The next season of the Zwift Racing League is upon us, and this week’s list of Top 5 Zwift Videos includes a stage-by-stage breakdown. If you’re new to racing or to Zwift, we’ve also got two videos for and about beginners. Finally, take a look at your best choices for devices to run Zwift, and learn a handy PowerUp shortcut on Apple TV.
WTRL Zwift Racing League 2022 Season 2 – Announcement
It’s that time again! Si Bradeley is here with a preview of ZRL Season 2 in early 2022. Take a look at the route and format for each stage of the next Zwift Racing League.
Beginner Tries Zwift Racing
Watch newbie Zwifter J Mower try his second-ever race on the platform and share what he learned.
What Is Zwift? | Zwift for Beginners Ep.1
Katie Kookaburra is starting a series of videos just for Zwift beginners. Take a look at the first episode, then check back for more!
Best Devices To Run Zwift On Trouble Free
A lot of devices can run Zwift, and they all have their pros and cons. Tariq Ali (SmartBikeTrainers) lays out your options.
Swift Zwift Tip: Apple TV Power-Up Tip!
Did you know you can activate a Zwift PowerUp with the Apple TV remote? Shane Miller (GPLama) shows you how.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
In everyone’s life there are only a few defining moments. In mine, there will be a before and an after the 8 days between 23rd December and 31st December 2021… my Best Zwift Week ever.
I already had in mind the traditional Festive 500 between Xmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. It’s kind of a routine now, and also a different week where long social rides and conversations through the Discord channels of many teams are super interesting. It feels like a time when, more than ever, all Zwift Riders become a community.
However, 14th of December, I received the most astonishing news. Something I would not have dared to imagine in my wildest dreams: WTRL #140 is in Bologna! A WTRL TTT in Bologna! Two full laps!
Pinch me pinch me pinch me! The day before Xmas Eve! It’s too good to be true!. Bells start ringing in my head to the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”!
Bologna TTT for Xmas, Was It Even Real?
Originally I thought the WTRL guys were cracking a bad joke at my expense. Perhaps they had hidden a camera in my place to see if I would have spontaneous bladder incontinence when reading the news, or perhaps if I would turn into a human drooling machine until the event, relegating Pavlov’s dog to the wannabe list of drooling experts.
You may remember that Bologna is my favorite route on Zwift. I am very close to creating the Universal Church of Bologna Circuit. Each time I ride Bologna I have the feeling I am on a pilgrimage. Bologna TT and Massif Mountain TT events are the ones where I have always destroyed my FTP, reaching levels of metaphysical fusion with my bike which would qualify me as a new type X-Man: half human, half bike.
Within this magma of joy and celebration preparing the most important day of my Zwifter life, WTRL guys found nothing better than to announce that WTRL TTT #141 would be… ROAD TO SKY!
So to recap: Bologna TTT, Festive 500, and fireworks finale with Road to Sky TTT. If 2021 was a crappy year, this came very close to compensating for it all!
The Week Begins
23rd of December, I woke up somewhat impatient but at the same time tired. I swear I did not sleep the night before the event. (Just like the night before I had to present for the first time in front of the classroom the migration of the whales when I was 7. Like the night before my first date with Christelle, my first girlfriend. And the night before I got married. Defining moment, I told you!)
While crunching my typical Spanish tomato, olive oil, and ham toast + coffee breakfast, I revisited Eric’s advice on bike choice, then connected to the event 30 minutes before the starting time. I was perfectly fitting the Italian atmosphere with my Pink COALITION kit.
As my teammates were joining I was executing my warm-up routine, already in my own Fausto Coppi world and to the tune of “Funiculì Funiculà” which I was shouting out of tune though very proud of myself. “YAPA, YAPA, YAPA YAPA YAAAAAAAAAAA! FUNI-CULI, FUNI-CULA”.
“40 seconds, stop pedaling! Three minutes delay!” The tension and adrenaline could not be higher. So when he goes “5,4,3,2,1, GOOOOOOO!!!” it is a relief.
I must admit something: I somewhat have a Zwift Pressure Cooker affection. On many occasions, I am so impatient to start that when unleashed I burn myself at the beginning pushing harder than I can sustain during the entire race. That is even more obvious when I am the first to pull in a TTT like today, and it’s something Ricardo spotted from day one. So it was no surprise when he immediately shouted through my headset “Luciano, 410 is enough, Luciano 410, LUCIANOOOO!!! 410!!!!” It looks like I am a rather basic and binary kind of animal, because the loudness of the instructions I am given has a direct correlation with my capacity to obey: I quickly stabilized at 410, and on the flats the team got very well organized.
We quickly reached a fast and steady pace, so when we turned at Arco del Meloncello to start the first climb, we were already in a good place. 4.5 w/kg was what we agreed we could sustain as a team on the climbs, for an effort somewhere between 8 and 9 minutes. 7 of the 8 teammates made it together to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca.
(Screenshot of Brian’s Twitch Streaming of the TTT)
As anticipated, the heavier ones pulled on the descent (we reached 108 km/h which I think is the fastest speed I’ve had on Zwift) and continued in the flats. We literally flew in this segment, but we lost a second climber profile teammate. Kyle is still traumatized after being dropped in the descent despite producing 13wkg!
I don’t know if it is the same for you, but seeing you are doing well generates a virtuous circle effect and pain becomes secondary. The endorphins and above all this conviction of being a team and that nothing can stop us just wipes away the pain.
