“Cobble Crusher” ZRacing April Series Details

April is Classics time in outdoor road racing, and the Queen of the Classics, Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, arrives Saturday, April 8th. Zwift is hosting a variety of events and a mission to celebrate the big race, including a month of cobbled race routes… both old and new.

Cobble Crusher – April’s Route Schedule

This month’s races all take place on cobbly Zwift routes, with stages 1 and 4 including fresh cobbles on previously-paved portions of France:

  • Stage 1 (Apr 3-9): R.G.V.
    • 1 lap (24.8km, 133m elevation)
    • Powerups: Draft Boost (50%), Aero Boost (50%)
  • Stage 2 (Apr 10-16): Lutece Express
    • 3 laps (23.4km, 142m elevation)
    • Powerups: Burrito (50%), Ghost (50%)
  • Stage 3 (Apr 17-23): Cobbled Climbs
    • 2 laps (18.6km, 268m)
    • Powerups: Feather (50%), Anvil (50%)
  • Stage 4 (Apr 24-30: Casse-Pattes
    • 1 lap (23.7km, 155m)
    • Powerups: Draft Boost (50%), Aero Boost (50%)

See upcoming Cobble Crusher events >

Series Structure

The ZRacing series consists of monthly sets of weekly races. Each race is scheduled for seven days (beginning 1:10am UTC on Monday and running through to the next Sunday). Timeslots are consistent week to week and month to month.

Races are scheduled ~15 times each day, so there are plenty of available times to find a race.

See upcoming events at zwift.com/events/tag/zracingapr2023

Monthly GC on ZwiftPower

Each monthly set of races has a time-based GC (general classification) which tracks riders’ best finishing times for each week’s race. The overall winners in each category for the month will be the riders with the lowest overall time for that month’s set of races.

See April’s GC on ZwiftPower >

With over 100 weekly timeslots available, riders can race each week’s event multiple times and try to better their finishing time.

Note: you must use a heart rate monitor and be on a smart trainer, smart bike, or power meter to show up in ZwiftPower results for this series.

If you aren’t signed up for ZwiftPower, check out our post How to Sign Up for ZwiftPower (and Why Every Zwifter Should Do It).

Get the Badge

Each month’s series has a unique achievement badge, which you can unlock by finishing every stage for the month.

One and Done

Zwift has planned these events around the idea of a solid 1-hour workout, so each race should only take around 1 hour to complete, including your warmup and cooldown.

Past Rounds

April is the eighth round of the ZRacing series which began in September 2022 with Get Rolling. This was followed by October’s Race Like a Champ, November’s Race Makuri, December’s Race Like a Pro, January’s Flat is Fast, and February’s Race Scotland, and March’s Race London.

Questions or Comments?

Post below! 

Eric Schlange
Eric Schlangehttp://www.zwiftinsider.com
Eric runs Zwift Insider in his spare time when he isn't on the bike or managing various business interests. He lives in Northern California with his beautiful wife, two kids and dog. Follow on Strava

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René Rosendahl
René Rosendahl
7 months ago

Hi Eric: Lutece Express wrong link,

René Rosendahl
René Rosendahl
7 months ago

 Casse-Pattes ??

Paul Himes
Paul Himes
7 months ago

Cobbles are slower than pavement on road tires, but road tires are still the fastest on cobbles, right?

Totally unrelated question that I wasn’t clear on from previous communications from Zwift, do these races count at Watch the Femmes events that lead to the Watch the Femmes rewards? I love riding in my WTF socks at times and I read that they have matching sunglasses this year.

Zwift802
Zwift802
7 months ago
Reply to  Paul Himes

I am fairly certain that ANY miles you ride during the Watch the Femmes Challenge count.

Paul
Paul(@psouthworth)
7 months ago
Reply to  Paul Himes

According to Zwift Insider, road tires are still fastest on cobbles. See the article “Rolling Resistance on Zwift: Crr and Watt Savings of Various Wheels”.

Andrew
Andrew
7 months ago

@Eric Schlange the links to stages 2 & 4 are incorrect in your post above, just FYI

Brian
Brian
7 months ago

Question: Does wheel or bike selection matter on the Zwift cobbles?

