After seeing the new Master List of Zwift Routes, many Zwifters told me they were amazed at the sheer number of routes available–over 100! They (like me) realized there are many routes they have yet to complete. But how do you keep track of which ones you’ve ridden?
Enter Ben from VeloViewer, who approached me with an idea: what if we created a leaderboard which tracked your progress in completing all Zwift routes?
Better yet: what if that leaderboard could rank Zwifters based on how many routes they had completed, and their performance on each route?
One week later, here we are, introducing the Zwift Insider Route Hunter Leaderboards, available at veloviewer.com/zwift-insider
How It Works
There are 9 different leaderboards, each containing their own Zwift routes:
Leaderboard rankings are based on points. You receive points for
- Completing a particular route/segment (20 points for each), and
- How quickly you completed the route
These two numbers are then added together for your total points count for each leaderboard.
Getting Started
Getting your data into the leaderboards is easy! It’s probably easier on a large screen than a smartphone, but it can be done with either.
Start by visiting the Zwift Insider Route Hunter homepage on VeloViewer.
- Click “Connect with Strava”. (If you’re already signed into your Strava account in your browser, skip to step 3.)
- Log into your Strava account. You will be redirected back to the leaderboards homepage.
- Click “View” beneath one of the leaderboard titles.
- If you are not yet a member of the Zwift club on Strava, click the link to join the club, click “Join Club”, then return to the leaderboard page and click “Recheck Club Membership”. (If you are already a member of the Zwift club on Strava, skip to step 5.)
- Click “Check Your Times” to import your Strava rides into this leaderboard.
You will need to visit each leaderboard and click “Check Your Times” whenever you want to update your data.
Using the Leaderboards
Here are a few tips for using the leaderboards:
- While they will work just fine on a smartphone, the leaderboards are much easier to browse on a large screen.
- Click any column title in a leaderboard to sort by that column.
- Click “View” next to the route title to view that segment’s details in VeloViewer. It’s not always clear where particular segments may stop and start, so looking at the actual Strava info is helpful if you’re chasing segment times.
- Filter by gender using the buttons at the top-right.
- Clicking a rider’s time for a particular route will take you to their Strava activity, where you can look for reasons to rationalize them beating your segment time 😄
Who Will Be the First?
My guess is there are already Zwifters who have ridden every official route available. But I bet nobody has ridden every route, including the Rebel Routes! Let’s see who can tick off all 71 routes first. I’ve got 27 to go!
Shout Out to VeloViewer
Ben over at VeloViewer is giving us this functionality free of charge. But if you find it useful, I’d encourage you to upgrade your VeloViewer account to a Pro or Pro+ account. Cost is only £10-£20 per year, and you get lots of premium features–read more about those here.
Hi Eric – great job, i’m a big fan of Veloviewer, and Zwiftinsider! I’ve just checked my stats, and noticed a couple of my longer routes don’t show up e.g Pretzel, Four Horsemen and Road to Sky, possibly more, some of which I’ve done more than once. These were done in Fondo / Etape events last winter and before. I tried re-calculating achievements for those events, but the relevant segments don’t get added either to the Zwift ride or the Veloviewer leaderboard (I’ve checked under hidden segments on Strava, too). Your old Four Horsemen Part 1, 2 and 3 segments show. I’m unsure whether this is due to your updated segments being added after the event, or if the route has changed since I did them. Is the way you’d expect it to work, or is something not working correctly?
Read “A note about group ride effort” above. It explains why.
However, it is so annoying that events in such long routes are not considered. In some cases the segment is matched, in other cases it is not matched. Currently you won’t know until after you have completed the event…
I wish I could look this up (e.g. here at Zwift Insider) before even signing up for the event. If I know the effort won’t be listed, I might even skip the event and do a free ride or meetup along the route instead.
Or they could simply change the ruling for routes in Watopia (Long) and others where the Zwift Insider KOM is >1 hour… it’s a shame, everything else about Velo Viewer is great, I have a paid subscription etc., but it would be nice to be sure that these long rides will get listed.
This is great! One question tho: I have some routes that I see as completed in Veloviewer, but I do not see them in my Zwift Achievements badges list. Any idea why?Thnx
One possible explanation is that you rode that route before the achievement badges were created/released in Zwift (Oct19????)
I could have missed it or maybe it needs to be clarified. For me the Zwift Insider Route Hunter Leaderboards show that I’ve completed more routes than I have actually received badges for. Zwift has only given me 22 route badges. Veloviewer says I’ve completed 63 of 93 routes. So the Veloviewer site is awesome but it doesn’t reflect the badges actually earned or at least not for me.
One possible explanation is that you rode those (63-22) routes before the achievement badges were created/released in Zwift (Oct19????)
Yes, this leaderboard is only based on your rides recorded in Strava. You could possibly do many routes in one single Strava activity. And you could do them all by free riding and finding your way on your own.
