With another year of Tiny Races under our belt, it’s time to crunch some numbers and share fun Tiny Race stats. How would recent numbers compare to last year’s stats? What do the week-to-week participation trends look like? Which country is home to the most well-behaved riders (and the naughtiest)? And who has completed more Tiny Races than any other rider on Earth?
Let’s dive in and find out!
Overall Data
With Tiny Race results saved since October 2022, we’ve got 147 weeks of data to work with. Here are the total number of races finished each week since I began saving the data. This is broken down by time zone into the three event timeslots we run (Zone 1 at 2am, Zone 2 at 8am, and Zone 3 at 2pm Pacific time):
Zones 1 and 2 track quite closely to each other, with zone 1 being popular with UK/Europe riders and zone 2 being popular in the US/Canada. Zone 3 is always much smaller. While Zone 3 mostly exists to cater to Australia and New Zealand, it’s interesting to note that race completions always drop off during the southern hemisphere’s winter, indicating that a good portion of Zone 3’s racers aren’t in the southern hemisphere.
Next, we examine the number of unique riders who participated each week, combined across all three zones. We see a similar trend to the chart above, with numbers decreasing in summer months.
A few trends/data points that stand out to me:
- The huge peak of 1636 riders on February 18, 2023, which was the second week of our special Worlds Experience races.
- “Peak Zwift” season this year was a bit higher than last year. November 2023-February 2024 saw 14,169 riders, while November 2024-February 2025 saw 16,431 riders.
- The stark dropoff in riders between March 1 and March 8, 2025, with numbers staying fairly low since then. Does seasonality alone account for this? (Note: digging deeper, if we compare March-July 2024 with March-July 2025, numbers are very similar, with a total of 12,814 unique weekly riders in 2024 vs 12,468 in 2025.)
This Year’s Data
If we narrow our scope to the past 12 months (August 2024 through July 2025), we can simplify the charts and concentrate on more recent trends.
The only major change we’ve made to affect this chart is moving to a three-category setup starting July 26 (the last data point on the chart) in order to increase the size of race packs during the summer months. (You can see the number of riders in A, B, and C increased a lot on that date, while D and E are at zero.)
It’s interesting to see that the E category was essentially trending in line with the other categories for the first half of the chart. However, when numbers dropped in March, E category participation declined more than the other categories, and it has remained the smallest category every single week since. What is causing this trend? Are E category riders moving outdoors more than upper category riders? Perhaps moving to other platforms?
Next, we wanted to break down participation by location. Which countries participate the most in Tiny Races?
It may appear that the USA is first and Great Britain second, but if we look closer, Zwift breaks out England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as separate country flag options. If you add their numbers to those riders who select “United Kingdom” as their flag in Zwift (which is coded as GB in ZwiftPower, where the above data comes from), GB edges the US as the most Tiny Racing country. Just like last year!
The Naughty List
The intention of the Tiny Races is to complete 4 back-to-back hard races in one hour, but early on we found some riders were jumping into later races in the set so they could get a better result against fatigued riders. Therefore, we developed a unique “no sniping” rule that basically says “You can’t skip a race then return.”
How many disqualifications do we issue to snipers? A lot, sadly:
We’ve noticed a trend over the years: Zone 1 typically gets less DQs than Zone 2, who gets less than Zone 3. Why? We’re not sure. Compared to last year, though, Zone 1 has actually increased their DQ rate just a bit, while Zones 2 and 3 have decreased their rates. Good job, Zone 2 and 3!
Disqualification rates by zone for the past 12 months:
- Zone 1: 6.93% (up 0.1% YoY)
- Zone 2: 7.91% (down 1.18% YoY)
- Zone 3: 8.99% (down 0.59% YoY)
Going further down the rulebreaking rabbit hole, here’s a list of countries whose riders participate in the Tiny Races, sorted by who is naughtiest (or nicest, depending on how you look at it) in the past 12 months. This shows the percentage of race finishes which end up being disqualified for sniping. (Keep in mind you have to be registered on ZwiftPower to even show up in the results, so this chart – and all of the charts on this page – leaves out data from riders who aren’t on ZP.)
Once again, South Korea wins the award for being the naughtiest. And Zimbabwe makes a surprise appearance in second place this year!
