Zwift Racing League Points Race Explainer: How FAL, FTS, FIN, and PBP Are Calculated

Zwift Racing League (ZRL) is the most popular race series on Zwift, with over 30,000 riders participating in each of the past two seasons! Many new riders join each round. Maybe that’s you?

If so, you may be confused by how Points Races work in ZRL. (Don’t feel bad, we all were when we started!) Here’s a complete answer.

Intermediate Segment Points (FAL and FTS)

Certain sprint and KOM sections on the course are designated as “intermediate” segments in ZRL points races. There are two ways to earn points on these intermediates: First-Across-the-Line (FAL) and Fastest-Through-Segment (FTS).

First-Across-the-Line (FAL)

FAL points are given to everyone who crosses the segment’s finish line each time that segment is attempted, with points based on the number of riders in the race and your position across the line. The first rider across the line gets points equal to the number of riders (eg, 60 riders=60 points) in the race. Using that 60-rider race example, 2nd would get 59 points, 3rd 58 points, etc.

N=number of riders in the race

Fastest-Through Segment (FTS)

FTS points are given to the top 5 fastest times through a segment over the course of the entire race. If a segment is designated multiple times in a race, a single rider could potentially have multiple top-5 FTS times. For example (see table below) a rider who got 1st in FTS on the first lap and 4th on the next lap would earn 10 + 4 = 14 FTS points for the race. In a 5-lap race, a strong rider could (theoretically) grab all 5 FTS spots!

Simply put, the highest FAL points go to whoever is at the front of the race on designated segments. FTS points, on the other hand, are given to the fastest times on given segments, and your overall position across the segment finish line is of no consequence.

Finish Line Points (FIN and PBP)

Along with intermediate segment points, riders earn points based on their position across the finish line. Known as FIN points in the world of ZRL, these are computed just like FAL points above:

Along with FIN points, additional Podium Bonus Points (PBP) are given to the top 5 finishers:

Race Example

This week, A/B riders in ZRL are racing four laps of Makuri Islands’ Fine and Sandy route. This route has two intermediate segments which will be awarding both FTS and FAL points:

• Boardwalk Sprint
• Tidepool Sprint

On the first Boardwalk Sprint, every rider earns FAL points. The first rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race (60 riders means 1st place earns 60 points), 2nd rider across the line earns 59, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning just 1 point. Everyone earns FAL points each time they pass through the arch.

Additionally, on the first Boardwalk Sprint, the top 5 segment times are slotted into the leaderboard for FTS. If the race was to end right now, those 5 riders would each FTS points of 10 for 1st place, 8 for 2nd, down to 2 for 5th.

But the race isn’t over yet. We’ll be going through the Boardwalk Sprint three more times!

Riders will hit the Tidepool Sprint next, and it works just like the Boardwalk Sprint. (Intermediate segments are never related in any way, so whether there is just one intermediate or several, they all act independently, awarding FAL points each time through, and building a top-5 leaderboard across the duration of the event.)

On the next lap, FAL points work just like they did on the first lap. First rider across the line earns points equal to the total number of riders in the race, 2nd rider earns one point less, etc.

But FTS points are awarded to the 5 fastest times through the segment across the duration of the race. Think of it as a leaderboard, why whenever a rider sets a segment time faster than one currently on the leaderboard, that rider’s time gets added to the leaderboard, and the slowest time gets bumped so only the top 5 are ever listed.

On the second lap, a strong rider who set the fastest FTS time on the first lap might better their time and end up with the 1st and 2nd place listings on the invisible FTS leaderboard.

And so it continues, with each lap handing out a pile of FAL points, and new fast FTS times replacing slower ones on the top-5 leaderboard.

Eventually, riders will have finished all the intermediate segments, and only the finish line will be up the road. Riders will jostle for position, go all-in on the final sprint, and when the dust clears, FIN and PBP will be given to riders based on their position across the finish line.

The first rider across will earn FIN points equal to the number of riders in the race plus 10 PBP, the second rider will earn 1 less FIN point and 8 PBP, all the way down to the last-placed rider earning a single FIN point.

Best-Case Scenario

If you understand the explanation above, then you can understand how we get our Points Distribution charts, like this one for this week’s race:

Points Distributions, Fine and Sandy (4 Laps)

This chart shows the maximum points a team of 6 could earn in the race with 60 participants. No team will ever do this well, of course, but it lets you see, at a glance, the importance of segment points vs finishing points for a particular race. Here’s how we calculated the values for this particular chart:

• If a team of 6 crossed the Boardwalk Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for a total of 4×345=1380 Sprint FAL points
• If a team of 6 crossed the Tidepool Sprint finish line in front of everyone else every lap, they would grab 60+59+58+57+56+55=345 points each lap, for 4×345=1380 additional Sprint FAL points
• If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Boardwalk Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 FTS points
• If the team set all 5 top FTS times for the Tidepool Sprint, they would earn 10+8+6+4+2=30 additional FTS points
• If that same team of 6 were the first across the finish line, they would earn 70+67+64+61+58+55=375 FIN+PBP points

That gives us these maximum points for a team of 6:

• Sprint FAL Points: 2760
• Sprint FTS Points: 60
• KOM FAL Points: 0
• KOM FTS Points: 0
• FIN and PBP Points: 375

Segment Points Minutiae

Which Segments?

With the way WTRL sets up ZRL race routes, they don’t have to give segment points on every sprint or KOM segment on a route. They could designate certain segments as FAL only, FTS only, or as not giving points at all! That said, WTRL normally gives FAL and FTS points on all segments on the route, probably for simplicity’s sake.

Tracking FTS On Leaderboards

The leaderboards on the left side of your screen are a great way to see who grabbed FTS points, but that only works if your race has you going through a particular segment only one time. Because leaderboards only display each rider’s fastest time on the segment, in multi-lap races they probably won’t reflect the actual top 5 fastest times, since a single rider may have multiple top 5 fastest times.

I sure would love to see Zwift modify leaderboard functionality for points races, so we could see our team points totals in real time!

Seeing FTS and FAL Results on ZwiftPower

If you want to see who grabbed segment points after your race, head over to ZwiftPower, pull up your event, and then click on “Primes” at the top. Here you can toggle “First over line” and “Fastest time” to see FAL and FTS times, respectively.

Pro tip: you can actually look at these times mid-race. But you may want to leave that job to your DS!

Annulled Results and FAL

If a rider’s result is annulled (perhaps they don’t finish the race, or they get a DQ), any intermediate points they earned are effectively removed from the race. The annulled rider “keeps” those points – they are not passed on to the next-best rider. But they are also not included in the team total.

Your Thoughts

Watch for a followup post discussing strategic tips for maximizing your segment points.

Until then, if you have questions or segment point tips, share below!