This has been on my mind for a while but has become more prominent recently. Essentially when I look at results I see that my 20m and 5m power are often better than some (or many) riders placing in the top 10.
Meanwhile I place much lower, say 20 downwards though I have had some better results. My last 3 results (from Zwift Games this and last week) are I hope anomalies, they seemed particularly bad (poor sleep, a stressful few days and cold probably all contributing).
I ride in Cat C at the moment (recently promoted from Cat D) with a ZRS of 432; typical 20m power recently is 235-240w while 5m is 265w. Current FTP is 237w and I weigh 68kg. In theory I should be better on hills but often get dropped, particularly on short kickers.
I understand that racecraft comes into it but think / hope Iām not particularly bad in this area. I certainly donāt think lack of racecraft accounts for the discrepancy between watts output and placing.
If anyone has any suggestions as to whatās happening Iād be very interested. Or perhaps I am somehow misunderstanding the data? Any help really appreciated.
There are no hills where lightweights benefit in racing in Zwift unless you find a series going up ADZ, Radio, or Ventoux. Draft updates meant everyone can hang on during climbs easier, and you have to really punch above on the little rolling hills Zwift has on offer; which if thereās a descent, means it still doesnāt matterā¦ in the pack is the place to be (Unless finish is at the top of course).
Higher power numbers donāt mean youāre better, it just means you worked likely the front or off the back more than most. Higher numbers across the board means you just dragged people along.
Youāre near the center of the bell curve of weight. With those numbers though youāll probably reach Cat B range within a year or less.
Winning comes from racing smart, which generally in the lower categories just means whoever can sit in the draft and conserve until the sprint finish comes.
Basically itās.. who can play the most lazy until a break, or until the sprint end.
The guys dropping you do a lot more power for a short period, and then they have draft and can cruise until the next kicker.
Youāre doing a bit more power for a short period, and then having to continue at relatively high power because youāre probably short of company having been dropped.
Racing is all about when you use your power. Averages mean nothing.
Itās not all about 20 min and 5 min power. Yes if there is a 5 or 20 minute climb in the race then power for those durations is important.
However if there is a 5 minute climb in the race there is a chance many racers will not go full gas on that hill to avoid a 5 minute PB category upgrade. In these situations your best is probably good enough to stay with them.
In your last race (only one I looked at) there were several short climbs. It looks to me that you may have been dropped on one or more of these as the leaders 1-2 minute power was generally a fair bit higher than yours both in watts and w/kg.
In ZwiftPower results try opening up the 2 minute power column and also check out the Sprints & KOM tab as this will show you how you compare with the leaders at key break points in the race.
I would suggest you need to start focusing on you 1-2 minute power (and repeatability in that power range) to ensure you donāt get dropped by the lead pack.
Two other common ways that people post high numbers without a corresponding high result are (1) getting dropped from a group and making a determined chase, or (2) trying to get away in a break and getting caught.
Another thing to consider while drafting is that the pack dynamics in Zwift will slow you down if you are close to another riderās wheel but not going fast enough to overtake. There is a fair bit of wasted effort in that situation, and the way to save it is to learn to back off incrementally until you find the minimum power required to maintain a gap of around 2-3m. So the crafty drafters will be very carefully modulating power to the absolute minimum, and you can often see who is doing it properly. The faster the group is going, the more important it becomes.
Sounds like you need way more 2-5min power, then just use that power carefully to avoid getting booted up to a higher category. āSandbaggingā? Nooo, of course notā¦
Otherwise sounds like you need to race in a more lazy manner, just draft everyone. At least until everyone complains about that being boring and requests āpack dynamicsā to stop that.
Race results can be found via Activity reports on Zwift Companion App (if account is not set to Private) or via ZwiftPower (if they have registered with ZwiftPower).
The lighter you are, the slower you go on a flat road. For example, if you were riding at FTP (237 watts), thatās 3.48 w/kg. If someone was the same height and 90kg, they would only need to do 3w/kg.
If you donāt have a good punch, try this the next time there is a short kicker (less than 30 seconds): Try staying near the back before the kicker, then when you get closer (maybe 10 seconds away depending on the size of the pack), start increasing your power just enough that you start moving forward through the pack (before everybody else ups their power). If you time it correctly, you will hit the bottom of the hill a bit closer to the front of the pack, but you will have more momentum so even if you donāt do the same amount of power as the other rides, you will still keep advancing for a while and stay nearer to the front even though youāre not doing as many w/kg as everybody else.
Very useful and perceptive: I put in some effort (actually, a lot!) then find myself dropped and spend too much of the race chasing back on by which point Iāve used up a big chunk of my resource while the group I have just re-attached myself to have been riding as a pack, drafting so have far more left for decisive points in the race. Maybe I have to shift away from the idea of constant effort with occasional upticks to steadier effort with larger, shorter bursts.
But I want to ride in a higher category. Worth me mentioning that I have been deliberately racing in the 330 - 450 Category C band as I try to establish myself in Category C. This partly informs my surprise that Iām not doing better i.e. with ZRS of 432 I am riding against people with a max ZRS of 450 so the gap shouldnāt be that much (but thatās theory rather than practice and I am aware of scepticism around ZRS anyway).
Not sure how relevant this is but when Iāve used anvil on flat sections I notice a massive benefit; it makes me aware how much being a bit lighter can be a disadvantage, I canāt just roll along and I really have to go for it on descents otherwise I quickly start to lag.
I realise higher power numbers donāt mean youāre a better racer but it does make me think that if I can better use what I do have then hopefully there can be a step up in placings.
I can get carried away sometimes and maybe there really is something about learning to hold back (where I have the opportunity to do so) rather than just racing / being at the front because itās exciting
Number 1 for sure! So many times (especially in the recent Tour de Zwift and Zwift Games courses where thereās often been a decisive hill or kicker) I canāt quite stay with the leaders yet donāt get caught by those behind and so Iām stranded between groups. It probably makes for good training but it can be demoralising to see myself having to try so so hard while everyone ahead is just āchillingā
Fascinating knowledge on the drafting dynamics; when Iām in a group Iām just trying as central in there as possible but I will start looking at how to maintain the small gap you mention
I do keep meaning to look into the training options but enjoy racing so much and figure, perhaps wrongly, that given my lack of experience it will take me a good while to exhaust the training benefits of trying my absolute hardest in races. Reflecting on this as I write it might really benefit me to see where Iām at with short power efforts in a non-race setting where thereās no pressure (itās only Zwift Keith ).
Thatās a really useful suggestion for kickers, I have recently been trying to carry momentum into kickers where the course allows (as in thereās a descent before the kicker) and this helps.
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