Racing help

Race pretty much daily on Zwift although general cycle knowledge is pretty poor. Not really sure of CAT as i’m stuck between B - A+. But starting to get fed with getting dusted on sprints(top power is rubbish). I have tried to make a few breaks but end up getting swallowed up. Any tips on trying to make a breakway or a different approach to racing.

Many Thanks
Sharpy.

Breaks are pretty tough unless you have a really high 1-3 min power, preferably with teammates. So many Zwift races come down to a sprint finish which will put you at a disadvantage.

Sprint can usually be improved either by technique or dedicated training. What is your Zwiftpower profile link would be easier to see your stats to see how you compare to others.

it’s also worth looking at some of the different race formats that are possibly less dominated by heavy sprints. Thinks like chase races, Thursday TTT or even some of the split cat series if you are lower in a cat these can seem a lot more manageable.

Since you seem to have good 20 minute power and relatively low weight, you might think about searching for longer races with more climbing, so you can lose some of the big bruisers before the sprint. A lot of Zwift races are just too short and flat to drop those guys, which limits your options.

You have no business in B; you are very clearly a Cat A who has got Zwift to lock your category to B.

@James_Zwift

How do you get zwift to lock your account? I have no idea why i’m stuck between the 2.

Regarding hilly races. I seem to struggle on hills too. Well anything over 5 percent. I seem to put in higher w/kg but still fall out the backdoor. races the volcano hilly course a few times.

TT seems a good option and i actually race them pretty well.

Thanks for all input.

Go to your profile on Zwiftpower and click on Settings and select UPG mixed category - Let zwiftpower decide and then refresh your profile.
Check the picture below

Gordon - Zwift name is - stephensharp9124.

As i say power is really poor. looking at replies thats the biggest issue.

This setting is already - let Zwift decide. I have not changed this.

Wow that’s weird…click on refresh profile under your profile picture. That ussualy helps with some weird behaviour. Otherwise @James_Zwift will have to take a look.

Tried to refresh.

There is an ‘Admin Forced Category’ which is not visible to you and assume user can’t change it.

The only other possibility is a bug

Now it changed after refresh i guess…congrats to the upgrade.

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Haha…should’ve kept quite. Altough I never win B races anyway. :slight_smile:

What is your smart trainer setup? Can you enter Cat B in Category Enforcement races?
Your 1 to 5min power is very high for B so you should be at the front of every race…but your Sprint is missing around 2 to 3W/kg.

I have been able to enter a few B races. But tend to stick with A. I always make the front group, just suffer on the sprint. Maybe should attack from 1k to go possibly. I cant seem to get out the saddle and sprint - legs fold. :slight_smile:

Set up is Kickr Snap and standard road bike.

Go from downtown. big boys hate to go long.

Will look into that course…whats the distance?

you are going to have to lift weights, probably. zwift is sort of like actual cycling, but it’s really not about ftp. i guess youre a middle distance runner from your profile pic, but the most successful distance runners were sprinters or 1500m guys in their youth and move to the marathon as they age, no? i assume youre not an olympic medalist so there’s no reason you can’t change habits as a vet. it should improve your running too if you still do it

but i am not a coach and i’m definitely not a running coach. also sprinting with any real power on a wheel on trainer like the kickr snap is probably asking for trouble, i would consider a direct drive. they are practically giving saris h3s and diretos away at the moment

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Thanks SA…yeah former runner. Managed to run for England on roads and track but achilles issues stopped me racing, although running abit more now again. Not sure i would enjoy weights tbh…just have to suck it up and get walloped last 400m

It looks like you may not have updated your weight in game recently. If you’re actually heavier now, and category enforcement has pushed you from B to A, then your true weight could put you back in B (depending on the details). And if you’re actually lighter now, lower weight would help on the climbs in A races. And you deserve a real trainer.