Ricardo Is the DS Olympic Gold Medalist
But all good things have an end. While the beginning of the second iteration of the climb was profiling at the edge of my screen, Ricardo shouted “Give it all on the climb guys, you are doing great, but now it is time to give it all!!! Step on the pedals and push!!” And 4.5 w/kg for 8 minutes it was again. Whatever quantity “all” was, I gave it.
Ricardo is the DS Olympic Gold Medalist. He is clear and super-organized, he always finds the perfect balance between encouraging and reassuring, pushing and retaining. He conveys a reliability that makes him absolutely trustworthy so you follow his guidance. And he also has a PhD in Zwift Mindreading. When I was within a second of breaking he gave the instruction to slow down to 4w/kg for 30 seconds. His words were like oxygen to my lungs.
Give It All, AGAIN?!
Arriving at the top with 4 more teammates was almost a miracle. But I did not have the time to properly thank all the deities and celestial beings which allowed it when I heard “Luciano, you are the heavier now, your turn, push in the descent, GIVE IT ALL!”
(In the moment I was not sure if I had heard correctly or if it was a consequence of brain oxygen deprivation. I only had confirmation once I checked my teammate’s live stream after the race.)
What do you mean by “Give it all?!” AGAIN?! I have nothing left! When you said give it all ten minutes ago I thought you were serious, it was not a 90% all… it was 100% all, right?
Anyhow don’t ask me how we reached 107 km/h in the descent this time. And flew again on the flats. Upon arrival, the mutual congratulations were more intense than usual.
3rd in Frappe Platinum League, 4th overall. Champagne and Fireworks!
Bologna is still a special place. It’s now Nessun Dorma resonating in my head and I am shouting out of tune! “Dilegua, o notte, Tramontate, stelle, Tramontate, stelle, All’alba vincerò! VINCERÒÒÒÒ! VINCERÒÒÒÒÒÒÒÒ!”. My neighbours hate me more than ever.
Thank you to the two Andreas, Samuel, Christian, Brian, Kyle and Fred for one of the best moments I had on Zwift! Just makes this whole thing so awesome!
Zwift Racing League is far and away the most competitive and prestigious race series on Zwift. And it continues to grow, with over 2,000 teams and 17,000 riders signed up this season!
Smart racers want to recon the course before each week’s race, so community organizers and ZwiftHQ have jumped in to schedule events on each week’s ZRL route.
While there are lots of ZRL recon events happening, here are a few highlights:
Wahoo Le Col Racing Series (Separate Events for Men and Women)
The Wahoo Le Col team has organized a Saturday racing series for men, and a separate (new!) series for women, where each week’s race uses the route that will be raced in ZRL 3 days later.
Women’s event Saturdays at 3pm GMT/10am EST/7am PST Men’s event Saturdays at 11:30am GMT/6:30am EST/3:30am PST See both events at https://www.zwift.com/events/tag/wlc
Team Electric Spirit Co. Aperitivi Race Series
An aperitivo is a pre-meal drink, and Team Electric Spirit Co. has returned once again this season with a pre-ZRL series! Each week’s racecourse is “a shortened (where possible) version of that week’s Zwift Racing League course, making it the perfect chance for a little aperitivo for those racing on Tuesday, or just a great fun series for anyone else.”
This is a race series, too, where your best 7 from 9 results count in the overall series with points allocated based on finishing position with a small number of bonus points allocated for first past the post and fastest through each segment on the course.
Just today, Zwift announced they’ve scheduled recon rides hourly on Mondays. Race Director Charlie Issendorf says, “These are non-competitive, go-your-own-pace group rides, without ride leaders. Recon Rides can be done solo, with teammates, or friends from other teams. Everyone is encouraged to attend and plan their strategies for Tuesday’s race!”
Our recent post on How ZwiftPower Calculates Rider Rankings introduced many Zwifters to this global ranking system. Now it’s time to look at strategies for boosting your ranking!
Race Stronger Riders/Higher Categories
Remember: generally speaking, “to improve your ranking you must beat riders currently ranked stronger than yourself.” If you’re not racing against higher-ranked riders, you’re not going to improve your ZwiftPower ranking.
There are different ways to execute this strategy:
Race Up a Cat: riders in the next category up will have a better ranking than those in your category, meaning you have more potential points to earn. Further reading: The Dangers of Racing Your Zwift Category
Race Uncategorized Races: while rare, some races have just one category, so you’ll be racing against riders of all abilities. If you’re normally a B or lower, that means you’ll be competing for points against some higher-ranked riders who normally race in higher categories.
Look at the Signup List: a simple but effective strategy. Click on an event in ZwiftPower, then click the “Rank” column to sort signups by their ranking. If you’re ranked higher than anyone currently signed up, this may not be the best event to target when pursuing a rankings boost.
As explained in How ZwiftPower Calculates Rider Rankings, field size is a key part of the Points Per Place calculation. It doesn’t affect how many points you earn for 1st place, but it greatly affects the points given to 2nd, 3rd, etc.
This is a simple strategy to execute: just look at how many are signed up for a race, and join the bigger events.
Race Your Strengths
An obvious strategy, perhaps, but worth mentioning. When you’re racing for a ranking boost, choose a race that suits your strengths. That means flatter racers for sprinters, hilly races for climbers, etc. Choose a course profile and length that suits you best.
Most serious Zwift racers are part of a team. And it’s possible, on a well-organized team, to enter races where you have team members working as your domestiques with the goal of maximizing your result. If your team members can mount attacks to tire out the field, drop back to lend you a wheel, and lead you out for the win, you stand a better chance at a good result.
