Originally Posted by
himespau
I got so tired of sandbaggers that I mainly only race where they aren't an issue. Zwift Racing League has its share of cruisers, but you can't really sandbag, and mass start open races where everyone races together and you're just hunting for the fastest wheel to chase regardless of cat (I know I'll never win those, so it's about finding people that I "shouldn't" be riding with based on ZP numbers and hanging with them as long as I can).
Psychology makes sandbagging in Zwift inevitable, and not simply because people want to cheat.
Let's say there's a rider with an FTP of 3.3 or 3.4 W/kg. The official categories say they are a "B". (3.2-3.9), not a "C" (2.5-3.1). If they race in "B", they are going to get creamed by the 3.6-3.9 crowd, so instead they race in "C". Where they demolish the C riders who are following the guidelines.
Those C riders start thinking about racing in "D".....
Now this is happening at all levels, so there are people who should be riding in A (4.0+) b/c they have and FTP of 4.1 and they're getting torched by the stronger A riders. So now the people in the MIDDLE of the B range (3.5-3.6) are getting dropped by riders who are really "A"
Wash, rinse, repeat. The whole thing slides.
If there were enough racers, there would be less sandbagging in a system with more category divisions.