Zwift has just sent out a press release highlighting upcoming game improvements and key events for the spring and summer months (April thru August 2023).
There is much to discuss here, so we will begin by publishing Zwift’s full press release, which introduces several new game features we haven’t yet covered due to Zwift media embargoes. We plan to release more in-depth posts focused on these topics in the coming hours and days, digging into the details you won’t find in a press release. Watch this space.
Some of the content in the PR has already been covered in detailed posts here on Zwift Insider, including:
Without further ado: here’s Zwift’s entire (albeit slightly edited) “This Season on Zwift” Spring/Summer 2023 press release.
It’s a poorly kept secret that the fittest, fastest, and most capable riders complement their outdoor rides with focused indoor sessions to refine fitness, even when the weather outside is perfect. Mixing Zwift sessions into an outdoor ride schedule gives cyclists the fitness edge needed to confidently ride further, meet challenging goals, and climb hills more easily – just what’s needed for a fun and exciting summer of riding!
Zwift is excited to roll into the Northern Hemisphere Spring and Summer with a full slate of new in-game features and events. Everything Zwift is announcing today – and other features being built – are designed to make indoor rides more fun and engaging, while ensuring cyclists have the right fitness to tackle their summer riding goals, whatever those might be.
Highlighted New Features Rolling Out This Summer
(all images represent the current state of features still in development)
Coffee Stop
We’ve all started a ride, only to realize that we forgot an essential, like a water bottle or sweat towel. Or sometimes you’re halfway through a ride and need to take a nature break, or get a caffeine hit to finish your last few miles.
With Coffee Stop, Zwift is adding a much-requested feature. Created during a recent Zwift Hackathon, Coffee Stop lets you take a short break – up to three minutes – without falling behind the group you’re riding with, whether that’s friends in a meet-up, a Pacer Group, or other Zwifters you happen to be riding with in free ride.
All Zwifters will have access to the feature. To take a Coffee Stop, Zwifters will select the option from the Action Bar or Zwift Companion App. Once activated, you can take care of whatever you need to do – make an espresso, sign for a delivery, or refill your bottle. Your avatar will keep pace with whatever group you’re riding with while you’re off the bike. You’ll even keep accumulating distance and XP.
But don’t let the dreaded café legs catch up with you! After three minutes, your Coffee Stop expires, so act fast or get ready to catch up.
Rider Teleport
Riding with friends is one of the best things about cycling. With Rider Teleport, it’s now easier to do on Zwift.
Now, when you’re mid-ride, and one of your friends decides to hop into the same Zwift world, you can teleport directly to them without exiting your current activity. You can also use Teleport with RoboPacers by starting with an easy pacer group and teleporting to a harder one once you’re warmed up. Looking to complete more miles after an event finishes with a group? Simply teleport to a RoboPacer going your speed!
You can initiate a teleport from your action bar, and your avatar’s movement will appear as a straight line on your post-activity map.
Action Bar Update
Zwifters will still access the Action Bar the same way they always have – with the up arrow on their keyboard, or via Companion App – but everything else about this important interactive feature has changed. Action Bar has always been the one place where Zwifters control all in-game features, and it’s now easier to use.
Instead of having to scroll far to the left or right to give a Ride On, change camera angle, or make a u-turn, actions have now been organized into easily navigated submenus. Click into the submenu for emotes to access all the reactions in one place – Ride On, elbow flick, toast, and wave. A different submenu will give you options for Rider Teleport, showing you Zwifters you follow and RoboPacers in the same world as you. Zwifters will also be able to access Coffee Stop from Action Bar.
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Climb Portal
Join other Zwifters and ride through these two new portals to experience some of the real world’s most famous climbs. This new addition to Zwift will put you in a totally new Zwift environment with a completely new visual experience, but which still replicates real world places. Zwifters will get to test themselves on legendary grades and iconic switchbacks with other riders.
At launch, two of the climbs available through the portal will be Col du Tourmalet and Col d’Aspin, both storied for their prominence in some of history’s most exciting bike races. Other climbs will be available as well.
Keep Everyone Together
By turning on Keep Everyone Together in club events, it’s easy for Zwifters to plan no-drop rides for their clubs, making it easier to spend time with friends and socialize while you pedal, even if your group has a wide span of fitness levels. This favorite feature has previously only been available in select events. Now, any Zwifter who is an administrator of a club can turn this feature on for their club’s events. With Keep Everyone Together enabled, all participants in club rides will ride together, no matter their power output.
Club Notification Control
Use Club Notification Control to decide which Club Chats and Club Events you want notifications from. You can now turn on notifications from your favorite clubs without being bombarded with chatter from the rest.
