6
7
8
30
cost
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
750,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Weight
5% Drops
High-End
hrs
6
7
8
9
10
40
cost
100,000
200,000
350,000
500,000
750,000
1,900,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Weight
Aero
Halo
hrs
20
30
40
50
60
200
cost
400,000
800,000
1,200,000
2,600,000
5,000,000
10,000,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Weight
Aero
Elevation-Based Upgrading
This category includes a handful of climbing-specific road bikes and all mountain bikes in game. Examples of bikes in this category include the Specialized S-Works Aethos and Scott Spark RC World Cup.
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Stage 5
Total
Entry-Level
meters
1,000
1,250
1,500
1,750
2,000
7,500
cost
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
150,000
400,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
5% Drops
5% XP
Mid-Range
meters
1,550
1,900
2,250
2,600
2,950
11,250
cost
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
750,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
5% Drops
High-End
meters
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
4,000
15,000
cost
100,000
200,000
350,000
500,000
750,000
1,900,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
Weight
Halo
meters
11,000
13,000
15,000
17,000
19,000
75,000
cost
400,000
800,000
1,200,000
2,600,000
5,000,000
10,000,000
upgrade
Aero
Weight
Drivetrain
Aero
Weight
Comparing Categories
Zwift isn’t disclosing the precise details behind each upgrade stage shown above, but it’s important to understand that what the game simply calls an “Aero Upgrade” may be small (say, a CDA decrease of .001) or large (perhaps a CDA decrease of .008).
Our tests show (and Zwift confirms) that, regardless of whether your bike is an entry-level, mid-range, or high-end bike, the performance upgrades a “maxed out” bike receives are the same for all bikes within that category.
Example: if you had two distance-based bikes (say, the entry-level Cannondale CAAD12 and the high-end Pinarello Dogma F 2024) and maxed out upgrading them both, their performance improvement would be the same. The only difference is that the CAAD12 would now be rewarding you with 5% Drops and XP bonuses as well!
While two frames within the same category (say, Distance) will receive the same performance boost when maxed out, that is not the case for frames from different categories (say, a TT frame from the Duration group and a climbing frame from the Elevation group).
Upgrades for the Elevation category are skewed toward weight reduction, because IRL cyclists would want to make their lightweight climbing bike even lighter. Meanwhile, upgrades for the Duration category (TT frames) are skewed toward aero improvements, because TT racers are all about aero gains! Upgrades for the largest category (Distance) are more balanced between weight reductions and aero improvements.
Here’s a simple chart illustrating this point. It shows the baseline (un-upgraded) performance of a high-end frame from each of the categories (Distance, Duration, and Elevation), and the performance of that same frame at fully-upgraded (stage 5) status:
You can see that each frame improves in performance (the maxed-out data points are up and to the right of the un-upgraded ones), but they progress in different ways. The frame in the Duration category (Speedmax CF SLX) improves the most in terms of aero performance, while the Elevation frame (Aethos) improves the most in terms of climb performance. The Distance frame (Dogma F 2024) is balanced between the two.
This week, we’re thrilled to highlight an incredible advocate for women’s racing, consistently going above and beyond to champion and uplift the community.
Name: James Bailey
Hometown: London
How did you get into cycling? I started riding along a canal about 8 years ago following spending most of my 20s and 30s doing little to no exercise… and then discovered Zwift via a Facebook advert.
How many years have you been racing on Zwift? ~7 years
Are you part of a Virtual team? No
What do you love most about racing? The end! The exhilaration you feel when you cross the finish line and realise the pain is over.
What is your favourite style of race (e.g. points, scratch, iTT, TTT, Chase, duathlon)? TT & Scratch
What is your favourite Zwift women’s and mixed race series? Zwift Women’s Racing Series
What is your most memorable racing experience, inside or outside or BOTH? Winning the Herd Championship (B) Climb event – Ventop @ 3.9w/kg
What is your favourite food to eat post race? Pizza, crisps
What advice would you give to anyone entering her first Zwift race? Make sure you are pedaling before the banner drops and ready to kick hard for the first minute or so. Find a group that chats on Discord during the race – it helps a lot!
Any upcoming race you are looking forward to? I’m having a bit of a racing break at the moment following some mental/physical health issues whilst I try to rediscover my fitness. I’ve been enjoying hosting my own daily group rides.
Where can people follow your racing adventures? Strava, Companion
Today, though, Zwift began selling “blem stock” Zwift Ride frames with what they’re calling a “cosmetic imperfection” on the back of the front leg:
Zwift says the marks are caused by “packaging friction during transit between the factory and the warehouse.” It’s important to note that these frames are new and unused, not returned or refurbished. Zwift says “This cosmetic damage does not affect functionality, durability, or the safety of the frame.”
