Once again, I found myself in the peculiar situation of being invited to a real-world bucket-list riding destination by a virtual cycling platform. This time, Zwift was hosting us out in Moab, UT. I didnt know what to expect, other than we were told to bring road cycling gear. (Photos/Zwift/Corie Spruill Photography)So I headed off to the desert, only to be met with a deluge of rain. The same storm system that forced the cancellation of the mens Red Bull Rampage and the Moab 240 Trail Race was still dumping rain in and around Moab. No matter, this was for Zwift, right? The indoor virtual cycling program?Yes. But there was a reason we were in Moab to ride a new route, both virtually and in real life. Zwift VideoYou see, Zwift has an all-new premium tier theyre calling Zwift+. And one of the two main features of Zwift+ is Zwift Video. These are real-life videos of legendary rides turned into virtual riding courses. If youre thinking this sounds an awful lot like Rouvy, youd be right. Thats also one of the reasons Zwift recently bought Rouvy.Dont worry Rouvy fans. Zwift promises that the Rouvy platform isnt going anywhere. They also claim that they had started the Zwift Video project as a hackathon project internally before even considering the acquisition. But through the development process, it just seemed to make sense, so now Rouvy is owned by Zwift but operates independently.Whats interesting here is that according to Zwift, there is currently just a 2% overlap between Rouvy users and Zwift users. Because of that, they still dont see a lot of crossover between the two platforms, and Zwift wanted to make their video platform unique.It still uses high-quality video of extraordinary rides to offer an immersive riding experience, but they added all of the Zwift features you expect out of the animated world for a workout that rides and plays like Zwift, but looks like Rouvy.Zwifters are always asking for more tarmac (and gravel), so at launch, Zwift Video will deliver 21 new routes from six destinations. In total, there are 385km of new pavement, broken pavement, and gravel, in all season from sunrise to sunset. The routes range from short 6.2km bursts to 29km rides with 38-1055m elevation gains.The complete list of Zwift Video destinations and routes available at launch:The French Alps: Col du Galibier (Lautaret), Cime de la Bonette, Upper BonetteMallorca: Sa Calobra, Coll de FemeniaTenerife: Teide PlateauWestern Cape: Chapmans Peak, Clarence Drive, Bains Kloof Pass, Du Toitskloof PassLofoten Islands: The Midnight Sun Road, Eggum Coastal, Nappvang GlowSouthern Utah: The Hogsback, Arches National Park, Glen Canyon, Colorado River SunriseColorado: Dolores DirtThe Scottish Highlands: Glen Etive, Quinag Highlands, Glen Garry WildsEach video was filmed specifically for Zwift, and filmed in high definition, with a high frame rate, and vehicle speed to make it all look flawless at cycling speeds. When the Zwift team came to Utah in March, they drove thousands of kilometers to find the best roads, and settled on four routes. Lest you think it was as simple as just driving along and filming each route, one of Zwifts employees even had to write an app to tell the driver how fast to drive in order to film at the best frame rate for cycling. They also had to contend with other vehicles and people on the routes, all while trying to film with the best lighting conditions. The results speak for themselves, but its clear that Zwift put a lot of effort into this. It was a bummer not to get to ride the route in real life, but to be honest, weather like this is part of why Zwift was created in the first place. Also, riding Zwift Video routes through red rocks while looking outside at those same red rocks was pretty surreal. You can ride through Arches National Park (above, right) too, but it wont look like this. The purpose of this trip was to ride the Colorado River Sunrise route in Zwift, and then ride it in real life the next day. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us, so Ill just have to go back to Moab sometime to check it off the list. Darn. (Photos/Zwift/Corie Spruill Photography)I can also ride that route at home, albeit a shorter 15.2-mile version of it one way. Once you get to the end of that route (or any Zwift Video route), you hit a transfer portal that takes you back to the start so you can lap it as many times as you want. Just like regular Zwift worlds, you can do any prescribed workouts in the Zwift Video routes. Youll also be sharing the routes with anyone who happens to be on that route at the same time, just like the rest of Zwift. Organized rides and MeetUps wont be available at launch, but will be introduced in the coming months.New Roads and destinations will be added regularly, and if youre up for the Globetrotter Challenge, riding 10 different routes between now and February will gain you the Globetrotter kit and bonus XP.Want to ride Zwift Video routes? They will only be available to those who pay for the new premium Zwift+ tier. Zwift CoachThe other thing youll get in that premium Zwift+ tier is access to the new Zwift Coach. At this point, Zwift has mountains of indoor training data with 88 million indoor activities in just the past year. Zwift is apparently often peoples first interaction with cycling, and their fastest-growing category is beginner and recreational cyclists. Along those lines, cycling coaching can be intimidating many riders think theyre not serious enough, cant afford it, etc.Zwift doesnt see Zwift Coach replacing traditional cycling coaches, but sees it as another tool that cyclists can use along