After years of development, we have graduated Racing Score from Zwift Labs. We appreciate all who participated in the Zwift Labs events over the past few months to help develop this system. We invite everyone, especially those who are just now returning to racing on Zwift to read through the Racing Score FAQ.
ZHQ staff won’t be as active in this thread as we have been in previous discussions, but we’re still eager to read your suggestions. Also know that we will be making continuous improvements to this system based on feedback.
Go race a bunch, put in your best effort, and please keep the feedback coming on this post-graduation phase, thanks all!
Now its officially the default categorisation for racing and out of Beta, there probably should have been a supporting Comms to all users advising them & signposting them to FAQ & info… But hey, communication what good is that.
Does the route profile make that a predictable outcome? Not every profile should result in a group finish, even though that was typically the case with CE which ignored sprint power and put a thumb on the scale to ensure that more people got to the finish together.
It shouldn’t be an ITT finish for the mass. The legsnapper can and will cause rubber bands to snap but small field riders should have enough advantage over single riders to pull it back on the descent and next 5 km of flat routes.
If almost everyone is finishing ITT and we are not doing Ven top climb then something is wrong.
The racing score is a great improvement over the old categories. I’m happy to see attendance come back up now that people can’t avoid it. It’s time to clean up the other events and push them into it.
The criticism of the system is noisy, but that seems to be mainly because there is something to criticize. Not everyone liked where category limits were set before, but there was nothing to pick apart to make a case.
It’s also going to be fun to see it move around as we learn that many folks with high power don’t understand how to race successfully.
It should depend on whether the chasers work to pull it back or not. In general I’m in favor of route profiles combined with power profiles to determine who has a chance of hanging on, since that’s how bike racing works IRL. I do understand there is a big change in Zwift race dynamics right now so I’m completely unsurprised by riders being surprised and annoyed about how racing works, especially when it’s sold as more fun for everyone, when in reality it is more fun for some and more pain for others.
Personally I am happy with the general direction of racing score but still have some questions about whether seeding, volatility, and anti-tanking measures are implemented in the best possible way. In CE a giant huge-Watt rider with a massive sprint and an endless series of podiums ends up in a race with me and is still hanging on going over NYC KOM. In racing score events that is less likely to happen and I think that’s good. Those guys all getting instantly dropped is not necessarily the right outcome though.
Also if most race have a clear cut race score cutoff,
0-180
180-350
350-520
There won’t be enough lower level scores to drop people below their current category.
You might have bunch of people stuck around 360 in the future because in the race of 350-520 you won’t find the riders that are 290 you are losing to to lower your score below 350.
The way race score seems to work you will still lose points at the bottom of the race regardless of the score of the riders around you. At least that’s what I’m seeing.
Edit: And similarly, if you’re placed top half you will gain racing score whether or not you beat anyone with a Racing Score above yours.
I am wondering how the race would look like if they added a more sustain climb, like Titan grove. Still draftable but should split the fuel base on 5 min power easily.
