More newbie race questions - categories and anti-sandbagging

Racing
1

So my first race went by in a flash and had a bit of glitch that meant I complete lost the pack by about 20seconds.

So second time race and easier to get some of the info into my head . So I have a few questions regarding category and “sandbagging”

  1. Is the suggested Cat w/kg based on a particular amount of time? I have raced a few 11km crits and am slightly out with my cat figures , but this is a 17min race so? So is the cat based on suggested race length or a certain amount of time (FTP?)

  2. What are the racing ethics of higher cat riders taking part in lower cats? Does this term define a sandbagger? Even if that w/kg might be part of their training? I only asked because I joined an anti-sandbagging crit and some of the faster racers I my cat has 130bpm HR and very professional looking pictures. Out of curiosity I checked one profile which had Cat A races (not signed up to zwift power). Now if the above does define sandbagging then how is this being missed by anti-sandbagging?

2

I don’t know what to say.
This topic has been discussed here on the forum on Face book and many other platforms.

Zwift racing is a bit of a free for all.
90% of racers want fair racing but Zwift don’t want to upset the 10% that feel they can do just what they want when and how they want to.

You need to be a A+ or Pro rider to feel the tactics and adrenalin rush of racing on Zwift.

WTRL is doing an Awesome job with the limited tools they have, you should try some of their races.

Categories is based on your current FTP / weight.

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