As you may already know, Tour de Zwift 2020 includes two types of cycling events that anyone can enter: group rides and races. The races will bring a high level of competition to the TdZ, since there are four categories of riders all vying for the podium across multiple events.
Here’s what you need to know in order to race Tour de Zwift 2020!
Short and Sweet
So far, stage 1 and 2’s races are only around ~11 miles (~18km) in length, meaning they will be finished in ~30 minutes by most riders.
Some Zwifters are asking why the race events are so short, but this is being done for a reason. One source at Zwift HQ tells us they are “meant to be short and fun nothing too serious, so that many Zwifters can experience the race.“
Signing Up
Sign up for TdZ at https://www.zwift.com/tdzride
Once you’re signed up, you will need to choose which event(s) to ride for each stage as well.
Important Note re: Companion and Filtering
TdZ races will not show up in the Companion app if you’re filtering to only show “Races”. They are tagged as group rides, so make sure your filters include that!
Categories
Categories are based on your FTP watts/kilogram:
Men’s Race Categories
- A: 4-5 w/kg
- B: 3.2-3.9 w/kg
- C: 2.5-3.1 w/kg
- D: 1-2.4 w/kg
Women’s Race Categories
- A: 3.7-5 w/kg
- B: 3.2-3.69 w/kg
- C: 2.5-3.19 w/kg
- D: 1-2.49 w/kg
While the limits aren’t enforced by Zwift, they will be enforced by ZwiftPower via DQs after each race. Since ZwiftPower is where the racing community goes for official race results, you’ll want to race in the proper category!
Using ZwiftPower
James Hodges at ZwiftPower has set up a race league with points for TdZ races, so if you want to compete for the overall Tour win, you’ll need to be signed up for ZwiftPower and racing in the proper category.
Signing up for ZwiftPower requires opting in at https://my.zwift.com/ >Edit Profile>Connections to share data with ZwiftPower. Then you must also create your ZwiftPower account and follow the instructions there to activate it.
Points will be awarded to the top 100 finishers of each race events: so 1st place gets 100, 2nd place gets 99, etc.
You can race each stage multiple times if you’d like–your best result on each stage will be taken for your overall league points.
Make sure you start in the correct category, because if you have to upgrade partway through, any points accumulated in the other category won’t count toward your total!
To see current race league results, visit ZwiftPower.com and click Leagues>Tour de Zwift (Open Race) or Leagues>Tour de Zwift (Women’s Race)
Stage Details
- Stage 1 (London): London Classique, 2 laps
Mixed (Men+Women) Race Schedule | Women’s Race Schedule - Stage 2 (Innsbruck): Innsbruckring, 2 laps
Mixed (Men+Women) Race Schedule | Women’s Race Schedule - Stage 3 (Watopia): Hilly Route Reverse, 2 laps
Mixed (Men+Women) Race Schedule | Women’s Race Schedule - Stage 4 (Bologna): (route details coming soon)
- Stage 5 (New York): (route details coming soon)
- Stage 6 (Richmond): (route details coming soon)
- Stage 7 (Yorkshire): (route details coming soon)
Get a Fast Bike
If you’re new to Zwift racing, one thing you’ll want to do is get yourself set up with the fastest in-game bike frame and wheelset for the race route. Races with big climbs are best done on a lighter setup, while flatter races are best done on a very aero setup.
Stage 1 is very flat, so you’ll want to use one of the fastest frames coupled with one of the fastest wheelsets.
New to Zwift racing? Read “How to Race On Zwift (Setup, Strategy, and More)”.
Pro-Am Invitational
Don’t forget, there’s a Pro-Am Invitational race series also happening, where top pros and amateurs will square off against each other the day before the open races begin. Watch the live stream, get a preview of the race routes, and see how top riders attack it! Learn more here >
Questions or Comments?
Share below!
Whiy is the race only 16km?
I’m not sure why Zwift is making the races so short… maybe I’ll email them and ask!
Will they count points for the Ladies Races as well?
