Another thing is a very interesting comment from one of the riders on the subject why exactly he is riding in the groups lower than his own FTP (here: Talk the talk when will you walk the walk)
I`m not here to judge this rider decision, but why not discuss it as a reality? Respect his decision to talk openly about his opinion on this matter. And why not define this behaviour? There is nothing wrong in defining things as they are )))
So, by entering a lower race (very important keyword - RACE, as it makes the whole meaning of it) category any rider with higher specs, even if he/she decides to ride slowly, without winning the race, they still have the influence on that race. As their capacities could influence the whole tempo of the pack even if it for a short time speed and power changes during hills etc…etc… etc… - thus the whole meaning of the race here becomes a total nonsense.
Get a bunch of C, B, A, A+ riders in a D group race, and with a reality of 20 real D group riders and 20-30 C, B, A, A+ riders (that just riding at lower power, they do not have any intention to win…they are all good guys, they are not riding above the limits of D, thus they are not doing something bad or wrong , all good guys etc…etc…etc…) and the so-called race becomes just an illusional masquerade, charade, circus (or just put in the empty space any similar word from a dictionary) - anything but a real race.
Same goes for any so-called Category where there are riders with higher FTP capacities even if they do not have the intention to win…
This is not a race, but illusional charade .
Once again, no judging here or whats so ever, just defining the facts by the symptoms of the phenomena. ))
Amen.