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All About Tour de Zwift Ride 2024

Get a BIG Discount On Your Tour de Zwift Kit

Been riding Tour de Zwift and want to rock the same kit IRL as you do in the TdZ events? Here’s our tip: buying the Tour de Zwift bundle cuts the price in half ($190/£142.50/€172.50), then you can further reduce the price by using the TdZ discount code ZWIFT24 for an additional $60/£50/€55 off!

First launched in 2017, Tour de Zwift is the biggest annual tour on the platform – a celebration of discovery across all Zwift worlds!

This year’s tour has just been announced. Beginning January 3, it consists of eight stages spread across all of Zwift’s maps. Each stage has three group ride options based on how far you want to ride, with (new this year) races each weekend. (There are run options as well, which we’ve covered in this post .)

So grab a friend and join the biggest party of the year! Here’s everything riders need to know about this year’s TdZ.

New This Year

Fresh route badges.

Recently-launched Rebel Route badges will be available on stage 8:

• Spiral into the Volcano (55.6km, 324m)
• Big Flat 8 (29.2km, 89m)
• Castle Crit (3.5km, 41m)

TdZ will be the first chance anyone gets to unlock these three route badges, since they were formerly Rebel Routes .

Weekend Races

This year TdZ isn’t just about group rides. Each stage’s long route will be available as an epic race event on the weekend! See schedule below.

Fresh Kit Unlocks (and IRL Le Col Kit Discount)

Zwift partnered with Le Col to bring the Tour de Zwift collection to life. Complete any stage to unlock a £50 ($60/€55/¥9000) reward from Le Col to use for the IRL kit (details below).

Ride and Race Categories

TdZ “Ride” events are group rides, not official races. The ride category you join determines which route you will ride:

• A: Long Ride
• B: Standard Ride
• C: Short Ride
• D: Women-Only Ride (uses the Standard route)

Category groups will leave the pens two minutes apart, with A starting first. Late join is enabled for TdZ events.

Weekend Epic Races will use Zwift’s category enforcement to automatically place riders into the correct pace group.

Stage Schedule and Route Details

Stage 1 (jan 3-7): london/yorkshire.

• Races January 6-7
• Standard + Women-Only: Greatest London Loop , 1 lap (26.1km, 345m)
• Short: 2019 UCI Worlds Harrogate Circuit , 1 lap (13.9km, 240m)

Stage 2 (Jan 8-12): Scotland

• Races January 6-7 + 13-14
• Standard + Women-Only: Rolling Highlands , 3 laps (32km, 259m)
• Short: Loch Loop , 2 laps (16.1km, 142m)

Stage 3 (Jan 13-17): Makuri Islands

• Races January 13-14
• Standard + Women-Only: Turf N Surf , 1 lap (24.7km, 197m)
• Short: Island Hopper , 1 lap (18.1km, 129m)

Stage 4 (Jan 18-22): France/Paris

• Races January 20-21
• Standard + Women-Only: Roule Ma Poule , 1 lap (27.2km, 263m)
• Short: Lutece Express , 2 laps (16.8km, 103m)

Stage 5 (Jan 23-27): Innsbruck

• Races January 20-21 + 27-28
• Standard + Women-Only: 2018 UCI Worlds Course Short Lap , 1 lap (23.9km, 494m)
• Short: Innsbruckring , 2 laps (17.8km, 154m)

Stage 6 (Jan 28-Feb 1): Watopia

• Races January 27-28 + February 3-4
• Standard + Women-Only: Mountain 8 , 1 lap (32.7km, 691m)
• Short: Legends and Lava , 1 lap (24.7km, 352m)

Stage 7 (Feb 2-6): New York/Richmond

• Races February 3-4 + 10-11
• Standard + Women-Only: Knickerbocker , 1 lap (22.7km, 364m)
• Short: Richmond Rollercoaster , 1 lap (17.2km, 169m)

Stage 8 (Feb 7-11): Rebel Routes

Three of Zwift Insider’s Rebel Routes have been turned into official routes which will see their debut in Tour de Zwift! Here’s your first chance to earn the new route badges and extra XP.

• Races February 10-11
• Standard + Women-Only: Big Flat 8 , 1 lap (29.2km, 89m)
• Short: Castle Crit , 4 laps (14km, 164m)

Make-Up Week: Feb 12-18

If you missed any group ride stages, they will all be available to ride during the make-up week.