Treven M.
Treven M.
7 months ago

You mention that Lutece Express is getting cobbles over previously-paved portions, but I believe the entire course other than the start pens is already cobbles. Is that true or is something changing?

Joe
Joe
7 months ago

Our the new cobble sections present in the race only?

Carsten Re. from Germany
Carsten Re. from Germany
7 months ago
Reply to  Eric Schlange

Eric, do you know how many km are with new cobbles round about ?

J L
J L
7 months ago

Not another burrito/ghost double whammy race. Yuck.

Harry Legs
Harry Legs
7 months ago

Now we just need some trainer setups that shake like a washing machine.. sort of a reverse Obree job I guess.

Systems
Systems
7 months ago
Reply to  Harry Legs

Tacx Neo 2 can do that (the feature is called Road Feel). This really helps during races to keep on pushing 🙂 Unfortunately it is quite loud, so nothing for late night racing…

Gerry
Gerry
7 months ago

Hi Eric. Thanks for all your good work. Your weekly race schedule shows a race on Sunday morning at 11:10. The last 2 Sundays (as I write) ie March 26 and April 2, there’s been no race at 11:10. Preceding and following hours yes, but missing out 11:10. I don’t know if this is a recent change to the race schedule, or how long it has been this way. I can’t remember about March 19 or Sundays before that, and couldn’t vouch for other days of the week. You showed the same race schedule for the month of March, and… Read more »

Gerry
Gerry
7 months ago
Reply to  Eric Schlange

I’m thinking now this is down to clock change. I was caught out the weekend the clocks went forward here (I’m in the UK), so as of March 26, we’re on British Summer Time, which is GMT +1. I guess your schedule is GMT. I need to allow for that.

Gerry
Gerry
7 months ago
Reply to  Gerry

…or maybe nowhere near GMT!!

Filipe
Filipe
7 months ago

what’s the link on zwiftpower? is it under series or leagues? so many items in those two lists, Zwift has grown!!!

John
John
7 months ago

Are the new cobbles permanent additions to those routes or just for this event?

Jake
Jake
7 months ago

I would really like to know which days and time slots I would need to race on to be competitive. Ever since I started participating in these races I often end up in a race with 12 people. The group rides in zone 1-2 until the final sprint which ultimately results in a poor overall GC a few minutes behind racers that competed in other races throughout the week.

Bruce
Bruce
7 months ago

Eric, any way to get the powers that be to improve search functionality for events in Zwift Companion App? For example, all major Zwift events should have a selection box (that’s inclusive). At the moment I’m only interested in riding Tour of Watopia and the April Racing League. Yes, I can toggle on just Tour of Watopia (great), but I can’t for Racing League. And if toggle on both Tour of Watopia and category enforced races (because that’s what April League is), nothing displays because it’s an “AND” not an “OR”. But broader, I should be able to just search… Read more »

Matthew
Matthew
7 months ago

…if you’re a bit useless and disorganised(…) is there an opportunity to catch stage one again?

Derek Dudek
Derek Dudek
7 months ago

Anyone know if they are doing makeup races?

Neil Cotterrill
Neil Cotterrill
7 months ago

I’ve been away – can I catch up the 1st 2 stages in early May? There are normally catch up weeks?

Neil Cotterrill
Neil Cotterrill
7 months ago
Reply to  Eric Schlange

Nooooooooo!!! That’s me sulking then. 🙂 Thanks for letting me know.

d.carmichael
d.carmichael
7 months ago

The best bike for the cobble crusher series (gravel or road)

Schinzilord
Schinzilord
7 months ago

Already any information about May‘s Crit Club? Seems to start with 3 laps of Volcano Circuit CCW.

Alex
Alex
7 months ago

Anyone having the issue of finishing the fourth stage here, but the challenge remains incomplete? Anyone every had a similar issue with a monthly race series? If so, how did you get it fixed?

Neil Cotterrill
Neil Cotterrill
7 months ago
Reply to  Alex

Yes I did – I dropped a note to the chat. It’s happened 3 times recently. It counts for the Femme but doesn’t for the stage itself.

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