their journey with approachable training advice. After all, the most effective workout is the one you actually do again, Zwift has the data to back it up. Riders on a Zwift plan gained roughly twice the FTP of riders with no plan, and those who ride at least twice per week are 2.8x fitter than those who ride once every two weeks. And Zwifters with a 12-week streak see 6-12% gains in FTP.Clearly, structure pays off, but a lot of riders dont know what that structure should be. Thats where Coach comes in. Stating that training should adapt to your life, not the other way around, you simply set a goal, and Coach does the rest. With all the hype around AI, you may be expecting this to just be Zwift-ified ChatGPT, but Zwift states that the program uses a science-based training model using their collection of indoor ride data (claimed to be the largest in the world) to build a mathematical training guide.Thats not to say that Zwift Coach doesnt use AI. Instead of using AI to build the plan, they use AI to take the mathematically built plan and then explain it to you and present it in a way thats easy to understand.To start using Coach, youll create a training plan on the Zwift Companion App and answer a number of questions to determine what you want to focus on, how long you want the plan to be (2 weeks 6 months max), what days you can work out, and other details to personalize the training program. Once you create the plan, Zwift Coach will sit right on the home screen to give you daily guidance with todays activities and your week ahead.As soon as you finish a ride, youll be given post-ride feedback on how you performed, the duration, focus, and cumulative stress score, what comes next, and youll gain XP and Drops for the effort to help keep you motivated.If you miss a day, decide its too hard, etc., the training program will adapt though currently you have to physically press a button to tell it to Adapt Plan. The plan will (soon) also take into account rides done outside and runs, though Zwift was quick to point out that this is not a running coach. Weve been given early access to Zwift+ and Zwift Coach, but since were using it in a walled-off version of the Companion app in TestFlight and a downloaded offline version of Zwift, it didnt get leaked early; its hard to say what functionality is lacking because of that or whats just not ready yet. I have the option of adding outdoor workouts, but once added, it doesnt seem to show up anywhere unless you schedule it for the future. Eventually, you should be able to add outdoor workouts that you completed in the past and have that impact your training program.Along those lines, expect Coach to improve along with your cycling performance. Zwift is already planning to add alternative workouts, more personalization, and a Coach Chat feature that will allow you to ask what you need to do and why to do it. Zwift gave two examples of external testers who used Zwift Coach, and their results were pretty impressive. One century rider was training for a specific event and used it for a 4.5-week Coach plan that saw their fitness (CTL) increase by 18%, while their FTP went up from 246W to 259W on event day, and continued up to 275W for the full plan. Another rider hoped to level up to group B with an FTP increase, and used a 15-week Coach plan to see their FTP increase from 178W to 210W, an increase of 18%.Obviously, you have to put in the work. But Zwift Coach seems like a great way to turn your goal into actionable workouts. Its important to note that Zwift has pledged to remain a fully open platform, even with Zwift Coach all existing and new coaching products that integrate with Zwift will continue to do so. Zwift+ / Zwift Pricing, and How to Access Video & CoachTheres a lot that went into the development of Zwift Video and Zwift Coach. In fact, they had to create an entirely new team at Zwift to devote to Zwift+, now with 300 people working on various aspects of the program. So, to make it all work financially, youve gotta pay. Currently, Zwift Video and Zwift Coach are only available in the new Zwift+ premium tier. Zwift+ is $29.99 per month, and includes everything you get out of normal Zwift plus the Video and Coach features. For those who arent interested in Video or Coach and still want to use Zwift, the standard Zwift tier will still be available for $19.99 per month. At launch, existing Zwift users can opt into a limited-time one-month free trial of Zwift+, while completely new users can get a 14-day free trial before having to purchase.There are no plans for any dual Zwift/Rouvy memberships, mostly because it doesnt sound like Zwift expects there to be demand. So if thats something youd be into, speak up.Regular Zwift UpdatesBut wait, theres more! In addition to Zwift+, the standard Zwift world is receiving a number of updates, including a refreshed home screen with a cleaner, simpler layout, a new progress widget, a Zwift Companion home screen update, Oura ring integration, deeper Whoop integration, and a Watt Lock feature to allow you to stick to a specific wattage during freeride mode. For the route hunters, Zwift is adding another Watopia expansion with a three-island archipelago inspired by Californias coast and Catalina Island. The update adds about 17km of flat, fast roads with ocean views and new wildlife. Two of the islands are built with crit racing in mind, and the new roads provide a bypass around the Mayan Jungle to create a longer, flatter route. At launch, there will be 9 new cycling routes and 3 running routes, including Caldera Coaster, Seafoam Circuit, and Pacific Pursuit, all live from day one along with Stage 4 of The Tour of Watopia.zwift.com

