Ever have someone blow past you on a climb in Zwift like you are standing still?
It’s disheartening to say the least, but now we’ve learned it might be due to a z-doping weight hack that Zwift has known about for at east a year and has not fixed.
In fact, Zwift recently issued a 30 day ban to the amateur rider (Luciano) who identified and notified Zwift about the hack, plus they also threatened a more serious ban if the rider continued to share information about the hack.
Zwift wants to keep the story about this z-doping weight hack quiet, very quiet.
But the hack isn’t rocket science, it is embarrassing simple. While riding (or racing) using the Zwift Companion app on a smartphone, riders just significantly decrease body weight via “Settings>Profile” when starting a big climb, like Alp d’Zwift.
A few seconds later the weight change will take effect, increasing watts/kilogram power and allowing riders to increase speed without having to ride harder, thus potentially putting a coveted virtual KOM jersey within reach.
At the top of a climb riders then use the Companion app to change back to their original weight, or add significantly more to bomb downhill at warp speed.
The in-ride weight changes are supposedly undetected within Zwift and ZwiftPower when normal weight is restored in the Companion app before the ride ends or is saved.
Zwift has not commented if they will monitor for this mid-race z-doping weight hack at the 2022 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships taking place this weekend on the Zwift virtual platform.
Seems the opportunities for z-doping are virtually endless…
PHOTOS: Twitter, Zwift
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