Make-up races for stages 1, 3, 4, and 8 will be available February 17-18.

Registration

Registration for TdZ is now open online and in game. Sign up at zwift.com/tour-de-zwift/ride .

Riders will unlock items progressively as they complete TdZ stages:

• Socks: 1 stage (12%)
• Bucket Hat: 3 stages (35%)
• Glasses: 6 stages (75%)
• Ride Kit: all 8 stages

To complete a stage, simply finish one of the group rides (three lengths to choose from) or ride the stage’s Epic Race on a weekend.

Discount on Le Col Kit

Zwift and Le Col are teaming up to bring the 2024 Tour de Zwift cycling kit to your closet:

Le Col is offering a £50/$60/€55/¥9000 discount to Tour de Zwift riders which can be used on anything in Le Col’s shop (not just the TdZ kit)! Discount code is ZWIFT24 . Combine that with the Tour de Zwift bundle price, and you’ll get the kit to your door in the USA for ~$144!

Shop Le Col x Tour de Zwift kit >

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SEE THE BEST OF ZWIFT IN THE 2023 TOUR DE ZWIFT

Tour Participants Will Explore Zwift, and Earn Unique Unlocks, Including the Highly Sought Tour de Zwift Kit

Long Beach, CA, Dec. 20, 2022 – Zwift, the global online fitness platform for cyclists and runners, is excited to announce the 2023 Tour de Zwift. This is one of the biggest annual tours on Zwift, and will invite cyclists and runners from around the world to participate in eight stages of exploration, community bonding, and new unlocks. It's the big tour to explore it all! 

The Tour de Zwift begins on January 9, just in time to help Zwifters start to tackle their 2023 fitness goals in a fun community environment. Registration opens at 8 am PST, on December 20, 2022 at www.zwift.com/tour-de-zwift .

The Tour de Zwift is an inclusive event designed to help cyclists and runners of all abilities explore eight of Zwift’s eye-catching digital worlds and the many unique environments and routes within each. The tour will include the brand new Scotland map, designed for the upcoming UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. Tour participants can take part in hourly group events with each stage offering short, standard, and long routes, as well as women-only options. 

This year, Zwifters can unlock new route badges for completing routes in five of the eight stages, and can also earn an eye-catching Tour de Zwift kit for their avatar by completing the whole tour. 

A matching real world collection, made by Pedal Mafia, is also available for purchase, giving any cyclist or runner the chance to match their avatar. The collection includes a jersey, bibs, towel, running shirt, socks, and a sweatband. Order your kit here to receive it before the tour starts (and take advantage of early-bird pricing until Dec. 31!).

Zwifters participating in Tour de Zwift will also be able to give each other unique Tour de Zwift Ride Ons while participating in the tour, creating an exciting, supportive atmosphere on the roads of Zwift! 

New for the 2023 tour; all eight stages of Tour de Zwift will feature Pacer Groups for cyclists, giving Zwifters a chance to ride the stages in a fun, social group.  

Images for the 2023 Tour de Zwift can be found here . For more information on the Tour de Zwift, please visit this site www.zwift.com/tour-de-zwift . 

Tour de Zwift Stages 

January 9-12

January 13-15

January 16-19

France/Paris

January 20-22

January 23-26 

January 27-29

January 30-February 2

February 3-5

Make Up Week

February 6-12

ABOUT ZWIFT

Zwift is the fitness company born from gaming. We’re dedicated fitness enthusiasts, experienced video game developers, and disruptive thinkers. Play is in our DNA and we know fun fuels results.

Zwift utilizes massively multiplayer online gaming technology to create rich, 3D worlds ripe for exploration. Join thousands of cyclists and runners in immersive playgrounds like London, New York, and Paris as well as our very own Watopia.

Zwift connects wirelessly to exercise equipment: bike trainers, treadmills, and more, so your real world effort powers your avatar in the game.

From friendly races to social rides and structured training programs, Zwift unites a diverse community in pursuit of a more fun, immersive and social fitness experience.

About Zwift

Our app connects wirelessly to exercise equipment: bike trainers, treadmills, and more, so your real world effort powers your avatar in the game.