Based on direct feedback from its community of virtual cycling enthusiasts, Zwift has rolled out two new major features: Zwift Coach and Zwift Video. Both are part of an upgraded membership tier called Zwift Plus, available for 26.99/$29.99/29.99 per month. The current standard membership option remains unchanged at 17.99/$19.99/19.99 per month.Cycling Weekly was invited to Moab, Utah, for a launch event to learn more about these new offerings and compare real roads with their new virtual counterparts on Zwift Video. Unseasonably wet, windy weather, however, made outdoor riding untenable, and flooding constrained the planned itinerary. As a result, I got to experience the rather absurd scenario of flying several hundred miles just to go for a Zwift ride. (Image credit: Future)Sampling the new Zwift Plus features and asking questions of the Zwift team was a worthwhile experience. The first part of the new rollout is Zwift Coach, a coaching tool that builds a unique, adaptable plan for each user based on riding experience, fitness goals, desired plan length, and desired weekly activity time. It adapts to changes and inputs, including weaving in non-Zwift activities like outdoor group rides and cross-training, and provides a progress report and analysis after each workout. Once you enroll, each days focus appears front and center in the Zwift Companion app, making it easy to integrate into your workouts.(Image credit: Future)Zwift says its coaching tools are based on a mathematical model, which utilises established training science blended with Zwifts vast data archive comprising 65 million rides worth of data. Once a users inputs are provided, the software builds a structured plan that builds towards a fitness target, or larger goal, up to 6 months away or as short as just two weeks. Zwift makes it clear that the software isn't AI-based; however, it uses AI to generate messages for users.I plan to share a more thorough review of Zwift Coach once Ive had more time to test it.(Image credit: Future)The other major component of the Zwift Plus rollout is called Zwift Video. It introduces real-world riding routes, filmed on location in high definition, and integrates Zwift gameplay features into these backdrops. The initial launch includes 21 new routes from around the world for a total of 385km of new, rideable Zwift roads.Highlights include rides in places like the French Alps, Mallorca, Tenerife, South Africa's Western Cape, the Lofoten Islands of Norway, Arches National Park in Southern Utah (where I attended the launch event), and the Scottish Highlands, where the Bond movie Skyfall was filmed.(Image credit: Future)These initial routes offer a mix of flat and hilly options and include mixed-surface rides, which have different rolling-resistance characteristics and work well with some of the best smart trainers on the market. Filming for Zwift Video took place over multiple seasons, so users can expect riding conditions to change over time.I had the opportunity to test several Zwift Video routes and am happy to report that the gamified components integrate impressively. For experienced Zwifters, it will feel familiar: sprints, KOMs, segments, and the like appear overlaid on the video as usual, with a few subtle tweaks to avoid compromising the scenery. Occasional vehicle traffic is interesting but doesnt affect riders. The graphics are impressive, and Zwift captures the feeling of interacting with the landscape rather than simply watching a video backdrop slide by. As I understand it, portions of the map download to a users computer and continuously buffer as you ride to avoid lag; the beginning of the route is always available, making laps on each course seamless.At the event, I prioritised riding the nearby routes (Colorado and Utah) as these are familiar roads and at the time we still hoped to have the opportunity to ride them while in the area. The weather, however, did not cooperate. Back at home, equipped with test software, I had the chance to explore more of the new routes and visit some unfamiliar terrain. Apparently, creating new routes via video is faster in Zwift than building them from scratch, so we can expect more new routes in the near future. It will be interesting to see how Zwift expands this new format going forward.(Image credit: Future)While Zwift Video is quite similar to what Rouvy offers (a former competitor that Zwift acquired in April of this year), Zwift employees stressed that the two products and organizations are distinct and will remain so. The two products have no current overlap in routes, and Zwift Video integrates typical Zwift gameplay features into the rides, with a focus on the riding community. According to Zwift, the way the filming was done and the design of the software in use means Zwift and Rouvy have no cross-compatibility whatsoever.As Zwift has never previously offered tiered pricing, this is a notable change. A coaching tool leverages Zwifts vast data repository and brings an affordable option to many riders who may not have previously considered working with a coach. For riders familiar with the platform and who already have a reliable indoor setup, this feature alone will be popular. Bundling Video and Coach together gives current Zwifters more options for what seems like a reasonable upcharge. Current Zwift subscribers will be offered a short-term, free trial upgrade to Zwift Plus. If you're happy with your current membership and its features and aren't interested in making the change, carry on as you were; no tears necessary.

