Why?

A huge issue in Zwift is sandbagging. Sandbagging is basically when someone from a higher category purposefully races a lower category to place better. This is seen a lot in C and D races when A and B categories race the lower cats and demolish the race. In fact, there is a 2,500+ post forums thread that I have been following with riders complaining, ranting, giving possible solutions, and pressing Zwift for a date on when this could be happening.

What is category enforcement?

Category enforcement is very different from autocategorization(previous events like the Zwift chase races that happen weekly) and matchmaking. Category enforcement takes your power data and then there will be a floor on what categories you can and can’t join. So this will basically prevent riders from joining categories lower than their power data(Ex; FTP of 3.7, you will only be able to join B and A, there will be blocks in place to stop you from registering in D and C upon sign up). Zwifts goal is that all riders are racing riders at their level, and have somewhat of a chance of winning the race.

When?

Zwift has finally set a timeline on when this could happen, which has made lots of Zwifters days. Zwift has stated that these tests will most likely be run on the week of February 21st, the date is subject to change. They will be individual events on easy courses put a floor on categories, basically setting the minimums for future enforcement.