- Racing on Zwift is hands-down the most challenging and fun thing you can do indoors on a bike. It is a heart-pumping, leg-burning experience which can be a little daunting if you haven’t done it before… so here are some key tips to get you started.
Finding a Race
Head over to the Zwift calendar or use the Zwift Companion app to see a list of upcoming races.
Once you’ve chosen a race, read the race description. It should contain everything you need to know about that race’s rules, route, etc.
Since different races have different rules and routes it is important to read the race details completely so you can do your best and not get disqualified.
Choosing Your Category
Just like real-life racing, most Zwift races organize riders into categories based on fitness level. Different races use different categorization schemes, but most use this one:
A: 4.0 w/kg FTP or higher
B: 3.2 w/kg to 4.0 w/kg FTP
C: 2.5 w/kg to 3.2 w/kg FTP
D: Under 2.5 w/kg FTP
If you don’t know what “FTP” is referring to check out What is FTP (Functional Threshold Power) and why does it matter on Zwift? If you don’t know your FTP, check out How can I measure my FTP?
Some races have no categories at all, while others base their categorization off of other criteria such as your best segment time on Strava. Again–read the instructions and this will be made clear.
Still unsure of your category? Take the high road and place yourself in the tougher category for your first race. Respect fellow racers: it’s better to get your butt kicked by stronger riders than to place yourself in an easy category and blow away the field. You can always gracefully drop to an easier category next race if you discover that’s where you belong.
Joining a Race
Joining the race is just like joining any other group ride on Zwift, although most races request that you add the race abbreviation and your category to your profile’s last name so racers are easily visible in the rider list. For example: my name for a recent race was “Eric Schlange ZTR (B)”.
Other than that, it’s as easy as firing up Zwift and clicking to join the event. See “Joining a group ride or race in Zwift” for more details.
Saving Your Ride
While most races are using the zlogger to track rider times, they also require that you save your ride to Strava. This allows ZwiftPower.com to pull your segment times and other race data. (Note: make sure your Strava activity is not marked “private,” otherwise ZwiftPower cannot see your ride data.)
Viewing Results at ZwiftPower.com
Head over to ZwiftPower.com to see how you placed against fellow racers. Most races will show provisional results immediately after the event, with finalized results available a few hours later once Strava scans are complete and the race organizer finalizes the results.
You should also register on ZwiftPower.com and link up your Strava account so you can take advantage of the additional features (like team names) offered by the site. In fact, many races are now requiring ZwiftPower registration if you want to be included in the final results.
Strategy & Tips
Much could be written about race strategy, but here are a few important tips specific to Zwift racing:
- Be ready for a fast start: the first 3-5 minutes of most Zwift races are crazy, with riders pushing hard to establish breaks. Be warmed up before the race, time your start so you’re pushing big watts when the timer hits 0, and be ready to dig deep to avoid being dropped right away from the faster groups.
- Stay out of the wind: the draft effect in Zwift is strong, and you won’t be able to come close to winning unless you take advantage of it for most of the race. Just like the real world, drafting lets you conserve energy so you’ve got something left in the tank when it’s time to break away. Learn more here >
- Know your course and plan your breakaway: different races are different lengths on different routes. Get familiar with the route so you can properly pace yourself and break away from your group at just the right time if you’ve got legs left.
- Be prepared: if you have to stop riding to fix something you forgot, you’ve lost. So make sure you’re prepared before the race starts! Check out this Pre-Ride Checklist.
- Upgrade your ride: as you hit higher levels and achievements in Zwift you unlock faster bikes and wheels. Use them, because the time difference between the “basic” and fastest Zwift setups in a 1-hour race is over 60 seconds! See Test Lap Data for hard numbers on bike/wheel speeds, or the 5 fastest bikes in Zwift, and how to get them if you just want to know which bike to use.
- Use power-ups strategically: if the race allows them, power-ups give you a slight edge when used smartly. Read the guide to power ups in Zwift >
Etiquette
- Use the ride tag if requested: your fellow racers need to know who they’re competing against, so place that race tag (eg, “KISS (B)”) after your last name to make it clear if the race rules request it. Using the tag also helps get the word out about the race to non-racers on course.
- Be kind to race organizers and leaders: the good folks organizing these races are just volunteers, so please treat them respectfully.
Want More?
Read my “5 Advanced Zwift Racing Tips” and “Get an edge with these advanced Zwift racing tips” posts.
When finishing a race, do I have to exit and save the ride at the finish line, or can I continue on and do a couple more laps without it affecting my position? Also, how or where do I see how I placed in the race?
Thanks!
As long as you go past the finish line, you can still ride around some after that–I would say just make sure you don’t ride another full lap, as that could mess things up.
Different races post their results in different places. ZwiftNation.com is the default place where most races post results, but alternative solutions are also being worked on to increase accuracy and that’s up to the race organizer.
How do I analyse the results? I came last but i noticed the rider in front of me was heavier but had a lower watts per kg etc. Why did he beat me?
