I may be wrong on this but it’s my belief that the leaderboards are specific to each user on Zwift. One user may see one set of riders in the green, orange or polka dot jerseys while another may see a completely different set…depending on when they logged on.
If the leaderboards and jerseys ARE specific to each individual rider, I would suggest allowing each user to reset their personal leaderboards periodically. Maybe every 15 min, or every hour.
That way, if someone puts up a completely ridiculous time you don’t have to stare at it the entire duration of your ride. It also perpetuates a riders incentive to keep going after them. When there is a time that is totally whacked, you pretty much lose all incentive to keep trying.
I’m pretty sure we all see the same thing. The jerseys are awarded and held on to by the fastest time until that rider logs off. If a jersey holder stops riding and you’re the first one to cross the finish line after that, you’ll get the jersey until the next rider crosses and so forth. If someone posts an unbeatable time and rides for 100 miles, you’ll see that rider’s name the whole way. But once the rider logs off, thy vacate the jersey. Perhaps someone else can verify this.
I think Greg is right, although my suspicion this is temporary.
If you look at the leaderboards right after starting a ride (by clicking on another rider), they’re empty. You’ll see them slowly populate as your client gets reports of new times.
My guess is eventually the leaderboards will be kept on the server (it’s the only way that really makes sense). The current implementation is probably test what it would be like when complete.
I haven’t checked to see if it’s changed, but in the past leaderboards populated after you logged on and stayed current until you logged off. If a jersey holder logged off, that time was still displayed in your leaderboard for the duration of your ride.