Guide › The calls
The calls
A call is a word or two telling you what to do now: "gap opening", "move up", "steep in 20 for 30". Here's every one: what you'll hear, when it comes, and what to do.
How calls work
- One at a time. When several things happen at once, the most urgent call wins: the finish, power-ups and moving up for a climb first; then the pack (a gap opening, a missing heart rate, a burrito, your pass, a bridge you asked for, blocked, being passed); then bends, the tuck and the climb ahead; surfaces and habits last.
- Numbers are seconds. "steep in 20 for 30" means the steep part starts in 20 seconds and lasts 30. "climb in 90" means 90 seconds to the foot of the climb. Times over 20 s are rounded to 5.
- Never on top of each other. At least 6 seconds between any two calls, and the same kind of call at most once every 30 seconds. Finish, power-up and bridge calls follow each other sooner: only the very same call waits.
- Gaps are wheel to wheel, as on the Wheel gap meter: from your front wheel to the back wheel of the rider ahead.
- Each kind has its own chime, so after a ride or two you know what's coming from the sound alone: rising tones for your move, falling for when you're stuck, one low tone for someone behind you.
- Shown as well as heard. The Director Sportif window's big line shows the call, followed by each meter's advice ("gap opening · back off"), in yellow or red when urgent. A Grid can show the same with its All words slot (or the call alone with Director), say for OBS.
- Advice only. The Director Sportif never fires a power-up or presses anything for you.
Choosing how each kind reaches you
Director Sportif window ▸ gear ▸ Calls: a Voice and a Chime box for each kind. Tick either, both, or neither. What a new install starts with:
| Kind | Voice | Chime | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gap opening, Move up, Finish, Power-up, Race card, Burritos, Teammate HR | on | on | The calls that change a race. |
| Bridge | on | on | Only after you press the Bridge button. |
| Your pass, Blocked, Climb pacing, Surfaces | on | off | Useful, and the word says it all. |
| Supertuck, Take the wheel | off | on | On a descent or in a sprint a word comes too late; the chime is instant. |
| Being passed | off | off | Only "block left" and "block right" in a race. A chime alone suits it, if you want it. |
| Bends, Habits | off | off | Nice to have, and bends can come twenty times an hour. |
Updating from an earlier version keeps whatever you'd chosen. The voice is your computer's own speech; it plays through the same speakers or earbuds as Zwift.
Practice race
Some calls are for races only: "block left", "block right", "supertuck in 6", "coast" and the heart rate check. Tick Practice race on the Calls tab to hear them on group rides and free rides too. On a free ride with a route, the end of the route (each lap) is the finish line for the finish calls. The window says "practice race" while it's on. Real races don't change.
The pack
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "gap opening" | A hole is opening in front of your wheel, or the next one (4.5 m or more between wheels and still growing), or the riders ahead keep riding away from you. | Close it now, or go round, before you're gapped. |
| "group shattering" | The group ahead of you is splitting up: a quarter or more of those riders are leaving, the nearest within 15 m of you. While it lasts there's no "ease off", "back off" or "drop back": you can't be pushing into a wheel that's leaving. | Do what you can: hold the front part, or the group you can. |
| "go harder" | You're already 1.5 m or more out to the side, closing on a rider only 1–5 km/h faster. At that speed Zwift holds you behind them, and you burn watts getting nowhere. It stays quiet when your group is going through with you. In line, the Passing meter says "go wide" instead, without a call. | Go by with 5+ km/h more, or wait. |
| "drop back" | You're glued to the wheel of the rider you want to pass, in line. Pulling out there gets you held. | Drop back to 1.5–3.5 m between wheels, pull out to the edge, and come by fast. |
| "step left", "step right" | You're held on the wheel ahead: watts vanish in single seconds (10+ W lost over 10 s). The side it names is the free one. | Move half a meter that way, out of the wheel's line: that gets the watts back. |
| "ease off" | The same, with no room on either side. | Ease off. On a fast descent, drop back to 4 m or more between wheels. |
| "drop back" (blocked) | Stuck alongside a rider on your left or right while trying to pass. | Drop back and pass where there's room. |
| "block left", "block right" | In a race, a rider is creeping up on that side, 1–5 km/h faster. Never for a teammate. | Ease over into their way: being held costs them far more than it costs you. |
Climbs
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "climb in 90" | About 90 seconds before a climb, in a group of 6 or more. | Get ready to move up, or to stay near the front. |
| "move up" | 60–45 seconds before the climb, if you're not already near the front (the front quarter of the group, or its first four riders). | Move up along the edge of the group, not through the middle. |
| "hold spot" | You're already near the front 60–45 seconds out, or you've moved up there since (3+ places, into the front 40%). | Stay there to the foot of the climb (it costs 20–30 W). |
| "stay in line" | It's too late to move up without paying too much. | Hold your place in line. |
| "steep in 20 for 30" | A part averaging 5% or more starts within about 400 m and lasts 15 s or longer. On a climb, only a part clearly steeper than where you are. | Be ready for it; it's not advice to change your power, just the road. |
| "over top in 15" | After 30 s or more of climbing, 5–15 s before the top. | Hold the wheel over the top: races split there. Recover once the road is fast. |
The climb ahead comes from your route's own profile, past junctions too, so it works from the first minute. "move up" needs a group of 6 or more; the steep and top calls work riding alone. Off a route, it's learned from the riders ahead of you.