This happens quite a bit in ZRL events, but you also see it in one-off events and short race series which have a GC element. All it takes is planning and some willing teammates!
Remember: You Only Need 5
Racers sometimes make the mistake of constantly targeting good ranking results, racing multiple times each week in the hope of earning a points upgrade.
But remember: your ZwiftPower ranking is the average of your 5 best race results in the past 3 months. That’s only one race every 18 days, on average.
Instead of scraping for points every other day, you may be better off using some of your hard days to execute workouts that shore up your weaknesses or boost your strengths. If you’re getting dropped on short climbs, do some VO2 workouts, or race in Yorkshire and treat is as a workout without investing a lot in the outcome.
Then rest up and use your newfound fitness to kill it in a race against a strong, large field!
Sign Up Early
When smart racers are looking for a race to join, they want a high-quality race. That usually means a larger field containing higher-ranked riders.
If you want to attract others to a race, sign up early yourself! The earlier everyone signs up, the easier it is for everyone to find which races feature the strongest fields.
Strategies Just for Women
In talking about rank-boosting strategies, we heard from several ladies who gave the same tips.
Race Down a Mixed Category
While the women we talked to generally agreed that it’s pretty tough to get a good result as an A woman in a mixed A race, they said they’ve received good rankings boosts by entering mixed B races.
ZwiftPower moves ladies up from the women’s B to A category when they hit an FTP of 3.7 w/kg. But the threshold for a mixed-category A race is 4.0 w/kg AND 250 watts.
With many women racers being lighter-weight riders, that 250 watt threshold is never hit. (In fact, more than half of the current top 10 rated women in the world have an FTP below 250W!)
This means many of the strongest woman racers are allowed to race against mixed B fields. And the stronger B races feature lots of men in the 150-250 points range, providing numerous opportunities for points boosts for the ladies (the average ranking of the top 10 women in the world today is 175 points).
Choose Hilly Races
If you’re a lightweight A woman racing against a strong mixed B field, choosing hillier events is probably your key to rankings boosts. Why? Because chances are, your FTP w/kg is much higher than most or all of the men you’re competing against.
Use that to your advantage – sit in on the flats and descents, then destroy them on the climbs. Place high and take home the points!
Questionable Tactics
Here are a few tactics we’ve seen used that we can’t necessarily fully endorse, as some would consider them unsporting. (Others would say it’s just shrewdly playing the game.)
However you look at it, these tactics are being used every day on Zwift, and they’re not violating any rules. You can use them with being disqualified, but keep in mind you may angers.
Shorter Races
Race length has no bearing on points earned. That is, given identical fields, your 10th-place finish in a 3-hour race will earn you the same points as a 10th place in a 5-minute sprint race.
Sort of crazy, right? Logically, this leads to some riders using shorter races to grab points without killing their legs. An especially powerful strategy if your power profile is one that performs well in shorter efforts punctuated by a sprint, as that’s what short races typically are.
Double Races, Emphasizing the 2nd Race
If shorter races provide a way to upgrade your ranking with less effort, how about doing two shorter races? The “Oh My Crit” series is a popular one featuring back to back shorter races.
But here’s the pro tip (or cheater’s tip, depending on where you stand): go easy in the first race. Or skip it altogether. Then go for the best result possible in the second race. Many of the racers in that second race will be tired from the first event, so you stand a better chance of a good result with your fresh legs.
Sign Up Late
The opposite of our good neighbor “Sign Up Early” tip above, higher-ranked riders will sometimes avoid signing up until the last minute. This means other riders checking the competition on ZwiftPower beforehand won’t see you, which means you stand a better chance of not being marked.
It’s the first prong of a ninja race attack, really. Couple it with an all-black kit and the Invisibility PowerUp and you’ll achieve next-level sneakiness!
Women Helped by Men On Their Team
Some of the women we spoke with said they have seen women helped in races by men who are on their teams. Perhaps a higher-ranked man who doesn’t care much about his ranking points will purposely let a woman teammate finish ahead of him. He may also serve as her domestique, helping her to maximize her result.
The average ranking of the 10 top-ranked women in the world is 175, while the average of the top 10 men is 72. This is an indicator of the fact that there are plenty of dudes out there who are ranked higher than the world’s top ladies… which means ladies can grab a lot of points by finishing ahead of the guys!
DNF
Ah, the old DNF trick. Highly-ranked riders have been known to drop out of races before the finish, so their ranking points won’t be used to boost the race’s quality score or overall finisher average, which could boost the points of other riders.
A tamer version of the DNF strategy above, highly-ranked riders may decide to “sit up” at the end of a race to make sure they aren’t in the top 10 finishers. This means their ranking points won’t be included in the race quality score, but will still be included in the overall finisher average.
A less offensive strategy than the pure DNF, to be sure.
Conclusion
Keep in mind these are not standalone strategies. For big rankings boosts you’ll have to combine as many of these strategies as possible: racing up a category against a large field on a route profile that suits you, for example.
Best of luck as you work to boost your ranking!
Questions or Comments?
Did we miss any good tips? Have you seen any of these in practice, or used them yourself? How did it work out? Share below!
Our picks for this weekend are a nice mixture, from social rides to structured training to full-out racing.
Team Electric Spirit Co. Aperitivi Series Round 1
This is the first race of series of nine, held at the same time each Saturday to preview the upcoming Zwift Racing League routes. This week it’s a 24.6km race on the Neokyo All-Nighter course.
