Home / Playbook / Timing & registration
Playbook · 05 · Operations
Timing & registration
A stage race lives or dies on its results. Riders forgive a lot, but not a general classification that's wrong or a day's times that never post. Get the platform and the timing partner right, and design the GC scoring before the first entry opens.
Registration
Use an established endurance-event registration platform rather than building your own — BikeReg (the cycling standard), RaceRoster, or Athlete Reg. They handle payment, categories, waiver capture, transfers, and the rider database.
Capture at sign-up
- The signed waiver & release and entry agreement (see Sanctioning & insurance).
- Category — Elite/Open GC, age-group, touring wave, e-gravel.
- Emergency contact and any critical medical info (feeds the medical plan).
- Acknowledgment of the mandatory kit and altitude/cutoff rules.
- Merch, extra lodging nights, and any add-ons that fund the event.
Chip timing
Contract a professional timing company — they bring transponders, mats, hardware and results software. Don't self-time a GC race.
- Transponders — disposable bib-tag chips are cheapest and fine for gravel; hard tags for elites if you want redundancy.
- Timing points — start and finish on every stage, plus mats on the timed KOM/QOM segments. Mark these in course design so crews have road access and power.
- Backup — a manual finish-line camera and a written finish log. Chips fail; a race can't lose a stage's results.
General-classification scoring
This is the design decision that makes it a grand tour. Settle the rules and publish them before registration opens.
- GC = cumulative stage time. Lowest total across all stages wins the overall; separate GCs per category.
- KOM/QOM — a points or fastest-segment classification on the marquee climbs, scored independently of GC.
- Cutoffs & DNFs — decide in advance: a rider who misses a cutoff is out of GC but may continue in the touring classification; a mechanical or a medical pull has a defined status. Write it down so it isn't argued on the mountain.
- Neutralized sections — if a descent or lightning hold is neutralized, define how time is handled (rolled time, adjusted, or excluded) up front.
- Ties & bonuses — decide whether stage-finish time bonuses exist (they add drama, road-racing style) or GC is pure elapsed time (cleaner for gravel).
Results delivery
- Live or same-day results per stage, and the running GC standings posted at the finish and online each night — riders want to see the overall move.
- A results page the media and sponsors can point to; a leader's jersey presentation each evening builds the story.
- Archive final results for the event's credibility and next year's marketing.
GC edge cases — decide these before day one
The overall is only as trusted as its rules for the messy cases. Write these down and publish them so nothing is argued on the mountain:
| Situation | Common rule |
|---|---|
| Missed cutoff | Out of GC; may continue in the touring classification if it's safe. |
| Did not finish a stage (mechanical/medical) | Out of GC; a "started but did not finish" status; can they start the next day? Decide and state it. |
| Neutralized section (lightning, hazard) | Time rolled or excluded per a pre-set rule, applied to everyone equally. |
| Time bonuses | Either none (pure elapsed time, cleaner for gravel) or defined stage-finish bonuses — pick one up front. |
| Penalties | Littering, course-cutting, outside support outside aid — a defined time penalty, published in the rules. |
| Ties on GC | Broken by best stage placings or the final-stage time — state the method. |
Results night
- Provisional stage results posted at the finish as riders come in; a short protest window before they're final.
- Updated GC standings each evening, online and on a board at basecamp — the overall moving is the story riders come back for.
- A leader's jersey handoff each night builds the grand-tour feel and gives sponsors and media a moment.
- Final, archived results after the last stage — the record that sells next year and gives the event its credibility.
What a stage-race timing setup needs
When you brief timing companies, confirm they can handle: multi-stage cumulative scoring (not just single-day), separate KOM/QOM segment timing, category and wave management, same-day results publishing, and a manual backup (finish camera + written log) for when a chip read fails on a remote mat.
Sources
- BikeReg / RaceRoster / Athlete Reg — registration platforms
- Regional chip-timing companies serving Colorado endurance events — get quotes; confirm multi-day/stage-race experience