Sadly ,This sport is already rife with known cheats and continually under world suspicion.So no surprises we have super humans popping up left right and centre in the Zwift community .Its a simple as dialling in incorrect details and all of a sudden people you cant keep up with on the road in reality you can drop in minutes .
Make the dialled in details of the individual visible to others in the race as the correct details or estimates are usually known to others in the imeadiate community who actually know each other /know of each and/or race in real life against each other.
This would make it clear to all involved if the details were false and the person was cheating and or needed to be called out on suspect input
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I joined the ZHQ Beta Crit City race this morning and I found it actually quite enjoyable. Quite some sandbaggers were catched, not all, but enough to stop ridiculous race speeds for a C race. After a few minutes I ended up in a little group with people all pushing reasonable Watts, so was quite nice race experience with even a little rest for everybody at some point, something I’ve never seen in a Crit City race before 
.
I hope these events will get more and more popular, such that it will become standard at some point.
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I understand your point Anna, but I think the whole community would be better off without anybody who would leave because Zwift were introducing increased integrity. As long as a good explanation is given for a disqualification I can’t see an issue at all.
This was definitely enough to stop me from racing, when I entered the correct category I was blown out of the water, so I dropped down a category and did the same to others and felt like an idiot. Never done another race since then.
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Given all of the challenges (physical, virtual, other), I feel the need to add that the only race I haven’t enjoyed was the one where my connection dropped. Once you’ve got a few races under your belt it’s easy to look for similar riders on courses that suit you (and ZP makes this even easier). I’ll take zwift over the elements (during Melbourne’s winter) anytime!
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My solution: Add a Zwift Race Licence
A Zwift workout called ‘Race Licence’ would be aimed at getting an idea of your power (w/kg & absolute) over certain durations (1min, 5min, 20min?) and upon completion would issue the user with a ‘Zwift Race Licence’. This would allow event organisers to choose to only allow people to join if they have completed the ‘Race Licence’ or a race requiring the license, in the last month(?). Entrants would be auto-categorized after completion.
Every race you enter will also contribute power data to your Zwift Race Licence, to ensure it’s kept up to date. This means if someone attempts to fake/lower their initial ‘Race License’ power, it will be updated as soon as they show new power limits during races or in other workouts/events.
The licence expires after a certain length of time (1 month?), mearning if someone is off Zwift for any longer they will have to redo the ‘Race Licence’. This should catch people who have been off the bike completely (power/ftp lowered) and people who have been off Zwift but still training (power/ftp increased).
I know it doesn’t really address the issue of weight doping but it would certainly would remove the 4 - 5w/kg winners in D and C races.
Thanks for reading.
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It’s interesting how other sports are taking cheating very seriously:
Audi have fired Formula E racer Daniel Abt after a professional gamer played under his name in an esports version of the series.
Abt, 27, had admitted the deception in Saturday’s Formula E Race at Home Challenge Series, saying he had not taken it “as seriously as I should”.
“Today I was informed in conversation with Audi that our ways will split from now on,” Abt said.
“We won’t be racing together in Formula E any more.”
He added: “It is a pain that I have never felt in this way in my life.”
The Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler driver had been competing in Formula E since the sport’s inaugural season in 2014.
His third-place finish in Saturday’s Race at Home event had raised suspicions among fellow competitors after he had failed to score a single point in the previous four rounds of the esports series.
A video feed of all of the drivers is available throughout the race, but Abt’s face was obscured. It was later revealed that professional gamer Lorenz Horzing had been behind the virtual wheel.
The German was fined 10,000 euros (£8,890) before Audi initially suspended him, saying: “Integrity, transparency and consistent compliance with applicable rules are top priorities.”
But later on Tuesday, Abt confirmed his permanent departure in an emotional video on social media.
“I want to apologise to my family, my friends, Audi, my partners, Formula E, Unicef and all the fans who have supported me over the years, with all my heart - I made a huge mistake,” he said.
“I stand by this mistake. I accept it and I will carry all the consequences - it is my responsibility.”
I wonder how much money he was making.
The issue of sandbagging (entering races at Grades below your abilities) does need sorting. I am in a race this PM (3R Wahoo, 16:05) where there are 30 people racing at B, and 19 of them have 20min W/Kg of over 4.
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Hi everybody,
As a C racer I did a ZHQ Beta Crit race a few weeks back and it was the most fun experience on Zwift sofar! I got in the front blob and was really competing. Cheaters got coned (although 1 still survived in our group while coned…) After this experience I get the frustration of others more and more. Before this race, all I did in races was trying to stay in the group I was in, and try to beat them in the end. But competing for the stage was a whole new experience! And addictive 
But… a few days ago I tried another ZHQ Beta Crit race. And it was totally different! All categories were riding together(starting a few minutes apart), there was no score on the screen. No way of telling I was in front or not. A’s and B’s were lapping us. It was chaotic, and for me very disappointing. Was this a bug, or is this how ZHQ is now testing the limits? Anybody has the same experience?
I like Zwift a lot, actually, I think I’m addicted. And I read about it a lot since I found Zwift in november 2019. But what I don’t get is that Eric Min is saying in the Minterview (Zwiftcast) that the sandbagging is something they take seriously. Shortly after that, they really started doing something with these cones and the ZHQ Beta races. But I cannot find any communication after that. Please Zwift; communicate with us! There are so many people frustrated. And Zwift says they are taking it seriously. Then keep us informed of progress. I can wait for a better solution to fix this if they would communicate what they are doing.
For now, ride on!
