Wondering where to go on Zwift?
Well, the January Zwift World Calendar is here as both a table and an image. There’s plenty to get stuck into.
What’s different this month? Well, there’s more of France-Paris and Yorkshire-Innsbruck. So it’s a bit more varied overall.
Of course, you can ride any course you like, but you’ll be on your own. Just follow the instructions under the table below.
Day | Course One | Course Two |
1 | Makuri Islands | New York |
2 | Makuri Islands | New York |
3 | Richmond | London |
4 | Richmond | London |
5 | Richmond | London |
6 | Innsbruck | Richmond |
7 | Innsbruck | Richmond |
8 | France | Paris |
9 | France | Paris |
10 | France | Paris |
11 | Makuri Islands | New York |
12 | Makuri Islands | New York |
13 | Makuri Islands | New York |
14 | Yorkshire | Innsbruck |
15 | Yorkshire | Innsbruck |
16 | London | Yorkshire |
17 | London | Yorkshire |
18 | London | Yorkshire |
19 | Richmond | London |
20 | Richmond | London |
21 | Makuri Islands | New York |
22 | Makuri Islands | New York |
23 | Makuri Islands | New York |
24 | Makuri Islands | New York |
25 | France | Paris |
26 | France | Paris |
27 | France | Paris |
28 | Innsbruck | Richmond |
29 | Innsbruck | Richmond |
30 | Yorkshire | Innsbruck |
31 | London | Yorkshire |
One question you might ask is why are we only allowed to access two at a time? The reason for this is simple enough. Basically, there are only so many Zwifters and the platform doesn’t want anyone riding around on their own.
That said, there are ways to get around this. For a start, you can launch an event in any other worlds.
Article: 100 cyclists were asked what they hated about cycling indoors this is what they said
Zwift World Hack – Launch an event in any Zwift world you choose
The other is to open your Zwift folder (usually found in the Documents folder – if not just search) and open prefs.xml with a text editor like Notepad or Wordpad (this bit is important).
If you add one of the following tags just after “
Alternatively, the other option is to create a Meetup via Zwift Companion. That way you can ride the world and course you want.
Watopia, add: <WORLD>1</WORLD>
Richmond, add: <WORLD>2</WORLD>
London, add:<WORLD>3</WORLD>
New York, add:<WORLD>4</WORLD>
Innsbruck, add: <WORLD>5</WORLD>
Bologna, add: <WORLD>6</WORLD>
Yorkshire, add: <WORLD>7</WORLD>If you want a schedule to what courses are coming up this month on Zwift, here’s what’s occurring:
The Zwift courses and what they entail
Bologna
Ok, first up, this does not appear in the world schedule. But you will see it in time trial events.
It is a recreation of this year’s Giro prologue and forms two parts. First off there’s a run through the city featuring cobbles.
Then there’s the highlight, a tasty climb up to the finish hitting around 12%.
Bologna has a great climbRichmond
This is a replica of the Worlds Course from 2015 that was won by Sagan.
The bulk of the 10.1-mile course is flat. However, there is a short sharp climb near the end. After that there is a long drag up to the finish – this is where most of the damage occurs if you’re racing.
Innsbruck
This is the World’s course (or at least part of it) from 2018. The one that was sadly won by Piti.
The circuit is actually just the end of the route and does not take into account the 85km to get there.
The dominant feature is a 7.8-mile climb with an average gradient of around 6%. Interestingly, the actual route featured a 25% gradient, which is outside the capability of most smart trainers.
London
Speaking personally, this is my least favourite course. Probably, the fact it goes past my work has something to do with it.
It’s quite flat although it goes out into the Surrey Hills. It does not reflect the London 2012 course – a massive chunk of South London is missing.
Leith Hill and Box Hill are also significantly easier to climb in real life.
New York
New York is an anomaly. I’ve been there and I don’t remember cycleways in the sky – although it’s a great idea.
The futuristic world was launched in 2018 and sports one the hardest gradients in Zwift – 19%. There are six routes with the hardest featuring a 22-mile route with 525 metres of climbing.
Yorkshire
Another English course. This one is the scene for this year’s Worlds featuring a condensed form of the route through the Yorkshire Dales before hitting Harrogate’s town circuit.
Zwift has said the Harrogate end of the course is one of its most accurate, with the roads based on GPX data. So, it will be as near as identical to the actual route.
Makuri Islands
The latest Zwift Island and set up for the Toyko Olympics (although it’s not Tokyo). This course is smaller than the others – the longest course is under 20km. Although there is a nice hill in the middle.
Paris/ France
Well this one was a while coming. While Covid-19 took away the Tour de France (or at least kicked it down the road) Zwift put together it’s own version for pro riders.
As of August, normal riders have access to it. Highlights include a ride along the Champs Elysee and, best of all, a duplicate of Mont Ventoux.
Ride On!
This should be all you need to know to get into the world you want. We all have our favourite worlds but remember if it’s one you don’t like you can always change it.
Also go here if you are interested in setting up a Zwift group ride.