Well, this should be exciting! The 2023 UCI Esports World Championship races will pit 100 competitors each in men’s and women’s fields, narrowing them down to just 3 racers heading into the final sprint!
And it’ll all happen on a new map launching in January, inspired by Glasgow, Scotland, to mimic August’s real-world location of the mega event UCI is planning for every cycling discipline. The new map features a loopable hill climb and a dedicated time trial circuit, and it’ll only be open for events starting in January before opening up for general riding in mid-March.
Want to ride it early? Watch for hosted recon rides with pros and ZRacing events to join.
The racing format for the Esports championship races should make for fun watching. It kicks off on February 18 and features a Zwift Battle Royale. Each field starts with 100 riders, with 70 getting cut in Race 1.
Race 2 drops 20 more, leaving just 10 to start the final round. There, the last rider past each checkpoint is cut, until there are the final three leading into a podium sprint.
2023 Zwift Dashboard & Feature Updates
A new “For You” lineup will appear on your dashboard, offering personalized route and activity suggestions based on your prior activities.
They’ll also show you personalized leaderboards, tallying your performance on each world, route, and segment. It’ll show you that data from the beginning of your time as a Zwifter, too, so you can go back to see how you’ve progressed, and even sort it by year, quarter, or your entire history.
Got a favorite Zwifter or pro you want to ride with? Their “Join a Zwifter” feature is back by popular demand, so you can Big Brother who’s online, see how long they’ve been riding, and their average speed…so, um, you can decide if you want to join their ride or run.
If you just want to ride with yourself, literally, the HoloReplay ghosts are now available to pace you against your best performances full routes, too, not just segments.
For Clubs, you can now add your Discord link directly to your club page, making it easy for people to join a live audio chat channel during rides.
If you just want a quick workout, they’ve doubled the number of 30-minutes-or-less workouts available.
All new features roll out between now and March 2023, just keep an eye out for them in your dashboard, and be sure to keep the app updated. The latest update just went live this week with a few patches and updates. Get a deep dive on all these new features, plus the 2023 Z Fondo series (already started, runs through April), January’s Tour de Zwift, ZRL Season 3, and Rapha Festive 500 at the link below.