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Just wanted to give kudos to the Zwift development team. I did a ZHQ Beta Crit City race today and the experience was great. No sandbaggers, just literally everybody was legitimate C. The action didn’t start like crazy right from the start, but a big bunch stayed together until the last lap when the real action happened. this felt like true racing. Only two or three riders out of 30 got flagged, so it seems that everybody is now joining the correct group.
I hope that this anti-sandbagging mode will also be extended to other race series 
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Food for thought: my 14-year old son has now done three Crit City races (cat D, since he was a noob and had no idea what his ability was in terms of racing).
In race 1 he placed 13th (among those in front of him were outputs like 286w@4.3w/kg, 327@4.7, 264@2.9, etc). His own power output was ave 181w, but because he’s only 135lbs, his w/kg was 2.9. He basically placed 3rd among the 4th group on the road (3’47" behind the top two finishers), and he was convinced that he couldn’t have followed the initial race explosion out of the gates in order to finish much better.
For race #2, he decided he would go as hard as necessary at the start to try staying with the leaders, come what may (i.e. for good or for blowing up early); it turns out that the output wasn’t nearly as high in this race as in race #1, and he did indeed stay with a group of 6 who were always going to contest the win. He ended up catching them off guard in the sprint and winning outright (again, cat D) at an ave power output of 191w@3.0w/kg (clearly above the cat D 2.4w/kg upper limit, but again, it’s an arbitrarily high w/kg _on a flat course since he only weighs 135lbs).
He just did race #3 tonight–a ZHQ Beta Crit City event. Again, he managed to stay with the lead group of 4 (they, showing reasonable outputs of 248@2.4, 201@2.4, and 162@2.5). There is a cobbled segment at 5% which hurt him every lap, and on the final lap he had to try holding the wheel of the rider in front of him in order not to get dropped before the finishing section–i.e. since the rider in front of him was putting in a dig, my kid was basically putting out a VO2 max level effort on these cobbles for his roughly 190ftp but, again, because he is so light, his w/kg apparently spiked high enough (?) that a popup appeared on screen stating that Zwift was cutting back his power (about a km before the finish!) because he should be leveling up. He placed third, averaging 170w@2.7w/kg.
In short, (a) does anyone know exactly what the protocol is for determining that a rider is “too strong” for a particular category (is it w/kg, is it [projected] results)? I know it’s in the discussion a lot lately, but it must be determined to some degree, since this popup was clear as crystal; and (b) I will toss my vote in the “w/kg alone should not be the determining factor in categorization” bucket. My kid’s ~190 ftp makes him very competitive with other seemingly legit cat D riders, at least in Crit City, although his w/kg is above the “limit” due to him being so light (which shouldn’t give him an advantage in a mostly flat course). It would be the same for other very light riders doing crit racing.
Surely most people in a category aren’t competitive in that category. He needs to go up. Does he use zwiftpower? (Although I know they have issues with placing light riders correctly)
A) nobody knows the exact algorithm that zwift uses to determine sandbaggers but it uses power out
put over different durations to raise flags.
B) yep everyone is overly obsessed with w/kg
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The race you enter should have the category limits listed and that is what you should use.
Yes w/kg is not perfect but for now that’s the rules.
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@Ben_Brawn
It’s fair enough that he move up, but it would be nice if Zwift told you after the race finished that you couldn’t do another (e.g) cat D event instead of cutting back your power in the middle of your (3rd-ever) race. Still, fair enough. It’s good to have a new goal to work toward.
Hadn’t looked into zwiftpower until your response; took a preliminary look and will investigate further.
At this point, will Zwift essentially forbid him from entering any subsequent cat D races? It makes sense that he move up to cat C for Crit City events, but what about races on normal routes (assuming he develops any interest in them). Would you recommend that a first “road course” race be at cat D, or should he move to cat C even for that?
@Gerrie_Delport
… didn’t see your post until I submitted ^ this. So cat C even for road courses, apparently.
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If his ftp divided by his weight put him in C then he should race in C. Course and distance does not change the category.
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Zwift will allow him to enter any category at the moment (that’s one of the big issues) but if he races one of those antisandbagging races (ie the ZHQ beta races) then he will get throttled back again if he hits high power. The throttling back is still in beta.
I dont get the need to race by categories (which incentives cheaters). Why do we need categories so more people can obtain a win or place trophy? What does it benefit winning Cat C, when you were lapped by a Cat A rider? If everyone starts together and pushes themselves, you’ll automatically find yourself racing with other riders at your level. Pushing yourself to the limit trying to catch or stay ahead of riders near you is the thrill of the race, not winning in some defined sub-category.
The best riders win their deserved place trophies, the rest of us win beating the rider(s) who tried to go faster than us and failed. Everyone can be a potential winner against someone near their riding level.
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I disagree, the draft can pull you along with much stronger cyclists and, depending on race length and the route, if/when you eventually get dropped you may find yourself all alone. If the entire group was all similarly matched you have a better chance staying with the fast group.
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Racing or competing in general is about the experience, I completely agree with you. But don’t you think it’s important (as competitors) to at least believe we can win, even as a stretch goal. At the moment, D races are won by such considerable margins, that most entrants know for certain that a winning a race is utterly impossible.
Why not put some simple fixed power-based categories in place. This would at very least, allow some Zwift racers to believe a win might just be possible. A Zwifters experience racing can only be improved by introducing this functionality.
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Here is an online petition for a re-categorization, a results-based category system. Please sign if you agree.
In the meantime you can follow my adventures as a cheater in Zwift, a work in progress. Much more to follow. Unless Zwift stops me with a new and better categorization.