I recently moved from C class to B class races because I was being disqualified in the C group for posting just above 3.2 watt/Kg. Now ZwiftPower Races is advising me to move back to C class despite posting a ride at 3.3 watt/Kg.
So it would seem there is no overlap in the categories and if, like me, you regularly ride around 3.2 you risk being disqualified.
That little blue C indicate the ranking Zwift power give you by looking at your last 5 races in the last 3 months. That is just a guide, but since you are out performing the C class you are correct to enter the B cat. You wont be DQ’d if you ride in a higher Cat.
https://www.zwiftpower.com/rankings.php
Thanks Gerrie. I never got win any races in C cat though - probably because I am 83kg!
It would be nice to get legend for ZwiftPower, can’t seem to find one anywhere.
83kg is not that much… LOL. “I am way above you”
You have been getting stronger at a very high rate, that is awesome.
Winning races is not always about power, you need to learn how to race on Zwift, it is a skill to win these races. C cat is one of the hardest categories to win because there are so many that should be racing in B but are sandbagging.
Keep up with what you are doing because it is working, soon you will be top 10 in the B cat.
Thanks for the encouragement Gerrie, I will stay in the B group and persevere.
I’m having a similar issue but at the lighter end of the scale. I only recently joined Zwift this year and am now consistently posting races above 3.2w/kg so will be racing in Cat B from now on but I only weigh 58kg so my average power output is only around the 200w mark. Not fast enough to even come close to winning Cat C. Why does Zwift use watts per kg to classify racers when weight varies and is user adjustable?
Wouldn’t your FTP or average power for the last five races be a fairer system of classification? For me to stay with Kev at 274 watts I’d need to ride at an average of 4.7w/kg! Ain’t going to happen. Yet we are racing in the same Category.
w/kg is a decent metric because it accounts for body weight. A larger rider has to move more weight uphill… as push more mass through the the wind. w/kg doesn’t account for age though. I wonder if Zwift accounts for wind resistance of larger riders as it does for weight? I’d love to see more easily understandable rankings then Zwift Power, which seems confusing at times.
yes I have the advantage on the climbs. Maybe I should play to my strengths more often. Just haven’t seen many hill climb type races.
Josh if another rider is doing 3.2 w/k you would would only need to be doing 3.2 -3.4 to match that rider. have you ever tried to push a car? I’m betting you cant push one as fast as you can push a bicycle, because your w/k including car weight is nothing. A big rider also has more mass to move, and requires more watts to move it, and accelerate it. they can travel faster on flats generally cause they can put out more overall watts and frontal area is not much more than a small person so they can travel faster. gravity and wind resistance are both variables that take the biggest toll at different times. The faster one goes on the more wind resistance becomes dominant. The steeper the climb, the more gravity becomes dominant. one favors lighter riders the other favors heavier riders but surprising w/k is not far off between a big and small rider.
David, are you saying if a 75kg rider is putting out 240 watts on the flat I would only need to ride at 186 to 197 watts to ride at the same speed?
Anyway I would be interested in seeing some races where you are classified based on your average power rather than w/kg. Would be interesting to see how that plays out.
Not sure what your weight is. If your drafting you should actually be able to get by with less watts. Like 2.5w/k. Speed in the game is determined by watts per kilo, not total watts.
If the big guy is drafting you his watts and watts/kilo will drop.
As a b racer pushing 3.7w/k I’ve been beaten by guys doing 3.5-3.6, and I’ve beaten guys who did 3.8w\k . That’s called race tactics. In real world most watts doesn’t always win either.
Next time your on draft a rider, then switch views to see his watts. Will be different from yours.
I manage to podium in the D category despite having significantly lower power output because I’m smaller weight.
You bring up a good point about being high enough w/kg to be competitive, but not so high you get bumped to the next category. The trick would be to ride most of the time close to but not exceeding the upper limit of your race category (2.4 w/kg for cat D) and then crank up the sprint at your max power output. This means drafting someone putting out more than the power cutoff (like someone doing 2.7 w/kg) for most of the race so you are going close to the cutoff but not over it.
J.h. Or if your that strong go ahead and level up
In a perfect world we will have categories based on performance not w/kg.
But to add to the weight discussion Look at the results below for a 7Lap race on the London Classique course (one of the flattest courses in zwift). Look at the power numbers that the heavy rider had to average to keep with the smaller guys.