Team TFC - Mad Monday Race Series
Join us each Monday for the Team TFC Mad Monday Race Series. The competition aims to have elements to suit all riders and teams with both individual GC competitions and bigger team competitions (both within category and across all categories). We would love to see as many teams as possible to compete to make this one of the central team race events on the Zwift calendar. There will be races to suit both European (7:20pm UK / 8:20pm CET) and American (8:00pm EST / 7:00pm CST / 5:00pm PST) time zones – each series will run independently in terms of the scoring. Details are included below of how each element of the series will be scored both individual and team. We will endeavour to get the results posted by Tuesday evening each week but please bear with us on this for the first few weeks while we set up the system and automate the results.
IMPORTANT: We are now running a mini trial series to test out the new category structure laid out below. This series will run for three races and then we will determine if we continue with this format or now.
We now operate a split category system as explained below:
-
- Categories: For the race categories we will be operating an 8-category racing series with narrower category bandings across two race events each week as below. Team managers will be given instructions on which categories riders should join. However in short – use the numbers that you see on zwiftpower that calculate your assigned category and race the one it fits in below. Keep a close eye on it though if you are in the non-plus category as you could overtime upgrade and be penalised for racing the wrong category. Along with the primary wkg limits shown below we are operating wattage floors which are the standard Zwiftpower limits with additional bandings in place for the + categories as explained below.
Category WKG Limits (FTP) Wattage floors (FTP) Event / Race Pen Cat M1: 4.60 wkg and above 290 W Pen A, Mad-end Race Cat M2: 4.15 wkg to 4.599 wkg 260 W Pen A, Middle-end Race Cat M3: 3.75 wkg to 4.149 wkg 230 W Pen B, Mad-end Race Cat M4: 3.40 wkg to 3.749 wkg 205 W Pen B, Middle-end Race Cat M5: 3.05 wkg to 3.399 wkg 180 W Pen C, Mad-end Race Cat M6: 2.70 wkg to 3.049 wkg 155 W Pen C, Middle-end Race Cat M7: 2.20 wkg to 2.699 wkg 120 W Pen D, Mad-end Race Cat M8: 2.199 wkg and below Pen D, Middle-end Race - Which category should I join? If you are unsure on which category to join – the race links will tell you which category you should join as you sign up to join the race.
- Anti-sandbagging: Riders who show a surprising consistency in winning will be asked to race up a category.
- WKG rule: To encourage riders to put their full effort in, we will implement a 0.2wkg instead of the Zwiftpower standard 0.1wkg. However, riders who do end up hitting a wkg penalty will be asked to then race up in the next category.
- UPG rule / penalty: Any rider who is found to be racing in the wrong category (including sub-categories) will cost their team a 20 point penalty. We will have monitoring systems in place to catch this each week.
- Wattage floors: The standard Zwiftpower categories have floor limits of absolute Watts that a riders FTP much be above before they are upgraded to the next category. These rules will still apply in the Mad Monday series and we have added additional wattage floors for the + categories as shown in the table above.
- Heart rate monitor issues: We have shown leniency on heart rate monitor issues in the past and we will continue to do so where riders have a history of using a HRM and the numbers still make sense with their fitness profile. We will however institute rule where a rider can only have one reinstatement during the series. Repeat offenders will no longer be reinstated.
- Complaints / Issues: If there are any issues please communicate with us via your team captain – they will have a direct email address for us.
- ZwiftPower Ranking Points are up for grabs during every stage too and we are expecting very strong attendance in the event so good points should be available.
- Categories: For the race categories we will be operating an 8-category racing series with narrower category bandings across two race events each week as below. Team managers will be given instructions on which categories riders should join. However in short – use the numbers that you see on zwiftpower that calculate your assigned category and race the one it fits in below. Keep a close eye on it though if you are in the non-plus category as you could overtime upgrade and be penalised for racing the wrong category. Along with the primary wkg limits shown below we are operating wattage floors which are the standard Zwiftpower limits with additional bandings in place for the + categories as explained below.