However, in order to get a badge in Zwift, you actually have to select the route there. So to collect badges rapidly, you need to restart Zwift after every badge and pick a new course afterwards. And you would need to keep track of your badges in your own spreadsheet (look up the master route list also here in Zwift Insider).
some of those 93 on the veloviewer tables may be KOMs
I can answer these questions….You only earn zwift badges when you ride the route AFTER zwift has created the badge for it. Veloviewer on the other hand gives you credit if you have ever completed the strava segment. Also don’t forget as Eric mentioned in his post above some segments start at the start banner and not in the pen (this is significant especially on Watopia). So if you do a group event starting in the pen, you may not get credit if the strava segment actually begins at the start/finish banner.
Hi, It would be great to have a personal view on the leaderboard: one page that lists all 93 routes and your personal position and time. Would make it easier to see which routes you have not ridden yes or routes where you could go for a better time
Hi Eric. Really enjoying this! Today I did the 3R Knickerbocker Climbing Race, got the ‘Route Completed’ banner at the finish but VV failed to register the segment – Knickerbocker (Zwift Insider verified). Is this because the race start is not actually the same as the segment start point? If so, I guess the lesson is – don’t mix racing and exploring! Andy
Hi Eric great web site and excellent that you are working with Ben @veloviewer.
I completed the Three Sisters and earned the badge, but it has not appeared in the Veloviewer list. Chatting with Ben on this he says that it could be down to how it is measured according to the route hunter start and end points. Shouldn’t these two tie up? I rode the Three Sisters and continued past the point where I got the badge so that I was sure I’d got the badge but Veloviwer still shows up as not achieved. I’m not a climber and this was a big achievement for me.
Do you know how I can get the award in VeloViewer
My guess is you did it as a group event, not as a solo ride?
The Strava segment starts and ends at the Watopia start/finish banner… it doesn’t start from the start pier. So if you do it in an event it won’t register–you have to ride it solo. This is the case for several routes – read comments above for an explanation of why.
Sorry, man! I know it sucks, but this is the only way for it to really work as far as I can see!
I wish I could look up here which long routes this is an issue for. So I could skip the events in those routes and rather free rude them…
Great work, love this! Still, I do wonder about the group events not being credited and the rationale… I realize and you explain it well, start from the start/finish banner will, in particular in watopia, eliminating group event rides to match the segments. But I don’t fully understand why this was the only option? For example, the Four Horsemen and The Pretzel in group rides I’ve done recently obviously don’t match the VeloViewer segment but they do get the Zwift Achievemst for those routes. So why cannot the VeloViewer and the Zwift (route achievement) segments be identical (or close), suppose segment just have to start just after the start pens (and could end there as well to get the full loop). Of course, you will have to pedal a bit after finish banner if start/end is the same, but in any case then you would not pedla for hours “in vain” in the group events and spend the same amount of hours again “solo” to get it in VeloViewer.
definitely do not adjust the segment so the finish is after the banner. to ride the course, stop when you get to the finish line and have it not counted because the veloviewer segment is 1km longer would be at least as bad.
There is no reason for the segments to start and end at the same place, especially on courses which are over an hour long, does it really matter of the start is after the start banner? Just have the segment from just after the start banner or start pens, whichever comes last to the finish banner.
Today I have finished the Mega Pretzel, but Veloviewer doesnt pick it up somehow.
Bekijk mijn activiteit op Strava: https://strava.app.link/53KZkf1n63
Hi, was the Seaside Sprint removed from the Rebel Routes Leaderboard?
Yep, since it’s an official route now.
But we ADDED the Eastern Eight!
Ah, so that’s why Magnificent 8 and Watopia’s waistband are also removed. But should they be listed somewhere else in the Route Hunter leaderboards then? Now I can’t find them.
Magnificent 8 was never on the leaderboard – it’s an event-only route created by Zwift.
Watopia’s Waistband WAS a Rebel Route, then it was changed to an official event-only route. So we removed it from Rebel Routes.
But we don’t list event-only routes in the leaderboards… not at this point, at least. So neither of those will show up.
This explains why I was looking for Gotham Grind and not finding it on the VV boards after a brutal ‘caffeine’ lap with AHDR (had 44 km/h lap before pretty good right?! now 47? I may have lost a year of my life hammering while trying to ride smart in the draft of monstrously powerful riders on the punchy course.. It’s totally your baby and you do enormous work (!!!) now that you’ve added a few event only maybe one day there will be more or not … part of this game is surprises and things I’ve done without some goal now later turn up (or not) I love that uncertainty actually since it keeps me from only honing listed courses and segs. There’s some other quirks I’m thinking about and may do some odd rides in cases where certain things DON’t change, too. Eric I’m a lifelong mediocre athlete but a super geek and you created this leaderboard that is so big and complex it’s ironically my greatest athletic achievement. This has been a wildly fun ride and most of all … thanks if you retire tomorrow you’ll do it having made so many peoples lives more fun and made zwift just spectacular for all of us. That’s a hodgepodge of a post or reply but I’m having too much fun I guess … ride on!
Just a thought on the event route starting point problem. On routes like the four horsemen, there are 2 Strava segments – one for free rides and one from the pier for events – given how close these segments are for distance etc, could you fill this route’s slot on the leaderboard with EITHER of those routes?
