trineuropa wrote:
So do I understand correctly that you are complaining about people racing in a race?
Answering since I introduced the issue of "high performers" in Zwift races.
No, it's not complaining about people racing. It's a race. It's scepticism about the validity of some % of "high performers." I typically perform worse in a Zwift "Tri Fitness ride" (not even a race!) than in a Pro-1-2 criterium in real life. And people who can do 6-8 W/kg for upwards of 10 minutes are very rare in the real world. It could be largely legit. Zwift, is, after all, a global platform, while most of the racing I do is state and local. So there's a very large talent pool. It just seems that the talent pool is suspiciously top heavy. How many people can go up Box Hill at 6 W/kg? Not that many, right? And, so far, I haven't recognized any names. If I see an "L. Sanders" doing that, that's cool. Or an "A. Valverde". But I have some skepticism that some people are intentionally gaming their bodyweight, gender, or trainer params to go faster. Or unintentionally doing the same.
I'm not complaining really. I lose all the time in the real world too! I just kind of write Zwift off as "fun racing," not "real racing." Unless you enter the Zwift Academy stuff where you have to validate your power #s (at least that's my understanding).