If the currently largest provider virtual bike races and training sessionsthe US company ZwiftWhen a new race track is announced, the indoor community is always excited. The launch of "Makuri Islands: Yumezi", which was officially confirmed today, Thursday 20 May 2021, is just the belated implementation of a long-cherished plan.
Since the announcement of the cooperation between Zwift with the International Olympic Committee and cycling's world governing body, the UCI, in April 2021, plans were drawn up for a virtual race series. The "Olympic Virtual Series" is to take place in June on the new Japan-inspired Zwift world "Makuri Islands".
What does the new Zwift world Yumezi offer?
Although the eight new routes with a total of 82 kilometres are not an exact copy of the Olympic race tracks around Tokyo, they will serve as the backdrop for the virtual cycling Olympics. And the new routes presented today, which can now be explored by every Zwift user by bike or on foot, are just the beginning of a large-scale expansion. As the company announced, the Yumezi routes (Japanese for "path to dreams") will be supplemented by further virtual routes over time.
According to Zwift, the new tracks on the Yumezi map will impress with their variety and visual appeal. Fast, winding, flat tracks, ideal for fast racing, alternate with dirt tracks and cobbled market streets. Zwifters exploring the new map will discover lush green fields, gingko forests filled with life and mysterious creatures, cherry blossom trees, rushing waterfalls and ancient temples, according to the official announcement.
From 20 to 30 May 2021, all new streets of Yumezi can be explored. The Makuri Islands are available as a special guest world on the Zwift home screen. From 1 June, Yumezi will be included in the regularly changing rotation of Zwift worlds. Find out more about the routes on www.zwift.com/yumezi.
Cooperation world champions: The Zwift tracks and their role models
After the World Cycling Championships in Richmond and Innsbruckthe Olympic courses in London and the virtual racing bike routes on the Mont Ventoux and along the Champs Élysées as part of the Tour de France 2020Makuri Islands" is already the fifth Zwift world to be created on the basis of a cooperation with real cycling events.
Only the oldest course conglomerate "Watopia" is not based on real-life models. While the World Championship and Olympic courses in the other Zwift worlds exactly replicate parts of the original courses, the Japanese routes are more of an homage to Japanese stereotypes - with no connection to the courses of the Olympic road bike races. In contrast to the Course of the Giro opening time trial in Bologna published in 2019Makuri Islands is to be continuously expanded.
