Open Time Trial Field Placement

Riders new to open time trials often ask why the field is organised the way it is. The theory is that no two riders of similar ability should be placed together, as they will inevitably travel in close company and risk being accused of 'drafting'. Thus the final digit of the start number gives a clue to the rider's potential. The assessment is usually based on the fastest time achieved for that distance in the last three seasons (LTS), stated on the entry form. Thus the fastest riders will be placed in the '0' category, ie at 10, 20, 30, etc., with the fastest rider going off at 120 in the case of a full field. The next fastest set of riders will be 5, 15, 25, etc., down to the slowest at 9, 19, 29, etc. The full order of final digits is: 0, 5, 1, 6, 2, 7, 3, 8, 4, 9. Thus, based on previous times, on the first run through everyone should be in their theoretically correct order, eg. 57 will be faster than 47, or 91 faster than 81, etc.

Added to this is the need to accommodate special conditions, eg a request for an early number, so if rider requesting an early start ends up at 73 in the first sort, he should be swapped with say number 3 or 13. In addition we are supposed to separate riders of the same club. This means that if the sort process puts club members at numbers 42 & 43, one of these has to be swapped with another competitor who might be 32 or 53 for example. Finally, there is a tradition that no.1 should be a member of the organising club. The idea is that in the unlikely event of a problem, eg at a marshalling position, the rider stops to assist (this eventuality is very rare). Clearly swapping riders for reasons described is much easier with a large field, sometimes impossible with a small entry.

The above system of number groups has been used by Rugby RCC and other clubs to allocate prizes, mainly as an alternative to handicap prizes. Thus a prize is awarded to the fastest rider in each number group, excluding that of the overall winner (usually a zero), so there are 9 number group prizes awarded.