DQ For WKG on first race but didn't win

Racing
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I’ve only had my trainer for a week and decided to do my first race today.

I entered a cat C race for my first race and didn’t do too badly, but I was surprised to see on Zwift Power that I was disqualified for WKG.

What really surprised me was that I finished some 40 seconds behind first place and was still disqualified. I averaged 3.7 w/kg and 294w. To be honest that’s what it took to keep up and I really threw everything at it.

I don’t understand how you are supposed to win by giving less effort.

Being my first race there was no metric to even base what cat to join to begin with, I thought I was being fair doing a cat C race. Seems a bit harsh to be DQ on your first race and you don’t even win by a large margin.

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That’s miles over Cat C limits, Myles.

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Which would be fair enough but that’s what it took to keep up, and I still got dropped. I really don’t get it.

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Welcome to Zwift racing. :wink: If all it took to win was to put out the biggest numbers, it wouldn’t be much fun.

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You did 3.7 for 35min & 3.8 for 20. You will be competitive in B. You know how not to get a WKG going forward.

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Welcome to Zwift racing. With your numbers you should have good fun with the Bs. Don’t put too much weight on the DQ, you weren’t aware and now know which cat to join next. It may take a few races to figure out general dynamics, so do allow yourself that time.

One general comment: zwift racing is about punches. Definitely the start and then all notable features, such as inclines and sprints if there are primes. The bunch effect is such that if you lose contact with the group you’ll lose seconds rapidly. So really try to stay in the group and use that draft. Then you will finish quicker for less average effort than when you get dropped and TT home.

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Not sure if it helps, but the guy who finished 4th in the race (A cat) weighs about the same as you & put out 3.7 for the race & 3.8 for 20mins. Like Marco above says, its about when you apply power and how you ride with the bunch/blob.

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Thanks for the advice everyone, just trying to understand why it took so much power when I rode with the bunch 90% of the way until I got dropped towards the end. It really did take that much to maintain with the group.

I was trying to stay out in the first 4-5 riders for a lot of the way and spent a bit if time in the middle. Not sure if I should have spent some more time in the middle of the pack perhaps. The group stayed together for nearly the whole race at that level.

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Zwift categories is based of w/kg (ie FTP devided by weight (kg))

There for choosing a category in future is FTP/kg so if your FTP is 285w and weight 79kg then 285/79 = 3.6w/kg and that is in the B range.

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I really Wish Zwift will do something to help first time riders with this a simple popup when you sign up for a race like:
"Your w/kg is X you should enter the B category or higher, Ride on. :ride_on: "

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You havent got a TT or CX\Gravel\MTB bike chosen by any chance - As you are quite some way over everyone else. Not riding a Cervelo Aspero or anything like that?

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I was just using the stock road bike that you get as a newbie with no other changes.

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Its hard to say what would cause that then. Probably just need to practice riding with the group - Do more races :wink: That will fix it

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Welcome to racing, you are correct for a first race the whole process is bad and can be very discouraging for new racers trying to figure things out when they get DQd

Hopefully category enforcement change in the new year might make the process smoother for new racers as just blindly leaving racers to choose what cat they are in is no good for anyone.

Anyway well done that’s a strong race and cat b is definitely where you should be racing

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Thanks for the reply’s everyone, I appreciate it. Love your Twitch stream @Gerrie_Delport_ODZ :sunglasses:

I will try a B grade race next time. Still trying to wrap my head around doing cat B when I couldn’t win cat C.

About 1/3 into the race it was blowing my mind the effort it was taking to keep up for a C grade race, it really was. I thought I was drafting enough, not sure what else you can do.

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it’s racing just do as little as possible unless it’s for your gain. Draft draft draft.

and as others say make sure you are on right bike for the course and not a mtb/gravel/tt bike

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Might need to check if the virtual brakes are locked on. lol

I would laugh if I was on the wrong bike. I didn’t even check before the race. I just joined.

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Thanks, we just have fun on the stream.

@Myles_Lassen If you can hang on like that in your first race then you will be real good once you learn all the tricks.

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Hi Myles, what race was it you competed in? My first ever Zwift races were in big, Zwift-promoted races, where there were lots of people. The more people there are in a race, the more there tend to be who are riding in the wrong category, and who push the race pace unnaturally high.

Like you, I started in the wrong category (D) but yet I was beaten by lots of people. I thought “I can’t win here, I need to improve before I move up”, but then I discovered that I should actually be in C, and that some races on Zwift follow the category boundaries better than others.

I agree with the comments that practice helps. Just like in real life, the more you can practice sitting in the pack and saving power, the more it will help you win on Zwift. Pace partners are ideal for practising this. I also recommend you try some different races. Personally, as well as those organised by WTRL, I like the ZHQ anti-sandbagging races. They’re not perfect but they do have some kind of enforcement of rules and if anybody did what happened in your race, they’d be penalised.

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It was the KISS race series, 25km.

I will give B a go and maybe I should probably be there based on my numbers. It just seems to defy logic that I couldn’t win cat C but somehow I’m good enough for B. The results seem to say something different to my raw numbers.

Thanks for the tip on the pace partners, will give that a go as well.

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not many people can win a race. Quite often if comes down to a strong 1-2 minute power or sprint finish. That’s usually the difference between the winners and everyone else.