Course Schedule:
| Race | Date | World | Course | Laps | Type | Distance | Bonus Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03-Apr | France | R.G.V | 1 | Flat | 25.1km | Pave Sprint, KoM, Ballon Sprint Rev |
| 2 | 10-Apr | Innsbruck | Innsbruck UCI Short Corse | 1 | Hilly | 23.8km | KoM, Legsnapper, Sprint |
| 3 | 17-Apr | Glasgow | Glasgow Crit Circuit | 10 | Rolling | 33km | Clyde Kicker Laps 3, 6, 9 |
| 4 | 24-Apr | Makuri Islands | Wandering Flats | 1 | Flat | 25.2km | Country, Tower and Alley Sprints |
| 5 | 01-May | New York | Grand Central Circuit | 4 | Hilly | 28.8km | KoM Lap 1, 2, 3 |
| 6 | 08-May | Yorkshire | Duchy Estate | 9 | Rolling | 28.7km | Sprint Banner Laps 3, 5, 7 |
| 7 | 15-May | Makuri Islands | Bridges and Boardwalks | 5 | Flat | 33.4km | Shisha Sprint Lap 2, 3, 4 |
| 8 | 22-May | Watopia | Volcano Climb | 1 | Hilly | 23.3km | Triple Points KoM |
| 9 | 29-May | New York | Gotham Grind | 4 | Rolling | 36.8km | Sprint Lap 2, 3, 4 |
Scoring
Individual Competition
Racers will score points in all categories with a maximum of 100 points awarded for 1st place down to 2 points for 54th place. All racers who finish the race will be awarded 2 point. Points will be allocated to each rider based on the ZwiftPower Category they were in at the start of each race. Points will be allocated by place as follows: 100, 90, 85, 80, 75, 70, 65, 60, 58, 56 …[2 points less per place down to 20th]… 36, 35, 34, …[1 point less per place down to 54th]. Any rider coming in >54th place will still earn 2 point for each race.
For this series – 7 of the 9 races to count which we hope will make the overall competition more interesting based on choosing some races that suit you but also give people the flexibility to miss a couple based on holidays and so on.
Bonus points: Each week there will be up to 60 bonus points available as laid out in the table above. We are now scoring the bonus segments based on first over the line as we feel this is the fairest way to do it and more consistent with how most racing is done. In order to ensure that all races have the same points available – some segments will score double points – for these just take the below and multiple by 2…
1st: 20 points
2nd: 17 points
3rd: 15 points
4th: 13 points
5th: 11 points
6th: 9 points
7th: 7 points
8th: 5 points
9th: 3 points
10th: 1 point
If the bonus points lead to you being one of the highest 5 scoring members (depending on how many racers will count in a given race) in that race then the bonus points will also count towards the overall team competition as well.
Team Competition
The top 4 riders in each team score the Top Points – each rider beyond the top 4 will count as 2 point towards the team competition. Points in all Categories will be awarded per rider consistent with the individual scoring laid out above. All races will count towards the team competition.
Additionally, there is a restriction on the number of riders that will contribute to the team score per category depending on overall number of team people racing in each category.
- Less than 11 finishers: 1 rider
- 11-20 finishers: 2 riders
- 21-30 finishers: 3 riders
- 31 riders or more: 4 riders
Rules
- Zwiftpower Category enforcement will be in force.
- Riders who have not completed the Zwiftpower registration will be removed from the results.
- All Racers MUST have a valid Height and Weight entered in to their Zwift settings. Racers with 0 or the default, will be disqualified.
- Racers who enter a category lower than the one on their Zwiftpower profile will be disqualified from the results. It is the riders responsibility to check that they have entered the correct category.
- Zwiftpower category upgraded riders must race in the higher category for the next event.
- All racers must wear HRM and the data must be visible in Zwiftpower. In the event of HRM failure during the race, Team TFC must be contacted immediately the race has finished.
- Z-power racers will be removed from the results.
- Team scoring: If in a given category of a race there are less than 3 teams competing then only 1/3rd of the points from that category will count towards the overall team competition.
- TFC Mad Monday Anti-sandbagging rule: At the race organisers discretion if we see riders consistently podiuming or winning races in their category (B, C and D) ahead of the start of a Mad Monday series we reserve the right to upgrade that rider. This is independent of what Zwiftpower says the riders category is and will be following a thorough and expansive review of rider data. We believe this will impact a very small minority of racers but should significantly improve the quality of racing for those honestly racing to their full potential. In our view – if you have consistently won 5-10 races in a category well it’s time to keep getting faster and go and try the next category. At the end of the day you’re only holding yourself back and we want everyone to get faster.