Should zFTP change after events?

Racing
1

I was upgraded to B a few weeks ago and despite struggling to compete at this level and generally not being able to ride at the same level I was, my zFTP seems to be staying constant at 237W. I’m pretty sure it hasn’t changed over the last 10 races or so that I’ve done (with durations from 15 odd minutes to about an hour).

I understand categorisation is now based on 90 day rolling data but I would have expected a slight change over the period of a month or so.

Not sure if the data can be checked - happy to be told I’m wrong if that is the case, just seems odd.

Cheers!

2

You can decrease your zFTP by raising your short term power.

zFTP will go up when you set new breakouts for longer power.

3

chack your data at The at Home Cycling & Running Virtual Training App

It will change when you set new PBs.

4

If you’re looking at ZwiftPower, have you tried clicking the Refresh Profile link? Do that and compare to your Zwift profile as Dejan mentioned.

1 Like
5

On zwiftpower, 25th April you set almost all your racing W/Kg bests 5-34mins of the last 90 days.

So unless you have done more W/Kg outside of completed races/ TTs/ group workouts, that’s the day in your 90 day rolling period setting your zFTP.

You’re so close to the zFTP threshold to drop back into C, that a maximal 3-4min effort improvement could drop your zFTP the few Watts to get you under 3.36W/Kg.

1 Like
6

Thanks for all the replies. I have refreshed and ZP matches my Zwift profile.

My understanding of this is clearly very poor. I assumed that the 90 day rolling data did some sort of averaging so your zFTP would change. It seems strange that a single race, on a course that suited me, when I happened to be at the peak of my fitness then potentially defines my race category for the next 90 days no matter how much I then ride below this.

It also baffles me than pushing harder for a short period of time will possibly pull my category down again. I simply don’t understand how this makes sense.

I wish more race organisers were using the ZwiftRacing rankings. It makes so much more sense - I do well, my ranking goes up, I do badly my ranking goes down…

1 Like
7

If the dates on the PRs on your profile don’t change, then your zMAP/zFTP values shouldn’t change

There is an assumption that you can repeat a performance that you’ve done in the last 90 days

I suspect your 5 minute PR is lower than your ability since your 1 minute power is much higher, and your 20 minute power is only a little lower than 5 mins. Surely you can do better than that. Go do a free ride where you warm up and smash a 3-5 minute effort and see what happens to zFTP. Category may not change but I bet zFTP will decrease.

8

Well, I did the strongest 5 minutes I could at the moment but it was still 2W below my best 5min in the last 90 days so no change. Still frustrated that current system completely fails to take into account peoples changes in fitness over periods shorter than 90 days and effectively punishes those on the category boundary who have even one particularly good race with 90 days of struggle.

I’ve effectively been ruled out of the ZRacing series (which I really enjoy as they have big fields) for 3 months due to the huge gap between the C and B fields.

Sorry again, but need to rant as this is really annoying me and completely ruining racing…