Contact details

• Chris Snook
• Director, PR
• [email protected]
• Abi Golding
• Sr. PR Manager Europe
• [email protected]

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The Tour de Zwift is back for 2022 with something for every type of rider

The eight-stage event will cover flats, mountains, tarmac and gravel in all of Zwift’s virtual worlds

Looking for a challenge to kick-start the new year? The Tour de Zwift will return for 2022 on 10 January with more stages and routes than ever before.

The eight-stage virtual event will cover flats, mountains, tarmac and gravel in all of Zwift’s virtual worlds .

As in previous editions, there will be three variations of each stage (short, standard and long), depending on your appetite for an indoor cycling workout on any given day. Every stage will also be available to ride for a few days.

This year, however, stages will be split into shorter weekday and longer weekend rides so riders can manage work and family commitments, according to Zwift .

Weekday rides will stay closer to Zwift's virtual cities, such as the new Neokyo world, while weekend routes will explore rural landscapes, such as Makuri Islands .

Something for everyone

The 2022 Tour de Zwift will start with fast and flat routes before climbing into the mountains on stage two.

Zwifters will have the choice of Alpe du Zwift or Innsbruck’s fiendishly hard 2018 UCI World Championships road race course.

Next up, stage three – dubbed 'Round and Round' – lives up to its name by sending riders on rolling circuits of Makuri Islands or flatter laps of New York’s 6 Train.

Your avatar will need a gravel or mountain bike for stage four. All riders will be welcomed to Zwift's jungle and dirt tracks in Watopia and Makuri Islands.

Stage five rejoins the virtual tarmac in Richmond, London or Paris, depending on your chosen category. The European capitals are flat, but the 2015 UCI worlds course in Richmond is rolling.

You’ll need your best Zwift setup to pass the endurance test of stage six. The shorter ride in Douce France is still 24km, while the category A ride covers 56km of the London Pretzel.

Again, the ‘Escalator’ stage seven looks suitably named. A loop of 'Castle to Castle' in Makuri Islands packs 305m of climbing into 23km. The longer route around Yorkshire’s Royal Pump Room is even lumpier.

Last of all, ‘Big City Champs’ gives longer route riders a preview of the 2022 UCI Esports Worlds course in New York. The shorter options go around the same city’s 'Knickerbocker' route.

The Tour de Zwift is also available for runners, with each stage offering two route options.

Stage 1: Flat is Fast, 10-13 January

• Longer ride: France, RGV 49km/214m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: Watopia, Watopia Waistband 27.9km/95m elevation
• Shorter ride: Makuri Islands, Two Village Loop 12.8km/88m elevation

Stage 2: Mountain Madness, 14-16 January

• Longer ride: Watopia, Tour of Fire and Ice 28.2km/1,164m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: Innsbruck, Innsbruck UCI World Course 23.6km/487m
• Shorter ride: London, London Loop 15.4km/220m elevation

Stage 3: Round & Round, 17-20 January

• Longer ride: Makuri Islands, Farmlands Loop (five laps) 39.2km/285m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: New York, the 6 Train (four laps) 26.2km/244m elevation
• Shorter ride: Makuri Islands, Neokyo Crit Course (three laps) 11.7km/62m

Stage 4: Let’s Get Dirty, 21-23 January

• Longer ride: Watopia, Serpentine 8 26.8km/206m
• Standard ride/Women only: Makuri Islands, Chain Chomper 16km/184m elevation
• Shorter ride: Watopia, Jungle Circuit 13.6km/82m elevation

Stage 5: Urban Delight, 24-27 January

• Longer ride: Richmond, 2015 UCI Worlds Course (two laps) 33.1km/284m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: London, Greater London Flat (two laps) 29.1km/90m elevation
• Shorter ride: Paris, Champs-Élysées (two laps) 16.4km/78m elevation

Stage 6: Go Long, 28-30 January

• Longer ride: London, London Pretzel 56.2km/284m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: Watopia, Out and Back Again 42.3km/303m elevation
• Shorter ride: France, Douce France 24.1km/108m elevation

Stage 7: Escalator, 31 January – 3 February

• Longer ride: Yorkshire, Royal Pump Room 8 27.7km/490m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: Makuri Islands, Castle to Castle 23km/305m elevation
• Shorter ride: Watopia, Hilly Route Reverse 9.4km/93m elevation