Zwift Plus adds adaptive training plans and high-definition video routes to the indoor cycling platform for 26.99/29.99/$29.99 per month - that's 9/10/$10 more than the standard subscription price

The 2026 Velo d'Or, road cycling's most prestigious award, will be handed out to the best male and female riders of the year on the 28th November 2026. The 10 nominees for both male and female categories have been revealed, featuring the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel,...

After acquiring a vehicle that wont fit a bike inside, Ive become reliant on hitch racks to move my bikes around. This Spring, I got the offer to test the OnRamp LX 2-bike hitch rack from Yakima. This rack offers a 70 lbs. per bike capacity and a detachable ramp to roll heavier bikes (like ebikes) onto its trays. The rack uses stabilizers to hold your bikes frame or seatpost, so it can carry bikes with fenders.While the OnRamp LX is slightly less user-friendly than other racks, its weight capacity, adaptability to different bikes, and stability on my vehicle all impressed me. Any of the racks inconveniences are pretty minor, and in my eyes forgivable in exchange for its trustworthy construction and reliable operation. Yakima OnRamp LX Key Specs:The OnRamp LX carries two bikes, with a max. capacity of 70 lbs. per tray (or 80 lbs. for the 2 receiver model), so its a great option for moving ebikes or eMTBs. I tested the 1 model, and the rack itself weighs 53.5 lbs.The racks trays accommodate tires up to 5 wide, wheels up to 32 diameter, and wheelbases up to 54. The OnRamp LXs stabilizers clamp to your bikes frame or seatpost, so fenders are no problem and the rack should accommodate nearly any bike.Yakimas hitch pin comes with a lock so the rack cant be removed from your vehicle. The OnRamp LX does not include a lock for your bikes, but any cable lock can be looped around the racks frame and your bikes. When not in use, the rack folds up vertically and takes up little space.Assembly/Adjustments:Assembling the OnRamp LX was an easy job. Once youve installed a single bolt that joins the tongue portion to the rest of the rack, the rack is fully assembled! Attaching the rack to your vehicle only requires you to slip the tongue into the receiver, screw in the hitch pin, and put the lock on the end of the pin.The only thing Ill note is the hitch pin must be installed tightly (100 Nm). Yakima supplies wrenches, but theyre thin and not easy on the hands. I used a socket wrench on the hitch pin, partly to ensure it was tight enough, but also because my vehicle and hitch dont leave a lot of room around the pin. I used Yakimas wrench to install the bolt that joins the rack to its tongue, but that bolt took a fair bit of torque, so a socket wrench would make that job easier too.Now the rack is complete and attached to your vehicle, but there are a few adjustments youll have to make to ensure your bikes fit on it properly. First, youll want to adjust the length of the trays so your wheels fit securely against the chocks. You also need to make sure your bikes are centered on your vehicle.Adjusting one end of the tray is easy and tool-free, but for the first bikes I loaded (my MTB and a commuter bike), I did have to move the bolted-in half of both trays to get the bikes centered. This requires the removal of one Allen bolt per tray, and only takes a few minutes.From step one of assembly to having two bikes loaded with all the necessary adjustments made, it took me one hour and 15 minutes and I was in no rush.Once your trays are adjusted, youre ready to load bikes. The namesake feature of the OnRamp LX is a detachable ramp that allows you to simply roll heavier bikes up and onto the tray. When not in use, the ramp attaches to the rack so its always there if needed. The only catch with the ramp is that you need to have the space to use it. I have a single-car driveway, so Id have to pull my car out to attach and utilize the ramp. In parking lots, the vehicle next to you could be in the way.Loading Bikes/Ease of Use:Securing bikes is fairly easy, but theres one awkward moment when youre loading a bike onto the inner tray: You have to hold your bike upright with one hand while you raise the racks mast, get one of the stabilizers positioned to hold your frame or seatpost, and buckle its strap around your bike. This isnt terribly tricky to do, but racks that hold the bikes wheel(s) are easier to load. Loading bikes on the OnRamp LXs outside tray is slightly easier since the mast will be raised already.Its up to you to decide where you want to put the stabilizer, but I had no trouble finding good places on the frames or seatposts to hold all the bikes I hauled. Id recommend getting as close to the top tube/seat mast junction as possible, but I clamped my lighter commuter bike on the down tube for a short drive, and it was perfectly stable.One thing Ill mention is to be sure to tighten the stabilizers snugly on the mast; On my first load, I thought I had one tight, but it suddenly moved. It took a few more turns of the knob to get the stabilizer properly secured.After this, its just a matter of strapping both your bikes wheels down to the trays. The straps must be positioned at outward 45 angles, but the buckles are fixed in that position so you cant go wrong. Finally, Yakima does supply a strap to put around your bikes for extra security (and they recommend