Zwift has just announced a set of group workouts designed by Zwift Coach Kevin Poulton and inspired by the Spring Classics. Running for four weeks (March 30 through April 26), this “race experience” workout series aims to bring the spirit of unique events like the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Paris-Roubaix to Watopia.
When thinking of the Classics, it’s the major sectors that spring to mind. Cobbled climbs like the Koppenberg, punishing sectors like the Carrefour de l’Arbre, the contrastingly smooth surface of Roubaix’s Velodrome or the leg-snapping gradient of the Cauberg. While these typically provide the springboards for the race-winning moves, what often goes unnoticed are efforts made within the peloton to move the favorites into position by their teammates ahead of each of these fabled sectors. The Zwift Royal Classics Series will give a taste of the constant accelerations and stresses of true classics racing.
“An entire Classics race experience pressed into a single hour on Zwift,” says Zwift. Intrigued? Read on!
About the Workouts
Each week’s workout has men’s and women’s versions. It appears that all riders are welcome to join either workout version. While the workouts are similar, their intervals appear to be adjusted to more closely-mimic the timing of efforts in the actual men’s and women’s races (see workout images below).
The Hellingen Royal Classic (Week 1)
“Our take on one of the most famous real-life Classics, the Hellingen Royal Classic on Zwift contains a number of climbs that offer several opportunities to attack and take the lead.”
Men’s workout (image courtesy of ZwiftHacks) 
Women’s workout (image courtesy of ZwiftHacks)
The Roubaix Royal Classic (Week 2)
“Based on one of the toughest cycling events on the calendar, The Roubaix Royal Classic has tons of intervals that represent specific sections of the course.”
(workout images coming soon)
The Cauberg Royal Classic (Week 3)
“Inspired by a lengthy circuit race in a quiet part of Europe, the Cauberg Royal Classic will push riders over and over again until only the strongest riders are left.”
(workout images coming soon)
The Ardennes Royal Classic
“Based on the oldest of the Monuments, the Ardennes Royal Classic is perfect for top-of-the-line riders to show their strengths. A series of seemingly never-ending climbs await riders here before the finale plays out over a few last climbs.”
(workout images coming soon)
Events are still being added to the calendar, but you can read series details and schedule at Zwift.com >
Guest Pros
The “King and Queen of the Classics”, Philippe Gilbert and Anna van der Breggen, will each lead one ride per week. Here’s their schedule for week 1:
- April 2 – 17:30 (UTC/GMT) Anna van der Breggen leads the Hellingen Royal Classics Workout. Sign up here.
- April 3 – 17:00 (UTC/GMT) Philippe Gilbert leads the Hellingen Royal Classics Workout. Sign up here.
About Philippe Gilbert
Belgian road cyclist Philippe Gilbert heads to Zwift for the Royal Classics. A professional racer for UCI WorldTeam Lotto–Soudal, Philippe is the second person in history to have won three Ardennes Classics in a single week. The “King of the Classics,” Philippe is a veritable Classics specialist, with a number of wins under his belt. He has also won stages at each of the three cycling Grand Tours. Be sure to join Philippe in the Royal Classics.
About Anna Van Der Breggen
Dutch road cyclist Anna van der Breggen brings a wealth of experience to the Royal Classics. Currently with UCI Women’s Continental Team Boels–Dolmans, Anna rode away with a gold medal for women’s road race in the 2016 Rio Olympics and won the women’s road race in the 2018 UCI Road World Championships. Considered one of the most versatile riders of her generation, Anna excels in both the one-day classics and stage races. In 2017, she won all three Ardennes classics races in one week, earning her the nickname Queen of the Ardennes.
Hi Eric. I heard Kev Poulton talking about these and they were built using actual data files from riders in the race. That would explain the difference in the men’s v the women’s, as you point out they do race these a little differently.
Can we attend either the men’s or women’s race workout? Is there a difference?
Explained in the post.
“Each week’s workout has men’s and women’s versions. It appears that all riders are welcome to join either workout version. While the workouts are similar, their intervals appear to be adjusted to more closely-mimic the timing of efforts in the actual men’s and women’s races (see workout images below).”
Thanks so much for these, great idea! Is there anyway to download them, or do them stand alone? I’m having trouble making the events at the times they’re posted.
I see them on whatsonzwift in group workouts but no way to download that i see, though I suppose I could manually recreate one. thanks
I would also like to know if these workouts will become available for download or in the Zwift workout library after April 26?
I created two of them,
The_Cauberg_Royal_Classic_Mens.zwo
The_Roubaix_Royal_Classic.zwo
You can check them against the event workouts here:
https://whatsonzwift.com/group-workouts/
(search classics for example)
should be very much the same except they won’t have the in workout dialog
They are here:
http://ge.tt/57vwFY23
Just fyi I added three more classics, to the page linked above:
The Ardennes Royal Classics Mens Workout.zwo
The Ardennes Royal Classics Womens Workout.zwo
The Cauberg Royal Classic Womens Workout.zwo
so only Hellingen is missing, I’ll add it if I can.
Rick, having a spot of bother downloading the Roubaix workout, does the link still work ok? Thanks for putting them together.
Sorry about that, posted an update but think it went into moderator void. Old site seems to have issues, I put on another host, assemble this link manually: bit dot ly slash zwift-royal-classics
Hi everyone! I attended the women’s workout today… I thought something went wrong… maybe someone could help me with that… as I was riding, all the course but mostly in the intense intervals like 4w/kg I was riding in a speed very slow even on the flats. During the workout I needed to stop and fix something in my pedals… I lost the peloton but later I was stuck with some people riding w/kg far below me, and I couldn’t disconnect even trying to sprint. I don’t know… how is a workout the race put “everyone together”? I didn’t like… Read more »
This is a very nice idea, very poorly delivered. I ride three times snd always had the same problem: my power was constantly shifting from above to below the range. It’s the only workout where my ERG does not seem to work correctly. It cones as no surprise that the workouts are mostly deserted now.
Which brings me to a suggestion: it would be good to have a rating system for workout. Just a five star thing to fill at the end of a ride.
Will these classic workout become available again? These were absolutely brilliant and I’ve not found a work out to match them.
I haven’t heard anything. It would be cool if they made them available in the workouts picker!