In the last few races, I’ve noticed more and more that this is the case, but as soon as the race has started, the watt values are in category A or B. It’s just no fun anymore when drivers behave like that. Take a look at Zwiftpower, Zwift Games Stage 5, 5 p.m., Category C. I’m in 66th place there. Not a problem in itself. But when I see that 52 riders in front of me rode an average of over 3.2 watts, I ask myself whether the categories make sense. Is Zwift ever thinking about doing something about it? Does anyone know that? For me as a fair athlete, it’s simply a shame what others do here.
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Welcome to the forum, WSR 
Of course they rode over 3.2wkg. It was less than a 20 minute effort! That’s only half the duration that 3.2wkg would apply to.
FWIW I’ve been busting my guts trying to get fitter all year, and yesterday averaged 3.7wkg for 18:43 … and my reward was to finally get upgraded to Cat B. Please don’t tell me my effort wasn’t “fair” because it 100% was.
Having said that, if riders signed up to all the Zwift Games races in advance I believe they keep their category throughout, which to my mind sucks.
Note: the Cat C limit for zFTP is 3.36, not 3.2
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Sorry, we must have misunderstood each other. I have already trained myself in category B. Of course that’s great and should be recognized by them. But that’s not what I meant! What I mean is this: in the Zwift Games you can only ride between 2.5-3.2 watts in category C! Anyone who wants to drive over it must register in category B. And that’s what fair athletes should do so as not to spoil the fun of racing for others!
Over the weekend, I’ve noticed a handful of Ds in most runnings, putting out power numbers that will promote them to C, during Zwift Games stage 5.
Two things stand out to me from this weekend, Zmonthly series need to include a hilly route similar to Mountain Mash each month (perhaps using some custom route finishes), plus the minimum zFTP to be promoted to C needs to be lower than 150W if riders can claim to be under 45Kg (the old minimum weight).
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That statement is inaccurate unfortunately.
It wasn’t that accurate with the previous system, now we have ‘new improved’ CE it’s even less so.
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No. This is simply incorrect. You get catted up to B if your zFTP goes over 3.36wkg.
If you do a 20 minute race you don’t have to stay below the zFTP ceiling. Imagine if it was a 3 minute race. Would you expect people to stay below 3.36wkg!?!
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OK. Then I could still live with it if people drove with an average of 3.5 watts. But above that, with 3.7 or today the winner with over 4 watts is an impudence.
Unfortunately we still misunderstand each other. For me, 2.5-3.2 w/kg means that I am not allowed to drive an average of 4.2 w/kg after 20 minutes. Even if you can do it as a C driver. What you can do and what you are allowed to do are two different things.
3.7 is 110% of the zFTP ceiling. 110% for 18:45 isn’t outlandish as a breakthrough performance. Ask me how I know. 
I agree that 4wkg is a bit much. 
Thank you
I find myself in violent agreement.
Alternatively, a 20km chase race would do the trick.
Keep in mind that there is also a Watt floor for C/B/A categories and if you’re under it you will not be promoted even if your zMAP/zFTP W/kg are above the category boundary. The practical effect of this is that very light riders will remain in a lower category. They will be at the top of the leaderboard in climbing races.
Check out the top 4 riders here ZwiftPower - Login
Those 4 are all in B now
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You sure?
Yes look them up in Companion. You can’t trust what you see on ZwiftPower since it’s not current.
Gotcha. Same happened to me. I half expected it would given the power I was targeting and the duration. I shall wear it as a badge of honour as I slam a 5 minute effort next week to see if I can get back down. 
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“Note: the Cat C limit for zFTP is 3.36, not 3.2”
Out of interest, does anyone know why this is? Why not just keep it at the stated limit. Would certainly help all pace categories where the top guys have really outgrown the cat, ie; D cats winning with 2.7, C cat with 3.5 etc.
It is the stated limit somewhere else. You’re just looking at the wrong stated limit 
It was something along the lines of the old number being an estimate of 60 minute power, while the new zFTP is meant to be an estimate of 40 minute power, so the power threshold should be higher.
What baffles me is that they’ve kept the incorrect information on display. They should either update it to the new zFTP values, or just remove the numbers from the group descriptions.
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