“Join Team Electric Spirit Co. for the second season of the Aperitivi, a fast and furious 9 race series every Saturday. Each week we will run over a shortened (where possible) version of that week’s Zwift Racing League course, making it the perfect chance for a little aperitivo for those racing on Tuesday, or just a great fun series for anyone else.
Best 7 from 9 results will count in the overall series with points allocated based on finishing position with a small number of bonus points allocated for first past the post and fastest through each segment on the course.”
This is a race on the PRL courses in London (choose between half or full versions). I’m highlighting this as I have seen plenty of group rides tackling the PRL Full, but never a race! This is one for the brave.
If you are looking to get back into shape after an indulgent festive period then it might be worth considering the WHOOP Workout Series.
WHOOP is offering structured training programmes over a 3-week period, and this week the programmes have been designed by Lionel Sanders, Canadian pro triathlete and the winner of the 2017 ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships.
WHOOP is a wearable fitness tracker that measures strain, recovery, and sleep.
I am highlighting this event because the Rocacorba Collective is about “changing the very fabric of female pro cycling” Their mission is to “revolutionize the indoor e-cycling experience, creating a completely transparent and inclusive community that provides an inspiring, uplifting and safe space for women to come together on any level in cycling eSports; from beginner to World eSports Champion.”
Two of this week’s Top 5 Zwift Videos feature 24-hour rides, including one team and one solo attempt. Then, see what it’s like to ride the Neokyo Crit Course, which is the only event-only route to have a route badge! Finally, explore Zwift’s hardest climbs, including a race on the Alpe du Zwift.
Did We Just Ride 24 Hours Straight On Zwift!?
Fernwee and the Ride Beyond Crew hosted a 24-hour challenge event on Zwift for teams and solo riders. Of course, they participated, too, recording their effort and how they maximized the distance covered.
24 Hour Zwift Ride Attempt For Cancer Research
Jorge Wilkes tries for a 24-hour solo ride, showing just how challenging this is to do on your own. He didn’t make it the whole way, but his ride is still impressive. Plus, he surpassed his goal for money raised for UK Cancer Research!
L39ION of LA Crit Series: Neokyo Crit Course
Patrick Lino gives an overview of the L39ION of LA Crit Series and guides you around the event-only Neokyo Crit Course.
10 HARDEST Climbs in Zwift 2022 Edition
Chris Pritchard updates his previous list of the top 10 hardest climbs in Zwift to include some that have appeared in the past couple of years.
First Race Up the Alpe du Zwift
A race up the Alpe du Zwift is definitely a different experience than a typical Zwift race. Watch Caedmon Cycling tackle his first one.
Got a Great Zwift Video?
Share the link below and we may feature it in an upcoming post!
Who’s the world’s best Zwift racer today? There’s only one ranking system Zwifters go to for the answer, and that’s the ZwiftPower Individual Rider Rankings.
This will be news to some of you who didn’t know that every race on Zwift is actually a multilevel competition. Of course, there is the obvious “first across the line” ranking. But ZwiftPower also awards ranking points to all race finishers, and those points are used to rank Zwifters against one another.
So there are at least two competitions going on in every Zwift race. (And in a more complex race series like ZRL, every race is actually several competitions. But we won’t dig into that today.)
This post explains how ZwiftPower’s ranking points are calculated, both in simple terms and in minute mathematical detail. A follow-up post will focus on boosting your ZwiftPower ranking. Let’s dive in!
The Basics of ZwiftPower Rankings
The ZwiftPower rider rankings are calculated using the same formula as USA Cycling’s ranking system. (We were going to link to a nice explainer on USA Cycling’s website, but their website is broken and in fact quite terrible, so that can’t happen.) Here are the key things to understand about the system:
Rankings are set between 0 and 600 points: everyone begins at 600
Lower Scores are Better: a rider ranked at 100 is “ahead” or “stronger” than a rider ranked at 200
Best 5 Races in Past 90 Days: every race you finish earns a result (group rides and TTT’s do not count). But only your best 5 results in the past 3 months are used to calculate your current rider score. Notably, this means that a bad result doesn’t hurt your score. It just doesn’t help it!
Not Category-Based: ranking points are separate from ZwiftPower categories (A/B/C/D). Points tell you how you rank against the full universe of Zwift racers, while categories divide racers into competitive groups. It’s very possible for a B (or even a C) to outrank an A rider.
Improving Your Ranking: in general, to improve your ranking you must beat riders currently ranked stronger than yourself. This isn’t exactly how it works, but conceptually this is the idea.
Only for ZwiftPower Users: if you aren’t signed up/opted in to ZwiftPower, your result isn’t part of the points calculation, and you aren’t earning any points.
Seeing Your Results on ZwiftPower
Your race result will not show up immediately on ZwiftPower after you finish the race. We aren’t sure what triggers the calculation, but our guess is it has to do with organizers finalizing the results. In our experience, results always show up by the next day, but sometimes show up within an hour or two.
When viewing your ZwiftPower Profile, the far-right column (titled “Result”) tells you your points result for each race.
Additionally, the “Race Ranking” section of your profile tells you your current rank. Click the “Info” box to see how you rank against others in your category, age group, weight group, team, and country. It will also show the top 5 scores which your current rank is based upon.
How Race Results are Calculated
Every race you finish produces a points result. How is that result calculated? Put on your thinking caps, kids. We’ll try to keep it simple, but it’s a somewhat complex formula!
