Originally Posted by
Thomas15
Based on my ftp I'm just under 3.1 w/kg. I do a few races not a lot and not well advertised races and I'm not even remotely a "racer". But I race in C class and my ZwiftPower results usually come in with a race average of about 3 w/kg.
Still, I get my ass handed to me all the time. Where I'm at I should be at the top of C class. I have not come close to making the podium. I don't really care though, I enter races for my personal enjoyment and the excuse to push hard. Having said that I'm going to do an ftp test in about a week and I expect to get a boost that will put me at at least 3.3 w/kg, B class in most races. At that point I will go from getting my ass handed to me to having my ass served with a side of mountain oysters.
Make sure you understand how the categories work. A 3.0 avg over an entire C race will result in you not seeing the front, especially if it's a short race.
Your category is calculated by taking an average of your best 3 FTPs in completed races and group rides in the last 90 days.
Your FTP is considered to be 95% of your best 20 minutes in that event, so the FTP that one manually inputs within profile>settings is not considered for categorisation. If you have done less than 3 events in 90 days then the average FTP from those events will be used. If you are new or have been inactive for 90 days then you will be classified after the first event based on your FTP. In cases where you do not have 20 min data, perhaps because the race lasted less than 20 mins or data pulled from Zwift is missing then they will estimate your FTP at the backend using 10 min data for example. Your average w/kg for the duration of the race is also irrelevant. It is based on that best 20 minute duration. In addition to all of this they will give a rider a small over factor before they upgrade.