The road
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "dirt in 15 for 40" (also wood, brick, cobbles, gravel, grass, sand, ice) | A rough surface starts within 45 seconds on this road. | Expect to slow: it costs road tires watts (the Surface meter shows how many). |
| "inside left in 6", "inside right in 6" | A bend ahead where the inside is open, and moving over gains ground even after the draft it costs. | Move to the inside of the bend. |
| "stay close" | A bend ahead and you're on the outside of the bunch, where you'll lose ground. | Stay close to the wheel through it. |
| "cut the S in 5", "cut the bend in 5" | A stretch of your route ahead twists enough for a steered line to pay. Dirt S curves most: the best line gains 4–6 m. | Steer the shortest line through it. |
| "supertuck in 6" | In a race, on a descent, seconds until you reach supertuck speed. Shown on the window, not spoken. | Keep pedaling until then. |
| "coast" | Fast enough on a descent to supertuck (about 58 km/h or more, −3% or steeper), in a race. In a race the tuck is about as aero as the AERO power-up. Outside races there's no call. None on a TT bike, which can't tuck. | Stop pedaling and let it tuck. |
The finish
In the last 1.5 km of a distance event, or at an intermediate sprint you contest on your race card. In the run-in only the finish calls speak (and the gap and race card calls), and they don't wait behind each other.
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "top ten in 120" | 1.3–1.7 km out, in a group of 6 or more, with 10 or more riders ahead of you (the number is seconds to the line). | Be in the top ten by the time it counts down. |
| "good spot in 120" | The same, with fewer than 10 riders ahead of you. | Stay there. |
| "get a wheel" | The last kilometer, as the bunch winds up. | Get on a wheel that's going forward. |
| "last wheel, be ready" | You're the last wheel of a small group (3–8), 200–1000 m out (15–80 s when the road ahead is known), and you haven't jumped. | Sit 1.5–3.5 m between wheels on the edge, ready to go first. |
| "jump now" | You're last wheel of 4–8 and they wind up. | Go, up the edge, 5+ km/h faster. |
| "jump in 20" | In the last km, up to 45 s before your sprint window: from there your reserve (FRC) can carry a sprint to the line. The number is seconds. | Get ready: a wheel, the right gear. |
| "you can go" | From here your reserve (FRC) can carry a sprint to the line. | Launch when you choose. |
| "keep going" | After your jump, in the last 200 m, when your power falls below half its peak and under 1.5 × FTP, and a place can still change. | Don't sit up yet. |
| "dig in" | In the last 600 m or after your jump, a rider behind is closing 4+ km/h faster and will reach you within 6 s, unless your place is already safe. | Find a little more. |
| "ease to FTP", "ease off" | After your jump, inside 400 m: nobody behind can reach you by the line, and you can't reach the rider ahead. | Save it: your place is safe. |
| "drift left", "drift right" | In the last km or after your jump, you're in the wind with a rider sitting on your wheel, and your setup can steer. | Drift that way to make them work. |
| "wheel, jump light / medium / hard" (Take the wheel) | In the last km, before your sprint window, a rider comes past 4–8 km/h faster: a wheel worth taking. It comes a few seconds before they're level. | Jump onto their wheel, that hard. |
Power-ups
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "AERO in 35", "AERO now" | At the finish, for the power-up you hold: AERO 15 s from the line or on your jump, the van 40 s out (with a rider to draft), the burrito 20 s out but only from the front, the ghost just before 400 m. The arrows and the feather go on your jump ("ARROWS at jump"). | Fire it when it says "now". |
| "FEATHER in 20", "FEATHER now" | You hold a feather and a climb is coming: at its steepest 30 seconds (3% or more). A steeper part further up the same climb wins, so it can wait through the first slope. | Fire it when it says "now". |
Power-up names are the ones Zwift shows (AERO, VAN, GHOST, BURRITO, ARROWS, FEATHER). With your bike set to TT, the finish calls above don't come. The feather call still does, and every arch takes what you hold there, so with a race card you hear "use AERO in 35" before each arch, whatever your plan says.