Russia was the second-naughtiest last year, but this year they didn’t have enough participating riders to even make it onto the chart (the chart only includes the top ~50 participating countries). Our guess is that the number of Russians racing on Zwift continues to drop as sanctions block online payment systems due to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Both South Korea and Zimbabwe had relatively low participation rates, though, with around 250 race finishes for the year. This means a few bad actors can increase the DQ percentage. And just like the last two years, Italy is the first major participant (over 2000 race finishes) to have a pretty bad score, averaging 13.7% disqualifications.
Kudos to Turkey for having the lowest overall DQ rate by a good margin. Also, a shout out to the good people of Sweden, who just like the last two years have the lowest DQ rate of any major participant, coming in at 5.7% with over 6000 race finishes.
Most Prolific Riders
Lastly, we wanted to see which riders had raced the most Tiny Races over the past year. The results are impressive, with the most prolific rider from the last 2 years maintaining their place at the top, averaging 5.7 Tiny Races per week. Nice work, Naofumi!
- Naofumi Nozaki (AHDR): 297
- C OOLHAND: 238
- Douglas Cameron: 228
- Tak I [YS]: 204
- Michael Boardman [mTNT]: 192
- Robin Andersson [eSRT]: 190
- Chris Keogh: 188
- Michel LAURENT: 176
- K Kawahara[YSROAD]: 173
- Todd Sheaman (DIRT): 169
- Arnaud Jeanroch (NVCC): 166
- Kaan Kayin: 164
- Graham White (FloridaVelo): 161
- Berk Kayin: 156
- Henry Li-Zwift Fighter: 152
- Stephen Mulrine (HERD): 150
- Tomo Yokoyama[YSROAD]: 148
- John Condon(DIRT): 147
- Darren Bramwell [AHDR] LT: 145
- Ryan Fogle: 140
Looking a bit deeper, 72 riders have successfully completed 100 or more Tiny Races in the past year. Awesome! Thanks to all who have participated in the Tiny Races this year.
Two Requests for Zwift
The Tiny Races have always pushed the boundaries of Zwift’s race events. For example: did you know we had to customize the events to only remind you of the next race 1 minute before it starts? This avoids riders getting reminders popping up as they near the finish of an earlier Tiny Race, or worse, being taken to the next race before they finish the current one.
There are two features I’d love to see from Zwift because they would simplify the signup process and greatly reduce cheating in Tiny Races:
- Sign up for all 4 events at once: I get it, the idea of signing up for 4 race events isn’t exactly intuitive. I’d love it if Zwift could design it so you do one signup, and you’re signed up for all 4 events. This would reduce confusion and reduce the number of snipers.
- Don’t automatically move riders to an event when they’re already in one: if you do get within that 1-minute time window, Zwift might pop up the reminder of your upcoming Tiny Race then take you out of your current race and into the next one before you’re finished. That’s not ideal. It seems like an easy fix: if the rider is currently in an event, don’t automatically take them out to the next one. Force them to choose that option. This is how it should work throughout Zwift.
Looking For More Numbers
Perhaps I have a third request.
As I crunched the stats above, I was reminded of how painfully difficult it is to extract useful event data from Zwift’s systems. (There’s so much other data I’d love to see, and I’m only able to generate the data above because I have it stored in a custom database which I use for crunching numbers and disqualifying snipers.)
As an event organizer, I would love to have access to a portal that displays participation numbers, rider satisfaction scores/comments, and other relevant statistics from my events. This type of actionable data would help me create a better experience for racers, which would be a win for everyone involved.
Wrapping It Up
The Tiny Races have always been about trying something different. I’m not particularly interested in holding “just another Zwift race,” which is why these races have such a unique setup. It’s also why I jump at the chance to test beta features like pack dynamics and custom category boundaries.
Thank you for trusting me enough to race the races and share your feedback. It means a lot.
As we head into peak Zwifting months, we’ll continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in Zwift racing. See you on course!
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Questions or Comments?
Did you find any of the data above particularly interesting? Got a Tiny Race question or comment? Share below!
I just reviewed the tiny race history, I can’t believe I won the very first tiny race in zone-3. What a nice memory!😎
Let’s goooo! And you’re in the top 20 in terms of participation in the last year, still. Thanks for racing!
This is my favorite and must participated event. Thanks for the organizer!