Stage 8: Big City Champs, 4-6 February

• Longer ride: New York, 2022 UCI World Champs Course 54.9km/944m elevation
• Standard ride/Women only: New York, Knickerbocker 22.9km/364m elevation
• Shorter ride: New York, Knickerbocker (end at KOM) 9.9km/213m elevation

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Build it and they will come: the rise of Zwift

We tracked down the virtual riding platform's top brass to find out how it all began, and where it's going

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The loneliness of the indoor trainer. All great business ideas begin with a problem that needs solving. In this case, Eric Min – a tech entrepreneur in his early-40s who had just left behind a tight-knit NYC cycling community to live in London – had both the problem and the solution. "I wanted to get rid of the sense of loneliness that I felt when I rode indoors," says Min, the originator of what has long been a global super-success, Zwift.

It may come as a surprise to many that Zwift was conceived not in the airy offices of a California tech start-up, or even in New York City, but in London, England. That said, New York certainly inspired what was invented in part to solve a London problem. The original seed was planted for Zwift when Min was living in New York City, training in Central Park with the close-knit cycling community he relied on for regular rides and meet-ups. But then he moved across the pond.

"When I moved to London, for my business, I no longer had that community," says Min. "I didn't have a Central Park, and the [London] weather is awful – worse than New York at times. And the roads were just unfriendly. So in order for me to continue training, I had to ride indoors."

At the time, the only good thing about riding indoors was the potential training gains it could offer . Beyond that, turbo training was synonymous with torturous boredom. As the nights drew in and Min contemplated a dull winter indoors, he would hark back wistfully to the time spent riding with his buddies in Central Park. "I just thought, could we recreate some of this digitally?" Inspired by online gaming, Min decided that the key was community. "We thought, it's got to be anchored around an experience where you're around other people."

New paradigm

The aim, he says, was to recreate in virtual form 80% of what he had experienced in New York – "the community, the competition, the convenience". Min had, as he puts it, already "sold the vision" by the time he released the initial beta version of Zwift in September 2014, touring the industry with business partner and co-founder of the company Scott Barger. 

"The idea was, let's have a beta, let's get our early customers to help us come up with a real core product that we can start charging for," Min explains, adding that take-up was huge: "I think we had 20,000 people interested in joining the beta right there." He launched the company with Barger, designer Jon Mayfield, whom they'd found on Google, and Min's old business partner Alarik Myrin, with whom up to that point he'd been building trading platforms for energy markets in London.

One of the first to experience this new paradigm – only the eighth ever, in fact – was New York City coach David Lipscomb. Lipscomb, who is based in Brooklyn and runs the CIS Training Systems coaching company, was invited to try out Zwift's first ever course – Zwift Island – at a local bike shop and fitting studio. "It was amazing," says Lipscomb, who saw straightaway the potential of the platform. "I saw immediately," he says, "how we could use that platform to elevate outdoor riding indoors in a safe environment, which was key."

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The beta riders were able to contest jerseys for fastest lap, KoM and sprint, with the classifications resetting every hour. And Zwift developed fast. Only five months later, even with the platform still in beta, users had covered a million miles on Zwift Island's little course, and a new world was launched. Watopia, based on a real island in the South Pacific called Te Anou. Watopia remains Zwift's 'home' world and features a mammoth 78 routes. But back then, it featured just one route, a 9.1km loop known these days as the ‘Hilly Route’.

Back then, Zwift’s virtual world could feel rather lonely. Indeed, on a YouTube video replay of the original Zwift Island, luminous and translucent riders in ones, pairs and strings – put in the game to give a sense of community – abound. "Fast forward to now, I think those ghost riders are now Robo pacers," says Lipscomb, referring to the in-game riders who lead continuous group rides at various watts per kilo. That feeling of riding in company was all part of Min's original vision of community. "We built the whole business around [the principle that] it's got to feel like you're there with other people," he says.

Zwift in numbers

Number of Zwift worlds: 12 Number of Zwift courses: 129 Subscription fee: $14.99 / £12.99 Annual revenue: $103m (2023)* Number of users: 4 million Peak Zwift: 46,375 users (2021) Longest course: 173km (The Full PRL in London, taking in 11 ascents of Box Hill – aka 'Fox Hill' in Zwift) Shortest course: 1.9km (Bell Lap in Crit City)

* Source: Latka SaaS database

Not in the plan

That community is one of Zwift's strongest selling points these days, but it is also famed for competition, from club time trials to elite road race leagues – it's all here. The first competitive events on the platform were actually nothing to do with Zwift – they were just one element of the community-led developments that immediately started to spring up and which continue to be instrumental for the platform. "What we noticed – and this is something that was not in our plan – was that the community started to organise themselves, to build tools; they built websites, spreadsheets... tools we didn't have."

