Zwift assures me that the route to change goes through the Forum. If more people that agree with my suggestion, they say, the more likely the change is to be, at least, acknowledged.
Here’s my suggestion: Have an option for longer, harder races. Stage 1 for the upcoming ToW is 12.8 miles. Look, at my best, I was only ever Cat 3 pack fodder, but even now, ten years and even more pounds heavier, 13 miles is laughable. I can only imagine what the Class A and B Zwifters think.
And no Alpe stage? Come on. One of my high points last year was summiting it for the first (and only) time in last year’s Tour. I understand Zwift is trying to appeal to the largest possible market but I think the way to do that is by offering different difficulty/intensity options, like they did last year.
Hi Michael,
you might find the Group Ride Category A (36.6 miles) is at a pace just as hard as the Race ride. The Zwifters at the front of that group usually give it 110% from the start. You could find that more of a challenge.
Report back if you give it a go. I’ve yet to stay with the front group ever!
“Ride On”
Try both the Race & Group rides, see which you prefer.
Re inclusion of Alpe, I must admit that I hadn’t checked all the stages, but I’m not surprised that it’s not in to be honest, it’s a bit boring. And there’s nothing to stop anybody from doing it any day they want to.
Maybe, but there’s no denying the motivation of being in a ‘race’. I’ve only done it once, last year’s ToW, and the only reason was because I wanted to finish the Tour. I cant imagine JRA-ing it.
Thanks for the recommendation. I might give a group ride a try. I wouldnt be able to keep up with A’s and B’s for any meaningful length of time, but I could certainly do so with C’s and D’s for more than 13 miles.
I just dont see the harm in having a long race and a short race. That’s all. They’ve done it before.
@Michael_Toglia for Tour group rides A and B do not denote levels as they do in races. Zwift probably should change the naming convention. For group rides in a tour:
A = long route
B = short route
C = women only
People of all abilities enter the group rides. They are “supposed” to be more relaxed but I can tell you 100% that a majority of people treat them as races.
totally! without a leader, these are full-on races. i’m shocked at home much harder i rode the tour de zwift than i do any other ride. phew! it was work!
on the plus side, if you get toasted by the first group you try to hang with, there’s usually another one hammering away 5-10 seconds behind that you can try to grab on to!
They are probably keeping them short so that the pro-am broadcast can stay under an hour with all the pre race antics and interviews. We have short attention spans after all.