using it every time). They simply instruct you to strap it around both frames and the racks mast. The strap is basically a fail-safe in case something breaks or a bike is loaded incorrectly It could prevent bikes from falling right off the rack.Removing bikes is mostly an easy job, but theres another tricky moment when youre taking the bike off the inner tray. When that bike comes off, youll want to drop the mast out of the way. This involves holding the bike up while unbuckling and loosening the stabilizer, then pulling a pin at the bottom of the mast and pushing the mast sideways. Thankfully, just a nudge on the mast is enough to disengage the clip that holds it upright.When the mast goes down, youll also have to re-position the stabilizers so they dont interfere with the trays. This means you cant position a stabilizer to hold your bike and leave it there It has to be repositioned every time the mast goes up and down.Aside from loading and unloading bikes, the OnRamp LX isnt the quickest or easiest rack to use in a few other ways. First off, it does require tools to remove it from your vehicle. If you regularly take your rack on and off, a tool-free mechanism like Thules Verse rack offers is a nicer option however, some people might prefer the security of Yakimas screw-in hitch pin. The Thule Verse also has the OnRamp LX beat in terms of adjusting to different wheelbases. Its simple sliding wheel chocks are quicker and easier than adjusting tray lengths.Bike Compatibility:Throughout the summer, I carried at least five different bikes on the OnRamp LX, including a commuter bike, an e-commuter, multiple MTBs, and two eMTBs. The racks Stadium Seating trays sit at staggered heights, so I had no problems loading any of these bikes securely, and only one minor interference between two of them. With my commuter bike and MTB on the rack, I had to move the seat on my commuter so it didnt touch my MTBs handlebars. Aside from that, all the bikes I hauled were safely separated on the OnRamp LX.When I loaded up my Priority ebike, I did have to shorten the tray length for its wheelbase. Thankfully, the end of the tray you can adjust by hand-spinning a knob afforded enough adjustment, so it was a quick job with no tools required. Being able to carry bikes with fenders was great Those stabilizers are a bit finicky to operate versus wheel holders, but their compatibility with bikes is excellent.Driving:Something I liked right away about the OnRamp LX is how little it sticks out when its folded up. The folded rack only protrudes about 8 from my cars bumper, which is great when youre parking in tighter spots. With my car, I cant even see the top of the rack over my trunk, so it doesnt impede visibility at all when folded up. The trunk of my car will easily open with the rack upright, and in most cases I could still open it with bikes on the rack. Folding the rack up and down is easy: Theres a spring-loaded pin on one side and a backup pin that pops in and out on the other.The only potential issue with leaving the rack up depends on your vehicle, but in my case the tray blocks my license plate! Thankfully, even when left down, the rack doesnt stick out too far, so its totally reasonable to drive with it down and keep your plate visible. I was able to leave my car in several parking spots with the rack down, without going outside the lines.As for rear visibility with bikes on the rack, the OnRamp LX holds bikes high enough that they do take up most of my rearward view. However, its not difficult to see whats happening behind you even when youre looking through two bikes.I found another potential concern, but everything was OK in my case: The front wheel of the bike on the OnRamp LXs inside tray sits close to my exhaust pipes. After one early drive, the rack felt a bit warm, so I kept an eye on this. Fortunately, after several longer drives, I never had a tire get warm, let alone hot.Stability/Reliability:I found the OnRamp LX to be a stable and very trustworthy rack. Immediately, I liked the square-framed design, which looks very sturdy. The threaded hitch pin holds the rack tightly to the receiver, and even if it loosens up, the pin lock should keep it from falling out.Your bikes will do some side-to-side wiggling when driving bumpy roads, but the OnRamp LX resisted movement slightly better than the Thule rack I tested last year. I had no concerning wobbles travelling a few miles on a washboarded gravel road with my 53 lbs. ebike on the rack, or anytime I had two bikes loaded up.I did notice the front wheel of my MTB was wiggling back and forth slightly while I drove The wheel straps are not very flexible, and they dont sit perfectly flat against my rim. The straps never loosened up, but they do allow some wheel wiggle in high winds.After a whole summer on my car with regular use, I have no concerns about durability or reliability with the OnRamp LX. Ive had no functional issues with the rack; theres no excessive wear and tear to report, nothing has loosened up, and I trust it to carry my bikes safely.The Yakima OnRamp LX hitch rack retails for $999.00. yakima.com