Would have been perfect for me today as I did a group ride for that route, unlocked the route badge but doesn’t count for the leaderboard 🙁
Just checking my routes and I noticed that Veloviewer has not updated (yes I have refreshed it) my Three Sisters route which I completed on 19th of Feb, I got the Zwift Route complete badge and in game message as proof. How can I get my time updated?
Post a link to your Strava activity here and I can check it out. Keep in mind if you did this route in an event, it won’t count for Veloviewer since the segment begins and ends at the downtown start/finish.
Hi Eric thanks for your reply.
It was a free ride / workout for my Alpe d’huzes ride in June, not an event.
Bekijk mijn activiteit op Strava: https://strava.app.link/Dc6tO8yKN4
You did it in reverse, so that doesn’t count as riding the forward version @guest_33148: https://www.strava.com/segments/15159137
I rode Road to Ruins 21st Feb 2020 – https://www.strava.com/activities/3119600765 It was showing on the Veloviewer leaderboards, but is now showing as “not done”. Any thoughts as to why it may have dropped off ?
I see the segment in your list of segments on that ride, so it should show up on Veloviewer as well. Maybe click the “check your times” button here https://veloviewer.com/zwift-insider/watopia-short to have Veloviewer go out and grab your times again?
Well, this is frustrating. I’ve completed all but two of the Zwift Route Badges, But Veloviewer is showing I still need to complete 23 routes. 20 of these I completed in free ride and not an event. Bummer that doesn’t seem to be working as intended.
Post a link to an unmatching ride and I’ll see if I can figure out why.
Ok, crisis mostly diverted. I totally missed the “improve my times” button. After going through that, all but one ride appeared. The only in question was the Bigger Loop.
https://www.strava.com/activities/3140120386
https://www.zwift.com/activity/495066622843260560
I see you have a time for Bigger Loop on the leaderboards: 232nd, 01:55:04
Hm, weird. That definitely sounds right. I’ll try to refresh again tomorrow. I appreciate you looking into this. Ride On!
Hi Eric, i rode 4 Horsemen and completed it but apearantly not updated in Veloviewer?
Bekijk mijn activiteit op Strava: https://strava.app.link/nFb6zjXP34
Any chance it would be possible to make Jungle Loop and Road to Ruins also check for the date when looking up Strava times? Times set before and after the rolling resistance change is not really comparable…
Hello.
I have finished all the routes on Zwift and however in Veloviewer do not appear all finished.Not appearing in London: PRL FULL, GREATEST LONDON LOOP .. without Watopia do not appear finished .. BIG LOOP FORWARD .. thank you very much for !!
Can I argue for a new category to cover the other event only routes? I’ve not finished all the main routes yet but I’m running out of sensible length ones and the big routes I intend to complete at some point but will spread them out. Obviously event only ones will have to be sought out in the event lists but anyone who is ticking these off as route “baggers” will be happy to have more to go at. Crit City, for example, can be completed easily by entering a race and noodling round for a lap and quit to tick it off for those not interested in racing or fast times. Would also be nice in this time of lock down and extended trainer season.
Any thought given to creating a Sprint leaderboard? I’d certainly be better there than the KOK leaderboard 🙂
KOM!
too many sprints are less than 30s, with strava times only reported to the nearest second so many people would share the same position, not really giving rankings.
It appears the Lutscher routes in Zwift were updated and now the VeloViewer routes are out of sync.
Lutscher route now spawns you on the climb near the KOM, whereas the VeloViewer route shows a city start with two climbs.
I rode Lutscher on May 26, and it spawned me in central Innsbruck, near the Hofgarten, and not on the climb.
Were you in an event?
Hi Eric – I really like the tie up with Veloviewer as I was already a big fan of Veloviewer, and Zwift Insider! I wonder if yo have any tips about improving my placing in the Leaderboard – which route(s) should I target an improvement to get the best jump up in placings/points? Thanks.
Hi Eric
I enjoy the challenge of completing the routes and seeing where I stand relative to others.However, regarding the note about Group Rides, could you please re-consider the decision for where start the segment for some longer routes. For example, for any route that takes longer than an hour, it makes sense to have the segment start after the start pens, so that both group rides and normal rides cover the same segment. Almost no-one is going to do multiple laps of these courses, and even if they so, so what if 500m of the loop is not included in the segment?
Time to set up France and Paris 😉
have 3 big efforts on long rides not listed. very frustrating. v unlikely to do the uber pretzel again, especially at the effort i did. Nice to see the logic of your decision explained somewhere, but i think it would be better if you had the ‘arbitrary start of segment to allow the time to apply to both free rides and events.
When can we expect from you and Ben an update with the new france routes on Veloviewer? If an update is coming off course.
thank for the effort
Patrick, you may have already found out but the French routes are included but there is no direct link above. You have to select another list from above and then click on the “View the series leaderboard” link at the top left to then see one of the columns is titled “France and Paris”.
Can you and Veloviewer update the leaderboards and include the new routes? TIA
I’m still trying to complete 🙁 are you going to add the new routes and the climbs? Please!