Which race routes are the most popular, and why do you suppose that is? Recently ZwiftPower.com webmaster James Hodges produced a report for me summarizing which routes have been used the most by race organizers in the past three months.
It is worth noting that this report isn’t based on participation (that is, number of racers) but on which routes were selected by race organizers.
#1: Watopia Flat Route
No big surprise here, as this is the most popular route in-game. For all our talk about wanting big climbs, Zwifters gravitate towards the flat stuff. This, I believe, is why ZwiftHQ is working on bringing more flat roads to Watopia soon–because this route is quite crowded when freeriding on Watopia days.
Of course, this route isn’t completely flat: the slight climb up from Ocean Boulevard can be painful in a race, and the ramp into the Esses is where attacks always happen. But overall this is an exceptionally flat course, built for the wattage bazookas.
Learn more about Watopia’s Flat Route >
#2: Volcano Circuit CCW
The “CCW” is key, because in the clockwise direction you don’t have a long enough climb to make things interesting. This is a super-fun crit course with one kicker per lap and a hard-to-nail finish. It’s one of my favorites and a favorite of many racers, so it’s no surprise seeing it at #2.
Learn more about Watopia’s Volcano Circuit >
#3: London Classique
As a very flat course with a single kicker per lap, the Classique is sort of London’s version of Volcano Circuit CCW, but with a simpler finish. It’s a fun race course, especially if you get the feather powerup so you can attack on the kicker and put fellow racers in the hurt locker.
Learn more about London’s Classique >
#4: Volcano Flat
This route is just a bit flatter than Watopia Flat, with no significant climbs to speak of. It’s not a favorite because it’s interesting for racers: it’s a favorite because it’s so flat. It’s not one of my favorites, although in the reverse direction the dirt climb up to the Italian Village is fun.
Learn more about Watopia’s Volcano Flat >
#5, 6, and 7: Volcano Climb Watopia Hilly Route, Greater London Flat
We have a climbing route, a flat route, and a mixed route all tied for fifth place. How strange! Volcano Climb is the surprise here for me, since it features (by far) the largest climb of any route in our top 5 list. Why do you suppose it is a favorite of race organizers? My guess is it’s because 1) it’s on everyone’s favorite course, Watopia and 2) the Volcano climb is just long enough to force a split between many of the pure climbers and pure flatlanders. The Hilly KOM isn’t long enough to do this, and the Epic KOM is so long that it can become a TT and turn racers off.
Learn more about Watopia’s Volcano Climb >
Learn more about Watopia’s Hilly Route >
Learn more about Greater London Flat >
Complete Report
Here is Jame’s complete report of all routes used in races on the last 3 months.
Total races in last 3 months: 4,433
- 9.1% Watopia Flat Route
- 8.4% Volcano Circuit CCW
- 6.9% London Classique
- 5.5% Volcano Flat
- 4.4% Volcano Climb
- 4.4% Watopia Hilly Route
- 4.4% Greater London Flat
- 3.8% Laguardia Loop
- 3.8% Astoria Line 8
- 3.6% Watopia Figure 8
- 3.5% London Loop
- 3.4% The 6 Train
- 3.2% Jungle Circuit
- 2.7% Innsbruckring
- 2.3% Park Perimeter Rev
- 2.0% Laguardia Loop Rev
- 2.0% Park Perimeter Loop
- 1.9% The 6 Train Rev
- 1.9% Road to Ruins
- 1.6% The Highline
- 1.6% Lady Liberty
- 1.5% Volcano Circuit
- 1.3% Knickerbocker
- 1.2% Watopia Mountain 8
- 1.2% UCI Worlds Short Lap
- 1.1% Everything Bagel
- 0.9% Greatest London Flat
- 0.8% Richmond UCI Worlds
- 0.8% Greater London Loop
- 0.8% Road to Sky
- 0.8% Rising Empire
- 0.8% Three Sisters
- 0.7% Mighty Metropolitan
- 0.7% Greatest London Loop
- 0.7% Surrey Hills
- 0.6% Richmond Flat Roads
- 0.6% Triple Loops
- 0.5% Greater London 8
- 0.5% Lutscher
- 0.4% Watopia Figure 8 Reverse
- 0.4% Achterbahn
- 0.4% Tour of Fire and Ice
- 0.4% Watopia Mountain
- 0.3% Innsbruckring KOM
- 0.3% The London Pretzel
- 0.3% 5K Loop
- 0.3% Volcano Flat KOM
- 0.2% Big Loop
- 0.2% The Highline Rev
- 0.2% Lutscher CCW
- 0.2% Grand Central
- 0.1% Leith Hill After Party
- 0.1% Hudson Roll
- 0.1% London PRL Half
- 0.1% Watopia Pretzel
- 0.1% London 8
- 0.1% Richmond Hilly Roads
- 0.1% Shuman Trail Loop
- 0.1% London Classique Reverse
- 0.0% Grand Central Rev
What Do You Think?
Did your favorite course make the top 5 (7)? What characteristics make an ideal race course for you?
Interesting, thanks. Nice to see one of my all time most disliked courses of Greater London Flat in there!
It’s confirmed what I always think – more race options with climbs in them please. Alpe du Zwift helped a bit with this, given the (justifiable) fanfare it got and subsequent races on the route, but I still have to scratch around if I want to find a genuinely hilly race. I guess some of the fondo’s (if you choose to ride them hard) also help a bit.
When the Epic KOM was the biggest climb in Zwift I think I only got the opportunity to race it once every few weeks in my European time zone. I imagine race organisers do this as they get significantly more entrants on flatter routes, so fair enough really. I can but dream for more hilly/mountainous options and more entrants…
I would love to see a list of the least used routes in Zwift.. I like to explore the dusty corners.
1-60 list in his article at the bottom.
Why is a route popular? Because its on a course that Zwift uses the most — Watopia. Of course, Zwift’s course schedule doesn’t completely explain variation in the popularity of routes. For example, it can’t explain why one Watopia route is more popular than another. But course schedule must be a big factor. Even though race organizers are now free to organize races on any course any day, many, myself included, choose the scheduled course regardless, and thus it is no surprise that 5 of the top 6 favorites are on Watopia, which has enjoyed 47% of the schedule since 5 courses have existed, 42% of the schedule during the 4-course period, and about 60% of the schedule during the 3-course era. It’s also the course to which we have had access the longest (except Jarvis, I suppose).
I agree, I love a race with long climbs. I can rarely find one now on the schedule down here in NZ.