Zwift followers on social media may have noticed that the popular indoor cycling app has begun teasing a new launch.

Details are intentionally sparse, but many immediately assume that this represents a new world in which users can ride.

So far, the brand has released two videos, the first showing a view from the window of a train passing through an area unfamiliar to Zwift users. At the beginning of the video, the train passes houses and construction sites, and then enters the green countryside through a tunnel. Upon closer inspection, a map on the train's interior wall shows the various existing Zwift worlds in order of release, including Watopia, Innsbruck, London, New York, and France. The last stop is marked "An Ancient Land," and in a muffled voice a tannoy announcement is heard, "Next stop, Ancient Land. Next stop?" It is accompanied by the caption, "The next stop is...

The second image is of a gravel road passing under a bridge, the fog increasing as the image continues. The words "The spirit of an ancient land is calling" overlap the images, and a reference to the same "ancient land" can be heard. The fog will lift shortly...

The caption, "Be prepared.

With such an ambiguous combination of images, it is not surprising that speculation is rife as to what is coming, whether it is in fact a new world, and if so, what that new world is based on.

With the Olympics just around the corner, rumors on the Zwift forum (open in new tab) have turned attention to Japan, with threads on the topic speculating that the rings that make up the railings of the train are a metaphor for the Olympic rings.

References to ancient lands suggest that if this plan is indeed a map of Japan, it will not be in Tokyo, but in a more rural corner of the country. Since Japan is home to the 3776-meter-high Mt. Fuji, is the 1909-meter-high "Ventop" modeled after Mont Ventoux about to be dwarfed?

One forum user speculates that Zwift's software update will take place in the third week of the month.