Your result is calculated using the following formula:
Rank Points = Race Quality + ((Finishing Position – 1) * Points Per Place)
So your result is based on three variables: Race Quality, your Finishing Position, and Points Per Place. Finishing Position is obvious enough, but what are “Race Quality” and “Points Per Place”? Glad you asked!
Race Quality
“Race Quality” refers to the strength of your competition. Think about it: if you entered a race against 100 WorldTour pros and won first, that should boost your ranking more than if you won a race against 100 rookie racers, right?
The formula for Race Quality is:
Race Quality = (Average of the best 5 riders finishing in the top 10 places) x (0.9)
Easy enough to understand. So when a race finishes, we can look at the top 10 to calculate the Race Quality. Suppose a race ends, and the top 10 looks like this:
Race Results Example
Racer
Place
Ranking Before Event
Racer A
1
250
Racer B
2
200
Racer C
3
400
Racer D
4
220
Racer E
5
500
Racer F
6
350
Racer G
7
300
Racer H
8
280
Racer I
9
540
Racer J
10
330
Race quality would be based on the 5 highest-ranked finishers in that list, which would be:
Note: there is an exception to the Race Quality equation. If the average of all of the riders who finish the race is lower than that of the average of the best 5 in the top 10 then the Race Quality is calculated using the total race average points instead of the average of the best 5 in the top 10. This is a very rare occurrence on Zwift due to fairly large and diverse field sizes.
Points Per Place
Points Per Place refers to how many points each successive finishing place is worth. Obviously, finishing first should earn more points than finishing second, and so on. But this formula also takes into account the total number of finishers (field size), because finishing 10th in a field of 20 riders shouldn’t be worth as much as finishing 10th in a field of 100.
Points Per Place is calculated like this:
Points Per Place = ((Average Ranking of Finishers – Race Quality) * 2) / (Finishers – 1)
Using the example of the 10 racers from above, Points Per Place would be:
Points Per Place = ((337 – 225) * 2) / (10 – 1) = 24.88
Note: a small field adjustment exists on ZwiftPower. If there are between 5 and 9 riders who finish, ZwiftPower still uses the top 5 for quality, but uses all riders for average.
Final Calculation
Now that we know our Race Quality and Points Per Place figures, we can calculate the resulting points earned by any racer:
Rank Points = Race Quality + ((Finishing Position – 1) * Points Per Place)
We know Race Quality in our example is 225, and Points Per Place is 24.88. So the 1st place finisher’s rank points would be:
225 + ((1-1) * 24.88) = 225
Yes, 1st place always earns the “Race Quality” number as their score. But 2nd place would earn:
225 + ((2-1) * 24.88) = 249.88
Key Ranking Factors
Now that we know precisely how ZwiftPower points are calculated, we can see which factors are most important if we’re looking to improve our ranking. (We’ll be publishing a post all about boosting your ZwiftPower ranking soon, but this is just a teaser.)
Field Size
Using our race example above, imagine if that list of 10 finishers was just the top 10, but there were 90 additional finishers. This doesn’t change our Race Quality number at all (it’s still based on the same top 5 ranked finishers in the top 10). But it drastically reduces our Points Per Place number:
Points Per Place with 10 Finishers = ((337 – 225) * 2) / (10 – 1) = 24.88
Points Per Place with 100 Finishers = ((337 – 225) * 2) / (100 – 1) = 2.26
This doesn’t change things for 1st place, but it changes things for everyone else! Consider the result the 10th place rider would earn in both scenarios:
10th Place with 10 Finishers =225 + ((10-1) * 24.88) = 448.92
10th Place with 100 Finishers =225 + ((10-1) * 2.26) = 245.34
Remember, the lower number is better. In this case, it’s a massive difference of 200 points, even if the top 10 finishers were the same!
Top-Ranked Finishers
Having some super-strong racers finish in the top 10 will improve your Race Quality rating, which in turn can give you higher points, especially if you finish near the top. Consider the effect if Rider A in our original example was rated at 100 instead of 250:
Race Quality with Super Strong Finisher = ((200+220+100+280+300) / 5) * 0.9 = 198
This doesn’t drastically alter the Points Per Place number:
Original Points Per Place = ((337 – 225) * 2) / (10 – 1) = 24.88
Points Per Place with Super Strong Finisher = ((322 – 198) * 2) / (10 – 1) = 27.56
But it does alter how many points 1st place earns (remember, their result equals the Race Quality rating).
If you got 2nd place in the original race, you would have earned a result of 249.88. But if you got 2nd place with the super-strong 100-rated rider finishing in the top 10, your result is now 225.56.
Better-Ranked Finishers
At the start of this post we said “to improve your ranking you must beat riders currently ranked stronger than yourself.” While this isn’t always the case (there are situations where you could improve your score without beating riders ranked above you) in the vast majority of situations, the statement holds true.
Therefore, if you’re looking to improve your ranking, you need to enter races against higher-ranked riders. If you’re the top-ranked rider in your race, chances are very good that winning 1st place won’t boost your ranking at all.
And this is why top-ranked racers will often pull out of a race before the end… because if they finish against a weaker field, they’re essentially boosting the scores of their competitors, without boosting their own score. Unsporting? Many would say so. But it happens.
Wrapping It Up
Hopefully you now understand how ZwiftPower’s rider rankings work. And if you do, congrats – that means you can easily grasp how ZwiftPower’s team rankings work!
