Massive cheaters everywhere! Zwift - Race: STAGE 4b: RACE LONDON - London Loop Reverse (A)

[@benjapolcycling]

Nice cone of shame eventually for that guy. Just ignore those cheaters don't let them ruins your day. Great effort for the climb! 💪🏆👏

[@RideWithGerben]

Thx! It was a nice effort, I am "learning" the climb!

[@madiantin]

Holy moly. What I have learned watching this video: I'm simply not making myself hurt enough. Really incredible effort!

[@RideWithGerben]

That hill is something else! :(

[@shanesteven4578]

Another great effort, despite the cheaters. I was watching an A Cat riders video, Tour of Watopia Stage 4, just a couple of days ago. At the very start of the ride he bolted out of the start without much effort, but quickly slowed down, looked very strange to see, so I watched him closely. He appeared to be too busy chatting and joking with someone standing or riding next to him (out of shot), throughout the ride. This fool was so busy chatting he failed to notice that the machine he had attached to his bike was running fast at 10 w/kg and yet his legs were not moving at all! As soon as he noticed he appear to turn something off below his handlebars, the w/kg slowed instantly and he began riding again at 1.5 w/kg! These cheaters are all over the place … ignore them and ride our own race ‘wake-up Zwift’.

[@benjapolcycling]

Wow i hope zwift should ban this guy from signing in any event if have record and evidence

[@RideWithGerben]

What. No way! I mean. Every mmorpg Game has anti-cheat software or specialists to weed out cheaters to keep it fun for everyone. Except @gozwift. Cone of shame is damage already done in the field, repeat offenders are not banned from events/races. Guys riding on rollers? That's just nuts!

[@tmelendezmia]

The cheater got disqualified! And the person that was riding 2nd with similar numbers at the time seemed to have gotten out before he/she got caught also. So Zwift took care of it. We still need to flag them over and over.

[@RideWithGerben]

True. But they shouldn't be allowed in a 'race' in the first place. As paying customers we shouldn't have do the work for @gozwift

[@Stevenafoe]

@@RideWithGerbenyou cannot catch the (possible) cheater before the cheating.

[@gedheaton1415]

Even the cheaters have their uses ....ie £12/month !

[@bryantut1609]

That hurt just watching you, you did great!!

[@RideWithGerben]

Thank you! Some good power indeed.

[@GShearer]

I remember a while ago I was doing some workouts around the volcano and for a few days straight another rider was lapping me constantly with insane numbers.. They levelled up really quickly. I think the name was K.. from memory. So it may've been the same rider.. Anyway congrats on the race.. well done.

[@RideWithGerben]

Hi! If you are active long enough on Zwift you see a lot of strange behaviour indeed. :)

[@GShearer]

@@RideWithGerben yeah that is very true.. I really don't see the point in cheating , I'd rather earn my place..

[@Thomas-fy9yc]

People cheat to upgrade their wheels bikes etc…I see people on that volcano climb frequently with no HR, pushing a steady cadence no matter what the incline.

[@kelvin7511]

@@Thomas-fy9yc ahhh Im one of them, mainly as I don't have a hr monitor and the bike I use isn't that smart lol. I am just starting with zwift and really love it but can't see the point in cheating. I don't care about upgrades just want to steadily improve and beat my own records.

[@PatrickLino]

"And the turn out, is massive" - hahaha

[@RideWithGerben]

Stacked fields right now on Zwift. :)

[@aaronpower8741]

I was doing ride a couple of months ago and commented on a guy (gender assumed!) who *averaged* 75km/h *up* the leg snapper climb. I casually commented asking the other riders in the group if they also thought he was compensating for a small.... appendage. I then got a warning email from Zwift that language like that was not allowed. So apparently using the word "penis" is offensive and could get a long-time subscriber (2017?) banned, but obvious cheating is perfectly OK. If only Zwift could have been founded in a sensible country like the Netherlands, rather than being managed by some crazy Americans 🤣

[@RideWithGerben]

75 km/u uphill! Nah, that's a pro! :D

[@independentmind1977]

Mywhoosh requires that riders take a video of the weight-in and two sources of power for the higher ranked races where there’s money on the line. I think also video during the ride. Unfortunately their platform still needs a lot of work.

[@RideWithGerben]

Yeah. ZWIFT got the market cornered. And it's proven difficult to compete against that.