Yes, there’s a ZwiftPower league just for the women’s races: https://zwiftpower.com/league.php?id=253
Is there a definitive way determine what will be used for your FTP w/kg? I am on cusp between the B and C categories and would probably depend on which wattage and was being used to determine my FTP. Looking myself up in zwiftpower indicates my FTP is 262 watts, but zwift itself has told me my FTP is about 300 watts at the end of summer. The 300 puts me at 3.2 w/kg, but I suspect my fitness is a bit worse since summer. Would performing an FTP test help? I presume I would get a lower value in… Read more »
In my experience you usually have an FTP that is higher than what zwift power thinks it is.
This is because your real ftp is calculated when riding independently and consistently for 20mins, but most zwift races are more than 20mins, have surges that will hurt your ability to hit the best average over longer periods and have lulls that reduce the overall average.
ZwiftPower uses your five top twenty-minute power bests from recent races, averages these together, and takes 95% of this value as your FTP. The best thing to do would be to do a couple races before the tour starts, and check your 20-minute power on ZP. If it’s near or north of 3.4 w/kg, you’re probably better off starting as a B to avoid the DQ risk.
Zwift power does not update your FTP, that is a manual value that you enter. Check your Zwiftpower category and use your Zwift FTP.
My page says the first race is London 8 course, not the Classique. (20.6 km)
I think Zwift was planning on doing the London 8 originally, then switched to the Classique at the last minute. So there’s some confusion, but I’m 99% sure it’s Classique for good.
Fun fact: during my race today the server glitched (apparently) and half the group, myself included, was sent up box hill. Seems like the server is not happy about not doing London 8… anyway, would make for a nice entry into the „how the race was lost“ series. Second attempt one hour later worked fine (technically, not leg-wise)
Yeah I was in one today (11/14) at 11:10 CST and was expecting the same Classique as what I did yesterday. Not so. We went up Box Hill. I was both confused and exhausted.
I am disappointed there aren’t more time slots in the early morning (eg 5 am est) or at least alternating timeslots across the days of each stage as they have done a few times in the past ( eg 1,3,5 7 am on day 1 then 2,4,6,8 on day 2, etc)
Is the Tron bike just banned for the Pro-Am TDZ race events, or is it excluded for the TDZ group rides and races for mortals too?
… Might need to go virtual frame shopping before stage 1!
It’s allowed for mere mortals!
Excellent, thanks Eric!
Does seem very odd to have a “race” event for each stage, but going on the Classique races on Sunday 12th, ranking points points aren’t appearing to change hands on Zwiftpower.com
Are there going to be any make up weeks. I’m going to be out of town during one of the stages?
Yes, once TdZ ends. Feb 9-16th will be full of makeup events.
Are you allowed to race each stage more than once to try and improve? or do you only get one shot at each stage?
Yes. I wrote above “You can race each stage multiple times if you’d like–your best result on each stage will be taken for your overall league points.”
I looked through the results and they don’t appear to have been filtered by ZP? Would they do so if they are not designated by Zwift as races? BTW – I’ve no skin in the game as I’m doing the rides.
Is there a reason why there are no Zwift Racing Points given after the race?
Great question. I bailed on this this race series because of it.
You’d have to ask James Hodges at ZwiftPower about that. But my guess is, there are no points being given because no one at Zwift has set up the events on ZwiftPower–I think James set them up as a league, but obviously it’s not his job to be a race organizer…
That said, there IS a league set up, which is a fun level of competition if nothing else: https://zwiftpower.com/league.php?id=252
Do the races count for the Tour jersey? or need to do a group ride too?
I really hope stage 4 is a time trial rather than an open race, can’t imagine that being great round Bologna
Why is it so hard to get a simple table showing each stage, date, distance, climb for each category. Impossible to plan for these tours.
Zwiftpower upgraded me from B to A grade after the second stage. What will this mean for me? Can I finish tdz in B grade and not be DQ’d?
First stage i did a group ride, seconda stage i wanted to race but mistakenly choose C race over my real D category, and got beaten hard. You wrote “start in the right category, otherwise if you switch, points from other categories doesn’t count”; but if i race in D for all the remaning stages, and then in the makeup days i’ll redo stage 1 and 2, as races, in the D category, i will have full points counting in D? Or now that i made a C race, i’ll have to race all other stages in the same category… Read more »
For stage 4, the app says it’s two laps of the Bologna TT course, which is 5 miles long. The app says the race is 15 miles long, so how does that work?