How it comes together
Four things explain most of what you'll see in the admin panel.
Three grading systems, side by side
| System | Used for | Looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Zwift racing category | ZRL and events | A · B · C · D |
| vELO category (shown as Tier) | Ladder racing, and available as an event grading | BRZ · SAP · EMR · RUB · DIA … |
| Zwift racing score | An alternative event grading | Numeric |
They're parallel, not hierarchical — a rider holds a category and a tier at the same time.
Where tiers come from
The Tier column and the vELO lens in Analytics are the same value: a rider's vELO category, inherited from zwiftracing.app and the Zwift Club Ladder. Drafted Racing displays them; it doesn't set them. There are ten, ordered by vELO score, with Copper lowest. See zwiftracing.app/reference/categories.
One rider, one team per race type
A rider belongs to one team per competition. Assigning them to a new ZRL team replaces their old ZRL team and leaves their ladder and event teams alone.
Roster size belongs to the race
Minimum starters, maximum starters and maximum bench are set per race, not per team. A club's available spots therefore change as captains step between rounds.
The chain your captains live on
Worth understanding as an admin
Minimum starters blocks a line-up → the captain goes looking for a rider → they request a loan from another club → that club's captain approves → the rider joins as Active and returns automatically after the race.
Your roster settings are what start that chain. Set them to reflect what the competition actually requires and the borrowing system does its job on its own.