You have your weight set correctly?

Are your W/kg numbers what you expect as you're riding?

I did find that I started doing significantly better when using a smart trainer vs. just PM (P2M crank). Not sure exactly why. Could be that the smart trainer was better at putting me in my optimal cadence range than my having to shift to find good cadences.

Be fully warmed up on the start line, and ramp up power 3-4 seconds before the actual start to get a good jump. It's silly, and one of the things I dislike about Zwift. But that's what Zwift currently rewards, so it is what it is. And that first 200m may be the hardest part of the whole race. Once you weather the initial storm, you might find the rest pretty civilized.

What are your power numbers reading at the start of the race? I'd imagine at the start of a D race, you'll need to be pushing upper 300's for the first minute-ish to be at the front of the group. I know for C's it was low 400's to stay at the front and B's it's upper 400's, from my experience.

my weight after checking was about 10 pounds light, I guess I gained a bit since I entered in last time :(

During the ride, power numbers seem low, 30-40% less than what I ride outdoors at. Peak power is at least 50% less than outdoor numbers reported on my Garmin.

At the startling I would say I'm defiantly not warmed up. I only warm up and start pedaling a minute before the start (my lack of preparation beforehand) and I am pushing right after the imaginary rope drops.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

definitely not pushing those at the start, will try that tomorrow.

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Owner of a few Speed Concepts since 2011.

You have to wind the trainer up BEFORE the "rope" drops. Start spinning up about 5-10s before the start. We're working to address this, but for now, that's just the way the racing goes.

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"Non est ad astra mollis e terris via." - Seneca | rappstar.com | FB - Rappstar Racing | IG - @jordanrapp

Virtual doping is rife... WADA is implementing testing in 2020 to stamp it out.

My first Zwift race (was 2.14 W/kg at the time) went exactly like yours. I was totally blown off the back in the first 30 seconds of my first race, then did a solo time trial for rest of the race and finished at the bottom of the D class. Zwift races start HARD, and you need to be up to speed when the countdown hits 0:00.

A few random tips:

1. If the race allows powerups, ride around before joining the race and get a good one to carry into the race. Aero or Draft are probably best, and will help a lot at the start of the race.
2. Join the race early to get a good starting position. Let yourself drift back thru the pack a bit before settling in with a group. Again, this helps a lot at the start of the race.
3. After a minute or so, find a group that feels about right for your W/kg, and sit in. Don't be a hero and give people free leadouts. Draft like a maniac.

My second/third Zwift races were last week and today, three months after my first race. I'm up to 2.48 W/kg now, and being at the top of the class W/kg really makes a difference. I was 1st / 3 last week and 3rd / 16 this week. I'm looking forward to getting smoked by the C class when I move up! My impression is that Zwift racing gets a lot more interesting when you get up to the 2.5 W/kg range, because you start to have options other than "survive". I've watched videos of the A/B guys, and they really look like they have some fun tactical options available that we just don't get down in the D levels.

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-Mark Rebuck, http://www.markrebuck.com/

I don't know how you win at 2.48 w/kg. I get blown away in D at 3.0.

To be clear: I decided to only look at ZwiftPower.com results. In the raw results there are always folks who are class doping.

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-Mark Rebuck, http://www.markrebuck.com/

I ramp up to ~500 watts or so in the 10 secs before the start. Then I do ~400 plus for the first minute or however long it takes. I always make the front of the A group doing that.

I did a race in what Zwift said should be my zones and got blown off the back. One thing I learned is that people like to go really hard early. Another thing I learned was that basing race categories off of FTP is not a good idea.

I’ve done 30 or 40 races and am currently a middle of the pack B. Some things I’ve learned:

1. Go hard off the jump. The first minute sucks.
2. Don’t do any excess work such as driving the pack
3. Go hard around corners
4. Positioning in the pack is important so be in the front third. If you are spit out the back in a double draft race, it’s over Unless you really put the hammer down.
5. Hills will sort you out, can’t do much about that.
6. There will be a bunch of people who sandbag so know how to spot them. Take a look at what people are pushing on your group.
7. As stated, bring a power up into the game and be familiar with the course so you know whether or not you should gamble about using them (I.e. sprints, laps, koms and how many)

Considering I never win, I might not be the best example to Learn from, I’m just stuck in no mans land category-wise. It’s fun though, and a great threshold workout.

Keep at it.

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Dan Mayberry
Amateur a lot of things, professional a few things.

Same but since I am B and C racing only need about 300w nice and easy to hold.

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Last race I did on Zwift was 22 miles. I was in the B group. I averaged 4.4 W/kg the whole time, but finished 7th. Had higher W/kg than the top finishers who beat me by a minute. We were supposed to have a neutral start, but it was balls out from the start. I always wonder about Zwift doping, but at least the guy who won was a Cat 1 road in real life.

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"Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps"
Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com

You're not using the TT bike, right? It gets zero draft. Zwift should make that fact more obvious.

Just checking... :)

As others have said, go hard before the clock hits zero and don’t let up till you see power dropping across the group. The start of zwift races are just stupid, probably my least favorite aspect.

Also, don’t underestimate the need for zwift-specific drafting skills. It’s the same drafting concept as real life, but very different in practice in zwift. You can waste a lot of energy if you don’t know the nuances of the zwift draft. It also helps to know the courses and where people tend to surge or slow.

This is going to sound like a broken record, but like others have said, you have to survive that initial push. I did my first race in the B group today, finished mid pack, and boy did the first 5 minutes hurt like hell. After that it's just a matter of remaining in the pack and not get spit out. Bring a power up into the race if it's allowed.

After the last update you can’t bring power ups into the race anymore. I always rode volcano circuit in my warm up til I got a helmet. Not anymore.
Pack speeds are way too fast on Zwift. I’d like to see that addressed. If you fall off the back a bit you’re done. The front of the group is doing 4w/kg and you lose time to them while doing 6 plus. And there’s no hope of getting away from the Blob either.

Complaint about packspeed is entirely on point. Granted, one does receive aero benefit from riders tagging along, but the benefit here is a bit preposterous.

Im not as concerned about the ability to put a power-up “in the chamber”, as that certainly leads to ridic starting surges

Did you ever sort this out?
Are you certain on the devices screen that your powertap is selected as the power source?

Seems like it isn’t properly summing your left/right power, no?

"A powertap"...I'd assume that means powertap hub, so left right balance isn't an issue. But that is just my assumption!

My guess is that there is a poorly calibrated smart trainer giving a bad power number instead of the bombproof PT hub? (I had the same issue with a tacx vortex reading ~20watts off my PT pedals)

The problem is two fold. (1) the draft effect within the pack is too small, thus mitigating some tactics as it more resembles a group TT. (2) the pack speed is not realistic and the effort required to get back into the pack is unrealistic.

Others issues to address:

1. stop starting the C/D with the A/B races. I am tired of doing the A races and having C/D riders blowing up and causing splits.
2. No power ups in the final 1k
3. Ban the hammer, the thing is an automatic sprint win.
4. If you are on a TT bike, Z power, or no HR automatic kick at race start.

I think the key to good zwift racing is to do the following:
- manage your expectations as class and trainer doping is common, and impossible to stop.
- Look at it as a form of training.
- study trainer calibration to sort the setup (ex: hot or cold, low or high pressures) to allow max power output.
- If in doubt, change in game gender and sign up as a women for the women only races if you are a man. Change username to something Androgenous.
- epo halflife is 6hours, but test to verify as we are all different.