[@marccale9890]

It's all well and good to say "ignore the cheaters", but if you take racing on Zwift even semi-seriously (which I do) a cheat will always disrupt and influence the race in some way. Extremely frustrating. Zwift racing can't really be treated like real racing: there are too many variables even without the cheats, so I can't take it too seriously, but if you invest a big effort and you see an obvious cheat beat you, it can be maddening.

[@RideWithGerben]

Agree. If you treat Zwift as a MMO Game, which it is, a good anti-cheat system should be implemented. Not this basic "report it as a community and maybe we gonna do something with it if we have the time".

[@chrismadge7292]

Yep agreed, if you race it’s bloody annoying when there are obvious cheaters. I just treat it as a game, and if these sad people get their kicks by cheating then so be it, just ignore them in the knowledge that you are probably better rider than them.

[@JoseMendozaPublications]

what kind of trainer do you use ?

[@RideWithGerben]

Hi, welcome. I am on a Wahoo Kickr V5.

[@davidbacon2726]

Agree about the massive amount of cheating. 2 options are don't race, or continue racing and just accept that they are part and parcel of the races.

[@RideWithGerben]

I can't accept the fact that if I pay money to Zwift I have to do their job of reporting cheaters. Something about that doesn't sit right with me.

[@Danrsr7]

@@RideWithGerben I get it, but You can be always right or be happy. (I am choosing happy) Great race, cheers mate.

[@RideWithGerben]

@@Danrsr7 And you are right! Thx. Appriciate the comments!

[@thewinsty]

Think the cheater is Polish. 🇵🇱 🇸🇬 this is the Singapore flag

[@RideWithGerben]

Good call! I'll change it in the description. Thx for your help on this.

[@joelnace1793]

Rough one. I probably would have avoided that particular race. Low sign ups, strange names of the riders, etc. K and the next guy from Canada got flagged and removed I guess? The China guys were legit I guess? Although they don't update their weight very often.

[@RideWithGerben]

Normally I would indeed skip with such a line-up. Next time I will. :)

[@yeyeTF2]

yea... i dont trust people if they don't update their weight. the DFS guy literally has never edited his weight once lol. def a race to avoid

[@RideWithGerben]

@@yeyeTF2 @joelnace1793 Thx guys. You are the best!

[@soeren_LimetreeStudios]

Hey guys, how do I see how often someone updates his stats? Have a good day!

[@aleksanderstojnsek9879]

Last week i was in race and this K cheater from poland won, his average power in 30 minutes was 580 WAT, so he would have FTP around 550 WAT (VAN AERT and MVDP have FTP around 450 wat), i don't understand why zwift does not permanently blocked those cheater.

[@RideWithGerben]

It is strange indeed that he still is active on Zwift. You report all you want but @gozwift doesn't care.

[@fastharri]

How many cheaters can there be at this level, surely not many so why is it so hard for Zwift to take action. Unless you’re registered as a pro tour level rider you have no business being able to output those sort of w/kg levels, in fact even a pro may encourage a few raised eyebrows. You’d imagine a simple algorithm would catch these guys. Excellent (legitimate) power levels from our host however, great watching.

[@RideWithGerben]

It's very odd indeed. Guy got reported a lot, but nothing happened to him. However, I haven't encountered him recently, but I must not jinx it. :) Thank you for watching man. Appreciate it!

[@raunefare]

It should be so easy to get rid of. At least in all cat races under A. And A races above a certain w/kg should just have outside rides that support their claim power. Don't know what to do about weight doping thought. But there's a crazy amount of riders under 45kg..

[@RideWithGerben]

Yes there is a lot of lightweights on ZWIFT, and riders with incredibly low heart rates too!

[@raunefare]

@@RideWithGerben yes everyone is riding with my zone 2 heart rate xD they must have a low resting rate 🫣

[@zikaperic2133]

Even second one looks sus to me. Holding 6wkg+ that long. Now also those 2 Pogacars from china ... Man that would be frustrating..

[@RideWithGerben]

Oh yeah. The longer you watch the video the more dodgy bois you spot. It was pretty insane in this race tbh.

[@andrewbolton8611]

I’ve also ridden with that K… individual and seen the same. Sandbagging cheat. His mother must be proud…..

[@RideWithGerben]

It's a bit sad indeed.

[@drewbuffington]

the Zwift Power results are all that matter anyway.