Watch this space for a follow-up post focusing on strategies for boosting your rider ranking.
Questions or Comments
Something you don’t understand? A nuance we missed? Comment below.
The first race of Zwift Racing League 2021/22 Round 2 happens Tuesday, January 11th (Monday the 10th for Premier Division racers), and everyone is stoked to jump back into the ZRL action.
This first race is special for a few reasons:
It’s the first race of the season (always fun, as racers meet this season’s competition)
It’s the first ZRL event ever held in Neokyo, and (obviously) the first time we’ve ever raced the Neokyo All-Nighter route
It’s the shortest ZRL points race we’ve ever had (24.6km)
Let’s dig into the course, including tips for bike choice, strategic options, and crucial pinch points:
Looking at the Route: Makuri Islands’ Neokyo All-Nighter
This route is 24.6km (15.3 miles) long, with 167 m (548‘) of climbing. All categories are racing just a single lap, meaning A/B races will finish in around 30 minutes, with C/D races probably finishing closer to 35 minutes.
This course has something for everyone: four flat sprints for the wattage bazookas, and a short KOM for the climbers:
The course breaks up nicely into two halves.
First half: flat, with 4 sprints
3km: Castle Park Sprint Rev (300m)
7.8km: Alley Sprint (480m)
9.7km: Castle Sprint (300m)
11.4km: Tower Sprint (300m)
Second half: two key climbs, then the descent and finish
13km: 200m kicker at 4%
16.8km: Rooftop KOM (1.9km at 2.7%)
This is a twisty, new course, and many riders will be unfamiliar with the sprint locations. Use this to your advantage in the first half of the race. Do your homework. Learn where the sprints start and end.
Important: all four sprints are awarding first across the line (FAL) points, but only the longest sprint (Alley Sprint) awards fastest through segment (FTS) points. Time your efforts accordingly.
Just after your final sprint (Tower Sprint) you will turn right and go under an overpass. Get ready, as the climbing efforts are about to begin!
The road will take a hairpin left, and you’ll hit a 4% ramp approximately 200 meters long. This will be the biggest attack point of the race thus far.
This ramp takes you up onto the railroad level, where you’ll enjoy more flat roads for a bit (including riding through the Railroad Sprint banner for another powerup, without having to actually sprint!).
Then you’ll reach the most selective portion of the entire route: the Rooftop KOM:
This climb will take anywhere from 2.5-4.5 minutes depending on your fitness. It’s difficult to set a steady rhythm on this twisty climb because of how the first half stairsteps up, so mind your position in the pack, and be sure to apply extra power where the road is steepest.
Recover on the descent after the KOM, then once you hit the Arcade get ready for the final effort to the line. Exiting the Arcade you’ve got 400m left. Time that sprint perfectly and you may just end up on the podium!
Riders will be awarded powerups through each segment banner, meaning we’ll get 7 powerups during the race (one at each sprint segment, one at the top of the KOM, then one each time we ride through the Railway Sprint banner, even though there’s not a sprint segment for us to contest in the direction we’re traveling.)
Three powerups will be randomly given out at each banner:
Aero Boost (helmet): makes you more aerodynamic (reduces your CdA by 25%) for 15 seconds. Best used when you’re going fastest and air resistance is highest. Very handy in sprint efforts, flying finishes, and attacks off the front.
Draft Boost (van): increases the draft effect you are experiencing by 50% for 30 seconds. Use at higher speeds (flats and descents) when you are already drafting off another rider (since this powerup only helps when you are drafting.) Very handy for increasing recovery while sitting in the pack, or boosting your speed while sprinting through the pack.
Burrito: turns off draft effect for riders within a 2.5m radius for 10 seconds. Use when attacking off the front so opponents have to work harder to follow you, or use it in the group to make everyone nearby hate you for 10 seconds.
Bike Frame + Wheel Choice
Aero rules the day here, because even though the two climbs will prove decisive, neither is long or steep enough for a lightweight rig to outpace an aero rig.
We tested some common setups on the Rooftop KOM… here are the results:
Tron (Zwift Concept Z1): 228.66s
Specialized Venge S-Works+DT Swiss Disc: 228.86s
Scott Addict RC+ENVE 7.8: 229.01s
Specialized Aethos+Lightweights: 230.5s
A super-aero disc setup will give you a slight advantage over the Tron in the sprints, but the Tron gives a slight advantage on the climb. Choose accordingly.
See Tron vs Top Performers for a look at the relative performance of various bikes and wheelsets.
More Route Recon
Many events now being consistently planned each weekend on the upcoming ZRL route. If you’re not familiar with this course, jump into one of these events and do some recon! Here’s a list of upcoming Neokyo All-Nighter events.
Looking for a video recon, with lovely British commentary to boot? Here are our two favorite recon videos this week:
Si Bradeley
Sherpa Dave
Strategic Options
There are several smart strategies to employ in this week’s race, depending on your strengths as a rider and the overall strengths of your team:
All In On the Sprints: sprinters who don’t fancy their chances on the KOM would be wise to grab all the points they can on the opening 4 sprints, then ride smart to maximize their finishing position.
Triple Sprint Attack: the second sprint (Alley Sprint) is the longest, and the only one awarding FTS points. A strong sprinting team might try attacking on this sprint and staying away for ~3.4km to the end of the Tower Sprint, grabbing lots of points on three sprint segments along the way.