There were spreadsheets to organise events and to verify performance; tools to help with set-up problems. "A lot of these are still in the wild," Min says.

One of them was Zwift Power, which was so instrumental in collating event results that Zwift ended up acquiring it. "We had to help scale it because there were hundreds of thousands of users on it," Min explains.

Zwift began to expand rapidly from the very start, first adding Watopia and then its first real-life world – Richmond – ahead of the US city hosting the road World Championship in September 2015 , even before the finished-product launch. Innsbruck was added for the 2018 Worlds and then Yorkshire a year later. Even at that time, though, there were plenty of cyclists for whom a group ride on a virtual platform represented the antithesis of what cycling in company was supposed to be about. But then came Covid.

Suddenly, the idea of sharing real-life space with other people huffing and puffing their way through a ride became unappealing and even illegal. That was when many found virtual cycling. "That was a real push," says Kate Veronneau, director of women's strategy at Zwift. "Definitely during Covid, a lot of people, even the real naysayers, didn't really have a choice at times [but to use Zwift] ." According to Zwift Insider, ‘Peak Zwift’ – the most users on the platform at any one time – was 46,375, achieved in 2021.

Veronneau had joined Zwift in 2016, recruited to run the Zwift Academy talent ID competition , which was designed to find hidden talent on the platform and recruit riders to the WorldTour. It has run every year since, and has proved far more worthy than a bit of fun publicity, with 2020 winner Jay Vine having won the Tour Down Under and two stages of the 2022 Vuelta a España .

During the Covid lockdowns, it wasn't just your average rider in the street who found themselves surprise converts to virtual cycling. "I love the story of [AG Insurance-Soudal rider] Ash Moolman Pasio," says Veronneau. "At the beginning of Covid, she very begrudgingly started training indoors, and after a month went back outside and broke her time up Rocacorba by three minutes, and was just hooked. [Zwift] literally unlocked the potential of a pro," she says. 

As well as an estimated doubling of its users, lockdown was a major accelerant for a series of events that elevated Zwift to another level – beginning with hosting a virtual Tour de France and ending as the title sponsor and key driver in the biggest race on the women's calendar, the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift .

The virtual Tour de France was held over three weekends in July 2020 , as the pros geared up to restart the WorldTour. Men and women tackled six stages each, run on Watopia and the brand new France world including, rather charmingly, a recreation of the finale of the real-life Tour, taking in the Champs-Elysées and the Place de Concorde. Exciting racing in the Virtual Tour proved the catalyst for making a long-awaited women's Tour de France a reality.

"I think that helped spur the conversation of, 'Alright, I think it's time – we could do this together," Veronneau says of ASO and Zwift. "ASO knew they needed to have a women's race soon, but they also needed somebody to come on board and push them over the edge," opines Veronneau. "So I think us signing on as a five-year title sponsor – four years with an option for five – was something that needed to really make it happen."

"Lockdown left us no alternative"

Among the many Zwift lockdown converts was elite time triallist and road racer Alice Lethbridge. A member of Kingston Wheelers and holder of time trial competition records at 100 miles and 12 hours, Lethbridge and numerous club-mates had retained a robust suspicion of virtual riding until it became the only option.

"I didn't really like the idea because, to me, group riding was sort of about being outside with people," Lethbridge says. "But in lockdown when we couldn't be riding with friends it was sort of the only option. And then I think people realised how good it was." Lethbridge was quickly hooked. So hooked, in fact, that she ended up setting a new virtual Everesting record on the platform of nine hours 27 minutes, riding repeats of Alpe du Zwift. It was part of a club fundraiser for a local hospital and hadn't actually been part of the plan when she began the ride.

"My coach at the time didn't really want me to do it," says the 39-year-old, "but the club started tweeting that I'd do another ascent if they hit a fundraising target, so I had to keep going!" Hard as it was, it didn't put Lethbridge off indoor cycling and she continues to do much of her training on Zwift and is active in the community, as part of a women's think tank and helping to run women's teams.

