Advanced guide to racing on Zwift
If you have no idea what any of this means, go read about the time I made a cake out of meat.
If you haven’t already, sign up on zwiftpower: https://zwiftpower.com/events.php
They disqualify cheaters and sandbaggers from the race results even if they were present during the entire race on Zwift.
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Who is this guide for?
You have recently upgraded from one category to the next ( main focus here is going to be B to A )
You understand the basics ( drafting, knowing the race course, basic outdoor/indoor group riding and racing tactics )
You still struggle to stay with the leaders / break in A races or in large Zwift events.
What is the goal of the guide?
To make it so you finish with the leaders in A races and large Zwift events ( 100+ people).
What’s different between A and B?
B is capped at 3.9 w/kg on zwiftpower. This tends to result in fast flat races, usually where the winners have joined the A pack early on, since many races have a mass start. The winner tends to be whoever is closest to 3.9 w/kg without going over. It’s the Price is Right of racing. This goes for C and D categories as well, though I don’t race in those.
A category has no cap. Whoever is strongest wins. It’s much more like real racing. There are more attacks, breakaways and tactics.
Who’s racing in A vs B?
Bs are strong club riders or casual amateur racers ( cat 4-5 ). The top 3 of B races is about the level of an average/ borderline A racer.
A and large Zwift events sometimes have pros, many Cat 1 level racers and often Zpower cheaters.
This guide is to help you hold onto these races even with a large fitness gap between you and the other racers.
The Zwift-specific dynamics you might not know about.
1- Join events long before the start
If you are participating in a large event ( 300+ people ) JOIN THE RACE 10-15 MINUTES BEFORE THE START.
Zwift places you in the starting pen in order of joining and if you want to contend for top 20, you do NOT want to start at the back. Every event will have many strong riders who will gun it from the start and immediately create gaps. The further back you are, the more of these gaps you will have to jump to rejoin the lead group which may maintain a breakneck speed for quite some time.
This is the difference between doing 400 watts for 30 seconds and 5 minutes.
Don’t lose the race before you even start!
*** I am told you can join an event up to 30 minutes before the start, quit the activity, warm up on a course of your choice and rejoin the event 1 minute before the start and you should keep your spot. I’m scared to try, you do it.
2- Understand the Zwift lag
Zwift is not like outdoors, there is a delay between when you put power in the pedals and when your avatar moves on the screen. Understanding this, you must anticipate moves a little into the future.
It’s very helpful to pay attention to the w/kg the people around you are doing, then you will know what to match when they go up a puncher or make an attack. You must commit as soon as you see this increase because they’re already 2-3 seconds ahead of you in the effort by the time you see it on screen.
3- Never be First Place.
Avoid going to the front at all costs. Pay close attention to where you are in relation with the leader so that you do not accidentally get shuffled to the front. This will cause Zwift to throw you to the back of the pack where you will have to kick to get back on. This happens because there’s a lag between the power you put out on your bike and what your character does on Zwift. By the time you see him at the back ready to get back on, Zwift was expecting that you would already be going 300 watts. So it just drops you and now you need to close an actual gap to get back on instead of just giving a little kick.
Never pull the pack either. You might be feeling strong and fresh in the first 20 minutes but there’s a lot of race left and likely many guys much stronger than you who will punish you for having wasted your legs pulling them around.
4- Never stay at the very back
There are two reasons for this in Zwift.
1- If you are too far from the leaders, you will not be able to join breaks or attacks and are likely to end up in a chase group or to burn your legs bridging because you were just too far. This is just like real racing.
2- The part that is not like real racing is that Zwift punishes you for being last as it constantly opens up micro gaps between the last few riders, making you having to surge endlessly to get back. Closing gaps on Zwift also requires more effort than outdoors.
Be no further than 2 bikes lengths away from the leader.
** I am told you get a stronger draft if you are further back. I don’t know the % difference but I personally don’t risk it.
5- Don’t be a Hero
A packs are unlikely to let anyone get away. If you see a solo rider throw down an attack, get ready to up your watts just enough so that you can draft behind anyone who actually will close this gap. Usually 4-5+ guys will follow the move and if you are well positioned ( rule3) you should be able to join the break with minimal effort.
Failure to do this might land you in the “B” chase group that will steadily lose time.
6- Crest the hills in a group and get ready to keep going hard
Because of how Zwift is programmed, when the pack catches you in a descent, they will be going much faster ( blob effect ) and Zwift will not give you any draft as they zoom by, causing you to have to burn a match just to get back in the pack. ( Same effect as rule 2).
Zwift doesn’t care that you’re descending, if you want to close the gap while going at 80 kph then you’ll have to sprint like mad. If you’ve ridden outdoors you will be really frustrated by this because outdoors you can just tuck and catch the pack doing no effort.
No so with Zwift. You will get dropped on descents if you aren’t careful. So don’t waste energy uphills to create a gap that will just punish you when you get caught.
7- Hoard that Aero Boost and contest the final sprint!
The other powerups are useful in their own right but the Aero Boost is the kingmaker. Unless you have an amazing sprint, you will likely not win or podium a race without this. For that reason, I use any other powerup as the situation calls but hold onto this one as soon as I get it.
That brings me to the next point: If you’re making it to the finish line with the rest of the pack, contest the sprint! Go for it! You’re tired and so is everyone else. This is the easiest way to win or gain positions and it’s almost all about mental fortitude. Better to finish 8th then 30th.
8- Cheaters will get booted eventually
Some people use Zpower to race. That sometimes results in horribly bad calibration and that person will be pulling the entire pack at pro rider speeds. Your job is to stay in the race as long as possible until the cheater gets flagged, at which point the race will resume a normal pace and you will be far ahead of anyone who didn’t follow the cheater.
This sucks but it’s still a part of Zwift, at least as of 2022.
9- Fast races slow down and slow races speed up
If you are finding the pace easy for you, then I can assure you that’s also the case for everyone else. You aren’t suddenly stronger, they are just waiting to start attacking. All the rules still apply. Stay in the front, stay vigilant and be prepared for things to get really hard really fast as the end of the race approaches.
If you are in a larger Zwift event, the starting pace will be insanely fast as strong riders attack the front trying to create gaps. Hang on to dear life to the front of the race because you’re in attrition mode. Watch the radar and you will see tons of gaps forming behind you as people struggle to keep up and get dropped.
Many strong riders will get caught in this attrition war because they didn’t read this guide and failed to place themselves properly. Once the front group of your race is set, the pace will go back to normal and you will get a chance to recover while the strongest riders keep growing the gap between your group and everyone else.
10- Know your opponents
Watch the small icons next to the rider’s names to gain information about them.
You can see what category the person signed up for. This helps you ignore people who aren’t in your pack as well as not draft people who are below your category as they might eventually create gaps and cause you to get dropped.
Zwift insiders and verified pros are good to notice if you see them. These riders are unlikely to get dropped and unlikely to let breaks go. Just stay on their wheel as much as possible and join/ignore the same moves as they do.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk! Follow me on Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/3027162