Zwift version 1.68 begins its phased rollout today. It’s a minor update, but includes assets for three different Tour de France-related initiatives launching this week, including a series of Climb Portal events held on ascents featuring in this year’s Tour!
Get all the details below…
Tour de France Series
Tour fever arrives on Zwift starting this Friday, and today’s update contains various assets to support all the fun! Zwift has planned three different TdF-related initiatives in game which we will cover in detailed indivdual posts later this week:
- Climb Portal Events: you read that right. Events will be held on TdF-related Climb Portals beginning this Friday!
- Vive la France! ZRacing: July’s ZRacing series will be TdF-themed, with all races on France or Paris routes.
- TdF Mission: the monthly mission for July has riders conquering any two routes in Paris or France.
There’s a “Grand Depart Kit” in game as well, and riders can unlock it in any one of three ways:
- Completing one of the climbs below as an on-demand free ride activity (see climb portal schedule)
- Completing one Climb Portal event (see dates below)
- Finishing the TdF Mission
The big news here are the Climb Portal events, as they have never been done before on Zwift! Since the Climb Portal launched over a year ago, riders have only been able to ride climbs as solo/free ride efforts. Zwifters have speculated for months about the possibility of holding events on these climbs. Now we get to see what it’s like attacking a climb with friends!
Eight different climbs will be featured on the same day they feature in the Tour de France, with events held hourly between 1am-10pm EDT:
- Côte des Forche: June 29
- Col du Galibier (Lautaret): July 2
- Pas de Peyrol/Puy Mary: July 10
- Pla d’Adet: July 13
- Col de Peyresourde (Avajan): July 14
- Isola 2000: July 19
- Col de la Couillole: July 20
- La Turbie + Col d’Eze: July 21
Registration Opens today – see upcoming events at zwift.com/tour-de-france-events >
Rolling Resistance Restored
In the previous update (v1.67), Zwift changed the rolling resistance of tarmac near the top of The Grade as well as the Epic KOM. This had the unfortunate affect of slowing riders on these sections, which made chasing PR times a more difficult proposition.
Today’s update rolls back those changes. While the road appearance hasn’t changed (they still look a bit snowy), the rolling resistance is the same as standard tarmac for the entirety of the Epic KOM as well as The Grade.
Read more about rolling resistance (Crr) on Zwift >
More Release Notes
Zwift provided notes on additional tweaks and bug fixes in this update:
- Fixed an issue that could cause KICKR Bike handlebar controls to become unresponsive during or after events.
- Fixed a crash that could occur when teleporting to another Zwifter while riding on The Grade segment in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue on Climb Portal where results may not be displayed upon completion of climb.
- Fixed an issue that could cause leaderboards to be blank on some segments in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue where other Zwifters could briefly loop in a circle during group rides.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a small rounding discrepancy when a new FTP is detected after completing The Grade in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause training plans to scroll unexpectedly when selecting a week.
- Fixed an issue in Climb Portal where the Average Power and PR could overlap when the PR line chart was visible.
- Fixed an issue that could show an incorrect distance to a RoboPacer when riding ahead of the pacer group.
- Repaired an invisible pothole near the Italian Villas in Watopia.
- Fixed an invisible bump in the road near the entrance of the Road to Sky route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the waterfall to disappear in the Jungle Circuit route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some rocks to flicker on the Beach Island Loop route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause a gap to appear near the opening of the volcano entrance in Watopia.
- Various visual improvements to The Grade expansion in Watopia including:
- Fixed an issue where some rocks and trees could unexpectedly disappear and reappear on the Coastal Crown Loop route in Watopia.
- Fixed an issue that could cause rider and bike shadows to render incorrectly on the Coastal Crown Loop route in Watopia.
- We paved over some errant grass that was growing onto the roadway of The Grade segment in Watopia.
- The text in the “Your Grade” sign at the top of The Grade segment in Watopia is now translated into all supported languages.
- macOS: If Zwift is unable to save files locally, a message will be displayed with links to support and troubleshooting articles.
- Android: Fixed an issue that could cause a square-shaped shadow to follow Zwifters in bright areas. It was probably not a ghost.
- Android: Fixed an issue that could cause spokes to not be visible on the Comete Pro Carbon SL UST and Cosmic Ultimate UST wheels.
Discuss this release on Zwift’s forum >
Questions or Comments?
If you spotted any other changes or bugs in the update, please comment below!
So happy about the Crr rollback. Kudos to Zwift for acting quickly on this.
Hi with the money we bank to upgrade bikes etc is it possible to spec parts in stead so you can build your own bike ,I’m sure this would be popular thanks Paul
go to zwift and ask for features. this aint zwift.com
Love how many people think this is Zwift nowadays
I do love a bug fix release. Not exciting but good work. The Kickr Bike steering issue has been a bugbear for ride leaders. ❤️
Thanks forvthe update Eric. Very interesting. Love to try the new climbs, but will need to wait until the 21 day tour series ends.
One thing I noticed after the Grade was introduced is that ai believe the Tunnel on the Epic KOM was shortened. Previously, when you came out if the tunnel, the rolling downfill began a few feet after. Now, you continue to climb for a bit.can you confirm that the EPIC KOM route was not altered?
The Epic KOM roads weren’t altered. The scenery around them (including tunnels) may have been changed, but the actual GPS values of the roads are the same.
Is there any word as to when they are going to change the leveling system? Seems like after the backlash, the whole thing has been put on hold. I keep waiting for everything to change, as I try to get to level 100 before the change!
If I go by the timing of the last few times this changed, this will happen when I am on the next to last level. I’m only on 79 now, so by my reckoning, you’ve still got a few months.
Anyone noticed a change to the base resistance over Bluetooth since this patch? I got on there bike this morning and was doing 50 watts less in the same gear at the same cadence as yesterday. Feels like general resistance has lowered… Not a huge issue but limits the scope of gears. (I wish ‘base resistance’ was a setting so we could set this with what works best for our setup, really)
Hey, Eric! I suppose there is a new icon in the right-upper corner of the home screen: a flag with a number right beside it! What does it mean?
It’s your racing score! See https://zwiftinsider.com/racing-score-2024-launch/
I recently updated to 1.68 and have had a significant power drop. I run zwift on android and ride a kickr core. Ive done a few spindowns and factory spindowns. Ive tried disconnecting all Ant and BE devices. Uninstalled and reinstalled Zwift. And still cant even come close to normal power out put. Any ideas/thoughts?
will zwift also get adaptive trainingplans in the future?