Bumps in the road

Despite the fact that Zwift remains the market-leading virtual cycling platform, it has not had an entirely smooth ride. There were moans about the significant subscription hike from £7.99 to £12.99 ($10-14.99 in the US) in 2017 – though, to be fair, that price has remained unchanged ever since. More problematic for the company in recent years has been the post-Covid downturn. 

Post-lockdowns, uptake tailed off considerably as life returned to normal. In May 2022, Zwift was forced to cancel plans for a new smartbike , owing to what it termed the "current macroeconomic environment". Then, early last year, the company laid off 15% of its workforce – 80 people – and just a fortnight ago it laid off more staff, and co-CEO Kurt Biedler, who had only been in the job a year, resigned.

“Growth has not rebounded at a fast enough pace to justify all of the investments that we have been making," was how Zwift explained the latest round of redundancies. "As a result, we are taking action to become leaner with a continued focus on delivering great experiences for our community."

Another bugbear for Zwift – one that exists across all of virtual cycling in fact – is the ever-present spectre of 'weight doping', with riders able to make potentially race-winning alterations to their own watts per kilo simply by altering the weight they self-declare. At high-level races with prize money at stake, riders will usually need to verify their vital statistics using a video protocol and their equipment must also strictly adhere to guidelines. For last year's UCI esports World Championship, all riders used the same Tacx Neo 2T trainer, to level the playing field as far as possible.

Despite ongoing tough times, Zwift remains at the top of the virtual cycling tree, thanks in large part to the huge community it built up – just as Min had intended – by being first to make it big on the indoor scene. For Veronneau, connecting women and growing the global female community remains paramount. She is convinced there are many more women out there whom Zwift has not yet reached, while Min revealed that he hoped to be able to give cycling clubs the tools to recreate their own jerseys on Zwift.

Want to ask the founder about where the platform is headed? You'll find Min on Zwift most days, probably riding Sugar Cookie – "one of my favourite courses because it's mostly flat" – while pondering exactly that question.

The rivals: who are Zwift's main challengers?

Riders in Rouvy's realistic landscape

While Zwift may have been the first major virtual cycling success, it is not the only platform to forge a digital path out of indoor training boredom. In fact, anyone looking to take up virtual riding right now is spoiled for choice, with a number of Zwift alternatives available, with their own USPs.

Bkool, for example, allows users to ride three different indoor velodromes, while Rouvy, which was founded even before Zwift, uses real-life scenery as part of its 'augmented reality' model. Peloton, which focuses on online spin classes, has had a bumpy ride since a major lockdown upturn but remains a popular player with indoor cyclists, as does TrainerRoad.

The platform that has had possibly the biggest direct impact on Zwift in recent times is MyWhoosh. The UAE-based company was founded in 2019 and has enjoyed some very useful exposure as a partner of the UAE men's and women's WorldTour cycling teams – with one of its claims being that it is Tadej Pogačar's virtual platform of choice.

Most cuttingly for Zwift, last August MyWhoosh was granted the UCI esports World Championships for 2024-26 , ousting Zwift as the host. "Naturally we're very disappointed," Zwift said in a statement at the time. But it insisted its commitment to racing at all levels remained unchanged and added: "We will continue to innovate and drive this new sport forward.” 

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After cutting his teeth on local and national newspapers, James began at Cycling Weekly as a sub-editor in 2000 when the current office was literally all fields. 

Eventually becoming chief sub-editor, in 2016 he switched to the job of full-time writer, and covers news, racing and features.

A lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, James's racing days (and most of his fitness) are now behind him. But he still rides regularly, both on the road and on the gravelly stuff.

Canadian outsprinted Romain Grégoire on the uphill finish at Les Estables on stage three to take over the race lead from Magnus Cort

By Tom Thewlis Published 4 June 24

Smart light, music and GoPro control with improved third-party training app integration through the touch of a button

By Rachel Sokal Published 4 June 24

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Virtual L'Étape du Tour [2024]

Every year, L’Étape du Tour de France hosts the biggest amateur gran fondo in the world on one stage of the Tour de France—always including some of the hardest, most mythical climbs from the Tour. We want to bring all the energy, enthusiasm, and excitement of the world’s hardest amateur race to Zwift with the Virtual L’Étape du Tour de France!

