The ladder system is automated to implement a number of these rules, and it is the responsibility of the captains of teams in each race to monitor adherence to the rules, the race committee will not proactively monitor all races. Due to the automated nature of our systems and large volume of races happening, it is simply not possible to manually override rules, so if the computer says no, that's the final word. Any captain who still wishes to raise an issue with any race can do so with the race committee via #ladder-captains-race-control Discord. We have a zero tolerance policy where rules have been broken and will not hesitate to cancel race results or remove/relegate riders or teams from the league entirely where rules have been broken. The race committee decision is final and there is no formal appeals process.

1. All teams are organised using ZwiftRacing App rankings. The ranking on the Ladder Site reflects the Max 30 day “open/mixed” ranking as of the beginning of each “transfer window”. All existing riders on a team will have their rank will be frozen as of that date. New riders who are added between transfer windows will have their rank saved when they are first added to a roster. Any further reference to “rank” on the site refers to this frozen rank.

   • During normal operation of the ladder (between transfer windows) a rider will not be able to drop down a rank even if their ZR.app ranking changes (e.g., a rider whose 30d rank drops from Platinum to Gold will remain a Platinum until the next transfer window.)
   • If a rider increases rank, that new rank will be reflected on the ladder site. So if the Platinum rider upgrades to Amethyst, they will immediately become an Amethyst on the ladder site.

2. Riders must have a valid ZR 30 day rank to be added to a roster and must have a valid 30 day rank to remain on a roster during a transfer window.

   1. Any Rider that does not have a 30d rank at the time of the rank “refresh and freeze” process must be removed from the roster by the end of the transfer window.
   2. Any rider that does not have a 30 day rank will instead have their 90 day rank considered as a “fallback”. Previously this was in effect only during seasonal windows, but as of summer 2025 is now in effect permanently.
   3. Note that any rider who races in a ladder race without a ZR rank, and goes on to gain a rank from that race, will receive a short 10 day suspension. This is to stop the practice of unranked riders “racing anyway to get a ranking”. In an instance where ZR correctly prevents this rider from gaining a rank, no suspension will be required.

3. All riders in a squad must be spread over no more than 3 ranks eg. an Emerald squad may comprise riders from Emerald down to Amethyst level. This is the case even if a team is competing cross division, eg. if an Emerald team has challenged a Ruby team to a race.

   1. In women’s ladder, ranks Emerald (3) to Diamond (1) will be treated as a single rank ie. A rank 1 rider in a women's team may also race with a rank 5 rider.

4. In an instance where riders in a squad upgrade beyond the 3 rank spread, they may remain in that squad until the next transfer window, however this will have a number of impacts on the team.

   1. In an instance where the team fielded in any one race has a rank spread of greater than 3 ranks, the highest ranked riders in the squad will score 50% points (rounded up). Eg. In the example of a team with riders Emerald down to Amethyst, if rider(s) promoted to Ruby enter a race with team mates at Amethyst level, the Ruby rider(s) will score 50% points.
   2. Any rider upgrading beyond the 3 rank spread of the team may choose to transfer to a different team, even if out with a transfer window.
   3. In a team covering 3 ranks, the allowed spread of the team is the middle (median average) rider in a squad +- 1 rank, however if enough riders within a squad upgrade rank beyond this 3 rank spread, and the captain chooses not to transfer them, this will change the team middle (median average), and therefore the riders that can be added to the squad. Essentially if enough of your riders rank up, the allowed rank of new riders will move upwards. To make this easy, the team dashboard will always visualise the rider ranks that may currently be added to the roster.
   4. Any readjustment of rank (by reset) where the rank drops >1 rank, will not be entitled to a rank reset on ladder until the next Transfer Window.

5. Once a rider has been inactive on a roster for 30 days they become a free agent who can be moved freely, however note this does not free up a roster space if done during out with a transfer window.

6. There is a limit of 15 riders per roster.

7. Other than the cases noted above (rank spread, inactive rider) riders may not be removed or transferred from a team outwith a transfer window.

8. Teams for each race consist of 5 riders, you may enter with fewer riders but you’ll score less points.

   1. In an instance where a team cannot field a full team, we would encourage them to have a conversation with an opposing captain to see if racing with less than 5 might be agreeable, however this might not always be possible, especially with short notice until race time (we’d consider anything within 24 hours of race time to be short notice), in which case racing with mismatched numbers is also possible.

9. Riders may be active for one team only, irrespective of sub league. Therefore if a club is entering multiple teams of the same rank you must use a different roster for each team.

10. Teams may race in a maximum of one race per “day”.

    "day" in this regard is defined as "within the same 24 hour period". Another way to understand this is that Teams may race in a maximum of one race per +/- 12 hour period.

11. All riders and teams must keep their data and information accurate and up to date, particularly where it impacts performance.

12. No Zpower riders are allowed, or any device which estimates power in a similar manner, such as power pod. “Spin” or “exercise” bikes where we cannot have confidence in the power accuracy are also prohibited, as we are unable to provide a definitive list of these, these will be policed through randomRider Spot Check

13. Where riders have access to multiple power meters, they must pair their direct drive smart trainer/ smartbike as the primary power source for in game measurement and must have a controllable trainer/bike connected if they have one. In an instance of a rider having a wheel on trainer, such as a Kickr Snap, they may use a secondary power meter. This allows Zwift to enforce a minimum 30% trainer difficulty. This will be checked through randomRider Spot Check

14. All riders must record cadence & heart rate in game. We are unable to accept other recordings.

15. Riders must have their Zwift ladder rides set to public to allow any analysis of performances, any rides saved private where we cannot gather data will score zero points. Guidance for how to troubleshoot privacy issues can be found here Private Data.

16. Riders have a free bike choice for any event. For the avoidance of doubt this excludes handcycles.

17. Challenging teams will select at least one powerup or a maximum of two powerups for use in their race.

18. All riders in each team must wear the same jersey and include their team name against their in game name. The challenging team have first choice of jersey where 2 teams normally wear the same kit.

19. A maximum of 5 riders per team are allowed to enter the race and pen. Should anyone wish to DS they should do so using fan view.

    1. If the system detects more than 5 riders from one team then the team will be disqualified.