[@RideWithGerben]

In a way yes, you are right but not before they and their draft effect blow up the race. I had my share of bad luck with these guys. Someone else in comments suggested not to join races with these dodgy guys. That's one solution. But the aswer should be with @gozwift, these should be banned from events and racing for a start. Free ride cheat is fine with me, no damage there.

[@christiancarlson8107]

Hard to believe your heart rate wasn’t going through the roof with that high sustained effort?

[@RideWithGerben]

My average heart rate during a race is around 177 bpm.

[@lecompte6010]

you just gotta get stronger!

[@RideWithGerben]

I gotta!

[@jimfaber1443]

Solid effort!

[@RideWithGerben]

Thank you Jim!

[@Redchairfalcon]

I cycle and run on zwift. The runners are cheating as well. I just rode the Mt Baker Hill climb last month, I was happy with my time. The cheaters aren't doing live events. Zwift, for me, is for training. Ride on!

[@RideWithGerben]

Amen!

[@stevelangers3716]

Great effort But about the cheaters... i don't give a 💩 I ride for fun and for my fitness /health Doing D Rides (1-2,4 w/kg) with my 185cm and 88kg ... an guess what, 95 % of the race winners there have an average of 3,5 or higher....

[@RideWithGerben]

Good call and you are right. Having fun is important to keep on Zwifting. My fun is somewhat under attack from cheat bois. It's a game I know, but in other games there is robust anti-cheat but not in Zwift I think.

[@thedreyday]

How are they able to cheat?

[@RideWithGerben]

See answer above. :)

[@Spotofgardening]

I wouldnt even know how to spot a cheater, I would just assume they are way fitter than me 🤣🤣

[@RideWithGerben]

LoL! :D

[@joeyr4869]

I used to do a lot of gaming and cheating was always prevalent. I guess I was naive to think that cyclists would somehow be above that. Guess that says more about me than anything

[@RideWithGerben]

Cheating and cycling.... Sadly yes! It's not naive, I would have expected a more robust anti-cheat system in Zwift.

[@LifeCycle1978]

I guess I don’t understand the point of cheating on Zwift. Everyone sees it and you aren’t helping your fitness.

[@RideWithGerben]

Me neither. It's just annoying.

[@jason200912]

Its so they can buy an aero bike digitally

[@RideWithGerben]

@@jason200912 Possibly yes. Or just trolling to make them feel better. Also possible.

[@griffithd05]

The real story is your riding position

[@RideWithGerben]

How come?

[@patrickdeschuymer3420]

Ridiculous , they ride with the speed of a pro and even this speaker makes 300w and is still able to speak. So, Zwift is used as a toy by kids, not grown ups!

[@RideWithGerben]

Hooo. Rustig aan. Rustig aan. 300 watt lukt me wel, problemen beginnen boven de 320.

[@fastharri]

Ironically Patrick, yours is by the far the most childish comment I’ve read here.

[@thedreyday]

I am new on zwift😂

[@RideWithGerben]

Welcome! :) Mostly they lower their height/weight. Use a wheelon trainer that overreads their power, some hack their data stream and faking their powernumbers to zwift. And most of these guys are known by name in the community, get reported but not banned.

[@thedreyday]

@@RideWithGerben oh ok, thats crap 😂

[@sangyoungpark9950]

Oh, is that Pogacar? 😂😂

[@RideWithGerben]

LoL! Maybe!

[@sire45]

Huge cheater. That K person was doing 10.3w/kg. What's the point of doing cheating? No one to brag to.

[@RideWithGerben]

It's soooo annoying! Also they blow up the race for everyone :(

[@rockymanilow5115]

Race outside and not on zwift. It's for fun only 😂

[@RideWithGerben]

Watts are Watts!

[@KuriReevel]

Indievelo waits for you with in core-built unti-cheating measures, wind simulation and other cool staff. Zwift really is obsolite now for racing or even group riding.

[@RideWithGerben]

Yeah. Indie looks soo good. 👍

[@ronnietaylor9377]

They are only cheating themselves,but it’s not nice for the other riders

[@RideWithGerben]

You are spot on!!

[@Eragonking53]

Who cares about racing the Koms are still owned by cheaters and have been for years

[@RideWithGerben]

Yeah. Zwift KOM's on Strava are all dodgy af. But I can always try to improve my own time.

[@Eragonking53]

@@RideWithGerben it doesn’t make sense if Zwift is so strict on monitoring racing but not KOMs

[@RideWithGerben]

Yeah. It's Strava who run the KOM stuff proper. And they don't care at all. @@Eragonking53