The demise of Saddleback in May saw Chris King lose its long-time UK distributor. Now the 50-year-old Oregon-based component brand has announced a new UK distribution partner, Tempo Industries, set up by two former Saddleback employees.Ashley Matthews and Charles Coleman have more than 15 years of experience in the cycling industry, which they say includes tech service, support and wheel building.Alongside sales of Chris King products, Tempo Industries will offer servicing in-house for Chris Kings hubs, headsets and bottom brackets from its Bath base and use its founders wheel-building experience to offer complete wheelsets built on Chris King hubs. Chris King products have a reputation for bombproof reliability. Andy Lloyd / Ourmedia Tempo Industries founders released a statement saying: Weve had a great working relationship with the team at King over the past 15 years and the opportunity to continue that is an exciting prospect.We want to give them more time and focus in this ever-evolving industry. In our eyes, theres so much more work to be done to support retailers and enhance the customer experience for the brand.While our setup is much smaller than the previous distributor, our focus is solely on supporting Chris King products as we start this new journey, so well be dedicating our time to ensuring people get the service they require. Saddleback handled UK distribution for top-tier brands including Castelli. Castelli Saddleback ceased trading in May this year, with 42 staff losing their jobs. The collapse also saw a number of prestige brands lose their UK distribution arrangements, including not only Chris King, but also Castelli, Sportful and Pivot, as well as smaller brands such as Abbey Tools and Silca.Other brands jumped ship before the Saddleback closure, including Cannondale and ENVE. Cannondale will close its US headquarters in 2027, moving its base to the Netherlands. Scott Windsor / Kelsey Media Further turbulence at Cannondale has more recently seen the brand announce the closure of its US East Coast HQ, with the brands operations consolidated in the Netherlands by its owner Pon Holdings, which also owns Santa Cruz and Cervlo, potentially resulting in around 140 US staff losing their jobs.ENVE, meanwhile, has switched to French distributor Mohawks Cycles to handle its UK distribution.Manifattura Valcismon, the Italian owner of Castelli and Sportful, has set up its own UK subsidiary, MVC Group UK Ltd, to handle UK distribution and direct-to-consumer sales for the two high-end cycle clothing brands.

Paul Seixas has called for better standards of race organisation following the death of Finlay Tarling at this year's Volta a Portugal. Speaking to Canal+s Clique show this week, the Decathlon CMA CGM rider made clear that riders being struck by cars shouldnt happen in bike races. Nineteen-year-old Tarling died on 14 August after he collided with a non-race vehicle that had been driven onto the course at the Volta a Portugal. A police investigation is ongoing into the incident.Honestly, its terrible, Seixas said. I raced with him, and it really affected me.We end up saying to ourselves, Thats yet another cyclist whos lost their life in a race this year. I think its really affected everyone, all the cyclists. Sometimes there really are concerns about how races are organised. The organisers are doing their best, but sometimes there need to be better standards. The Frenchman was part of a five-minute protest about safety held ahead of this years Il Lombardia, a race he went on to win. In tandem with the protest, riders including Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) shared a joint statement on social media calling on the UCI and race organisers to take accountability and act against cars on courses. We will not stand for this any longer, they wrote. Seixas told Canal+: What happened [to Tarling] is extremely serious. Families are affected. Its serious that this is happening in races, professional ones like that one, and riders are losing their lives. Its frightening.There have been some very serious crashes throughout history, but really, riders dying like that after colliding with a car during a race, this shouldnt happen.Last month, British rider Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) called for the creation of an independent safety body in cycling, telling BBC Sport it was "disgraceful" that nothing has changed following Tarlings death. The UCI launched a safety body in 2023 named SafeR, which claims to be independent, despite being funded by the governing body, race organisers, riders and teams. The UCI called in September for safety tracking systems to be put in place across all professional road races as quickly as possible. Still, there have continued to be incidents involving cars on courses since Tarling's death. These include: a rider swerving to dodge a car during a time trial at the German race Sauerlandrundfarht; a delivery van entering the race route behind the breakaway at the Coppa Bernocchi; and an SUV on the course at the Eneco Tour, four days after the Il Lombardia protest.Race organisers highlight the difficulty of policing hundreds of kilometres of public roads. Its totally impossible, Kiko Garca, technical director of the Vuelta a Espaa and managing director of the International Association of Cycling Race Organisers (AIOCC), recently told Cycling Weekly. In a 200km race, depending on the region, sometimes you have more than 300, 400, 500 different small roads [coming off the course], Garca added. But believe me, the first priority of every single organiser in the world is safety This is something super urgent to fix.