Pack Dynamics V.4
Get ready for a smoother ride on Zwift with the latest updates to Pack Dynamics. This update makes riding in a peloton more realistic; you won’t be overtaken as easily, and won’t get sucked up into a peloton while riding solo. Plus, the new in-game dynamics make it easier to float from the front to the back of the pack, if you want. Group too slow? It’s also easier to break away if you want. If you aren’t trying to move up, your avatar will mostly stay in the same position relative to other Zwifters, as you would if you were riding in a pack in real life.
Player Highlight
Player Highlight makes it easy to see your avatar, pick out friends, and spot ride leaders on Zwift. The Player Highlight shrouds your avatar, as well as those of Zwifters you follow and ride leaders in a glowing halo when you’re riding in a dense pack. The highlight fades in smaller packs and when you’re riding solo. This dynamic enhancement is especially helpful in events when everyone is wearing the same jersey.
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Select New Content for This Season On Zwift
Zwift Spring Training Series
Year-round training on Zwift is a great way to boost your outdoor fitness—and the Zwift Spring Training Series is the perfect program to get you ready for summer. With this series, we’ve developed six effective, efficient, achievable workouts that will get you ready for all your summer goals. Indoor Work = Outdoor Fun.
Conquer A Classics Mission
Ride the distance of Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, 145.5 km, to celebrate the speedy women of the World Tour. Conquer those kilometers and unlock a sweet Watch the Femmes kit for your avatar and a unique Mission badge! The mission started April 3, but there’s still plenty of time to join and complete the kilometers before the end of the month.
Ride With Pride!
Pride month is right around the corner, and we’ve got the perfect way to celebrate—June’s Ride with Pride Mission. Sign up and keep your Monthly Mission streak rolling.
Tour de France // Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift Mission
The Zwift Watch the Femmes campaign will take over the month of July with an on-demand mission that challenges Zwifters to complete four stages, with different course options provided with the new Segment Portal. Stay tuned for more details!
Questions or Comments?
Zwift just added an FAQ which may answer many of your questions.
Got other comments or questions? Post below!
Great new features IMO. Especially the Coffee Stop function looks perfect for long distance rides and bio brakes 🙂
They hopefully support native Apple Silicon sometime 🤞🏻
Segment portal sounds great. I wonder if the segments will rotate or will they always be available with an ever growing list to try out. And maybe for events?
Zwift choose the segments bit more info on all the features in the FAQ https://support.zwift.com/en_us/this-season-on-zwift-faq-rJXEpTz1j
Teleport to Robopacer is what I’ve been wanting for a long time. I hate having to join without a proper warm up. Should be a great addition along with the coffee stop.
Additional “real world” climbs is definitely interesting.
I wonder how this will look when the ride uploads to Strava. Will the ride be split into multiple rides? One for each teleport?
i dont think you should be worried about how a “zwift-free ride” looks like on strava? O_O
It said you will see a straight line from one point of teleportation to the other. So it will look weird on a Strava map. But there is no way around that.
“Instead of having to scroll far to the left or right to give a Ride On”
you don’t use the action bar to give a ride on currently? unless i’m missing something.
I believe it is in reference to the “Thumbs Up” in the task bar that speaks “Ride On” doesn’t actually give any Ride Ons… Same as “Hammer Time” or I’m Toast”
There’s a difference between dispensing a ride-on, and triggering the “ride on!” emote
If Ive read this correctly it looks like coffee stop (great feature) will not be available for group rides? Thats a big miss in my book
I read it that there list of examples is not an exhaustive list, so I would expect that it does apply to group rides. Clearly you would not expect it to apply in races.
It could be used tactically in group rides to give a breather if you are struggling staying with the group. But if it’s not a race then no harm done.
Just checked the FAQs in their email – coffee stop will not be available in competitive events or workouts. Seems like it will be available everywhere else.
Coffee stop seems like it would be a great feature for group rides when you get dropped and want to try to rejoin the [lead] group. However, best I can tell so far is that you can’t do it unless one of your Z-friends is in that group.
I think what you are describing is the Teleport feature, which allows you to re-spawn next to someone you follow (or a bot). The Cafe Stop feature would help you to stop getting dropped, by letting you stop pedalling for 3 minutes (but only once each 30 minutes) and recover (or avoid the steepest part of a climb), but if you are already dropped it will not help. You need to be in a group of 5 or more to use the Cafe Stop.
Finally some nice features coming and were kept quite secret which makes the surprise factor cool. Just don’t really agree with coffee stop continue giving XP and Drops or many people would take advantage of that, should be just paused during the time you won’t pedal but that’s my opinion 🙂
It might stop collecting drops like descending outside of an event does. You coast, you stop collecting.