The bridge
Tick Bridge button on the Calls tab and a Bridge button appears in the Director Sportif window. Press it when you want to go across to the riders up the road: only you know you want to go. The director plans the bridge for the least FRC, along the road ahead (a climb is cheap, a descent dear), and never asks for more than you have left. The button turns itself off once you've made it. For the best plan, set your Max power on the You tab (left blank: 4.5 × FTP).
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "bridge now" | The cheapest start is now. | Go. |
| "bridge on the climb in 40", "bridge in 40" | A cheaper start is coming. | Wait for it. |
| "last chance to bridge" | No later start works. | Go now, or let them go. |
| "too far to bridge" | No start leaves you any reserve. | Stay with your group. |
| "attack" | You've gone: the first seconds, so your group doesn't come with you. | Go hard. |
| "hold 350" | On the way across: the watts that close the rest for the least FRC. | Hold that power. |
| "made it" | You're on their wheel. | Sit in. |
Under 3 seconds up the road, or a gap the plan closes within 5 seconds, isn't called: that's assumed bridgeable. While you bridge, Position's gap advice and the Blocked call stay quiet.
Burritos
In an event where everyone gets a burrito, whoever fires one takes the draft from the riders in a short wedge behind them for 20 seconds: up to about 7 m behind their wheel, and a quarter of that distance to either side.
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "burrito, move over" | One was fired just ahead of you. | Move a lane over, or sit 7.5 m or more back. |
| "burritos done" | Nearly everyone has fired theirs. | It's safe to slide back into the bunch. |
The Grid's Burritos slot counts the riders ahead of you who still hold one.
No heart rate
Some races disqualify a rider with no heart rate, or halve their points. In a race, and in the pen where a strap can still be paired, the Director Sportif checks you and the riders in your race who carry your team tag (the "(Dinos)" or "[Dinos]" in a Zwift name).
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "Sam: no heart rate" | That rider has had no heart rate for 20 s. A red banner stays in the Director Sportif window, and the call comes again every 2 minutes. | Tell them, then press I know Sam has no HR. A teammate is then done for the event. |
| "Sam: heart rate back" | It came back, and you hadn't pressed I know. | Nothing. |
Your own warning comes back only if your heart rate returns and drops out again, up to three times. Only whether a signal is there is read; nothing about it is kept. Turn it off with the Teammate HR row on the Calls tab.
Your race card
With a race card imported for the event's route, the director calls what's coming on that course, by your plan for each item: "sprint in 70", "KOM in 40", "sprint line in 25" or "KOM line in 25", "use VAN in 35" or "keep VAN in 35" at an arch, "position in 70" or "skip it in 70" for an item you don't contest, and your own notes, word for word, with the seconds after them ("big gear in 25"). How to make one and set your plan: race cards.
Habits
Now and then, for a habit that wastes power, once it has lasted a while. Each one at most once every 5 minutes, any habit at most once a minute, and never before a climb, in the finish or under a power-up.
| You'll hear | When | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| "ease off" | 30 s of pushing into the wheel while holding your place. | Back off a few watts: they're going nowhere. |
| "use edge" | 10 s of moving up through the middle of a group of 6+. | Move up along the edge: the middle costs about four times as much. |
| "sit in" | 20 s on the front of a group of 6+. | Get onto a wheel. |
| "get in line" | 15 s off the wheel in a small group. | Line up right behind a wheel. |
| "give room" | 10 s with your wheels overlapping at full draft (Wheel gap under −0.5 m). | Ease back to 0.5–1.5 m on Wheel gap: you keep the full draft and stop paying about 5 W for nothing. |
When it goes quiet on purpose
- No draft: on a TT bike in a group ride, or in a time trial, Zwift gives you no draft. After 20 s on a wheel with no draft, the pack calls (gap, passing, blocked, move up, habits, the finish's wheel calls) stop. The climb, road and power-up calls carry on.
- Alone: no pack calls when there's no pack.
- Just teleported (a group hop): a few seconds' pause while power and speed settle.
- On a road Sauce has no map for yet (a brand-new Zwift road): the pack meters wait a few seconds, reading "no map", until the gaps can be measured from where Zwift puts you along the road.
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