Or keeping a now-irrlelevant weight limit in place, or limiting the aero designs of bikes, or…
The only people I hear making this argument are non-racers and/or lower level racers.
I regularly compete on zwift (because it’s fun and seems to be making me faster) and can assure you that anyone who is regularly getting results is registered on zwiftpower, has links to Strava for IRL numbers, multiple power source comparison data, weigh in videos, etc… It’s honestly overkill, and if someone is still riding unrealistically it doesn’t usually last very long. No one racing regularly on zwift cares about results outside of zwiftpower verified results.
The top guys on zwift are mostly ex-pro, neo-pros, or soon to be pros. Mix in some ex runner/swimmer/rower freaks and you basically have a bunch of athletes that will smash whatever endurance sport they decide to participate in. They’re better athletes than 99.9% of folks IRL as well.
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I couldn’t disagree more…a LOT of people complain about the massive cheating on Zwift and it is not just non-racers and “lower level” racers. It is a major concern and Zwift knows it is.
Ok. I guess I can only speak of the people I race with on a near daily basis, mostly A and A+ category riders on zwiftpower.
My apologies for how “lower level” came off. I only meant that you see more complaining and issues in C and D cats because more beginners go there and more zpower (virtual power) users that have no clue what realistic numbers are and really make a mess of things with dumb trainers. Nearly all races remove these users from results in Zwift itself.
In the groups I race we all seem to enjoy ourselves and I mostly hear complaints about how power verification requirements are going a bit too far and becoming unnecessarily costly and difficult for competitors in some of the popular series.
There’s an entire forum section on zwiftpower for reporting bad power numbers and it’s very active. Issues are dealt with almost immediately. Many of the perpetrators aren’t “cheating” just using equipment incorrectly or dealing with a malfunction, as in the case of the previous poster. I’ve seen plenty of racers pull their own results after finding a power issue as well, myself included, because it happens.
It’s one thing to read about something, another to be an active participant. I’m glad to steer you in the direction of the more legitimate races and resources for verification if you want to take a spin yourself.
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Every time someone says this about Zwift a WADA official dies a long and painful death. It must be part of our collective performance of delusion about “racing clean” that we keep pointing to e-doping or whatever we call the Zwift stuff.
The big problem is cheating… in all sports. And no governing body has actually managed to eliminate it. Zwift just democratized it. 
I don’t race Zwift because I got bored with it, but I do chuckle regularly when I read this.
Not sure the UCI being involved in anything is a good thing for long term development.
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Why do you think I am not an “active participant”? I have raced on Zwift plenty, as have many of the people I ride and race with IRL. The issue of cheating on Zwift is often discussed.
Personally, I don’t really care about results on Zwift…for me, it is just a tool to achieve my larger goals. If someone wants to “cheat” in order to win some “race” on Zwift, have at it.
But when you start putting up rainbow jerseys and national titles without a defined way to address how easy it is to cheat, I think you are asking for problems.
Just my $.02…
Quite possibly the best take on the whole thread!! 
What makes you think that cheating in a live, in person event, will be at all analogous to cheating on a distributed event where everyone has their own equipment?
Agree completely.
I guess I was assuming you don’t race much currently, or at least aren’t involved/engaged in zwiftpower and the competitive side of the platform.
All good and too each their own. I honestly only advocate for zwift because I was initially so strongly opposed to it and have seen such benefit to my fitness and enjoyment of indoor training.
I’m not making any analogy between cheating IRL to cheating in eSports. I see them as completely different things (albeit they are both forms of “cheating”).
Maybe I’m mis-reading you. It seems like you’re saying that the rainbow jersey won for eCycling will have the same types of cheating as current Zwift racing
Perhaps I’ve misunderstood what you’re getting at - but since any eCycling competitions will be done in person wouldn’t the cheating concerns be extremely different and more similar to cheating in current races?
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I can see a whole new industry of esport hacking/cheating being brewed as we type. If it’s plugged in, it can be hacked. Just wait, soon basement nerds will be brewing up their own versions pot belge (ipot belge?). The doctors replaced by the engineers. Nothing is new under the sun.
It definitely introduces a new methodology - similar to the idea of hidden motors in that it is a technical feat rather than a biological one, but in scope, detect-ability, and feasibility it all feels very similar to what we deal with in professional racing already
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I haven’t seen anything in the various articles / press releases that indicates all digital racing competitions will be in person…with the regional and national qualifiers planned, I’m not certain that is a viable option.
I’d be interested to see a poll of how many Zwift races people on here have done. I fear that a lot of the haters don’t really understand what Zwift racing and eCycling is all about.
There is already a ruleset for some of the big Zwift races. I’ve done three of the Zwift Classics and the rules were pretty tight. There was a race manual produced for each race that is up there with the very best race manuals I’ve seen for any road race I’ve done. Verification was very thorough and some very high profile riders DQ’d for not adhering to the rules.
There will always be cheating, but at the top level, there’s a lot going on to try and eradicate it.
Many older serious athletes are actively now choosing eCycling as a sport due to the risks involved with road racing. With so many new riders entering the sport the standard of riding in the bunch is frankly appalling. I’m considering not racing outdoors again because of this exact reason. And now if UCI is recognising eCycling we had a legitimate place to do proper, official, racing.
I’m loving seeing cycling embracing new technology and moving into the 21st century.
Zwift, I think, will be the platform. Various bodies will now use it to organise races. It is the most established and polished of any out there. Has anyone actually seen the mess that is CVRcade? And if the UCI invest in the platform, that can only be good for the user.
I have no issue with an eCycling license. In fact, I hope federations do introduce this.
Ride On👍
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I’ll just put this out there and say, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”.
The amount of money at stake will drive the amount of hacking involved.
The UCI and their sock rulers won’t know what hit them.
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Per the agreement, After 2020, UCI will launch a bidding process to determine the provider of these events beyond 2020. So Peloton might have a chance 
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There’s already a list of banned equipment and set-ups for the high level events. Zwift can tell what equipment people are using but at present don’t share that information.
Live events are a whole other ball game.
I think what many of us feel is that eRacing is not “proper” racing…it is a simulation, at best.
So many other factors play a role in racing that simply aren’t present in Zwift / digital racing.
My position is that it is a competition on bikes but not bike racing.