ZwiftPower is the official results and ranking platform for Zwift races, providing accurate and verified race data for cyclists who want real competition.
I’ll never forget my first few Zwift races. I’d cross the finish line, check my position on the results screen, screenshot it for proof, and then wonder why other riders were talking about ZwiftPower like it was some separate thing entirely. Turns out, those in-game results I was celebrating? They were basically just the opening act. So, what is ZwiftPower? Let me explain in detail.
What Actually Is ZwiftPower?
The simplest way to explain it: ZwiftPower is where your Zwift race results actually matter. When you finish a race in Zwift, the game spits out a ranking based on who crossed the line first. Seems straightforward enough. But here’s the thing, not everyone in that race was playing fair, whether they knew it or not.
Maybe someone entered the wrong category because they didn’t know better. Maybe their power meter is reading high. Maybe they “forgot” to update their weight after the holidays. ZwiftPower exists to catch all of that and give you results you can actually believe in.
Think of it this way: Zwift gives you the raw race data. ZwiftPower is the race organizer who actually verifies everyone’s numbers before posting official results.
Does ZwiftPower Matter
In any online game, there’s going to be some degree of gaming the system. Zwift isn’t immune to that. Some of it is innocent mistakes, some of it is… less innocent. Either way, when you’re pushing yourself to your absolute limit in a race, you want to know that the person who beat you actually earned it.
That’s what ZwiftPower does. It automatically flags riders whose data doesn’t add up, crazy power outputs, missing heart rate monitors when required, suspicious weight-to-power ratios. Those riders get filtered out, and what you’re left with is a leaderboard that reflects actual performance.
For casual group rides, this doesn’t matter much. But the moment you start caring about where you finish in a race, ZwiftPower becomes essential.
How Does ZwiftPower Work
The setup is pretty painless. You link your Zwift account to ZwiftPower through the Companion app, takes maybe two minutes. After that, it’s completely automatic. Every time you finish a race, Zwift sends your data over to ZwiftPower, which processes it and posts the verified results.
The cool part is that ZwiftPower doesn’t just show you who won. It gives you this incredibly detailed breakdown of the entire race. You can see power curves, compare your efforts to other riders, track your progress over time, and even analyze exactly where things went right (or wrong) during the race.
The Zwift Category Enforcement
This is where things get interesting. Zwift races are divided into categories, A, B, C, and D, based on your power-to-weight ratio (watts per kilogram):
Category A: 4.2 W/kg and up
Category B: 3.36 to 4.19 W/kg
Category C: 2.63 to 3.35 W/kg
Category D: Under 2.63 W/kg
When you first start racing, you might pick a category based on a rough guess. But ZwiftPower is watching. Keep putting up numbers above your category threshold, and you’ll get bumped up. It’s actually kind of satisfying when it happens, annoying at first because suddenly the races feel harder, but also proof that you’re getting stronger.
The flip side is that it prevents sandbagging. You can’t just dominate Category C forever if your numbers say you belong in B. The system catches up with you.
ZwiftPower Data After Every Ride
If you’re the type who loves pouring over stats after a ride (and if you’re reading this, you probably are), ZwiftPower is basically catnip. Every race gives you access to:
- Your power curve showing your best efforts at different durations
- Historical data tracking your progression
- Detailed race analysis showing who attacked when and where
- Rankings comparing you to everyone else in your category
- Team and league standings if you’re racing with a club
You can even click into other riders’ profiles and see how they paced the race compared to you. It’s the kind of thing that turns a 30-minute race into an hour of post-race analysis. Not that I’ve ever done that. Multiple times. Per week.
Should You Bother?
Look, if you’re just hopping on Zwift to spin your legs and watch TV, you don’t need ZwiftPower. But if you’ve ever finished a race and thought “I wonder how I actually did,” or if you’ve ever been frustrated seeing your position change after the fact and not understanding why, yeah, you should set it up.
It takes a few minutes, it’s free, and once it’s connected, you never have to think about it again. Plus, if you ever want to join a more serious race or team event, ZwiftPower results are what people look at. The in-game results are just for show.
Connecting To ZwiftPower
Here’s all you need to do:
- Go to zwiftpower.com and log in with your Zwift credentials
- Open the Zwift Companion app on your phone
- Head to Settings → Connections
- Toggle ZwiftPower on
- Finish your next race and check the results on ZwiftPower
That’s it. From that point on, everything happens automatically in the background.
The Bottom Line
There’s a reason nearly every organized Zwift race uses ZwiftPower as the official results platform. It adds legitimacy to virtual racing in a way that Zwift alone can’t quite manage. The numbers don’t lie, or at least, ZwiftPower makes sure they don’t.
If you’ve been racing on Zwift without it, you’re basically competing with one eye closed. Link it up, see where you really stand, and prepare to spend way too much time analyzing your power curves at 11 PM. Trust me, it’s worth it.
