Red Hook Criterium just announced a total overhaul of their point system. In the new system more points are given in the qualification heats and in the final the top-50 (as long as the rider is in the lead lap) scores points. We talked to David Trimble to find out the how and what behind the changes.
Photography: Tornanti
Text: Brian Megens
Graphics: Red Hook Criterium
David Trimble:
“With only 2 events on the calendar this year we are expanding the points system so that the championship will remain open until the final lap in Milano. The new system awards points to the top 20 finishers in the heat races. In addition the top 5 finishers in the Another Chance Race receive points to keep their championship ambitions alive. With this system everyone in the men’s field who makes it into the final will already have points on the board.”
“In the final the top 50 finishers score points as long as they finish on the lead lap. In the men’s race we typically have more than 50 finishers but in the women’s race usually the number is far lower. This will give a huge incentive for the women to try and fight to the finish line even if they get dropped. I’m excited to test out this new format. So many athletes still have a strong chance to take the title in Milano. It will be a fight for every last position on the road. I’m also happy that this system will finally rank athletes outside the top 25. With over 300 men at each RHC, we were overdue to expand the points. The team championship is also expanded to include the top 50 finishers which will make every team member more critical.”
Brian Megens:
“From the perspective of an athlete I think that the new point system in general is a good thing as in the old system only the top-25 of the final were rewarded (with only a hand full of points going to the heat). As in the Men’s race there are around 300 athletes starting I think it is fair to reward those making the final and doing well in the heats because making the final is an achievement in itself nowadays. To see this rewarded is great. However, I can also understand that the absolute top riders of RHC are not so happy with this system as now it will be much harder to calculate which riders are a threat to their position. On top of that, with the new point system a lot more riders are still in the race for a podium spot in the overall General Classification.”
Some highlights of the new system:
Individual points:
– The top 20 in each heat score points
– The top 50 in the final score points
– The top 5 in the ACR score points
– Athletes must finish on the lead lap to score points (heats and final)
– Prime winners score points
– Ties go to the athlete with the higher placement in the (most recent) final
Team points:
– the top 50 in the final score points
– athletes must finish on the lead lap to score team points
– ties go the team with the highest placed athlete in the (most recent) final
Consequences of this new system:
– Alessandro Mariani only finished 19th in the final but is 10th in the points based on a heat win and prime
– Melanie Guedon finished 2nd in the final but is only 4th based on a weak heat
– Alec Briggs (5th) finished 3rd in the final but is behind Davide Vigano (3rd) and David Van Eerd (4th) who both won their heat
– David Santos (25th) and Ivan Ravaioli (26th) are fairly far up the points despite weak finals based on strong heats
– Stefan Schafer recovered from a heat DNF to win the ACR and keep his championship ambitions alive
– Only 26 women finished the final in Brooklyn but there are 35 athletes with points based on heat finishes
