Zwift has shared full details about the upcoming Zwift Games. Taking place throughout March, the Zwift Games will… ‘offer a month-long festival of competition, from community racing for all abilities to elite level cycling esports broadcasts.’
According to Zwift… ‘The Zwift Games is set to become the largest virtual racing event ever held.’
Wahoo, adidas and Oakley have been confirmed as official partners of the Zwift Games 2024. All official partners will be featured on in-game arches and virtual roadside hoardings.
Community racing
All Zwifters are invited to take part in the five-stage community racing series with in-game registration live now and online registration opening on Monday, February 26th. Stages 1-5 will run in order between March 1st – March 17th with make-up events for each stage available from March 18th -March 31st.
Zwifters who compete in all five races of the Zwift Games can also take part in the general classification challenge and shoot for their best combined time over the month. Racers can improve on their previous best times by completing any stage more than once. Overall positions for the Zwift Games can be tracked on Zwift Power.
Exclusive unlocks will be available for each stage completed. All races will be category-enforced with a mix of sprint, endurance and climbing stages and schedules to suit any racer.
New courses
Four new courses have been designed especially for the Zwift Games, utilizing Zwift’s already expansive road network. Zwift adds that each of the new routes has been designed to deliver dynamic racing that will be as fun to ride, as they will be to watch when the elite racers toe the line. New badges are available to collect for completing each of these new courses.
Loop de Loop – will be used for the first Sprint Stage. Starting in downtown Watopia, the race will be 24.9km with 289m of climbing – featuring two ascents of the Zwift KOM.
Jurassic Coast – featured on the second Sprint Stage, Jurassic Coast starts in the Fuego Flats start pens, then winds its way through Titans Grove and to Watopia’s Southern Coast – covering 19.5 km with 212m of climbing.
Epic – for Stage 3, the Epic Stage, racers in categories A & B will take on a brand new Epic course specially designed to test the endurance of all those who tackle it. Starting in downtown Watopia, the Epic route is 81.6km long with 878m of climbing and takes in much of Watopia along the way, finishing atop the KOM.
Mountain Mash – for the fifth and final Stage of Zwift Games, categories C & D will take on a brand new climbing route in Watopia, Mountain Mash. The race starts in the Jungle Pens and immediately heads up the Epic KOM reverse. This route may be a mere 5.9km long but with 335m of climbing and little warm up, this route promises to get the heart pumping.
Elite racing
The Zwift Games will include Elite Men’s and Elite Women’s Championships across three medal disciplines; Sprint, Epic, and Climb.
Zwift’s biggest-ever prize purse is on the line for all elite races and the winners will unlock an iconic golden Concept Z1 bike to ride in Zwift for the next year. The best male and female competitors across the combined disciplines will be crowned Wahoo Overall Champions.
In addition to the prize money and golden Z1 Concept bike, the two Wahoo Overall Zwift Games Champions will each receive a golden Wahoo KICKR Bike, courtesy of event partner, Wahoo Fitness.
Over 300 elite athletes from 33 countries will be participating in the 2024 Zwift Games. All races will be broadcast live via the Zwift YouTube Channel.
Sprint Championship – Men March 2nd 18:00 UTC // Women March 3rd 18:00 UTC
The Sprint Championship will consist of three back-to-back scratch races, similar to the Zwift Battle Royale format used for the 2023 World Championships. All races will be scratch races and progression will be determined by finishing position.
Epic Championship – Men March 9th 18:00 UTC // Women March 10th 18:00 UTC
The Epic Championship is a gruelling one-off race, which will be held on a brand new course, specially designed for the Zwift Games – the Zwift Games 2024 Epic Route.
Climb Championship – Men March 16th 18:00 UTC // Women March 17th 18:00 UTC
The finale of the Zwift Games 2024 will be a test on Watopia’s ‘Road to Sky’ route that finishes at the topic of the Alpe du Zwift, modelled after the infamous Alpe d’Huez.
2024 Wahoo Overall Zwift Games Champions
The events in the 2024 Zwift Games have been designed to find the best Zwifter across three distinct disciplines that each require different athletic performance. The Wahoo Zwift Games Overall Champion will be the athlete who has the highest overall points total after all three stages, having demonstrated their all-round abilities.
Along with the title of Zwift Games Overall Champion, winners will each receive a gold Concept Z1 bike in-game to ride for the year, and a unique gold-painted Wahoo KICKR Bike.
Source : Tri-Today