Since they are sold new/unused, these frames include Zwift’s full-length standard warranty (see details).
Price and Availability
These “cosmetic imperfection” frames are reduced by 25%, bringing the price down to $599.99/£549.99/599,99€ (reduced from $799.99/£749.99/799,99€) + shipping.
The frames are currently available in all three Zwift markets (US, UK, EU), but stock is of course limited. Once they’re gone, they’re gone!
Note: if you purchase the frame via the links above, Zwift Insider will be paid an affiliate commission by Zwift to help support this site. Thanks!
Important Trainer Compatibility Note
The Zwift Ride Smart Frame needs to be mounted onto a trainer compatible with Zwift’s virtual shifting in order to provide a good user experience. Currently, the following smart trainer models support virtual shifting:
While the cassette on your trainer should work just fine with the Zwift Ride, the units ship with an included adjustable v2 Zwift Cog which you can install on your trainer if you wish.
How the Race Was Lost: Zwift Games Stage 5 on ZG25 Queen
With the Zwift Games wrapping up, I found myself with just one stage left to finish. But it was a big one! With a name like “ZG25 Queen” I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but then again, I’m always up for a longer race effort. So I entered the 450-570 group once again…
The Warmup
It was Tuesday, and the biggest Zwift update in months had just dropped. I was about two weeks into the busiest week of my life at Zwift Insider, buried in speed tests and putting together posts to help folks wrap their minds around Bike Upgrades.
But that wasn’t going to stop me. I’d raced the first four stages of Zwift Games. Now I needed to race the final stage. And it was a tough one! Held on the new ZG25 Queen route, this race would take me up the Jarvis KOM Reverse, into the Jungle, up the Mayan+Itza KOMs, up the upper half of The Grade, and finally, up the Epic KOM Reverse.
With 44.8km to cover and nearly 900 meters to climb, I knew it would be a sufferfest for my “overmuscled” body. But suffering is good for the soul. So here we go!
The Easy First Half
Looking at the route profile, you can see that the first half of this route is quite tame:
We started the race with 51 riders, and the first real effort for me came as we hit the base of the Epic KOM Reverse 14km into the route. I’ve been dropped here on many a race, but today I was able to hang with the front pack up the twisty climb, across False Flat Bridge (I just made that name up), and onto the continued climb up to the Jungle Pens.
From there it was smooth sailing. Just a dusty descent through the Jungle before hanging a left to make our way out to the Mayan Mountainside KOM, where the real work would begin.
The second half of the route begins with the Mayan Mountainside KOM. I was able to hang with the group to the top of this climb, setting a Strava segment PR in the process. But by the time we went through the arch, I was dangling off the back.
I pulled the plug and stopped chasing the front group’s wheels before we even began the Itza KOM, just a few hundred meters up the road.
Now sitting 25th out of 51, I rode easy until a small group of 5 caught me from behind. We rode together up the Itza at a perfect “tough but doable” pace, then we turned left and began the upper half of The Grade.
This climb is steep – the steepest climb on the route, in fact. It was every man for himself as we negotiated The Grade’s snaking road. There was no hiding in the wheels here! Over the top the rider list now showed me in 25th out of… 35 riders? Did we really lose that many?
Supertucking down the Epic KOM descent, I caught a couple of riders up the road. And soon enough, it was time to begin the final climb: the upper portion of the Epic KOM Reverse. This climb takes me around 20 minutes to complete, so I just tried to pace myself evenly while making good use of the flat spots and short descents on this side of the mountain.
I began the climb in 25th… and finished in 25th. How’s that for consistency? ZG Queen route badge earned, in just under 90 minutes.
I did this one in the middle of a busy workday, and to be honest, my mind was struggling to find the fortitude to push hard. And it showed.
That said, in the end, I was happy I did it. (Isn’t that always how it goes?) I finished all 5 Zwift Games stages, and the fancy new leaderboards show me at 926 out of 59178 overall. Hey, that’s the top 2%! #winning
My final results (as of 2:30pm PDT on March 20, 2025):
Sprint Classification: 1456 of 44597
Climb Classification: 2527 of 35395
Epic Classification: 3832 of 12225
Overall Classification: 926 of 59178
Overall, I enjoyed racing this year’s Zwift Games, and would certainly do it again. I liked how routes were broken into flatter “sprint” routes, punchy “climb” routes, and a longer “epic” route. I like the new leaderboards and the GC component.
One thing I would change, though, is I’d allow steering in these races. I think it adds a fun dimension to the events, and it feels silly to have it disabled when Zwift is selling Play Controllers.
Your Thoughts
Did you race the final big stage? How did it go? Share your experience below!
