The Missing Safeguard: Why Women's-Only Divisions Need Open's Wattage Floor

Over the past two weeks, we’ve broken down why w/kg falls short in women’s racing and explored how ZRL’s category system skews the playing field, especially against lighter riders. This week, we're diving deeper into a paradox: the Open division—where men and women race together—actually has a safeguard that women's-only divisions are missing. And that missing safeguard is exactly why lighter women get trapped.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: in women's-only racing, lighter riders get bumped out of categories the moment they exceed the w/kg ceiling. No floor. No protection. Just out. But in Open divisions, there's a wattage minimum that keeps riders from being upgraded into categories where they'd get destroyed. It's a mechanism that women's-only racing desperately needs—but doesn't have.

So this week, we're exploring what that gap means. And why the same lighter women who are protected in Open divisions become invisible in women-only racing.

Lighter women who are protected in Open divisions become invisible in women-only racing

Let me show you exactly what I mean—by circling back to the core principle you learned in Part 2.

Remember this? At the same w/kg threshold, lighter and heavier riders have wildly different absolute power outputs. A 69.3 kg rider at 3.08 w/kg pushes 213 watts. A 50 kg rider at 3.08 w/kg pushes only 154 watts. That 59-watt gap is the entire problem.

Now here's where it gets interesting: the Open division has a safeguard against that gap. A wattage floor. But women's-only divisions? No safeguard at all.

In Open, that 50 kg rider at 3.08 w/kg might hit the w/kg ceiling, but if she hasn't reached the wattage floor minimum yet, she stays in her category. Protected. In women's-only divisions, she gets bumped the moment she exceeds the w/kg threshold—period. No floor. No protection. No second thought.

The gap doesn't just exist. For lighter women in women's-only racing, it becomes a trap. And here's where it gets infuriating: the ZRL category system calls it fair.

But Wait—There's More: Why Team Composition Matters

Now, you might be thinking: "In Open divisions, at least there's a wattage floor. Shouldn't that protect lighter riders?"

The average team weight can vary drastically. Some teams might have just one woman on a six-person roster. Others field three or more. And that composition completely changes how the missing safeguard affects teams in women's-only divisions.

Think about it. If your team has one woman and five men racing in Open, your average team weight is around 75–85 kg. If another team has three women and three men, their average might be 60–65 kg. Same w/kg categories. Completely different team compositions. Completely different physics.

In Open, the wattage floor provides some protection against the worst outcomes. But in women's-only divisions? That protection disappears. And teams with more women suddenly face a compounding disadvantage: their lighter riders get bumped out faster, while heavier teams keep their riders in categories longer.

And that's where the system breaks down—not in Open, but in women's-only divisions where there's no safeguard at all.

The Upgrade Trap Gets Tighter in Combined Racing

In women-only racing, the playing field isn't level—lighter riders still get bumped up faster—but it's more level than combined racing in ZRL's Open division.

But here's what's important: Open divisions have a wattage floor that provides some protection. Women's-only divisions don't.

In women-only CAT C, there's no 200W minimum. A lighter woman hits the w/kg ceiling and gets bumped—period. No safeguard. No protection. Just out.

In combined racing? The advantage compounds—and it compounds differently depending on which division we're talking about.

In Open divisions: The wattage floor keeps lighter women from being upgraded into categories where they can't survive. But they're also capped from advancing, even when they're fit enough by w/kg.

In women's-only divisions: There's no floor. Lighter women get expelled the moment they exceed the w/kg ceiling, whether they have the absolute power to compete at the next level or not.

Either way, lighter women face an impossible choice: stay in a category you've outgrown, or advance into one where you'll get destroyed.

In combined racing? It's different. A lighter woman competes against men with 60+ more watts at the same w/kg. To stay competitive—to avoid getting dropped and demoralized race after race—she has to push harder. And that's where the system snaps shut.

The Vicious Cycle

Let me walk you through exactly how this plays out—and why it's different between Open and women's-only divisions.

In women's-only CAT C (no wattage floor):

Step 1: A woman enters women's-only CAT C at 3.0 w/kg (165W). She's fit. She's ready to race.

Step 2: She lines up against other women at similar w/kg. But she's frustrated—she knows she's stronger than this. She wants to challenge herself.

Step 3: Frustrated, she trains harder. She wants to improve, to climb the rankings.

Step 4: Her zFTP climbs. She's now pushing 175W. Her w/kg reads 3.18. Still competitive? Absolutely. Still improving? Without question.

Step 5: Next race, she's closer to the front. But now she's getting noticed. Her w/kg is trending up.

Step 6: After one or two more good races, her zFTP hits 180W. That's 3.27 w/kg. She's pushing close to the CAT C ceiling of 3.36 w/kg. She has some headroom, but not much.

Step 7: One more solid race. Her zFTP hits 185W. That's 3.36 w/kg. The CAT C ceiling.

Boom. She's out. Bumped from women's-only CAT C to CAT D.

Here's what's brutal: she's not being upgraded because she has enough absolute power to compete at the next level. She's being expelled because she exceeded a fitness threshold. There's no wattage floor to catch her. No protection. She goes from competing to getting destroyed—or having to move down.

