Nat Bromhead
Online fitness platform Zwift have announced the 2024 ‘Zwift Games’, a series of virtual races and challenges open to all enthusiasts around the world.
The Zwift Games will provide a qualification pathway to the ‘Elite Finals’ and the chance to be crowned overall Zwift Games Champion.
Qualification races will take place in late February 2024, with Zwift Games Elite Finals to be held over the first two weeks of March 2024. The Zwift Games will crown men’s and women’s Champions across the three medal disciplines, as well as overall male and female champions. Winners will also take home a share of Zwift’s biggest-ever prize purse.
Any Zwifter from around the world will be able to enter any of the Championship events and experience the fun of competition. Zwifters interested in participating in the Games without vying for the overall crown of Zwift Games Champion world title can enter community events linked to each Championship.
The Zwift Games will include the following three championship races:
The Sprint Championship: This race is built with the best elements of the Zwift Battle Royale pioneered for the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships. A challenge for the best cycling esports sprinters, racers will tackle several events back-to-back on a variety of courses, including some that are new to Zwift. Qualifiers will be open to all Zwift riders with the top finishers progressing to the finals.
The Epic Championship: This is the race for Zwift’s steeliest athletes, those who like to go long. This grueling race will be at least 60km long, and will test every facet of competitors’ resolve. The race will make use of Watopia’s new Coastal Causeway and a new route. An Epic community event will take place at the same time as the championship, and any Zwifter can participate in either event without a qualifier, creating what may be the world’s largest-ever cycling esports event!
The Hill Climb Championship: Since it first opened in 2018, the Alpe du Zwift has been a Zwift monument and right-of-passage for the more than 600,000 Zwifters who have navigated its 21 hairpin turns and scaled its heights. During the Zwift Games, the mountain goats of Zwift racing will have the chance to race from the bottom of this icon to the top and definitively establish who is the best Cycling Esports climber. With so many racers attempting to set a fast time on the iconic course, we could see new records for the ascent. Interested in participating in a group climb, but not looking to race? You can join in the accompanying community challenge, which will also feature the Alpe and other iconic Zwift climbs, that all have different levels of challenge.
Like all Zwift races, parity will be a central pillar of the Zwift Games. Race distances will be equal for men and women, and prize money will be split equally.
Further details, including the exact dates, formats, information on global broadcasts, and prize purse distribution will be shared in December.
