Zwift wants you to ride outdoors in 2026 as it expands Paris map to include iconic climb and adds new gravel world

Zwift has announced its users will be encouraged to go ride their bikes outside this summer, thanks to updates to the platform’s Personalised Recommendations feature.

Announced last autumn, Zwift’s Personalised Recommendations harness AI to suggest your next activity when you load the app.

Now, Zwift says riders will be able to see Outdoor Recommendations – suggesting they should close the app and ride in the real world for a change.

The announcement comes as part of Zwift’s seasonal content reveal (which it dubs ‘this season on Zwift'). It has also teased an expansion to the Paris map, a new gravel-focused world, additions to Zwift’s in-game bike shop – the Drop Shop – and more.

According to Zwift, the recommendations for outdoor rides will differ from indoor rides, without a specific workout or route to ride.

Instead, they’ll simply be “a basic guide to advise how to get the most from your next activity”.

Additionally, the brand says it plans to launch in-game challenges that will reward Zwift users for progress completed both indoors and outdoors.

Is this a tacit admission that Zwifters are spending too long staring at screens and need to go outside and experience the real world?

We suspect it probably has more to do with the brand trying to keep its subscribers engaged over the summer months – a time when usage, and perhaps therefore also subscription, rates in the northern hemisphere almost certainly drop significantly.

Zwift is already giving riders in-game experience points (XP) for outdoor rides completed on connected devices, for example.

These additions are therefore likely designed to help increase retention on the platform during times when people will naturally be less inclined to ride indoors on a smart trainer.

Tour fever

As the 'official software' for the Tour de France, Zwift is naturally keen to celebrate the sport’s most important event.

With this in mind, Zwift is expanding its Paris map, which currently features the Tour’s traditional finishing circuit on the Champs-Élysées.

And with the Tour having added the Montmarte climb to its final stage last year, Zwift is following suit.

The iconic cobbled climb, which was added to the Tour’s finishing circuit last year following its use in the road races at the 2024 Olympic Games, will be incorporated into the game’s Paris map, adding a tough climb to an otherwise relatively flat parcours.

Zwift says the expanded map will be available to ride from 26 June, and will feature the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur de Montmartre at the summit of the climb.

We don’t yet have details of how closely the virtual climb will match its real-world counterpart, although at only 0.6km in length, with an average gradient of 4.7 per cent, we imagine Zwift will stick closely to the real thing.

To mark the 2026 Tour de France and Tour de France Femmes, Zwift will be running the Tour Fever Challenge from 2 July to 16 August 2026.

There will be both races and group rides to participate in, with five new route badges to collect in the Paris map.

Gravel Mountain

Also coming this Spring is Gravel Mountain – a new, event-only map designed specifically for virtual gravel racing.

Gravel Mountain, Zwift says, “will be the fastest, most exciting way to experience gravel on Zwift”.

Set in a “red rock environment”, Zwift says riders can expect “dust, speed and loose lines” and a “distinct handling and racing experience compared to road racing [on Zwift]”.

It’s not clear exactly how these “loose lines” or handling differences will play out in-game, although Zwift says dedicated gravel bikes will be the “optimal” pick from a performance perspective.

We suspect Zwift is simply trying to sell the vibes of the new world, given how important ‘the spirit of gravel’ is to that genre of bike racing.

Also coming this Spring is Gravel Mountain – a new, event-only map designed specifically for virtual gravel racing.

Gravel Mountain, Zwift says, “will be the fastest, most exciting way to experience gravel on Zwift”.

Set in a “red rock environment”, Zwift says riders can expect “dust, speed and loose lines” and a “distinct handling and racing experience compared to road racing [on Zwift]”.

It’s not clear exactly how these “loose lines” or handling differences will play out in-game, although Zwift says dedicated gravel bikes will be the “optimal” pick from a performance perspective.

We suspect Zwift is simply trying to sell the vibes of the new world, given how important ‘the spirit of gravel’ is to that genre of bike racing.

In any case, Zwift says the Gravel Mountain world map will launch as part of the PAS Racing Series – a four-stage gravel racing series organised in collaboration with the PAS Racing pro team.

Races will run hourly from 6 April to 3 May 2026, across routes in Gravel Mountain and the Makuri Islands (another of Zwift’s virtual worlds), with a Pas Normal kit to unlock for those who participate.

The Drop Shop is Zwift’s in-game shop for bike and wheel upgrades, and the brand says it will be seeing “its biggest overhaul yet” this year.

Specifically, Zwift says 18 new bikes and 13 new wheelsets will land in the shop this spring and summer, with the first two bundles having a gravel focus.

Another bundle is slated to arrive around the Tour de France, with (we expect) a focus on the bikes used in that race.

Although it hasn’t yet revealed details of exactly which bikes and wheels will be coming to the platform, Zwift says they are all from “leading brands”.

As well as releasing new models, the brand also says it will be tidying up the Drop Shop and “retiring” some outdated bikes. It says users who have already purchased these bikes will still be able to ride them, even once they’ve been removed from the Drop Shop, however.

Drop Shop update

The Drop Shop is Zwift’s in-game shop for bike and wheel upgrades, and the brand says it will be seeing “its biggest overhaul yet” this year.

Specifically, Zwift says 18 new bikes and 13 new wheelsets will land in the shop this spring and summer, with the first two bundles having a gravel focus.

Another bundle is slated to arrive around the Tour de France, with (we expect) a focus on the bikes used in that race.

Although it hasn’t yet revealed details of exactly which bikes and wheels will be coming to the platform, Zwift says they are all from “leading brands”.

As well as releasing new models, the brand also says it will be tidying up the Drop Shop and “retiring” some outdated bikes. It says users who have already purchased these bikes will still be able to ride them, even once they’ve been removed from the Drop Shop, however.

Everything else this season on Zwift

Beyond the world and map updates, Zwift has announced a slew of other updates to the platform.

Users will now, for example, be able to schedule workouts, routes and events via the Zwift Companion app.

Zwift says the personalised recommendations will also take planned events into account, so it won’t, for example, suggest a hard workout the day before a race.

You’ll also now be able to customise the HUD for workouts, with four configurable data fields and 13 different data points to choose from. Zwift says this change will enable riders to “focus on what’s best for them” during workouts.

The final themed workouts of the winter season are also coming in April, with Zwift Camp: Breakthrough.

Designed to “support Zwifters in their transition to the summer season”, Zwift says the five workouts will feature pedalling drills to “improve technique, stability and control”, rather than a singular focus on improving your fitness.

Lastly, with an eye on the platform’s most dedicated users, Zwift has announced it will be lifting the rider level cap – which currently sits at 100.

The new limit has yet to be revealed, but Zwift says riders will have “hundreds of new levels to chase”.

For tips on the fastest ways to level up, check out our Zwift walkthrough guide.