I’m new to Zwift Racing, although I’ve been in several group events after joining Zwift Power, and having done 5 rides my category was showing as a D. I’m 94kg, 174cm tall and 58 years old, so no spring chicken. My FTP is (was) 244W, so about 2.4 W/kg
This morning I joined the Innsbruck 3R flat ride as a D (which was what Zwift Power rating had advised as I’d not completed 5 races) and hung on for what I thought was 2nd place in Cat D, but seems my herculean effort pushed my FTP to 250 and my W/kg over the 2.5W/kg limit…hence the WKG disqualification.
Whilst I’m happy that I managed to put in a decent ride, its a bit annoying that I get penalised for trying hard and putting in a hard effort.
Guess I’ll be riding at my limit of 2.8W/kg in a vain effort to hold the wheel with Cat C riders from here…a new challenge I suppose.
Exactly the same thing happened in my first proper race.
Effectively a Cat and Mouse events, with Cat Ds going out first. I helped push the front Cat D group over the hour, and pushed hard in the KOM and sprint groups. In the end I hit 2.7W/Kg.
I’m 90Kg and 184cm and I get WKG DQ’d for carrying a group where others sat in a drafted and get rankings and I get nothing.
Really rather demoralising when you give it everything and are then DQ’d.
Guess I’ll do a few more Cat D races and hold back a bit for now, and then I’ll likely get moved up to C at some point. I look forward to being a weak C rider but seems there’s nothing I can do.
Don’t give up hope so easily. I was able to grab 5th of 17 at 2.9w/kg the other day:
And a win out of 11 racers at 2.8w/kg in January:
You don’t need to be right at the 3.1-3.2w/kg to be competitive in many of the races. It helps for sure but I wouldn’t let it deter me from racing altogether. I don’t have a crazy 325W ftp either. Last test I was 283W. It’s OK but nothing special either.
Be positive, race hard, race smart, have fun, and RIDE ON!
Amazingly I decided to give it a go today and placed 2nd out of 17 with 2.7W/kg …I’m not quite sure how I did it either…was 22nd out of the entire field and I thought I was 7th or 8th in Cat C, but seems as if the results were based on normalised power, so I came in 2nd…I’ll take it anyway haha!
I don’t follow you on this statement. It is a race. Results are based on where/when you cross the finish line relative to your opponents. Can you explain what you mean?
Also if your event was a mass start with all Categorys you cannot go by your overll position in the race as many A and B Cat racers will be ahead of you.
enter a race with 100+ C riders and see how far you get with 2.8 w/kg
heavyweight riders have big advantage in Cat C cos heavy riders go faster than lighter riders at same w/kg so a lot easier for you, especially if sitting in the draft…!
2.8w/kg is way over Cat D limits so afraid you’re screwed…
best bet is to chill in group rides or workouts as not much point in racing in C til you can hold at least 3w/kg…
Tour of Watopia is coming up and that will be great bcos no Cats & tonnes of ppl to ride with so can go ham during that and always have a wheel to hang on to.
i’m also on the D-C cusp ( although with lockdowns, and a few extra Kg, i’m now a more comfortably D !)
I run my Garmin with my average w/Kg ( it also shows band) shown.
I can then keep an eye on it ( the bands are calculated on 95% of average 20min)
recently i’ve only been full out 2.2-2.3 but have still enjoy the “racing” despite many “D’s” finishing in front of me.
Many riders however are not registered with Zwift power so I sometimes get a surprise podium place !
Let me clarify, there is a fundamental difference between pacing and actively monitoring your power output with the intention of avoiding triggering category thresholds
IF (and I repeat, IF) you are doing the latter, then you are a cheat.
Also in the vein of don’t lose hope - I find as you go up categories, people are better at the the game as well - you’ll be in groups more often, people won’t constantly attempt to shatter the group when it doesn’t make racing sense, groups will work together to chase down a rider, etc.
I recently was top 10 in a B category Zwift Racing League race with a 3.1 avg.
Placing in races (other than TTs and long climbs) is more about 1 and 5 min power than 20min power anyway. Train the shorter power.
