Hey there,
I´m wondering if the tour de Zwift Ride Categories are only regarding the distance of the route or its the same as the racing Cats. I applied for C Cat on ride but noticed that the first peloton is grinding a way more power than a regular C would do. are there A´s and B´s in the same ride and everyone is just labeled as “C” for this ride?
cheers
From TdZ FAQ
Q: What’s the difference between the RIDE categories?
A: Each stage offers three different routes to explore. Choose your own adventure—ride one or ride them all!
Category A will be the longest ride.
Category C will be the shortest ride.
Category B lies somewhere in between Category A and C in terms of duration.
All genders can join categories A, B, and C, but the D category is for women only and follows the same route as Category B.
The categories are:
- Category A: Longer Ride
- Category B: Standard Ride
- Category C: Shorter Ride
- Category D: Standard Ride (Women Only)
We are also excited to include an option to race the Tour de Zwift. Races will be scheduled eleven times a day (weekends only) during the stage dates listed above! You choose how you want to participate. You can just ride, just race, or a do combination of both!
thanks Ian, i missed that when looking in the information .
It makes more sense now
You’re not the first to miss this and you won’t be the last.
I think it’s about time Zwift moved away from using “A, B, C and D” for events like this and started using something else - like “R1, R2, R3 and W2”
Or it could replace the (incorrect) text saying “AVG 1.0 - 5.0 w/kg” with something like “For all abilities”.
It’s taken me 4 years to realise that text is incorrect, as it suggests you can only take part if you can do 1.0 w/kg or above, which isn’t the case; the Tour is for EVERYONE.
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Exactly.
It would be good to see as well the riders Cat on the place stats on the right of the screen, so you know who is in front and you can choose if you want to go for a stronger peloton or stick to your peers
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You can see their w/kg so just use that to judge if you can hang with them or not. Race cat wouldn’t really tell you the whole story as an A cat could be using the tour ride as a recovery zone 2 ride where you likely could ride with them.
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@Mike_Rowe1
I can see the W/kg bur I can’t read it. I believe I am not the only one with weak eyes? I would prefer some marker in the color of the category.
New Zwifter here and wanting to take part in this challenge-prefer a longer ride so chose “B” but then thought hmmm I think I’m only. “c” so guess I will be riding solo… 
Each stage will have 3 route options named A/B/C.
Anyone can join any route, it’s a group ride, usually a huge range of ability will be riding each route.
The ABC has nothing to do with pacer category or racing level.
You will almost never be alone in TDZ.
Lots of riders , faster and slower.
The A-B-C is distance.
A = longest.
C = shortest.
If you happen to be a Facebook user, this kind of question is frequently answered in the Zwift Beginners group. Nothing wrong with asking here either, but that’s a good place to get friendly answers to any beginner questions you may have. For example:
Each starting pen for the Tour de Zwift is a completely different route, so you can do all of them if you want.