Cycling esports' top elite talent will be on display as we lift the curtain for the first round of the Zwift World Series 2024/25.
The Zwift Community Elite season kicks off on September 19th. Here’s what we know about the format, route, prize money, and how to watch the thrilling high-powered racing.
The top twenty-six racers from the September 5th Open Qualifier will join twenty-four Series Pass holders for the first round of the Zwift World Series on September 19th.
Three racers from the top eight Men’s and Women’s teams from last season’s Zwift Grand Prix get a Series Pass and an automatic slot in each race.
Riders finishing in the top ten or winning either of the Primes during the first four races can also earn a pass, making the number of Open Qualification spots increasingly harder to come by in the reduced fifty-racer fields.
The revamped Zwift World Series format gives the riders a lot to race for this season. In addition to cash prizes for individual, overall, primes, and team classification, the riders are fighting for a spot in the season-ending Zwift Games 2025. The Top 50 riders in the Individual Classification in the Zwift World Series will earn an invitation to race in the Zwift Games 2025.
For complete details, read the article linked below.
There’s also a Zwift World Series Team Leaders helmet for the front runners in the team classification. And the leader of the individual classification gets a ZWS Leaders Jersey. That’s pretty cool!
Race 1 of the Zwift World Series takes riders to the purpose-built Richmond Loop Around course, featuring 42.5km of challenging terrain and multiple sharp pitches totaling 550m of elevation. This route takes riders through three loops of the reverse climbs before turning onto the forward Richmond Worlds Route to finish the remainder of the lap.
The Scratch Race will have two Prime locations. The first is at the 23rd St. KOM Reverse, the third time around approximately 20km, and the second is the Broad St. Sprint, which comes at about 35km into the grueling route.
$7,400 is up for grabs to the first ten racers over the line, and $800 per Prime paid out three deep. The team with the best three finishers puts a grand into the team’s coffer.
You can catch the action by tuning into the Zwift YouTube Channel and enhance your viewing experience with real-time data, racer cams, and more at ZwiftWorldSeries.com.
The Men’s race starts at 1715 UTC, followed by the Women’s at 1840 UTC. Enjoy the show!
Semi-retired after more than 20 years as the owner and director of a private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice, Chris now enjoys the freedom to dedicate himself to his passions—virtual cycling and writing.
Driven to give back to the sport that has enriched his life with countless experiences and relationships, he founded a non-profit organization, TheDIRTDadFund. In the summer of 2022, he rode 3,900 miles from San Francisco to his “Gain Cave” on Long Island, New York, raising support for his charity.
His passion for cycling shines through in his writing, which has been featured in prominent publications like Cycling Weekly, Cycling News, road.cc, Zwift Insider, Endurance.biz, and Bicycling. In 2024, he was on-site in Abu Dhabi, covering the first live, in-person UCI Cycling Esports World Championship.
His contributions to cycling esports have not gone unnoticed, with his work cited in multiple research papers exploring this evolving discipline. He sits alongside esteemed esports scientists as a member of the Virtual Sports Research Network and contributes to groundbreaking research exploring the new frontier of virtual physical sport. Chris co-hosts The Virtual Velo Podcast, too.
