Zwift Racing Score Testing Begins via Zwift Labs

June 27, 2024

LAST UPDATED June 29, 2024

Big news for the Zwift racing community this week: Zwift Racing Score has entered the building! How does it work, and what does it mean for Zwift racing? Let’s dive in!

First, a Bit of History

It’s long been known that Zwift’s power-based categorization scheme, while easy to implement, is far from perfect. Grouping riders based on their power numbers will always enable sandbagging on some level since riders with numbers near the top of their categories can keep on winning without being bumped into a higher category.

We all knew that a results-based categorization system was needed. But how exactly should that work? While ranking models already existed in both the video game and bike racing worlds, there was no “off the shelf” formula Zwift could grab that worked quite how they’d like.

One year ago yesterday, Zwift announced the public launch of their Racing Score metric. But the racing community wasn’t impressed with the first iteration, since it was based on ZwiftPower’s ranking metric, which many racers see as flawed.

So Zwift went back to the drawing board, bringing community Zwifter and race ranking guru Tim Hanson of ZwiftRacing.app in as a consultant. The new Zwift Racing Score is nothing like the original, and that’s good news! Zwift heard from the community and made big changes. Next week, Zwifters will begin experimenting with the new Zwift Racing Score. Exciting times!

How It Works

Zwift Racing Score is on a scale of 0-1000 (higher is better), and categories are broken up by assigning Racing Score ranges to each category. For example, July’s 5-category ZRacing events use the following score ranges to populate categories:

725-1000
575-725
400-575
225-400
0-225

Zwift isn’t revealing the precise formula for computing each rider’s Zwift Racing Score. But here’s what we do know: everyone begins with a “seed” (initial) score computed based on your 30-second power, 10-minute power, and body weight. Zwift says:

“We calculate a new racer’s predicted score (seed score) using a compound formula based on CP30s and CP600s power outputs. We then normalize the power by weight and make further adjustments based on our analysis to ensure the score is fair across various weights and performance levels. After normalization, we apply a specific formula to transform these values into a final seed score between 0-1000.”

The primary way your score will increase or decrease is based on your finishing position in races and the quality of fields you race against. Again, Zwift isn’t sharing specifics. But the way they describe it working is exactly what we would expect:

“A higher finish against stronger competitors in races will increase your score more significantly. Conversely, lower placements or less strategic engagement in races will result in smaller gains or even reductions in your score. This method ensures that each racer’s score truly reflects their performance and growth in capability over time.”

There’s some level of “decay” built into the system, so your score may decrease if you don’t race. That said, your Racing Score won’t fall below your most recent calculated seed score.

To learn more, see Zwift’s support page on Racing Score >

Racing Score UI

Zwift Racing Score will show up on both the Zwift Companion app and zwift.com website in three different ways:

Viewing your current Racing Score
Signing up for scored races
Viewing scored race results

IMPORTANT: you must be a member of the Zwift Labs club in order to see your current score. Otherwise, you will only be able to see your score in scored race results. Join the Zwift Labs club >

Here are some screenshots showing how Zwift’s Racing Score will be displayed in Companion and online:

Viewing Current Score

Race Signup

Race Results

Upcoming Events

Zwift is setting up particular events from Zwift-owned racing series and some community-organized races to begin testing Zwift Racing Score. I call these “scored races” below, which means two things: the races use Zwift Racing Score for categorization, and the race results will affect your Racing Score.

Zwift zRacing Series (starting July 1): 4 time slots per day with be scored races: 0810, 1110, 1710, and 2210 UTC. These time slots will use 5 categories, except the 1710 time slot which will use 10 categories. The 10-category events are actually two separate events – a “low end” and a “high end” – each with 5 categories.
Zwift Crit Racing Club (starting July 1): 3 time slots per day will be scored races: 0940, 1740, and 2240 UTC. These time slots will use 5 categories.
Zwift Hill Climb Racing (starting July 5): 1 time slot for each week’s race will be scored. This time slot will use 5 categories.
Zwift Women’s Racing Series (starting July 2): all events for this series will be scored, and will split riders into 5 categories.
HERD Beginner Racing (starting July 6): all events for this series will be scored, and will split riders into 5 categories.
SZR Summer High-Low Series: all events for this series will be scored, and will split riders into 10 categories.
Zwift Insider Tiny Races (starting July 6): all events will be scored, and will split riders into 5 categories.

For now, all scored races will live under the Zwift Labs club, to make it clear that Zwift Racing Score is still in its testing phase. Join the Zwift Labs club to easily access these events in Zwift Companion and share feedback via club chat.

See upcoming Zwift Labs scored races at zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftlabs

Feedback Requested

Zwift says, “Through Zwift Labs, we’re activating Racing Score on a select set of Zwift-owned and community-led races. Our goal is to engage with a diverse group of seasoned racers and thoroughly test various racing scenarios during this initial phase of implementation. But it’s about much more than just racing, it’s crucial that we hear about all your individual experiences, as this will shape future development.”

If you participate in a scored race, be sure to share feedback in the Zwift Labs club chat afterward!

Concluding Thoughts

While it was a long time coming, I’m stoked that Zwift is finally rolling out Racing Score. And I’m crossing my fingers, hoping that everyone’s experience with scored races is a good one.

Because if Racing Score works as intended, it’s going to be the biggest change to Zwift Racing since category enforcement rolled out in February 2022. Results-based categorization means the end of sandbagging, which is huge. It also opens up the possibility of custom categories, meaning race organizers can modify the number of categories and their breakpoints, mixing up the race packs so riders aren’t always near the top or bottom of a category.

My guess is Zwift plans to test Racing Score for July and August, so it’s ready to go when Zwift season begins ramping up in September. I can’t wait to hop in and give it a try myself!