I missed the TT yesterday but managed to my first race in tour de Zwift London Classique.
It was lots of fun! 
I won my mini race, huge sprint finish for 69th🏆
Hello TR crowd. I am new to TR and have been on Zwift for over 2 years now. I have been racing on Zwift for just over a year. I for one would love to see Zwift implement a Zwiftpower type enforcement (or any enforcement at all) for racing to make things as fair as possible in game at the time of the race. I have always thought that it just does not seem right to have to go through a 3rd party that removes people after the fact. I hope that 2020 will bring big changes in the category enforcement department, fingers crossed. This is probably my only complaint about Zwift racing.
I will say this about my experience with Zwift racing, it is the most fun I have had on an indoor trainer and they are some of the most intense workouts I have ever experienced. I worked my way up to be within the top 15 out of thousands within the D Cat at one point in time per Zwiftpower rankings. I have always been 100% honest about my weight/height, kept a calibrated trainer, etc… bottom line is that I am “clean”. There are certainly people who join D races and are gone never to be seen again, but after a few races you realize this and that they will be DQd on Zwiftpower. It is certainly possible to race clean and win within the Zwiftpower enforcement system. I would also say it is nearly impossible to win your cat outright at the actual time of the race if you are in your proper Cat. Too many sandbag or sign up for the wrong Cat.
Zwift racing benefits…
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You can race 24hours a day. At least 1 race and sometime 4 per hour kick off. Race lengths from 2.5 miles to 100 miles available. TTs are now available, TTTs are now available, climbing AdZ (3,400ft vert mountain top finish) are available, flat races, rolling races, race series with overall leaders and points systems on ZP are available…. nearly every option. I have raced at 4am, 9am, noon, 7PM, 10pm, etc. Just open the app, register, and hop on your trainer. I cannot say enough about the convenience factor.
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You can use Zwiftpower to see others in your race within the live tab while you are racing. From there you can see who is going over power and will be DQ’d. Use this info to your advantage (don’t chase and blow up if they are taking a flyer). This only works for those on ZP though.
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The starts and sprint finishes really wreck me in a good way. I never knew I had 1200W in me!! Never saw my HR over 186 before but a hard Z race saw me hit 194!
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I am ok with people who have not upgraded and have higher cat fitness. In fact those are the ones I want to race. In Jan and Feb 2019 I was dominate in the D group and it allowed to learn a lot, when to be conservative, what attacks to go with, when to sprint, etc. When I first got into it there was nothing but “hold on for dear life”. That may be good for fitness but it was more fun to dictate the race and when you were up against others in the same boat with a high level of fitness it was fun, win or lose.
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It is a great opportunity to be competitive and get a great workout at the same time.
I for one would love it if/when Zwift comes out with their own system it includes overall rankings and a points system to which you are restricted for which Cat you can register. Ideally a system that went deep into you numbers and maybe put my in a higher cat for flat/sprint races and a lower cat for pure climb races. Imagine that… a specific TT, hilly, climb, flat, etc ranking specific to each so you get really good competition based on that specific course profile!! I can only dream.
Looking at the results of one of the Tour de Zwift Stage 3 races a friend of mine participated in. D category, front-runners finished in approx 30 mins - and FTP should be approx 95% of 30-min power, therefore the strongest D-cat riders should have an average power around 2.6W/kg since the class is restricted to 2.49 W/kg FTP.
The first rider not above 2.6W/kg average for the race finished 17th. The top 9 are all above 3.0 W/kg, with the winner at 3.7. There are only 8 riders at or below 2.6 in the top 40.
Not sure what the point of these categories are if nobody follows them, and nobody reclassifies riders after the fact (other than Zwiftpower).
There are definitely some suspicious results in zwift races. Take it for what it is worth, a great workout, and a lot of fun. Maintaining above FTP for a 20-25 minute race is not hard to believe at all. Perhaps someone else has already mentioned this (I didn’t read all the responses); but of course, FTP is how much you are supposed to be able to hold for an hour (in theory). So, you can go deeper than that for 20 minutes. A traditional FTP test takes about 95% of your 20 minute power to get your FTP.
Zwift races start incredibly fast. It is like a cyclocross race from the gun, so go really hard for the first 3-4 minutes, then settle in. A crit city race is going to be hard the whole way with micro rests. A good warm up is a must. Give them another try would be my recommendation, they are fun, and a great workout.
I think a lot of people join a “C” race thinking it’ll be a cruisy one, just sit in and wait for the last few km’s to pick up the pace then have a reality check when it’s full gas from the start. Zwift racing is more about what YOU get out of it then the actual results. In my experience, as my fitness increases I break my 5, 20, and 60 minute Power and HR records (based on TrainingPeaks data) in Zwift races, and this is in conjunction with doing road/crits outside as well. Meaning that I have more continuous effort on Zwift, and the output is higher. We all know a byproduct of the trainer is no rest, even going downhill. All these threads about expecting fair classifications, calling people “cheaters” because they’re faster or sandbagging are comical, we all know the shortcomings of Zwift, but at the end of the day, it’s an amazing tool for getting faster IRL, regardless of what the leader board says.
