The popular app Strava is making significant strides. After the introduction of the much-requested 'dark mode,' a few weeks ago the option to hide your start time was introduced. Now, the American company announces it's taking a sweeping approach to cleaning up segments.

Tackling overgrowth and duplicates

Anyone who uses segments on Strava will recognize this: the enormous overgrowth. Strava is the first to acknowledge it: 'the state of segments is far from perfect.' The solution: Verified Segments. These are verified, 'official' segments marked with a check, similar to what we see on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. The climb from Bédoin to the top of Mont Ventoux will likely receive such a badge, but the segment from turn 2 to 3 certainly won’t.

Furthermore, Strava has thoroughly cleaned up the segments. Over 2 million (!) segments that are nearly identical by a few meters have been or will be removed in the coming weeks.

Leaderboards are also being addressed

But it doesn’t stop there. A new automatic AI-based system will automatically flag and remove implausible record attempts. According to Strava, the system is not perfect yet, but it has already removed more than 33% of all false attempts.

You can read more information in the official announcement, of course on Strava.