“Spiral Into the Volcano” Route Details (Watopia)
Announced as a Rebel Route in May 2019, Spiral Into the Volcano was created because we were looking for a longer, flat route with a spicy finish. If you follow this route on a map you’ll see how it was named: an ever-tightening counter-clockwise spiral which culminates in the spiral climb up the volcano.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024.
Announced as a Rebel Route in May 2019, Spiral Into the Volcano was created because we were looking for a longer, flat route with a spicy finish. If you follow this route on a map you’ll see how it was named: an ever-tightening counter-clockwise spiral which culminates in the spiral climb up the volcano.
This route was added to the Zwift canon in January 2024 to host the final stage of Tour de Zwift 2024.
Route Basics
Length: 55.8 km (34.7 miles)
Elevation: 336m (1,102′)
+0.2km (0.1 miles) lead-in
Map: Watopia
ZIMetrics
Rating: 27.1/100 🛈
Time Estimates 🛈
4 W/kg: 79 minutes
3 W/kg: 88 minutes
2 W/kg: 107 minutes
Start & Finish
Events begin at the downtown Watopia start pens, and end atop the Volcano KOM.
Format: Point-to-Point
Ride Achievement Badge: 1030 XP
Run Achievement Badge: none
Leaderboard Segments |
| Fuego Flats Reverse (7.1km, 0%) |
| JWB Sprint (0.36km, -0.1%) |
| Volcano KOM (3.8km, 3.2%) |
Strava Segments
Bike Selection
Aero is your best choice here, since there is very little climbing and even the volcano KOM finish is quite draftable. See Fastest Bike Frames and Wheels at Each Zwift Level >
Route Description
Route profile by ZwiftHub – the place to plan and track your route achievements!
We begin at the downtown start/finish in the reverse direction. Ride around the Volcano Flat to Ocean Blvd then into Fuego Flats for a nice flat run through the desert which includes the longest timed “sprint” on Zwift.
Ride through downtown Watopia and around Volcano Flat a second time, but this time when we get on Ocean Blvd we’ll take that all the way back through downtown Watopia. The spiral begins!
Once more through downtown and around Volcano Flat, then hang a left at the Italian Villas to go over The Esses and back to the Volcano. We’ll loop once around the volcano (one lap of Volcano Circuit CCW), then hang a left for the Volcano Climb finish. The route ends at the top of the Volcano as you cross under the KOM banner.
should be excellent finish 👏
Just did this route yesterday as part of a group ride. Zwift may have some bugs to squash as right before the Volcano Climb my group split into two with half going with me as yellow beacon and the others skipping a lap and doing the climb. The sweeper had to corral the second group and the only saving grace was that everyone got the badge. I have also heard from other Zwifters that this has happened to them as well. Otherwise, this is a great course if they can fix it.
That’s because version 1.57 of Zwift fixed this route, adding the Volcano Circuit lap just before you climb the KOM.
This route was in the game in version 1.56, but it didn’t include that circuit portion.
So depending on which version of Zwift you were running, you probably got routed accordingly. Zwift shouldn’t be allowing this route to be used for events yet.
Thanks Eric. I thought it could be a version issue but was not sure. Appreciate the info!
Too late. I already got the badge from a group event last weekend. Let’s go Herd. Moooooo!
Now that this has gone mainstream, you can make a new rebel route, “Super-spiral”, which begins with an additional loop of the southern coast road.
we were a group of about 30 riders in the TdZ ride today and all of us were sent up the KOM without a Volcano lap first. I’m sure I’ve updated every time possible – and now it’s been almost 2 weeks since people were split… did zwift decide for the short version?
@Eric Schlange So far this week, only 4 persons have done the 55.6 km segment, while 3265 have done the 51.7 km segment…
Since you say Zwift v.1.57 has “fixed this route” (26 January), is this a Zwift version almost nobody has received yet, 12 days later?
PS. At least one of those 4 wrote he had to manually exit the event (before the last junction) to manually navigate the rest of the route.
I honestly don’t know why it’s broken the way it is. Most riders are on version 1.57.3 now, and I tested the route in version 1.57 and it was correct.
Anyway, Zwift knows about the issue. Not sure if they’ll be able to do anything to fix it.
I’m on version 1.57.3, rode the route today and it was 51.7km.
Looks like it could use update with another circle, with a first lap through the jungle and around the new coastal roads! 😉
Now I know why this route appeared in my list of incompleted routes. Excited to ride this one during TDZ
Is the distance 51.7km or 55.7km?
The rebel route is 55.7 km and the official new route is 51.7 km (skipping one Volcano lap before the Volcano KOM). No idea why they made them different…
Event only, but still XP benefit?
Yup.
Since the Achievements board shows blank badge spots for this route and the other new routes for TdZ and for the Epic Race series, will they eventually become eligible for free rides? It’s unusual for a route to be event-only yet have an achievement badge available.
looks awesome =)
I rode this route yesterday, but it didn’t match the segment you’ve linked to above (and used by Veloviewer). Instead it matched a new Spiral into the Volcano segment (https://www.strava.com/segments/36048190). Why 2 different segments?
Two different segments because Zwift got the route wrong when they added it to the game. So the segment you linked to is the incorrect (shorter) one.
Zwift knows about the issue. Hopefully they fix it soon.
Done yesterday for 32.32 miles. There were a bunch of avatars that did a weird turn at the fountain before the second loop. Some made the right sweeping turn hugging the right side, and a bunch looked like they went left, and then swerved hard right to follow everyone else. It looked so strange. Just thought I’d mention that, being that it did look so odd…
I did this as part of TdZ about a week ago and Strava allocated me to the short version.
I did it again today in catch-up week and got the long version (34.56 mi).
Has this issue been resolved yet?
I rode the A ride in stage 8 of Tour de Zwift today, 11 Feb. On Zwift’s website (https://www.zwift.com/eu/tour-de-zwift/ride/stage8) “Spiral into the Volcano” is both advertised as 55.6 km and 51.7 km (compare the text details on the left with the selected ride on the right) but in the Companion app it is advertised as 55.6 km. The Companion app also shows the final lap around the volcano before the climb. Right from the start pens then the ride was listed as 51.7 km long and we did not do that final lap before the climb. I have the 1.57.3 client and latest Windows 10.
I wanted to ride this route during the TDZ make-up week could not find the A course offered for Stage 8. what do you think?
Same!
I now see that the A course is offered on the 17th and 18th.
if a group timed ride on the spiral finished before you finish the route and you go on to complete do you still get the badge?
Yes.
Is there a way to still get the badge? I search companion for events, but i never see that Route there.
Eventually Zwift will make this an open route. Not sure when. Until then, the only way to get the badge is if you join an event on the route.
Does anyone happen to know about a bug with this route that crashes zwift, but only if you don’t have the badge yet (and do it in a meetup)? This was my second attempt to get the badge with a few clubmates in a meetup I created, and the second time my zwift crashed while doing so (and it doesn’t crash otherwise). Today 2 of us didn’t have the badge, and zwift crashed at the exact same time for both of us, while the 3 with the badge could continue without problems.
The link to the Strava Segment in this article does not link to the Strava Segment I rode in the Tour of Watopia 2024. Is that because this Strava segment doesn’t start in the start pens? If I ride the route of the week, will I get a time for the Rebel Route?
It’s always been the same segment… if you ride the route in game, it’ll match this segment (https://www.strava.com/segments/20522725)