Rest + Climb: non-sprinters will be sitting in and reserving energy in hopes of staying with the front group over the key climbs. Climbers may be able to grab some KOM points, but if nothing else you may be able to earn strong finishing points if you hang with the front to the end.
Sag Start: with the KOM awarding FTS points, strong climbers would be smart to start near the back of the front group, then finish near the front. This will give you the shortest segment time, while letting you benefit from the draft during the climb. That draft is crucial on this section, which includes many flat portions.
Clawing It Back: with nearly 6km of descent and flat after the KOM banner, heavier riders will have the chance to catch some riders up the road if they work together and use powerups wisely. Solo riders who don’t find others to work with will be quickly swept up before the finish.
Arcade Attack: the ride through the twisty Arcade road begins with around 800m to go, and ends with 400m left. A rider attacking in this section should be able to get off the front with fewer riders noticing, since you can’t see more than a few meters up the road in the Arcade. It’s a pursuiter’s dream finish!
Watch the Premier Division Race
Zwift’s top racers will kick off their season Monday.
Your Thoughts
Any insights or further thoughts on the first race of season 2? Share below!
C.A. stands for “Cadence Adjustment” and is exactly what this week’s workout is targeting. We all have our preferred cadence range, but it’s important to be able to pedal outside of that when riding outdoors over variable terrain. This workout challenges your ability to spin the pedals. And ideally, to do so outside of your typical comfort zone! If you enjoy this workout, check out the Build Me Up flexible training plan for more like it under the plans tab!
The workout begins with a warmup and three short spinups to get the muscles firing. Then it’s onto the main set, which is 8 minutes long and repeated 5 times. Each set consists of four different intervals which see your cadence climbing from 85 to 90, 100, then 115 in the final minute.
60 minutes long, 59 stress points
Workout Outline:
Warmup
3 spinups of 30 seconds @110% of FTP, 100RPM
5 Sets of:
2 minutes @55% of FTP, 85RPM
3 minutes @90% of FTP, 90RPM
2 minutes @85% of FTP, 100RPM
1 minute @75% of FTP, 115RPM
Cooldown
About Workouts of Week
Each week, Zwift features a fresh workout for riders looking to boost their fitness. These workouts are available on-demand under the “Workout of the Week” folder in your workouts list. They are also available as group workouts during their featured week (see upcoming WoTW group workouts).
Once the week has finished, Zwift may keep the workout available by saving it in another folder. If you want to save the workout yourself, click to duplicate the workout, then save your duplicate, which will be available under “Custom Workouts”.
How’d It Go?
Did you take on this week’s workout? How was it? Share below!
We are about to start another season of the Zwift Racing League (ZRL). What I’ve written below, believe it or not, is a tribute to all the ZRL captains, from the utterly sarcastic bottom of my stone heart.
There are some jobs or missions which are ungrateful by nature. Regardless of who is performing them, they attract the anger or repudiation of humankind.
For example, being the referee of any major professional sport. I can’t recall anyone at the end of any game claiming spontaneously “Woah! What a referee we had today! He did a wonderful job!” Does anyone remember the name of the 2018 Soccer World Cup Final or the 2016 Super Bowl’s referee? However, I can remember in less than a second more than seven thousand outrageous offensive comments targeting referees, most of them requiring you to show your ID before you’re allowed to hear them.
Being ZRL coach/captain/team manager (you can choose any appellation, it will not mitigate the pain of the experience) falls in the same category as missions: an outstanding contribution without which nothing would be possible, which receives very little recognition, and therefore only attracts the most masochistic of us.
Let’s be honest: who would volunteer for being alternatively and randomly the mom, dad, friend, confidant, counselor, shrink and/or pet, of a bunch of 40-year-old immature frustrated wannabe pro-cycling teenagers!?
You don’t agree? Well, let’s recap a week in the life of a ZRL coach, and I am sure you will agree this is much closer to a via crucis than a path to glory.
Everything starts on Wednesday, results day.
You wake up at 4:37AM frantically refreshing the WTRL results page, as you know that at 5AM the team members will start asking if the results of Tuesday’s race are published.
Like Chinese water dripping torture, one after the other and without checking if anyone asked before and received an answer, each member of the team is going to ask in the Telegram/Discord/WhatsApp group.
As a good captain, you have already prepared between ten and twenty different reactions or scientific explanations to the disastrous individual and collective performance on Tour of Tewit Well. Each of them will protect the dignity of each team member, allowing them to recommit to next week’s race. But once you announce the results, radio silence. Seems nobody cares now. Does the following look familiar?
Thursday is the race back-office preparation day.
For breakfast, you watch Sherpa’s Dave recce seven times until you know the circuit by heart but also all the songs of the video, including the ones you hate which are going to stay in your head the entire day.
Next race is a TTT, so making a team more valuable than the sum of its individual contributors is your role. And the team makes you accountable for it. On your own. Nobody will even imagine that some help might be welcome.
You study everyone’s latest power numbers, and previous results on the circuit for each rider. Best bike, absolute watts vs w/kg balance. You spend your whole day on it.
No pain cave today for you, only the Excel spreadsheet cave.
Friday is the day everyone pretends this will be the race of their lives.
At this point everybody wants to race. Everyone has the best argument to justify he should be racing no matter what.
Each single member of the team finds the best way to emotionally blackmail the Captain. And as a Captain you will have to break the heart of two team members as there are only 6 seats available for 8.
Saturday is the day you announce the selection and get drunk.