So lately I’ve been jumping on these tour de zwift races for some eye candy during my sweet spot intervals (with rest between intervals it’s guaranteed I’ll be close to last). I’ve jumped on C events where I’m going out of the gate at 3.8w/kg and quickly fall back to 80 or something and even when the race settles I don’t gain spots. So there are surely sandbaggers at the front keeping the pace high.
Regardless of what grade, you have to start at V02 to even have any chance, my last Race I started at 400w for 3mins and settled back to threshold I pickled up a couple from B but rest of the grade they put time into me. Take Zwift racing for that it is, its good incentive and can give you motivation but the results definitely don’t matter IRL.
There is a racing league in Australia, The Chop which is heavily moderated and as its a handicap, those outside of the w/kg are relegated and each week the h/c times are different depending on who won last week and which grade.
The front bunch maintained >120% of FTP for 30 mins, and the winner 150% - assuming they had a 2.5W/kg FTP, of course. There’s above, and then there’s above squared.
In my short experience so far, about half way through the ride or race you’re hanging with people about your ability and form your own little race, which is a lot of fun.
When the Cat D winner is faster than Cat A and C winners, it’s a fair shout to disregard the results. ZwiftPower just looks like a mess to me, with hardly anyone registered - interesting for the genuine Cat leaders perhaps, but of no value to me.
New to cycling eh? You’ll get used to it…soon. Or turn in to what you loathe.
The Chop is a bonkers race!! Some of the hardest threshold sessions I’ve had have been in The Chop. When Zwift Community Live cover it, you get some of the strongest riders in the game showing up.
I also set new power records in Zwift races. Similarly I have never seen my HR so high. In fact to the best of my knowledge outside riding max ever has been 186-188, whereas Zwift race has been as high as 194.
I’ve been doing Zwift races recently and registered through Zwiftpower etc and I find them really fun, but theres been a learning curve with them i.e. starting ridiculously hard from the gun. I only use them as a workout rather than trying to go up the rankings, but its nice if you pick up a podium/good placing etc.
My biggest bug bear with zwift racing is how much it seems to penalise heavy and tall riders; im 6ft 2 (188cm) and 99kg ish. Drafting in the game just doesnt work as far as I can tell, I’m either going straight through the pack or if I ease off a touch then im spat out the back, the middle ground doesnt exist so every race is essentially a TT to me. In rl I get so much more draft effect than the game gives, yet smaller riders seem to draft just fine going off the results where small guys have put out waaaay less power and beaten me with ease (flat courses even). With the TT races it doesnt seem so bad as nobody has the draft effect, just whatever guessed cda they attribute and then you see the smaller riders dropped out the back.
I’m on the Cat C/D boarder for 1 hour power, but easily Cat C for the 30 min races which always confuses me as they expect you to stay within ftp limits no matter the length of the race or your’e deemed a cheat. In my last race I got a “UPG” from zwiftpower which I assume means they want me to step up a category, which is fine by me, though I can barely hold a front D pack never mind a C pack… and if its hilly well I’m out the back no matter what watts I put out. Oddly the guy who won the same race in Cat D put out just over 3w/kg at 115kg but wasnt filtered from the lists, it was hilly and at that weight really shouldnt have been in the running.
I’m a taller rider too, 6’3", and I see a noticeable hit to my draft because of height. It effects draft in real life too, but it seems too negative in zwift. Would be interesting to know their cda calculations.
I too think staying in a group is too unrealistic too. Early on they had trouble getting peletons to form and stay together. So they implemented “stickiness”. I hate it because it requires a huge effort just to get out of someones draft and pass. Then there are times the group passes a slower rider and i get stuck on them and get left behind.
And then they implemented double draft for some races. I can’t remember the details of that, but why 2 implementations of draft. 1 has to be wrong and needs removed.
What’s zwift? I never heard of it. Nor thought it was imaginable someone would cheat. Especially online. Hmm. Sounds orthogonal to everything I know about people and online behavior!!!
I know every time I gain a pound or two I always update my TR settings. 
I know all the group rides I’ve been on everyone has always had exceptionally good behavior. Ha.
Sounds like going in your expectations were a little off. Zwift with friends. Race to replace a hard work or variety… Isn’t it bad enough we are on trainers? Now you want me to pretend like I’m riding up a hill? Nah. Just Trainerroad for speed and fitness. Never disappoints come race/fondo season.
Drafting in Zwift is a lot different to being outside.
This might help to explain / help Drafting in Zwift: Power Savings, Tips, and Tricks | Zwift Insider
I’ve read that a few times before as I thought I was doing something wrong. But like where they say “We found a rider could stay in this 300-watt draft at 225 watts while on relatively flat ground.” doesn’t hold true in the slightest for me. It would be more like 310w and ill pull through to the front, 275w and I’m spat out the back and watching them pull away. Ill be putting out the same or more w/kg but still go backwards on occasion, with my weight being high that shouldnt be the case on flat roads.
Staying in the draft takes practise, and this is one of the gaming aspects to Zwift. It’s not like the draft in the real world, but once you’ve mastered it, the effect is pretty big.
Zwift is a video game at the end of the day, and many of the aspects of getting good at “playing Zwift” need experience. Despite what many may say, it’s not just about watts😊
I don’t see that kind of saving when I’m in the draft, so perhaps it sucks for me too, but I doubt it at 5ft 10