Jonas Vingegaard has begun training for the 2027 season, and has recently been seen on Danish roads. The 2027 season will be key in his career, and the Team Visma | Lease a Bike rider is already hard at work ahead of it. In a video that has been shared on social media, Vingegaard has been spotted t...

Zwift has launched a premium subscription tier called Zwift+ that brings AI-powered, personalised coaching and augmented reality routes to the virtual cycling app.Priced at 26.99 / $29.99 / 29.99, Zwift+ includes everything currently on offer to existing subscribers, but grants access to two new features Zwift Video and Zwift Coach.A move to offering a richer, artificial intelligence-backed coaching experience will likely come as little surprise to anyone whos been engaged with Zwift in recent months.However, the introduction of augmented reality video routes which share a striking similarity to those offered by Rouvy (a former competitor indoor cycling app that Zwift acquired earlier this year) comes out of the blue.According to the brand, Zwift Video was developed independently of Rouvy, with a separate team of engineers, but its impossible to ignore the similarities between the two.So, is Zwift simply eating Rouvys lunch or was augmented reality always a logical next step? And is the new premium tier worth paying an extra 9 / $10 / 10 a month for? Lets find out.Whats new with Zwift+Zwift Coach Zwift Coach offers adaptive training plans with AI-powered feedback. Zwift Zwift has offered structured workouts and training plans for a number of years, although it's fair to say these have been more basic than those offered by some of its competitors, as the platform has focused more on things such as community and virtual racing.TrainerRoad, for example, launched its own adaptive training coaching plans in 2021.Around this time last year, though, Zwift announced it would be bringing a new AI-driven tool to the platform to help riders solve the conundrum of 'what should I do today?'.At the time, Zwift said it had big visions for this tool and its ability to offer training periodisation.By analysing data uploaded to the platform for both indoor and outdoor rides, Zwift says its tool can judge your current fitness levels, strengths and weaknesses, and then suggest workouts designed to improve your abilities at a sustainable rate. Zwift Coach aims to progressively improve your fitness over time. Zwift Key to this is Zwift Coachs ability to adapt to your changing needs.If you miss a workout (or a series of them) through illness, go easier or harder than was prescribed in a session or decide to go do an outdoor group ride, and so on, the app will prompt you to approve adjustments to the plan to keep your fitness goals on track.According to Zwift, the training plans are determined by science-based models, with the AI adding an additional layer of personalised coaching and feedback explaining the goals for a session ahead of rides and providing feedback on performance afterwards. Zwift Coach asks you a series of questions to set up a personalised training plan. Zwift To build a plan, riders have to complete a survey answering questions such as how much they ride per week, what days they have available to train, what their goal is and so on.Workouts and sessions then appear front and centre in Zwift and Zwift Companion apps.To incentivise riders to complete sessions, Zwift Coach will reward riders with in-game unlocks such as experience points and celebration moments that bring fun to your achievements. Recommended workouts appear at the top of the home screen when you log on to Zwift. Zwift According to its internal testers, two riders following a Zwift Coach training plan saw increases in their Functional Threshold Power (FTP) of 12 and 18 per cent respectively.Zwift says more features are coming to Zwift Coach in the future, such as the ability to choose alternative workouts, deeper levels of personalisation and Coach chat, where you can chat to the AI coach about your plan, prompt it to make adjustments, and more.Zwift Video Zwift meets Rouvy. Zwift As on Rouvy, Zwift Video places rider avatars into videos captured in real-world locations.At launch, Zwift Video will include 21 new routes and 385km of new roads, across six locations around the world. Additional roads and destinations will be added regularly, says Zwift.Like Zwifts virtual worlds, theres a healthy mix of terrain on offer, from flat rides to iconic mountain climbs (such as Sa Calobra in Majorca, Spain and the Col du Galibier in France) and gravel trails to hidden gems from around the world. There are 21 new video routes spanning six real-world locations. Zwift Each route is designed to be lappable, with riders automatically teleported back to the start point of each route at the end of a lap so rides or workouts arent interrupted just because you finish a route.The various surface types featured in each video (gravel, freshly laid tarmac and broken pavement) will also feature their own unique rolling resistance to help improve immersion. Video routes will still feel like Zwift, with familiar in-game elements from its virtual worlds. Zwift Familiar elements from Zwifts virtual worlds, such as segments, challenges and XP are also integrated into Zwift Video routes.Each video route is recorded in 4k resolution and Zwift said it paid close attention to recording the videos at realistic cycling speeds so the pace feels natural.Why does Zwift+ exist? Zwift has pushed to make its platform more accessible, so a premium tier is sure to raise some eyebrows. Zwift Zwift has often stated one of its key goals is to make its platform as accessible as possible for new riders hence its championing of things such as the Zwift Ride smart