Setting up a race with sum of times from several events

This article explains how to set up a race in Copernico whose rankings are calculated by adding up the times of several events, for example a stage race. If you are new to multi-event timing, read Introduction to multi-event races first.

1. Plan the events

As in any race, the most important thing to know is what rankings you need to calculate and publish in order to prepare the race correctly.

Multi-event timing allows you to generate several overall rankings (summed up) at the same time. Imagine that you have a 5-day race, with participants who can compete all 5 days, generating an overall ranking for those 5 days, and you also have another event that will be the sum of the rankings of only the last 2 days.

Therefore, you will have 1 general event that groups stages 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, and another general event with the ranking of other participants who only take part on days 4 and 5. This means you will have 7 events:

1. Stage 1.
2. Stage 2.
3. Stage 3.
4. Stage 4.
5. Stage 5.
6. General 5 days.
7. General 2 days.

Note that with this configuration the rankings of days 4 and 5 will be joint. That is to say, on day 4 the stage may be won by a participant who only takes part on days 4 and 5.

In these cases the setup typically used is one in which the 2-day events are separated from the 5-day events. Thus, you would have 9 events instead of 7:

1. Stage 1.
2. Stage 2.
3. Stage 3.
4. Stage 4.
5. Stage 5.
6. General 5 days.
7. Stage 1 (2 days).
8. Stage 2 (2 days).
9. General 2 days.

Once the global race configuration is clear, follow the process in the next sections to create the race.

2. Create the race

Create the race as usual (Creating a race in Copernico) or copy the configuration of another race (Import configuration of another Copernico race (archived or not)).

3. Choose the race type

In the race details, next to the name, choose the race type in the Type field:

• Standard: a race with one or more events, without adding up times between them (default option).
• Stages: when you need to calculate positions based on the sum of times from several events.

4. Create or review the events

When you select the Stages race type, the Event Type selector appears next to the name of each event, with three options:

• Standard: an event that is not part of any sum.
• Stage: an event whose times are added up in a general event.
• General: the event in which the stages are added up.

There must be at least one General event, and every event you want to add up in it must have the Stage type.

5. Choose the stages of the general event

In the General event, add one row for each stage and choose, in each row, the event (stage) and the split used to calculate the rankings. By default, Copernico suggests the stage's split whose Split type is full, that is, from start to finish; if the stage has none, choose it yourself (see Splits configuration).

In the example image, the general ranking is made up of 3 stages.

The general event has no timing points, splits or waves of its own: they are set up in each stage.

6. Set up the rest of the race

The rest of the sections of each event (categories, attributes, team types and trophies) are set up as in any other race.

For example, if you have a stage race, it makes sense to have the same timing points and locations each day. If you add a suffix with the stage (E1, E2, etc.) to the name of each location, all the locations of the race will be easy to tell apart.

Also, set each timing device to the correct location every day.

Once the race is set up, import the participants as explained in Import data of participants in races with accumulated rankings. To change participant data later and to time the stages, see Modifying participant data and Timing.