Hi Eric. To answer your question, I find all of your articles interesting, and frequently feedback as positive as I can. But I confess, I rarely enter races. At 57, no longer doing Ironman events and with an ever decreasing 229 ftp, I fear I’d be dropped within minutes. No fun in that for me. But hats off to you for running the events and the brave souls who enter. Chapeau…
Actually Darren, it mostly depends on what your ZRS and which pen you end up in. If you have a 1 or 2 minute w/kg of better than 6 or so, you’ll have no problem hanging in the middle of the B pen. If you’re like me with a one minute of 5w/kg then you’re gonna end up in the grupetto which is less than optimal unless you’re trying to lower your ZRS. This is why I’ve been agitating for some additional metric to ZRS taking to account the shorter power of these young punks (I’m 68).
Thanks for the update, Eric. I’ve enjoyed if that’s the word the Tiny’s I’ve done for the most part. The biggest problem I had previous to the 3 pen change was the stupid ZRS ranking that had racers with solid B pen FTP and solid A pen short power dominating the results in the C pen. I’ve got no short game as we’ve gone over and I’m not going to get one so the lack of impact on ZRS for having short game doesn’t make much sense to me. Still it was fun and I was able to hang in the pack until there’s a quick hill (think Dirty Sopressa) and then it’s off the back.
The 3 pen change just exacerbates this so I’m not going to invest a coupla hours of my Saturday morning attempting to keep up with riders with a ZRS over a hundred points higher than me. I know I’m not going to win any of these races but I do like to be in the mix and that’s not going to happen when I’m penned with riders with a ZFTP 40 watts higher than me. I’ll see you back there in October or whenever you go back to 5 pens.
BTW, you were getting 50 riders in each pen in Z2 every week. That wasn’t enough?
Based on your numbers, it seems that Zwift races are facing significant issues. The main problem does not appear to be the format itself, but rather the ZRS system, which struggles with both short, explosive races and standard races. It may be worth considering a return to a VO2max or MAP-based pen system to see if that encourages more people to come back.
Zwift races are having trouble with field numbers because there are too many start times for the number or people willing to race. Literally every hour there’s a Zwift race. IMHO (everybody knows it ain’t humble…) they should have the Zwift races go off every two OR three hours on a staggered schedule. I only ride in the morning West Coast US, PDT; usually around 6am or so. What I’m suggesting hypothetically, on Monday, a race at 6am then at 9am. On Tuesday, 7am then at 10am. On Wednesday, at 8am then 11am and so on. This way everybody can fit a race into their schedule and you have bigger fields. Right?
The WTRL schedule doesn’t have ANYTHING between 0430 and 0930 followed by races every 15 minutes for the next coupla hours so that gets thrown out. I’ve been ranting about WTRL for YEARS but it’s like shouting into the wind and I’ve given up. Eff them and the horse they rode in on…
I stopped racing in April due to frustration with the ZRS system, so I guess that means I have contributed to the declining trend. I am curious whether this trend is affecting all Zwift races generally or if it is more specific to Tiny Races. But I suspect it is probably a general decline across the board.
The reason you have lost so many E racers is that you start with an extra long race, which many of them are not able to finish on time. And if they somehow manage to finish, they do not have time to recover. This issue has been raised here and on the forums many times, but it seems like the feedback has not been addressed.
It takes me about 10-11 minutes to finish the first race at close to 290W. I’m not sure how someone producing only 150W can complete it on time.
Every week’s race is different, though. For example, see https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=5048341
There you’ll see the E field finished in 10:47-14:07, with most of them being below 200W avg power.
Or see https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=5042447, where finish times varied from 9:43 to 13:18…
Thanks for the feedback, Sir.
You make it sound like the first race of four is always a long one, which is actually rarely the case. I certainly don’t purposely start with an extra-long race… in fact, I’ve historically made the last race of the four the longest, if any of them, since that race could go long without affecting the next race start.
Looking on ZwiftPower, the last 2 weeks that we had an E category, in zone 1, almost every E finisher in the first race finished in 9-12 minutes. Plenty of time.
I DO pay attention to race length for E riders, and try to pick lengths that the vast majority of E’s can finish in time.
As for not having time to recover between – that’s an entirely different issue, in my book. I think that’s part of the Tiny Race challenge. As long as riders are able to finish and get into the pens before the next race, I’m OK with that. Maximizing recovery time isn’t a priority in my planning.
Perhaps I need to take a harder look at reducing race lengths, but I just don’t think race length is the key factor in reducing E cat participation beginning in March of this year.
If it was, then we would have seen participation drop years ago, since it would have been an issue back then, too.
I haven’t done many Tiny Races, but have enjoyed the ones I’ve done. They are a unique challenge and an opportunity to improve/test one’s racing score four times in under an hour!