There is a noticeable spike of alcoholism among ZRL team captains on selection announcement day. The following graph explains it all:
This week, Alfredo and Jan are out.
Jan pretended he did not care, but immediately started zwifting for seven hours, increased his FTP in a race, and sent you a screenshot of the FTP upgrade with an impossible to interpret emoji.
Alfredo decided he would appeal your decision. He invoked many Faverophobic discriminatory behaviors you had over the past weeks according to him. (Faverophobia refers to the fact that he uses Assioma Favero pedals as a power source while all other team members have a smart trainer.) Alfredo believes Faverophobia is the main driver of your decision. You are served at noon by Alfredo’s lawyer.
Sunday is the impossible meet-up day.
It’s more difficult to find a common slot to recce next week’s TTT than to organize a World Summit on climate change with the top 20 world leaders.
All of a sudden it looks like your team’s calendars are more crowded than Cindy Crawford’s the day she joined Tinder.
Obviously at 4PM only 4 out of 6 show up. This includes Jan, who is not selected and joined just for fun. Numbers are terrible, and you anticipate the worst for Tuesday.
Monday morning is the day natural disasters directly target members of the team and their relatives, preventing most of them from racing Tuesday.
The same guys swearing that this race was the most important event in their lives since the birth of their first child are now making up the most unbelievable stories to escape it.
As a cautious captain, you already have a plan B and plan C. But not a Plan J. You finally find fallback solutions with the help of other captains in your club to make it to five riders starting the race. Not ideal, but still good enough to not totally lose credibility.
You are so happy that the end of the season is near. You remember when the manager of the club gaslighted you into believing that being ZRL captain was “the most interesting experience on Zwift”. Here again, depending on the perspective, words have different meanings. You are still trying to figure out what perspective made this guy use the adjective “interesting”. From a scientific perspective, there is no possible explanation other than delusion, bad faith, or evil. Most certainly a combination of the three.
Tuesday: Race Day
It is 7:30AM and Alfredo writes to you that he can finally make it. His dog is doing better and he wants to race.
Since you need Alfredo as a sixth rider, you decide to be pragmatic. You will not point publicly to the fact that the one having the sick dog was Dieter, and that hopefully Alfredo is not missing the fake funeral of his fake three times gone grandmother.
The race is at 7PM. At 6:45PM no one is in the pen and you are by yourself in the Discord audio channel. Your frantic messages remain unanswered.
6:50 PM, 11 guys are connected on Discord and all the riders are in the pen. 11! Subs are there, Dieter and his dog are connected from the car on their way back from the vet. Chris is connected despite his bruised rib and breathes heavily on the microphone. Jan is making some jokes about how horrible the ride was on Sunday, and everybody laughs. You are a team.
Timer goes to zero. Three minutes delay. That is when you give the last instructions and remind the guys to remain together, to stick to the plan, while not believing for a single second this will be the case.
But when you give the go everything starts on the right foot. The guys manage to immediately form a line and start pushing hard and steady, communicating with each other as necessary, orderly and efficiently.
Alfredo is on a great day. Each time he takes a pull he cuts two seconds to the team ahead. Marc is filling the gaps to maintain a permanent draft, Pierre is pushing hard on the climbs… smooth, fast, very pro. Everybody is at the max output possible. Feeding and being fed by the team.
When after only seven kilometers the first competitors are overtaken, you know something good is cooking. You will not cede to euphoria, there is a long way to go, but instead of slowing down, the guys even accelerate. A second and a third team are swallowed by yours. Now everyone is conscious something big is happening. You are no longer a team, you are THE team. Dieter celebrates and encourages, the dog barks in the background, you can’t refrain from being very pushy now, “Go! Go! Go! Give it all! Two kilometers to go!”
Done! Incredible! Awesome job guys!
You sweat more than if you would have raced yourself, your heart rate peaking like you’re racing up Ven-Top.
Upon arrival the celebration is huge, but also the expectation has been raised. Did we make it?
The results show almost immediately on the WTRL webpage. First! We won, they won, I won! Whatever! First!
“Ahh, the first, my last, my everything. And the answer to all my dreams.
You’re my sun, my moon, my guiding star. My kind of wonderful, that’s what you are.”
As you go to bed, you tell yourself the week went exactly as planned. You forget all the frictions and tensions, the silences. It’s all buried under the ton of fun you had during the race. Awesome team, awesome game, awesome everything.
You even plan to apologize to your mother-in-law for the things you said during Thanksgiving dinner.
Being ZRL Captain is the best thing that has happened to you since you discovered Zwift.
Wednesday, Week 2
And we are back to Wednesday. At 6AM you receive the first message asking if the definitive results are up… are they definitive? Are they uploaded? Do you know?
And the routine goes on…
So, before enrolling as a ZRL Team Captain, just take into account those minor hiccups and stones in the shoe which may occur down the road.
I would like to thank all the captains who had to suffer the unbearable torture of having me on their teams. Special thanks to Peter, from Jerbos Team, who beyond an incredible Captain and person became a friend (Jerbos forever!), and to Ricardo from Coalition, who made me discover an entirely new universe with WTRL TTTs and is helping the team and myself to improve week after week.
There are so many anecdotes I could have put in here. I have tried to make some fun out of the ones in which I was involved one way or another, though I have never been ZRL captain myself (the Telegram conversations above are fakes, generated through an online tool). I am sure you have plenty of stories yourself.
Your Stories
I am really interested in hearing your ZRL Captain or DS misadventures or anecdotes. Share below!
