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News & Racing<\/a><\/p>\n Esports pioneer confirms it won’t host its own elite events as it focuses on growing its community, and also puts the Zwift Academy program on pause.<\/p>\n A time of uncertainty is finally over for elite cycling esports racers and enthusiasts as Zwift has officially pulled the plug on its ailing elite cycling esports program. In a September 12 email seen by Escape Collective, Zwift director of racing Sean Parry informed racers that there are no plans for elite racing in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n “Following the decision not to run the Zwift World Series this year, I know many of you have been waiting to see what will happen with Zwift Games,” Parry wrote. “We’re excited to announce that Zwift Games will return in February 2026 for its third edition. The 2026 Zwift Games will be a community racing event only, meaning there will be no Zwift-organized elite racing events in the 2025\/26 season.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n When \u2018close enough\u2019 isn\u2019t good enough: Inside cycling esports\u2019 hardware crisis<\/p>\n One Wahoo customer rep\u2019s advice says a lot about the state of standardization in cycling esports.<\/p>\n The news comes as no surprise to elite racers, following a turbulent 2024\/25 season marred by multiple high-profile rider annulments due to smart trainer accuracy issues outside of racers’ control. The backlash from the reputation-tainting annulments caused consternation and culminated in the abrupt canceling<\/a> of the 24\/25 Elite Zwift World Series mid-season in December 2024. Then, a little more than six months later, Parry informed racers that Zwift would not be hosting<\/a> an Elite World Series (ZWS) this fall, citing declining engagement.<\/p>\n “For many years Zwift has invested substantially in broadcast production, broadcast distribution partnerships (e.g. GCN), prize money, performance verification, and independent governance for elite-level regular season racing events like Zwift World Series,” Parry wrote in a July 3 email seen by Escape. “Regrettably, the current level of audience interest and viewership for these events makes continuing to support this investment unsustainable.”<\/p>\n In a response to Escape Collective, a Zwift spokesperson confirmed that the platform will not put on its own elite racing events next season (other independent entities may still). It also shared the news that the Zwift Academy program, now in its 10th year, will go on hiatus.<\/p>\n ‘The sport needs a bigger pool to grow viewership’<\/p>\n Zwift’s commitment to elite cycling esports has been shaky for some time now. Even then, there was hope that the 2026 Zwift Games would include elite cycling esports, just as the 2025 edition did after Zwift had already cancelled the ZWS. With this clarification, Zwift sealed the future fate of elite racing on the platform.<\/p>\n This post is for paying subscribers only Already have an account? Sign in<\/a><\/p>\n Did we do a good job with this story?<\/p>\n \n \ud83d\udc4dYep![\"Chris](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/17339225339092.jpeg\")
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