This may have something to do with it, Sean: http://zwiftinsider.com/how-to-spot-a-smart-racer-on-zwift/
Just like racing in real life… it’s not the person putting out the most w/kg that often wins!
how can i warm-up before the race?
Several options–you can just join the race, then pedal while you’re waiting in the start gates. This puts you on a virtual trainer in the game, and you can spin as much as you want without your avatar moving.
Or you can take a warmup spin in Zwift, then join the race when you’re ready to go to the start gate. Because of how ZwiftPower works I’ve heard it’s best to not do this, though, since your pre-race ride may mess up your race results. So you can do a warmup ride, then end your Zwift session, then start Zwift again and join the race.
I noticed you get called automatically to the start line when subscribed to an event and already doing a warm up ride. Said ride will log separately though. Why would it influence the race if you don’t quit and restart Zwift? How does ZwiftPower work?
I noticed you get called automatically to the start line when subscribed to an event and already doing a warm up ride. Said ride will log separately though. Why would it influence the race if you don’t quit and restart Zwift? How does ZwiftPower work?
In the results,
Why do some riders have a profile and others dont? they dont have power / time data or a ink to it on Strava.
I just done a race with 2 of my friends, my data shows, theirs doesn’t. Both are strava premium users and it is connected to Zwift. As fa as I know my settings are exactly the same and it worked for me.
Any idea why I wouldn’t show up in the results? I used the correct tag in my name, rode the entire race, and named my Strava activity correctly.
I did the KISS race tonight, and if I click the “Live” button I see myself, but I am not in the results themselves.
I’m never sure if I’m at the right place for the start of the race. If I log in with the correct name tag on the correct course, where do I then need to go for staging?
This post should help you understand how group rides/races work: http://zwiftinsider.com/joining-group-ride-race-zwift/
When i’am joined to an event, only the participant are show in the nearby window ? CAn we use it for live classement ?
Hi i just completed a race and my name is not on ZP results , is there a reason why ,can i download to fix
just did the kiss Xmas day hill race.checked results it has a red circle with a u in the middle what does this mean ?
I joined the cat c race 10 minutes prior was all staged up rode the race, had my race ID set in my name EVR C, but I never showed in the results ?
Well past the finish line i cooled off from the effort and rode a bit then went to end the ride and it asked me if I wanted to quit the event, that confused me so I rode around a bit more and then had to exit, but I never showed in the results?
Did I do something wrong?
I have Strava results but no Zwift results.
I show on Zwift power in the race but on the bottom tab in the unlinked section, I don’t know what that means, and would love a key for all the Zwift power symbols like the hourglass in the rider line.
Thank you
Patrick Hover
Jan 2, 2017
One more thing I noticed is my countdown bar to race finish never engaged from the start of the race.
But my tag above me all my data everything else transferred over post race to Zwift power and Strava. But I was under the cat c race results as one of many a unlinked rider with all the data. My Strava stuff shows well.
I
Forgive this reply which fails to answer your question, it is just that I had similar problems during my first attempt at a race and I’d love to know if I did anything wrong, aside from perhaps not crossing the finishing line(!). The race was listed as 29.1km and I completed over 30 but didn’t see a finish banner. My countdown bar did not engage either and I guess it ought to do really. My results are logged on Zwift Power, however, despite one or two connection issues. I guess I’ll have to try again and get used to the way things work.
I do not understand why there is “zp” mentioned behind my name in zwiftpower.com race results. I do have a power smart trainer (kickr power trainer).
I have a strava account but not the premium version. Is that the reason?
I know some others have complained that zwiftpower.com is showing them as being on zPower instead of their smart trainer or PM. All you can do is talk to the folks over at zwiftpower.com about it, I guess!
Hi Eric. I have 2 questions about group riding/racing. I have been having trouble connecting via blue tooth. This morning for example, while I was waiting for my connection and see start time approaching, I clicked ride and “join event”. Then went back to check on my connection status. It finally connected and I was in motion, but it seemed I was not registering in the race. I looked at the results afterward and my name is not there. I added the race letters after my name. I had the sprint option available. Is it because I entered the ride late?
Second question, is there a way to see only the riders in the race I’m riding? Thanks.
Hi Joyce,
Not sure what happened with your race, but if you didn’t start with the group (and you would know if you did) then you won’t be in the race results.
No way to see only the riders in your race at this time. Eventually that will probably happen when they open up the option of racing on different worlds in the same day.
Hi ,when will the cvr league racing start times for the 2nd January appear in the mobile app ? I:e 7pm Tuesday Europe time
Stu
Looks like the CVR events for Tuesday are now in the app.
Hi, our Youth cycling club would like to start a group ride. How do we go about listing this as an event in ZML? Thanks
Here’s more info: https://zwiftinsider.com/setting-up-a-zwift-group-ride-the-unofficial-guide/
I don’t like the upper right corner of the screen. I would like to see the grade and how far the hill is going to be, like I see on some of the older screens. How do I change that to do it now, don’t want the course follow there. That doesn’t do any good, Rather see the grade and how far to climb on a hill. Is there anyway to change that?