Wkg?

Racing ZwiftPower Community
1

Hi, I bet this has been asked before but well, I might as well ask again.

I’ve just rode in my first ever Crit City race (which I really enjoyed) with the added bonus of not coming last or so I thought.

I tried to find myself on the Zwift Power results page but my name wasn’t there as I had a WKG next to my name, so I looked it up as I had no idea what I meant of which I now know but how did I get it as I entered the race in Cat C as that’s what Zwiftpower had me at but I’ve now just refreshed my profile and it still has me as a C still.

How does it work please??

Thank you.

Chris

2

Hi @CHRISTOPHER_SYRAD_Tr, you did 3.6 w/kg in this race, way over the limit for cat C. The lightning bolt next to your results is still green, so it hasn’t been processed yet at zwiftpower, or you have your ride set to private. Once this gets processed you should see it in your “minimum category” results

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Thanks for replying to me. Ok, I get what you’ve put but if I hadn’t of got this I would of only been in 13th place, what happens to all that came above me? How come they didn’t get a DQ? I really don’t get all this W/KG stuff and how people much faster than me can do this, could you please explain?

Thanks

Chris.

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4

The category limits are explained here:

If you look at the “95% of 20min” column on the results of your race, all C cat racers are at or below 3.2 w/kg, and you were 3.3 w/kg.

5

Sorry to keep asking questions but,

Reading this (see below) If all C cat racers are at or below 3.2 surly doing 3.3 w/kg I would be safe?

Category Enforcement

There is a 0.1 w/kg leeway to go over Category Limits.

Chris.

6

I believe 3.29 is the actual limit. Since B cat starts at 3.2, C cat must end at 3.19, then add the 0.1 leeway and you get 3.29.

You are just barely over the limit.

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7

Ok, well thank you for replying and helping me understand a little bit.

Stay safe and Ride on.

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8

View 95% does not apply when race is less than 20 mins.
Zwiftpower uses a standard power curve to estimate 20 mins power in such cases.

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9

Just looked on my Zwift Power profile and it still has me in Cat C, Does that mean I’ll get a WKG dq every time I race?

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Efforts of less than 20 mins are not used for categorisation; so it will not appear on your list of 3 best efforts.

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11

only if you go over 3.2w/kg 95% of 20mins in Cat C

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Not sure if this helps but I did a Category C Crit City race last night (anti-sandbagging). There were a couple racers that got the cone in our group but I did not. I was able to win in the final sprint. The race was over in less than 20 minutes. So the riders must have been lighter with similar raw power, thus higher w/kg, and the cone.

For me:
5m 3.5w/kg. 1m 5.2w/kg. 30s 7.2w/kg. 15s 10.0w/kg and 95% of 20min 2.8w/kg

We don’t have a 20m raw power since the race was over in less than 20m.

It seems like you are well over the 3.19 limit though. This happens on flat races where heavier riders produce big power, drop lighter riders, and still stay under the w/kg limits.

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13

Hi Vincent, that’s what I couldn’t understand that people who just flew past me and obviously getting a faster time didn’t get aWKG. I rode my hardest which you’re supposed to do in a race and maybe only knocking out an average of 250w but getting a DQ.

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Screenshot_2021-03-26 Zwift Power - ZHQ FutureWorks Crit City Race - Anti-sandbagging
Screenshot_2021-03-26 Zwift Power - ZHQ FutureWorks Crit City Race - Anti-sandbagging1358×713 42.7 KB

The rightmost column is the estimated 95% of 20 mins power used for category enforcement if races last less than 20 mins.

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15

Thank you Sticky. How long has the estimated 95% of 20 minute power been a part of Zwiftpower.com. I thought races specifically shorter than 20 minutes were kind of exempt for the longest time. Is it a newer feature?

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It was probably added 1 year ago

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17

A really interesting thread, I just completed my first Zwift Race. (53 years old)

3R Greater London 8 Hilly at 12.05 GMT today.

On the Companion APP I finished 3rd in the C.

I entered Cat C which was my Zwift Power Category on the system - however, I now also have a WKG by name - which looking through this thread that’s because I exceeded the average WKG for CAT C.

Understood they would like to level the playing field

I was riding with other Cat C riders in my group and we were racing. ( probably too hard for my health!)

How do I know that my average during the race is going to be above the threshold for CAT C?

If my effort in this race was a 1 off - (don’t know where I got that from) HR at 177, how can I drop down back into C rather than be off the back in B races? Or is my lot now struggling in the B’s or put on some weight to lower my W/KG?

Any thoughts welcome?

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That is correct you got the w/kg because you went over C limits.

you don’t need that racing is to go as hard as you need to. If you look at your w/kg to stay under the limit than you will be a sandbagger.

You are now a B and should enter B races.
Zwiftpower use the best 3 races in the last 90 days. So you will be a B rider for the next 90 days if you have low avr power.

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19

Thanks Gerrie, really appreciate the answer - 2B it is.

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20

After some thought I think I am mixing up getting a cone with ZPower wkg. I don’t think there is a direct relationship between the two.

Zwiftpower.com does a wkg after the fact based on 95% of 20 min power. Anti sandbagging gives a cone in real time based on an unknown secret criteria that Zwift have studied and implemented. I remember when anti sandbagging came out Zwift said they would not release the criteria because the fear is that riders who were strong would cruise right under the limit. Zwift also said that they would be adjusting that cone threshold as they gather more data. I think it looks at 1 min 5 min and 20 min data in w/kg?