Compare that to Open divisions with a wattage floor:

That same 55 kg rider at 3.36 w/kg has 185W. The CAT B minimum is 200W. So even though she's hit the w/kg ceiling, the wattage floor stops her from advancing. She stays in CAT C, protected but capped. She can't move up until she generates 200W—which might take months.

But in women's-only? There's no floor to protect her. She gets bumped anyway.

Here's the crushing part: the system isn't measuring fitness fairly. It's measuring which division has the safety mechanisms to protect its riders.

What Open Gets Right (And Women's-Only Gets Wrong)

Here's something important: the wattage floor in Open divisions is actually smart design.

Our 55 kg rider at 195W (3.54 w/kg) has exceeded the CAT C ceiling. She's fit. She's ready—by w/kg standards. But the 200W minimum stops her from advancing to CAT B.

That sounds like a trap. It's actually protection.

If she were bumped to CAT B based purely on w/kg, she'd be racing against riders with 200-250W of absolute power. She'd get destroyed. The wattage floor saves her from that. It keeps her competing in CAT C where her 195W is strong, not weak. Where she can podium, not just survive.

The Open division got this right.

But here's the problem: women's-only divisions don't have this safeguard.

In women's-only CAT C, that same lighter rider hits the w/kg ceiling and gets bumped—period. No wattage floor. No protection. She moves from competing well in her category to getting dropped in the next one based purely on w/kg, even though her absolute power doesn't support the upgrade.

She's not being protected. She's being expelled.

This is the gap.

The Open division built in a protection for lighter riders by requiring both thresholds. But women's-only racing only uses w/kg, which means lighter women get sorted out the moment they become fit enough—regardless of whether they have the absolute power to compete at the next level.

So while Open racing has its own w/kg biases, it at least has one mechanism that prevents the worst outcome for lighter riders: getting bumped into a category where they're helpless. Women's-only racing has nothing.

This isn't an argument that Open racing is "better." It's an argument that women's-only racing is missing a crucial protection that lighter women need.

What This Means

Now that you see the pattern, let's clearly break down what it means and how to put it into action.

For lighter riders in women's-only racing: You're not getting bumped because you're not strong enough. You're getting bumped because the system has no wattage floor to protect you—unlike Open divisions. The gap between what you can do (w/kg) and what you need to do (absolute watts) to compete at the next level is real. You have choices: accept the way it is knowing you're being sorted by weight not fitness, or understand the game well enough to demand change. Showing up matters more than being perfect. Show up with your eyes open.

For lighter riders in Open racing: You actually have a protection that women's-only racing doesn't. Use it. Understand the wattage floor. It keeps you competing in your category longer, which means more races, more points, more stability. That's not a ceiling—that's a safeguard. Appreciate it. And advocate for women's-only divisions to get the same protection.

For teams with more women on the roster: Document your data—especially comparing women's-only vs. Open divisions if your team races both. Track upgrade rates. Notice how faster lighter women get bumped in women's-only but capped in Open. Build a case that shows the gap. The more teams that understand this pattern, the harder it becomes for Zwift to ignore. And when you advocate for change, point to what works: the wattage floor in Open divisions.

For Zwift and ZRL: You've built something incredible. And you've actually already solved part of this problem—the wattage floor exists in Open divisions. But applying that same mechanism to women's-only racing may not be the best solution. It's one possible fix among several.

The Honest Reflection

The system wasn't designed to disadvantage women on purpose. But in women's-only divisions, it does. And here's what makes it worse: the solution already exists—just in a different division.

Open divisions have a wattage floor. It protects lighter riders from being upgraded into categories where they can't survive. Women's-only divisions don't. And that missing safeguard means lighter women get trapped—bumped out the moment they exceed the w/kg ceiling, regardless of whether they have the absolute power to compete at the next level.

This is where knowledge becomes power. Once you see this pattern, once you understand that the fix already exists somewhere in Zwift's own system, you can't unsee it. And you can't stay quiet about it.

Zwift has my heart—I'm a huge fan, not angry at all. But I'm disappointed that a platform I believe in built a protection for riders in Open divisions but left women's-only divisions exposed. That's not malice. That's inconsistency. And inconsistency is fixable.

This isn't about lowering standards. It's about raising fairness. And that benefits everyone—because when lighter women can compete fairly in women's-only racing, the racing gets better, the strategy gets deeper, and the whole system becomes stronger.

Here's what I've learned with 66 years of life experience: understanding the system is the first step to changing it. You can't advocate for what you don't see. You can't demand fairness if you're not willing to look at the data.

But here's the harder part: you have to be willing to see what works in the system too. Because possible solutions aren't always new. Sometimes it's already there—you just have to apply it consistently.

You've now seen the data. You know how women's-only divisions lack the wattage floor protection that Open divisions have. You know how that missing safeguard means lighter riders get bumped out faster, trapping them in an impossible choice: stay in a category you've outgrown, or advance into one where you'll get destroyed. You know how team composition becomes a hidden variable that determines who wins the season—especially when lighter teams have no protection.

You know that 60 watts isn't marginal—it's decisive. And you know the system already has a solution. It's just not being applied consistently.

What you do with that knowledge is up to you.

But you can't unsee it anymore.

Next week: Part 4 explores potential solutions—and why some of them are more realistic (and fairer) than you might think. Because understanding the problem is step one. Building the fix is step two. And I'm ready to dig into the mechanics of what fairness could actually looks like.