indoor bike and the Zwift Cog single-speed adaptor.The launch of a premium tier costing almost 30 / $40 / 30 per month seems starkly at odds with that goal, then.After all, a quick survey of the BikeRadar office indicated most feel the existing standard tier which costs 17.99 / $19.99 / 19.99 per month is already fairly pricey.Adding new features costs money, of course, but with an estimated user base of around one million paying subscribers (according to an interview with Bloomberg in 2023), and a valuation of more than $1 billion, as of earlier this year, Zwift hardly seems short of cash. Zwift has long felt lacking on the training front, so Zwift Coach is an obvious step to address that. In any case, the new coaching features seem fairly easy to explain.While Zwift has focused on its lively online community and ever-expanding virtual worlds with great success over the years, structured training and workouts have always taken something of a back seat on its platform.The recent rise of AI, though, clearly presented Zwift with an opportunity to improve on this aspect of its platform making it more of a one-stop shop for training and racing than ever before, and keeping subscriber eyes off competitor options. Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before. Zwift Zwift Video seems harder to explain at face value given it looks so similar to what Rouvy offers and almost the antithesis of what Zwift has been all about up to this point.When quizzed on this point, Snook said Zwift sees Zwift Video as an extension of Climb Portal, an existing feature that enables users to ride famous climbs in a simplified virtual world, rather than as a replacement for its virtual worlds.Snook explained Zwift users are always asking for more virtual roads, but that since Zwifts worlds are incredibly detailed, theyre extremely difficult to build at scale and pace.Video routes, in contrast, will enable Zwift to add many more kilometres of virtual roads at a much faster rate than if it tried to faithfully recreate those same locations using 3D graphics. Zwift says it sees video routes as an extension of Climb Portal. Zwift Asked whether Zwift Video represents the future of Zwift and whether development resources will be focused on this feature going forward, Snook insisted its existing virtual worlds and features won't be left behind.Video routes, Snook says, have a dedicated team of developers, on top of the personnelZwift already has for everything else on its platform.Still, though, its not hard to imagine Zwift choosing to focus more on this style of virtual riding, if it proves successful in driving subscribers to the new premium tier.Is Zwift+ any good? Zwift Coach certainly looks like a step up from Zwift's previous training offerings. Zwift Whatever you think of it, the key questions for many Zwift subscribers are whether Zwift+ is any good and, crucially, whether its worth the additional 9 / $10 / 10 a month.I was able to get access to a beta version of Zwift+ just before the launch, and have a quick nose around the new features and some of the video routes.Given you can only reap the rewards of a long-term training plan once youve done the work, Ill reserve judgement on whether Zwift Coach is an effective training tool. If you train off-platform with an unsupported device, such as a Polar smartwatch, Zwift Coach won't be able to account for that workload. Polar Nevertheless, one obvious potential issue is Zwift Coach can only account for training you do in-game and off-platform via connected devices such as Garmin, Wahoo and Hammerhead bike computers and smartwatches.If youve got an unsupported device (such as my Polar Grit X smartwatch), theres no easy way to sync activities from it to Zwift meaning Zwift Coach cant account for them in its calculations about your fitness levels and workload.Still, though, the fundamentals of progressive overload are well established. So if Zwift Coach can keep you on track with a training plan better than you might otherwise do alone, it stands to reason that it should work as advertised, and could represent decent value for money. Zwift Video looks good, but in my experience it's the community that makes Zwift fun, not the virtual locations. Zwift My initial rides on the Zwift Video routes left me feeling more sceptical, however.The videos themselves look great, but the main problem was that the routes were completely empty, and devoid of the lively community that defines Zwift. As a result, I found them pretty boring to ride in.This lack of other riders was to be expected, of course, given I was testing the routes prior to the official launch meaning there werent any Zwift+ subscribers to share the roads with yet, or any group rides or races to take part in on these routes. Zwift picked a good day to film in Scotland. Zwift But if Zwift+ doesnt prove successful enough to populate these routes in a similar manner to the existing virtual worlds or the subscriber base becomes spread too thinly across an increasingly large library of video routes I cant see any reason to fork out an extra tenner per month for Zwift Video, as it didnt feel like an upgrade on the standard game at all.If anything, the crisp, 4k visuals make the Zwift avatar graphics look far more dated than they do when in the virtual world, where everything feels cohesive. What Watopia lacks in terms of realism, it more than makes up for in popularity. Zwift Zwift has said it will give existing subscribers a free month's trial of Zwift+, so it will be interesting to see how populated the video routes are during that period, and how popular they remain in the long-term, because that could be make or break for the new premium tier.

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