The clocks are about to change, the weather is getting warmer and many outdoor cyclists will be on the lookout for the arrival of swifts in the skies above the hills, a surefire signal that summer is on the horizon at last.
Meanwhile, for those who like to mix alfresco riding with and indoor pedalling, the online training and racing platform Zwift has just announced a raft of exciting spring and summertime drops to following on from the Big Spin, with new virtual velo experiences for riders to enjoy, including a whole lot gravel and some excellent additions to the Paris map in the Virtual Tour de France.
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(Image credit: Zwift)
Grit hits
One of the big announcements for the new season is that Zwift are this year embracing gravel riding in a much bigger way, both with new bikes and maps. From 6 April, riders will be able to race Gravel Mountain, Zwift’s first gravel-only map, with designers promising digital ‘dust, speed and loose lines’.
How that will feel in reality we look forward to finding out, but the course is set in a visually vibrant red-rock environment with technical features including medians, corner berms and ultra-wide roads.
Launching on the same day, and continuing through to 3 May, is the PAS Racing Series. This four-stage gravel series will see riders tackling the Gravel Mountain maps, plus another new gravel route in Makuri Islands. Races will run hourly, and there will be a custom Pas Normal kit to unlock.
Of course, gravel bikes will be available from the Zwift Drop Shop, where 18 new bikes and 13 new wheelsets are going to be gracing the virtual shelves from this month, with a heavy focus on gravel gear.
The cobble climb around the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre will now feature in Zwift’s Virtual Tour de France
(Image credit: Zwift)
Virtual Tour de France
Zwift is the official software platform for the Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and for six weeks, between 2 July and 16 August, the Tour Fever Challenge will invite riders to complete five stages of racing, which includes some very exciting route additions, along with five new badges to chase.
Eagerly anticipated updates to the Paris map include the incorporation of the famous Montmartre climb, which proved massively popular in the real world when it starred in the road race route during the Paris Olympics. Last year’s Tour incorporated three loops of Butte Montmartre during the final stage, to great acclaim, and it will now be a regular feature in the world’s greatest cycling event.
From 26 June, Zwifters will be able to experience what it’s like to virtually ride up the short but punchy cobbled climb to the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre for themselves.
(Image credit: Zwift)
Get out
Although built as a virtual platform, with the aim of combining gaming with fitness activity, Zwift’s designers have embraced the new season by putting one foot into the outdoors as well, offering guidance for real rides alongside the indoor training offering. The underlying concept is that committed riders should do both, in order to maintain peak fitness.
The company claims that Zwifters who continue to cycle indoors throughout the summer are 8% more likely to hit their riding goals than those who don’t, with new users experiencing an average FTP increase of +18 watts, compared to only a +7 increase for riders who stick the indoor bike in a corner and ignore it during the warmer months.
Over the summer months, as Zwift plans to launch its first indoor/outdoor challenges, which Zwifters will be able to connect to via their Wahoo, Garmin, or Hammerhead accounts. Ahead of that, from 6 April Zwift Camp: Breakthrough will support Zwifters as they prepare to transition to the summer season proper. This camp revolves around five workouts, focussing on fitness but also including drills to improve technique, stability and control for outdoor cycling.
