Hey guys.
I’ve never done a race via Zwift before, this will be my first time. However, I’m a little confused by the category to select, particularly as I don’t want a DQ by ZwiftPower.
I’m 71kg and my last FTP (long FTP test on Zwift) was 186 so I calculate this to be 2.49 W/kg. Would I be okay entering category D as this is between 1-2.4 W/kg
I don’t want to go to category C really as I’ll be at the back, disheartened and not enjoy it.
Thanks.
You should be fine. I would start there and if you find it to slow or not challenging then move to C. Bottom line is enjoy ride.
Have you signed up for zwiftpower yet? They will auto-calculate your category for you using past ride data, even if your past rides aren’t races they are still able to pull information from group rides or other events such as the tour of London if you participated. I would use this as a guide to the category to sign up for so you don’t get DQ’d.
Hi Adam,
To calculate your category it is FTP(w)/weight(kg) so 186w/71kg= 2.62w/kg this is a solid C
Zwift power use 95% of your best 20 in the race same as the FTP test so when you did the FTP test you averaged more than the 186w you averaged 195w because the FTP test take your average power over the 20min then multiply it by 0.95.
Hmmm… I wouldn’t say it’s a solid C as this category is 2.5-3.1 so I’m going to be one of the slowest C category racers. Finishing at the bottom of almost every race in this category I would have thought.
I’ve signed into ZwiftPower and it has no data for me at all. So I guess I’ve never done anything for it to have categorised me. I just don’t want to be stuck at the back racing against myself, which I think will happen in C.
Zwift racing depends on everyone choosing the correct category, which never happens 100% of the time. There will always be sandbaggers racing in lower categories so they have a better chance of getting a “win”. This is where Zwiftpower comes in and filters out all the sandbaggers so you’re compared to other true category racers.
I did the stage 1 race yesterday in cat C, my first cat C race after getting a smart trainer and my power being correct for the first time. My FTP is now 264 and I weight 90kg, or 2.9 wkg, so you would expect that I finish close to the front if I’m experienced and know how to use tactics in Zwift races. I finished 40th on the Zwift leaderboard, but Zwiftpower has me at 21st place. The 1st place winner on the zwift leaderboard was pushing 3.3 wkg, 2nd place 3.4, 3rd 3.95 - they should all be in the B cat race.
You should sign up for cat C and see what happens. Zwift racing starts very fast so be ready to come out of the starting pens at full gas and then try to hang on to whatever group you find yourself with whether that be the front group, middle of the pack, or the back. Get in the draft and hang on as long as you can. If there are hills be ready to surge up them, use power ups at the right time to be strategic, and save something for the final sprint.
Good luck, it’s great fun and I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks.
It’s a really short race, 16KM right? So I should be able to go full gas for a lot of that. I’ll give it a go in C and see what happens. I’ll report back.
I wouldn’t worry about it, Zwift don’t appear to.
I did my first Zwift race on Friday, a crit in Cat D, the winner came in pushing 6 W/kg. I did the Tour de Zwift yesterday, I finished 147th in Cat D @ 2.46 W/kg, if I discount all those that were above 2.5 W/kg I would have placed 6th… It’s a joke!!
Good luck Adam.
Racing is fun and a good way to improve fitness.
Now if only Zwift could Auto-Assign Race Categories.
Oh stupid question… How do I start? Do I just go on Zwift and will it show there for me to enter?
Best tip i can give you is enroll before you open zwift, be on the bike 10min before the event. Click join event 5 min before the race start. Go hard when the countdown get to 2sec. first minute is super hard then thing settel.
This should be helpful.
Just looked at this and the top cat D racers had 2.6w/kg average
How is this possible? Starting to think I should unregister from C and go to D
You should look at the 95% number, that is what Zwift power use. ZP allow a bit of a margin.
Zwift power is not as strict on the Zwift events like they are with the community races.
Gerrie
I only signed up to Zwift a few months ago and have only just raced last week, as you may see from my comment earlier.
Now I’ve been looking on this forum since having raced, as I was pretty deflated by my results. Your name keeps cropping up everywhere I look and it appears you have a long history of protests about Zwifters racing well bellow their category and Zwift not doing anything about it, so what’s the answer? What is the point of the forum? What’s the point in entering a Zwift race when they don’t bat an eye at a rider averaging 6.03W/kg in a Cat D race and most of the others between 3 & 4?
Thanks
From what I have learnt in Zwift there are two groups, those who treat it like it’s real and therefore the stats of others really matter and the other group who don’t care and just treat Zwift like a game. The latter don’t care about you, or I, wanting to compete with others fairly so join any group they please. It will never change until Zwift prevent, as best as they can, entry to the wrong group. This is often asked for yet Zwift never seem to have any plans.
You are correct, I am very passionate about Zwift racing in the lower categories, and I have a lot to say.
We enter these races because we know it make us stronger and it is still a lot of fun.
This is not an easy thing to fix and Zwift are aware of it, I think the forum really brought attention to the bigger issue.
Zwift has come a long way in four years and they have improved on a lot of things, in the beginning we did not have starting pens or race results, we all met up at the stat banner and someone counted down and off we went there was spreadsheets with results. We asked for racing pens and results and Zwift did an awesome job.
For the time being just ignore the fliers and have as much fun as possible.
Doesn’t Zwiftpower use your best 3 race average from either the past 30 or 90 days? It is possible someone has a really good day and goes above the cat limit without throwing their average over.
It depends how Zwift classified the race. They usually do things a bit more lenient than the community races.
But you are correct some races use the zp cat overide the w/kg option.
Is it really not easy to fix?
Sandbagger A (love this name, by the way) has done 10 category C races with a 4.6 w/kg average. When the fix comes in they are automatically classified based on their previous races, not their manual FTP entry on the profile screen?
So, I have a ftp of 3.24 w/kg. Should I enroll in category C or should I enroll in category B?
