Originally Posted by
ancker
A handful of posts above jump straight to the "Well, Cat 4/5 pack skills suck". The OP question was about 'faster' not 'better' or 'more skilled'. I'm responding to the implied correlation of "less skilled == slower".
I believe, as my posts above state, that today's Cat 4/5 racers are very likely 'faster' than they were 5+ years ago. This is due to Zwift/powermeters/coaches/aero bikes/etc.
I do _not_ believe the are 'better/more skilled' than riders were 5+ years ago.
If you're referring to my posts, then no.
It said that there are all of these cat 4s and 5s with 4+ w/kg thresholds and all who have no results because they don't know how to race. Which is pretty much a fact and is precisely what almost everyone experiences when they start out. I didn't have a clue how to race as a cat 4, and even as a 3 it was a steep learning curve. Hell, I've been a cat 1 for 14 years now and I learn (or relearn) how to be a better racer in nearly every race I do.
And yes, less skilled does = slower. Can't corner well? Slower. Can't descend well? Slower. Can't hide in the pack well? Slower, etc., etc.
And nearly everyone else on here that's actually made it through the 4s disagrees that they're faster.