Zwift does a horrible job of showing your progress in ride. The XP meter is 100% useless, who cares how far you are to unlocking a pair of socks. Absolutely there should be an option to replace the XP with a route completion meter.
Some routes are ridiculous as to legitimate riding. No one would ride 1.8km and then start riding at 8% gradient, such as Ven-Top. If I go out riding, on professional tour rides, there is a lead in of flat riding to allow warmup. Without looking at the stage, which you should be able to do in the app itself, one would kill themselves hitting such gradient right away. In the case of Ven-Top it would be wise to ride Champs-Elysees first, to get warmed up. On a ride like this, Zwift should have a 10km lead in before the climb.