For racing in general, I’d like to see a protocol that requires racers to sign up earlier than the last minute and a behind the scenes algorithm determines groups based on the capabilities of those who signed up. So, when you show up at the pens, you feel like that the group size and competitiveness is more likely to lead to a fun experience. I acknowledge that this is easy for me to suggest, and perhaps too hard to make happen.
Erm…isn’t that ZRS?
Categories are a fixed range of pre-defined racing scores. I’m suggesting that categories be dynamic instead and the range be defined based on who signed up for a given race.
Yeah, I agree. Mixing and matching the ZRS ranges keeps it interesting. Other race formats do that.
Regarding routes… ask Zwift to add more starting pens. That opens up more route options. And what is preventing “Insbruckring (Reverse)”?
“147 months of weekly data to work with” ~ 12yrs?
Whoops. Fixed!
It’s a brilliant format. I love it.
I had a strange experience once when I podiumed in a race. The next one I could barely hold the peleton…I put it down to the parcours having lots of gravel and bike choice, however the experience was repeated in the next two races. I subsequently realised that the podiums were pushing me into the higher category and the subsequent crap result was demoting me each time. An odd experience to have during a set.
As a rider on the edge of categories, I like the races where they play with the race score categories so that I can ride at different points in a category.
It’s also interesting to read in the comments that many riders are only motivated by achieving results at the top end of the race. I can usually find my own race within a race. A metaphor for life if you like. Looking for everything to be set up in life to suut your own particular wants often leads to frustration and disappointment I have found.
Interesting point on the data. We often hear about AI doing a lot of data work… If only it were smart enough to capture and clean it first… That take would be something worth investing in.
I don’t race much but Tiny’s are one of my favourite. I only do these in the Winter though and always rule them out come March, and wonder if my reason for doing so generalises at all. It’s because with British Summer Timer the races shift from 0900 to 1000 on Saturday.
really enjoy the tiny races (after I’ve finished them). great concept and a really good work out. will be back on them a bit more this winter.
If you add numbers for Scotland, England & Wales to GB are you
not duplicating the numbers as these countries are already included in the GB numbers ?
No, because those settings are distinct. In Zwift, you can choose a flag for Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, or United Kingdom. Those are all distinct flags, which carry over to ZwiftPower, where I get my data from.
150 races and 1 podium finish 😛
Tiny Races are the best 1hr workout on Zwift…bar none!
Absolutely horrible but great fun too.
The time and effort you put into the races and reviewing the feedback is appreciated. I’ve done a few tiny races and I enjoy them. As a rider who has no sustained power lol, these races give me a chance!
Wow, My lovely country of USA is up there on top as always too. one of the heaviest countries in the world as well. Great work on this Eric, mad respect.
Love the tiny races … but maybe a midweek slot too? Work a lot of weekends!
Frustrating for me is it the racers that coast on say races 2 and 4 to maximise effort on races 1 and 3. Velo racing flags this and how anyone can DNF (common in Cat A – to protect/deny ranking points??) is very disappointing. However, I concur best/hardest races and of the week. Chapeau Eric!
about your DQ presumptions– these are certainly not 100% “naughty”. There have been times I join one race or two for a short warmup, then go to my normal workout. It all depends on timng- if one of these tiny races is ready to go when I am I join in. I don’t care about race results, DQ me, fine, I wouldn’t even know. I’m interested in warmup quality. Racing with others helps me get that intensity early on. It usually helps my workout quality. I certainly believe I am not alone in this. I would go so far as to say maybe half of your “haughty list” is in this camp; joining less than four races for one reason or another. And, so, I would have issue with your presumptive stance here, using ‘naughty’ or implying ‘cheaters’. Or not, It doesn’t matter. Whatever you do, I’m fine with it. I’m just pointing out what seems to be a hole in your set of assumptions.
Fair enough. But I would counter with “Ignorance of the law is no excuse.” 😀
I’m not making any moral judgments here, just saying people are breaking the stated rules. I use the word “naughty” because it’s a fun and less accusatory word than “cheaters”.
Regarding the Zone 3 drop off in March despite it being Asia/Pacific winter, does this correspond to the clock change? I know the clock change in the UK moves the start time to a less optimum time for me, so even on UK summer days (i.e. wind, rain, hail whatever) I’m still less likely to ride the tiny races.
Perhaps, but that same dropoff didn’t happen in 2024, despite the same time change. It’s not just zone 3, either – if you look at the chart, actually zones 1 and 2 drop off in early March more than zone 3 does!