before started a race today i checked how much time i would need to finish in order to be in the top.
after a huge effort and top max HR i looked at the GC and i was 2nd.
how come the bitter looser. 
is it possible someone on the 300-400 ZRS have a better time to someone on the 500-700 range?
i checked the other ranges and the difference from the 1st to the 2nd are quite small, however on the 300-400 its 12minutes.
the only thing i can think of is someon riding on the top tiers having a lower Score, but i assume it would be very tough to keep up the pacingā¦
hmmmm
Absolutely.
A larger field is always likely to go faster, no matter the category.
Generally the higher you get in the categories, people only go much harder where it matters such as decisive moments like a climb; everything elseā¦ Iāve had races where weāre doing Z1 on the flat, which is indeed as boring as it sounds, but lends itself to slower overall finish times.
In higher categories, more people realize thereās no benefit to pushing the flats, as most people can hang on rather easily.
Yes, i think i understand that.
The thing is that by racing with riders at higer ZRS and finishing with the top ones, will make your ZRS increase significantly and quick, isnt it?
Thank you so much for your thoughtful question on Forums. This is Haziel from Zwift Support, and I truly appreciate your inquiry. I understand how important it is to get clarity on your Racing Score.
Youāre absolutely rightācompeting against riders with higher ZRS and finishing near the top can definitely lead to a significant and quick boost in your own score. The system rewards those strong performances in more challenging races. When you challenge yourself against higher-rated riders and achieve a good placement, itās a tangible sign of your growth.
Your Racing Score adjusts based on your results in each race, which means it will fluctuate depending on your finishing position, the skill level of your competitors, the size of the participant field, and thereās even a bonus for reaching the podium!
Itās also important to remember that the Zwift Racing Score is designed to be dynamic. While a standout race can give your score a nice jump, maintaining consistency across multiple races is essential for stabilizing that higher score over time. I understand that it can feel a bit unpredictable, but this volatility is there to help accurately capture your ongoing improvements and progress.
If you have any more questions or if thereās anything else we can do to support you, please donāt hesitate to reach out. You can always contact us at Support@zwift.com. We will be happy to assist you further.
Not really. ZRS isnāt impacted by the scores of the other riders very much. Your score will typically increase more from winning a lower category race than keeping up with the front of a higher category.
Except if you boost your seed/floor from a 5min PB.
As far as I can tell, the claim that tougher competition raises your score faster is false. Itās in their documentation, itās claimed by their staff, but my observations donāt support the claim 
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no, each ZRS band has about 5 min faster on the May series, and the numbers look very similar looking at the 1st and the other placesā¦ Thats what catched by attention, as in the 300-400 the first has a huge difference in time (12 minutes) from the rest
I believe i understand what you are saying and it make sense in theory (difficult to calculated ourselves). Actually my point was to understand how a rider with initially low ZRS can (about cat C) have consolidated GC time on a level of an A rider without having its ZRS being boosted to the corresponding high ZRS band.
yes, in this case i guess was a strong rider but starting to race, so ,low points in the begining but quick increase.
i just tried the same on a āBā race but got dropped. i think racing 3 day in a row doesnt help :P. Interesting is how to check our ranking in a ZRS category if they are dinamically changing. a 1st in 300-400 can easily turn into a 100 in a 400-500 if you are around 399
Good question. I think its dolifficult to judge without knowing for aure the parameters.
The case i saw, it was about 3 races to go from 200 to 300.
Iāve never seen someone get more than about 25 points from a race win. Anything bigger has come from a floor increase with a 5min PB.
It can be hard to tell if someoneās floor has increased when it doesnāt move their score up, and particularly so if theyāre not on zwiftpower. So you donāt really know if they are still able to drop their score all the way back down.
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The seed floor can be manipulated, it has been discussed on these forums before with worked examples.
ZHQās response to such things is to delete the posts in an attempt to stop the spread of information rather than take the steps to fix the code and prevent the manipulation.
they lock off the Advanced to the min of 650. @S_Speedrun
Racing up exposes some limitations of ZRSā¦
lol SO young to zwift racing.
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It was just a matter of repeating the race until a convenient pacemaker was found that ran at a high pace on the flats and a moderate pace on the climbs. It would not be impossible if you make the best use of drafting in flat races.
No CE, early ZRS (30 second power), current ZRS, or VELO will be able to crack this rider. Because reducing the ride time is not a part of the evaluation process.
Having now looked at who this 300-400 GC leader isā¦ Iād suspect that this is a new pseudonym for a notorious user, who is again demonstrating various ways to beat the system.
Numerous activities many hours long at 2000w, clearly fake power but ZHQ donāt do anything about it. Could be doing this to upgrade bikes and rapidly advance to a high level to unlock better equipment.
The user I think it is has previously demonstrated a method to keep their seed score low by making the weight used for the calculation abnormally high.
The typical ZHQ response is to ban the account rather than fix the issues theyāre highlighting.
Tom, nice that you noticed. Just by looking at the numbers i could tell something wasa bit off.
Well, if someone managea to beat the system it just shoes that isbnot bullet proof and Zwift ahould do something about it.