York Omnium - Festival of Cycling

Set on a 1km closed cycle circuit, York Omnium involves an afternoon of racing across three formats, points, sprinting and a crit race, each designed to identify the most all-rounded road cyclist. The competition is surrounded by a festival of food, drink, pop-up shops and entertainment. 

Do I compete in each stage or can I pick the stages I compete in?

The competition is designed to test your all-around abilities on the bike. From sprinting to cornering, tactics and endurance each race throws up different challenges. As a competitor, your entry is to every stage of the race

Can you explain the race format and points system, please? 

The criterium involves a timed bunch race around the closed circuit. Sprinting races are broken down into smaller bunches of 10 to sprint around half of the closed circuit. The points race has a prime every four laps, riders are awarded points for their position over the line on every prime

Your position crossing the line denotes the points awarded. i.e 1st place gets 1 point, 2nd gets two points and so on. Those with the lowest accumulated points at the end of the day claim the title of overall winner

Why does BC list the time as 4hr 45 mins?

There will be three groups of competitors on the day, two for men and one for woman. Each group will compete in their stage, then rest in the cycle paddock while the other two groups compete. The total time for all groups to compete across all three stages is 4hr and 45 mins, at the end of this there will be a podium presentation