When you create an event you pick a format. The format decides how athletes start, whether they're timed, whether anyone is ranked, and how the activity ends. It's the one choice that shapes everything else, so it's worth getting right, and it can't be changed once athletes have registered.
You pick the format from a set of cards, each honestly labelled with whether it's timed and whether it's ranked. Here they are, in the order you'll see them.
Meet-up
No competition, no timing. Everyone rides or runs together and the app tracks the group so friends and family can follow along. There's no clock, no ranking and no finish detection, athletes simply stop when they're done.
Meet-ups are the only format that don't need a start or finish point set before you publish, and the only format with no cut-off option. See Create an event.
Best for: social club outings, shakeouts, casual get-togethers.
Sportive / gran fondo
Athletes are timed from crossing the start line to crossing the finish line, but nobody is ranked. Results are published as personal times only, no positions, no podium, no gap-to-leader anywhere. On the live map and leaderboard, athletes show as on course or finished with an elapsed time, never as "1st" or "2nd".
Athletes set off across a start window rather than on a single gun, and each athlete's clock runs from their own line-crossing.
Best for: sportives, gran fondos, and any timed mass-participation activity that must not be run as a race. This is the right choice whenever you want to give people a time without turning the day into a competition.
Race
Every athlete's clock runs from the gun. You (or the scheduled start time) fire the gun, and every athlete is timed from that same moment: an athlete who crosses the start line fifteen minutes after the gun is still timed from the gun. Athletes are ranked, positions show live, and the first across the finish line wins.
Because "race" means something specific here, the app asks you to confirm it when you pick this card, and it points you to sportive / gran fondo if your athletes actually set off in their own time. Choose race only when everyone starts together.
Best for: closed circuits, criteriums and mass-start road races, and their running equivalents.
Time trial
Athletes start individually and each is timed on their own clock from the moment they cross the start line. Standings are ranked fastest first.
Best for: individual and team time trials, hill climbs.
Point-to-point
A start, a finish, and any checkpoints you place in between, with the athlete picking their own line between them. Point-to-point events don't need a GPX route; instead you drop checkpoints on the map, and the first one becomes the start. Each athlete's own elapsed time is tracked from the first checkpoint to the last, the same personal-times-only presentation as a sportive, but nobody is ranked. This suits a long self-navigated route with no single fixed course.
Best for: bikepacking point-to-point routes, gravel adventures, self-navigated challenges. See Courses and feed stations for placing checkpoints.
How the formats compare
| Format | Timed? | Ranked? | How athletes start | How the activity ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meet-up | No | No | Together, whenever | Athlete stops |
| Sportive / gran fondo | Yes | No | Across a start window, own clock | Cross the finish line |
| Race | Yes | Yes | Together, on the gun | Cross the finish line |
| Time trial | Yes | Yes | Individually, own clock | Cross the finish line |
| Point-to-point | Yes | No | Own time | Reach the final checkpoint |
In a ranked format (race, time trial), an athlete can finish automatically by crossing the line, or end early by tapping Abandon, which marks them DNF. A sportive or point-to-point is unranked, but not DNF-free: they're a challenge rather than a race, and an athlete who stops early (using slide-to-end, since there's no Abandon button on these formats) is still marked DNF, the same as an abandoned race. The only format where ending early is never a DNF is a meet-up — untimed, so an athlete who stops early is simply marked Finished, the same as stopping at the end of the ride normally. A cut-off (if you set one — not available on a meet-up) closes out anyone still going past the deadline, marked DNF or finished depending on how you configured it. See Finishing a ride and Event lifecycle and rider statuses.
Laps
For circuit events (race, time trial, sportive) you can turn on laps and set a lap count. The app counts a lap each time an athlete passes back through the start/finish zone. Point-to-point events don't use laps: the athlete follows the checkpoints once. See Routes, start and finish lines.
What this means for spectators
- On a race or time trial, spectators see live positions and a running order.
- On a sportive / gran fondo, point-to-point or meet-up, spectators see who's on course and personal elapsed times (none at all for a meet-up), never a placing.
Everyone spectating a public or unlisted event gets the live map, leaderboard, trails and route with no login. See Public, unlisted and private events.