I don’t mind XP so much. 3 mins is like, 1km? so 20xp for having an easy ride? It’s not a lot really
It’s not a zero sum game, though – those pause riders “earning” XP and drops doesn’t impact your own levels. And 3 minutes worth of either is hardly life-changing.
It’s 10%! But let’s face it it’s only a game.
3 mins to do a poo! Best be quick 😁
Will it track KOP / QOP awards on Strava is what I want to know…
If you use it, it should categorize your ride in Strava as an e-bike ride.
Agreed!
Might need to up your fibre intake! 😉
Coffee stop is excellent and Portal has massive potential for players like myself who really just want 100s of climbs in game, the harder the better. We only have 2 big climbs at present so Portal sounds like it’ll be doubling that to start.
What I really want is the ability to go hardcore once in a while and try to climb as many as possible without needing to stop/save and reload a new map with a run in. Will portal take us closer to that I’m not sure but let’s see.
Nothing interesting on the gamification side like achievements or MTX etx. Hopefully they’re taking the RPG side seriously – too much low hanging wins they’re not even close to nailing down. Very strange for a company that wants to make money and keep user retention.
We were really due for some big climbs again. A void that I thought Fuji would fill but I’m fine with this as well. Still surprises me, in a not so positive way, that the third hardest climb is the Innsbruck climb which isn’t even a cat 1. But very glad that we get this now!
I would say the third hardest climb is Reverse Epic + Radio Tower
“easier to break away” yet to see the proof of this 😀
Tourmalet 😍
Love it love it love it. Will be interesting to see how it’s implemented, hope to be able to chain these portals in a free ride for some epic stages
I wonder if they will be some kind of weird flat graphic and not in a 3D world… They are wording it like that might be the case.
Coffee stop is a great addition, however will it be limited to once per ride for example. If someone can just keep hitting it then can be easily abused.
I assume it will not be available for races. As long as it’s not a competitive situation, what harm does it do if someone takes a breather to recover so that they can stay with the group if they are struggling?
It looks like everyone will see that someone is taking a coffee stop, so if someone is doing it excessively then the group will know, and they will know that the group knows….
I heard it was once every 30 minutes. Still a great way to take a break for a few minutes.
Where is the Velodrome?! 🤨
Yes, a Velodrome would be a fantastic feature in the future 😍 … let’s pray for this 🙏🏼
Ok Zwift. This is huge. There is something for nearly everybody in this announcement. I‘m looking foreward to new climbs after more than 110 Alpe ascends. Finally!
Not-so-subtle flex, but okay.
This is when I find out this actually exists, but I’d like a way of finishing a group ride, say tour event, but being able to be switch worlds at the end and retain mileage, rather than stopping, saving, and starting again. Does this exist?? Would be great as there’s some courses which when I’m done, I’m done, but would like extra miles somewhere more interesting, enjoyable, easier!
Sadly not!
You can do that (sort of) – start a ride in the other world before your event, then when you click to join your event you will be transported there. At the end of the event, you will be asked if you want to return to your original world.
This will be saved as 3 separate rides, but you will not have to stop and save between them, you just keep riding.
Do we know if it will just be one coffee stop per ride or will it refresh after time?
The FAQs in their email say that you can have a 30s coffee stop in the first 5 minutes (no doubt so that you can grab that towel that you forgot, or turn on your fan) and one 3 minute stop every 30 minutes
Looking forward to see how Strava copes with teleports – I can only assume it’ll break it into separate activities?
Didn’t it say in the press release? “You can initiate a teleport from your action bar, and your avatar’s movement will appear as a straight line on your post-activity map.” So strava might credit you with that mileage.
Will be the same activity with a straight line connecting the teleports.
Same way Strava handles “helicopter rides” (GPS failures) today. If it bugs you, split your ride manually on Strava.
I have noticed that on recent Pace Partner rides Strava will often show a straight line to where my avatar actually joined the group . I wonder if that is an early effect of the changes that Zwift has been making.
I don’t think Strava records the distance for that line, only the distance that you’ve actually ridden (but i may be wrong as if not actively tried to work that out)
My Wife is going to love the fact that I can leave the trainer for toilet breaks now 🙂
Why does this page say this is all “going to come this summer”, while the page Zwift has just sent me a link to says all these things are live now?
The FAQs in my email from Zwift cofirm the above – most of these features are coming this summer
They’re definitely not live now… except for the few that are listed as such above.