There will be no registration or tracking for the Virtual L’Étape du Tour, just sign up for any of the group rides. During February, March, April, and July, we will have scheduled L’Étape Prologue Tuesdays through Thursdays and the gran fondo events that will challenge you Friday through Sunday, with events scheduled every other hour. Coffee Stop and late join will not be enabled for the prologue rides or the gran fondo events.

During the month of June, we will be featuring Col de la Couillole, the final climb of the IRL L’Étape du Tour de France, as the Climb of the Month! To learn more about the Climb Portal schedule, click here .

When you complete any of the weekend’s L’Étape du Tour de France gran fondo events, you will unlock the virtual Santini L’Étape du Tour de France official event kit! In addition to this amazing kit, complete one prologue ride and one gran fondo every month between February and April, and you will be entered for a chance to win a trip to participate in the L’Étape du Tour de France live. To learn more about the terms & conditions, click here .

Looking to learn more about the Virtual L’Étape du Tour, check out the event series page here or the FAQ here

Waiting for the Zwift Insider article to get a useful overview of the event series…

Took a few clicks, but there is a table with all the routes and distances in the FAQ: L’Etape du Tour de France FAQ (zwift.com)

Personally I was hoping for some of the longer stages to be mid-week (seems the prolog stages are pretty short), not just fri-sun, since I can’t ride on weekends (I’ve got the opposite schedule from most), but I’ll try to hit the Friday rides.

Thanks, after looking to the table;

Short rides are definitely short……

We go from the short 45min racing series to 20 minutes events….

Definitely surprised and a little disappointed that there’s not a whole lot of France in the L’Etape du Tour de France.

Yeah, for something that is tied to the “L’Etape Du Tour”, I’m surprised at how short everything is. The longest fondo ride is 70km… They had an opportunity to have this all lead up to a ride that was a challenge to work towards like L’Etap is, but the prologs are super short, and the Fondos are mid-distance, not really what most would consider a Fondo.

Also, when they have Col de la Couillole available in June it’s too bad they don’t have a stage that routes from France up that climb as part of one of the events - maybe call that the queen’s stage of this tour and make it a real Fondo length?

I don’t think I’ll do any of the short mid-week stages but will try to catch the fondo stages on Fridays where I can.

The rides are set up every 2 hours. Any chance they can be offset by an hour on alternate days? None of these rides are at a time I can do, and I’m sure I’m not the only one in this position.

Do I have to register somewhere else than just to these events and ride …sorry race them? And is those 4 times 2 races all or what is that GC, grand champion? I have ZwiftPower profile but do I have to something extra to fulfill eligibility for the grand price?

Virtual L’Etape du Tour de France Series Announced | Zwift Insider

Doesn’t appear you need to do anything more than Zwiftpower.

But grand prize is what, a jersey to unlock? But blah and all the routes I’ve done already. If it’s L’Etape Du Tour it should be much, much harder,

152km and 4100m+ elevation would be appropriate for this, because that is what was in real life.

The Gran Fondo at 62km is nothing, should be much much harder.

Only to watch? Not to ride it yourself?

And where at the site we can see General Classification?

It looks like the GC has not been created yet. When it exists, it should appear on the Leagues menu on zwiftpower.com

@Tom_Perttala Nope - the grand prize includes entry to the event! The at Home Cycling & Running Virtual Training App

Update on Zwift Riders from James on this. He was not asked to include the Prologue stages into the GC. He is now checking whether they should be included.

February and Overall GC now available under ZP Leagues.

Hi all, i just did the prologue of the L’Etape and im wondering if there is no category differences at all (it seems like). if so, what would be the best way to keep in the “right” group in order to dont burn out too quick. i started pushing with the first group to notice (quickly) that was way beyond my league, so i had to start for the upcoming peloton,… and the other one…hahah. till i mange to find a bunch of people to ride together. thanks for any insight!

Start out hardish for about a minute and then settle into what you hope is a maintainable pace. Your people will find you naturally. It’s like magic.

3. Januar - 18. Februar

TOUR ABGESCHLOSSEN

Glückwunsch! Du bist hart gefahren, hast dich angestrengt und die Tour de Zwift 2024 hinter dich gebracht! Diese Party ist jetzt vielleicht vorbei, aber hinter jeden Ecke in Watopia findest du noch mehr Spaß und Fitness.

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