Zwift began testing their new Zwift Racing Score (ZRS) metric in early July, with the goal of rolling out results-based race categorization heading into the 2024/25 indoor racing season.
Since that test launch, Zwift’s game team has been looking closely at ZRS results and Zwifter feedback. Recently they announced plans to launch ZRS in October, while also sharing details of the latest tweaks made to the ZRS system…
Floor Score Change Indicators
Race results now include more transparency about hitting or establishing a minimum/floor score. We’ve received a lot of questions and confusion around why the resulting score from the most recent race result does not match the current score listed in the profile page. Race results… have been updated to accurately show when a racer encounters their floor with new indicators:
Zwift
Here’s what these new arrows look like, and what they indicate:
Your Racing Score increased after this race.
Your Racing Score decreased after this race.
You’ve set a new, higher, floor value for your Racing Score after this race.
Your Racing Score has decreased to your floor value after this race.Why the change?
Your ZRS can change for three reasons:
- Your power metrics change, which increases or decreases your “seed score”
- You finish a race and thus earn a fresh ZRS result based on your finishing position
- You do nothing, and your score decays slowly over time
If you hit a power PR during your race which boosts your seed score, this may impact your overall racing score independent of your actual race placing. With the new arrow indicator, you’ll know if your score is being influenced by a new, higher floor value.
Conversely, you may get a low race result based on your finishing position, and this may cause your overall score to drop all the way to its lowest possible value. In this case, the new arrow indicator will tell you you’ve hit your floor (which is now 15% lower than your seed score, see below).
Increased Score Volatility
We have begun slowly increasing score volatility, or how much a score can change from the result of a single race. It was useful in early days of testing to ensure scores didn’t vary too wildly from race to race, but the data (and your feedback) is showing we can release the handbrake a bit. This change won’t be immediately apparent, but as racing continues, we will start to see an increase in how quickly scores move.
Zwift
Why the change?
Score volatility is a challenging setting to get right when it comes to race scoring. You want scores to change quickly enough that riders feel a since of progress and movement when warranted, while also being quickly placed in the correct pace group. But you also don’t want a single result to affect score so dramatically that it places a rider in an unrealistic category.
Zwift has been testing the scoring system at a lower volatility setting, but they’re finding that some riders aren’t being moved up to their proper category quickly enough. Increasing volatility should help.
New Score Floor
Starting today, your score can drop 15% lower than where you were seeded. Before this, your initial seed also served as your floor or minimum score. Our original seed algorithm tried to undershoot the prediction slightly to account for this, but we’re seeing many cases where people finish in the bottom half of the field consistently and their scores are not allowed to drop any further. This creates a poor racing experience for those racers since they are never able to adjust to their ideal category. Now that the floor is slightly lower than seed, we hope that this provides the flexibility required to ensure the model works for everyone.
Zwift
Why the change?
Simply put, some Zwifters should be moved down a category, but the system wasn’t allowing for that because it kept them pegged at their power-based seed score. This change reduces that lowest possible score by 15%, which will allow some riders to drop further, hopefully getting them into a lower category where they can feel more competitive.
Additional Changes
Zwift says two more changes will be coming in the next couple of weeks:
- A more accurate seeding and floor formula that increases the threshold of what we consider a “quality power curve”: this is a bit cryptic, but Zwift tells me they’re looking for ways to use cleaner data for a more consistent seed score.
- Support for filtering general classification standings on Zwift Power by racing score ranges: showing more ZRS data on ZwiftPower would be welcomed by all, certainly.
Join a Scored Race!
I’m not sure how Zwift will be rolling our ZRS in October. Which events will used ZRS for categories? And will only those events affect your score (as it is now), or could other races that use other categorization methods also impact your score?
We’ll find out soon enough. Until then, try some races using Zwift Racing Score! Here’s a list of upcoming ZRS test races: zwift.com/events/tag/zwiftlabs
Questions or Comments?
Have you been participating in scored races? If so, how has the experience been for you? Post below. You may also chime in on the (massive and growing) Zwift.com forum thread!
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