Love most of these new features. Coffee shop sounds amazing and teleport is cool. Been waiting on the keep together.
why not get rid of the emotes in the action bar no one uses like the elbow and toast. They just take up more space.
I’d love to see some new emotes for race scenarios like: “let’s work together”, or “chasing group closing” that only your group can see or hear.
agree. only time I’ve used the toast is when accidentally hitting it =)
Nice! More climbs are long overdue and always welcome. The “I’m toast” and “wave” buttons were (to me) completely useless and far too prominent in the interface, making it harder to access the buttons that I *did* use regularly.
Don’t you wave to the roadside fans … or are you normal?
would the coffee stop feature prevent you getting a route badge? I’ve only got the 3 uber long routes to complete so this could be very helpful!
That would seem unduly harsh. You can only use it once every 30 minutes, so it’s not going to materially make a task like that easier (and it only works if in a group of 5+, which is already easier than getting those badges solo)
Presumably there would be some measures in place to prevent my taking 2 1/2-minute coffee breaks in quick succession, racking up lots of mileage with little effort. (As is so often true, the cheat would probably require more effort than the real thing.)
I’m hoping for special “sipping from a mug while tucked on my TT bike” animations, to let my fellow riders know what’s up.
There are limits – one 30s stop in the first 5 minutes and one 3 minute stop every half hour.
And it seems you get a steaming cup of coffee icon, so everyone knows you’re slacking.
Climb portal could be good for hard ride/ workout when you tired of the current climbs or need a different type of climb. Imagine they will want to add some SoCal famous mountain climbs as ZHQ is in based in Long Beach. Mt Baldy and GMR where was both used in Tour of California stage race some years back. Mt. Baldy is visible to most in SoCal and rated as a HC monster climb and one the toughest in the world. Hwy 39 is also another popular SoCal climb.
I wonder if the new climbs can be used for vEveresting. They would need to let you turn around at the top and descend them and then turn around at the bottom.
Perhaps a fantasy Everest itself, actual elevation gain. True king of the mountain course for only the best of the most dedicated.
wow. im excited
All these features are great…but can we get average watts on the screen someday? I mean it’s been a requested feature since Zwift came out…
I found myself wishing for an avatar highlight during Tour of Watopia this year in large groups when everybody had the same jersey. It’s a little thing, but it’s a nice improvement.
Wouldn’t the coffee stop function allow you to go to your limit on say the alp if your riding with someone who’s just about to drop you. Then activate the break your avatar stays with the other rider you get your heart rate and breathing under control and you resume the ride and end up with a better result in the segment than otherwise would be possible. Or in a race if your about to be dropped, activate the stop, recompose yourself and resume when you’ve recovered.
Coffee stop isn’t available for competitive events.
I suppose in a group ride up the Alpe you could use it – but you’re only hurting yourself then. And everyone will see the big coffee cup icon over your head and rightly belittle you once you’re at the top. 🙂
Sorry, but PD 4 is nothing like riding outside. The draft is all over the place. Either your putting in the same w/kg as the pace partner and all the riders around them or there isn’t really a draft…
I’m missing something. More climbs even though the flat routes are waaaay more popular? And also this convinces me Min was just in it for a quick buck, now that he is gone we are getting lots of new features we all want. Nice!
Is it only Apple? I have Android and I dont have the features unfortanelly
This is nice and all, but I’m still waiting for a complete elevation profile of your selected route that is actually visible, say in the companion app for instance. This seems like a very basic feature, even my 10 year old Garmin has it.
Wouw! Nice updates are coming.
But one that I wait is still missing from the list and it is steering option for other than Elite products.
I am using Gymrail Momentum X1 and they have hardware for steering, but it is not yet compatible with Zwift API.
Hi guys, I’m a Zwift newbie and was wondering if I set up my MTB on Zwift hub and ride the road routes on Zwift why is my bike slower than a road bike when the app doesn’t know what bike I’m riding?
Because you’re putting out fewer watts riding your MTB.
Probably because it’s geared much lower than your road bike.
Zwift just cares about watts. Look at those, and see the difference between the two bikes!
Great lineup of new features. Would be nice to have a better elevation profile. Something similar to the graph along the bottom of the screen during workouts, keyboard letter to turn it on or off? Maybe in a future release.
This will be amazing while racing in pack: If you aren’t trying to move up, your avatar will mostly stay in the same position relative to other Zwifters
sometgung I’d commebt on and likeky get flack about…..
I’m not a fan of labelling people in political, sexual or ethnic groups. Everyone is the same and the less clans of peoppe we make the better. I don’t want to know those things or see it whilst cycling. It annoys me.
Guess they forgot about keep together for clubs? 🤷🏼♀️