Tour de Zwift 2020 is shaping up to be the biggest, most exciting series of Zwift events in history. The group rides will be gigantic and fun as always, but the biggest news of this tour is Zwift is running races alongside the typical TdZ group rides.
And it’s not just open, categorized community races being held. Zwift has also organized a Pro-Am Invitational Race Series where each stage’s world will be raced by top pros and amateurs the day before the stage opens for the rest of the Zwift community.
Schedule
The Pro-Am Series races will happen at 11am PST/7pm GMT the day before each new stage begins. There will men’s races and women’s races, and it appears as though they’ll alternate between the two each stage.
Here’s the full 7-stage schedule:
- Stage 1 (London): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 11 – women’s race
- Stage 2 (Innsbruck): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 15 – men’s race
- Stage 3 (Watopia): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 19 – women’s race
- Stage 4 (Bologna): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 23 – men’s race
- Stage 5 (New York): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 27 – women’s race
- Stage 6 (Richmond): 11am PST/7pm GMT Jan 31 – men’s race
- Stage 7 (Yorkshire): 11am PST/7pm GMT Feb 4 – women’s AND men’s races
Where to Watch
Zwift has created a page where the live streams of each race will be available – see it at zwift.com/video/tour-de-zwift-live.
Races will also be broadcast on Facebook via the Zwift Live.
Rules
Here are the rules in the event description for the first race of the series:
NAME FORMAT
Racer’s team name must be placed in square brackets after the racer’s last name and can be entered into the last name field in-game. For instance, Mary Wilkinson racing for Team Turbo may use the name M. Wilkinson [TRBO] or Mary Wilkinson [TRBO]. Riders who do not use this format will be disqualified.
TEAM KIT
- It is mandatory to race in your team kit. Failure to do so will result in disqualification.
- Zwift National Champion kits are not allowed. All riders must race in their team kit.
- Time trial helmets are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Time Trial helmet.
BICYCLES // WHEELS
- Zwift concept bicycles (aka “Tron” bicycle) are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Zwift concept bicycle.
- Time Trial bicycles are not allowed. Disqualification for using a Time Trial bicycle.
- Disc wheels are not allowed. Disqualification for using a disc wheel.
Zwift Insider’s Comments about the Rules
The most interesting rules in the list above are those restricting the use of certain bikes, wheels, and helmets. Most of those rules simply prevent riders from using equipment normally seen only in TT events: disc wheels, TT helmets, and TT frames.
The TT helmets, in our tests, haven’t impacted speed at all. But the disc wheels certainly do, with the Zipp 858/Super9 wheelset being the fastest wheelset on Zwift for flat/rolling routes, and the Zipp 808/Super9 being the second-fastest.
The TT frames, likewise, are more aero than standard road frames, and thus faster in a solo effort. But they don’t let you draft, so winning in a Pro-Am race with a TT frame is going to be challenging.
It’s possible some of these rules (the TT helmet rule especially) are because of the optics: that is, it just looks silly to have someone wearing a TT helmet (or using a disc wheel, or riding on TT bars) in a road race.
Eliminating the Tron makes sense as well, since the only way to keep pace with a Tron bike on flat races is with one of the fastest frames coupled with a disc wheelset.
The net effect of these rules is to level the playing field significantly in terms of virtual equipment. The fastest setups available for flat races under these rules will use one of these frames:
- Specialized Venge S-Works (level 33+)
- Felt AR (level 34+)
- Cervelo S5 (level 25+)
- Trek Madone (level 20+)
Coupled with one of the fastest wheelsets:
- Zipp 858 (level 37+)
- ENVE SES 7.8 (level 39+)
- ENVE SES 8.9 (level 31+)
- Zipp 808 (level 13+)
The 4 frames listed turn in essentially the same times on our flat tests. The 4 wheelsets listed are separated by only 4 seconds on a ~50 minute flat test.
Any Zwift racer worth their chamois should be at a high enough level (20+) to access a fast setup, so no racers will be at a significant disadvantage due to their virtual bike.
Scoring
The Pro-Am Series isn’t just about who crosses the finish line first. It includes a points-based team and individual competition which includes sprint and K/QOM arches.
Here’s how the scoring works:
- First 20 riders score points at the finish. Points are awarded as follows: 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
- First 10 riders score points at each K/QOM and Sprint arch. Points are awarded as follows: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Teams
This is an invitation-only race, so Zwift has reached out to amateur and pro teams. Here are the women’s teams who will be participating:
And the men’s teams:
No TRON bikes. Also known as the Cameron Jeffers rule.
Seriously though, I think Zwift is trying to make virtual racing look more real and getting rid of fake glowing bikes is a step in that direction.
“…the Cameron Jeffers rule…”
Brilliant!
For these events, making the gamer racing look like real pro racing (so no glowing bikes, no time trial helmets, all in team kit, etc) is probably a sensible step for Zwift in getting virtual racing accepted by more cyclists out there. I do love using my TRON bike though, haha! Will be interesting to see how this series goes.
I don’t think the reason Zwift is disallowing the Tron bike is its performance. I think it’s the same reason that Zwift is disallowing TT equipment – Zwift wants these races to look as much as possible like real-life road races. So no TT bikes or helmets, and until we see a real-life Tron bike, no Tron bike either. A secondary reason is that Zwift may want to avoid another Jeffersgate. Is there any word as to whether all non-Tron bikes will be unlocked for the racers or whether their availability will be limited by Zwift level? If the latter,… Read more »
But what if you wear no helmet or wear one of those big caps? Big hair will be fine as you’ll look like Daniel Oss
Tron bike not the fastest on either flat or hills these days. Now where was it that someone has done some very helpful testing on that..? Derek someone I think he’s called …
I hope Kirchmair will be invited, since Stefan Kirchmair can win the series.
But they dont have team kit
I notice that Heino Racing Team are also showing up … but are not included in the ‘invited teams’ above. It will be exciting racing, looking forward to it!
It’s confusing…. Heino shows up on ZwiftPower, but those riders are actually racing under a different team name in the official race. Zwift doesn’t use ZP to manage these races, basically.
HEINO is racing under the DBR flag, since they didn’t have a team kit in game.
when is the first men’s race?
It should be tomorrow at 11, but since the women’s is scheduled for 11:15… I’m not sure! Perhaps the men’s race is after the women’s?
first mens race is innsbruck. the races scheduled for men are innsbruck, bologna, richmond and yorkshire
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Why no Tron bikes? Does this mean the Trons have hidden abilities that give racers an unfair advantage?
The Tron bike is the fastest bike on flat/rolling roads, unless you have one of the fastest frames coupled with a disc wheelset (those setups basically match or barely beat the Tron–like within 1-2 seconds over an hour ride).
So if they’re going to eliminate the disc wheel option, the Tron bike is now the fastest setup. It makes sense to eliminate it, so the playing field is leveled.
May also be an optics thing–the Tron bike doesn’t look realistic, while the other bikes do.
Why not Men’s and Women’s races for each stage? Would love to watch them all!
I wondered the same thing! Not sure why they chose to alternate.
As there are group rides and races, how do you access the group rides? On the Zwift Companion, only the races show up (filter = groups, races). I’ve done Stage 1 (category D), which was good fun, and I think I’ll do Innsbruck, but how do you get on the group rides, when there is no sign up on the companion?