Timed Loop events are built around a round course. You ride the loop as many times as you can within the event's time frame — the rider with the most laps wins.
Is this your event?
You're on a Timed Loop event if it's built around one course you ride repeatedly inside a fixed time window, and the leaderboard's main column is a lap count. If your event has several different routes instead, see Classic, Stage Race or Fastest Time.
What counts as a result
Every valid lap of the course counts. There's no "best lap" to chase and no single attempt that matters more than the others: laps accumulate, one after another, for as long as the event runs.
What replaces a previous result
Nothing does. Unlike formats where a faster ride overwrites a slower one, laps only ever add up. A slow lap still counts as a lap.
Route difficulty
Every climb is rated for its average slope, its length, and its type (road or off-road). That rating is the route's difficulty — it comes from the route itself, not from how hard you pushed, so it's the same for everyone who rides it.
In short: long, steep and off-road routes are worth more than short, flat, paved ones. You don't have to work it out — each route shows its own difficulty.
On a Timed Loop your Score is that difficulty accumulated across every lap you complete, so riding more laps raises it.
How the leaderboard is ordered
Timed Loop events use their own leaderboard, with these columns:
- Laps — how many times you completed the loop.
- Elapsed — your elapsed time (see below).
- Score — accumulated difficulty across your laps.
Places are decided by Laps, most first. More laps always beats fewer, whatever the other columns say. If two riders finish on the same number of laps, the one with the lower elapsed time is placed ahead.
Elapsed time, not riding time
This is the part riders most often get wrong. Elapsed is not the sum of your lap times — it's the clock running from the start of your first lap to the end of your last one. Any breaks you take in between are included.
That matters because elapsed time is the tie-break: on equal laps, the rider who spent less time stopped places higher. Resting is a legitimate strategy, but it isn't free.
Becoming a Finisher
You become a Finisher by completing at least the number of distinct routes the event requires. That number is set per event. Once you've earned it, it stays.
Worth knowing
Club rankings aren't available on Timed Loop events — clubs are ranked on formats where riders cover a set of different routes.
Other event formats
Not the event you're in? See Classic, Stage Race or Fastest Time.
Related: Categories (gender & age) · Becoming a Finisher · Following the official route · Did my activity count?
