Race Around Ireland is a World Cup event but unlike other cycling events there are no road closures and no planned rest stops. Riders will be on the road 24 hours per day and so are our officials. Officials are not there to marshal junctions, but rather to monitor riders, making sure they do not break the rules of the road and other specific rules set out for fairness of competition.
If a rule is broken by a rider the team will pick up a penalty point and a time will be added to their overall finish time.
6 penalty points and the rider and team are disqualified from this event!
The rule book for Race Around Ireland is 50 pages long and the rules are set out for safety, fairness and to uphold the integity of the race. There are ALWAYS penalty points picked up by riders in this event! Out of those 50 pages there are two rules that have racers picking up more penalty points than any of the rest combined.
Rule Break 1 – Racer breaks a red light
Timing of lights can be important. If you see a red light stopping traffic ahead, slow down gradually and then accellerate when the light goes green. This will help you keep the flow of riding up without having to come to a complete stop.
Rule Break 2 – Racer fails to stop at a stop sign
A legal stop is defined as follows: The spokes of a wheel should be individually visible or graphics on a disc wheel should be readable. A Racer does not actually have to remove a foot from the pedal and touch the ground.
If you have bad habits of riding through stop signs or red lights in normal rides then there is a good chance you may get caught out here. Our advice is simple – ALWAYS follow the rules of the road when training.
A breach of the rules will result in a penalty point and a time penalty so you will end up losing more time for your team if you get caaught.
Here is how Time Penalties work in the race
Time penalties for traffic law violations or race rule violations will accumulate throughout The Race. These time penalties are cumulative. Racers are allowed 5 penalties, then disqualified upon being given the 6th penalty. Violation of any rule may result in a penalty being issued.
Penalty Structure:
1st Penalty 15 minutes
2nd Penalty 15 minutes (Total – 30 minutes)
3rd Penalty 30 minutes (Total – 60 minutes)
4th Penalty 45 minutes (Total – 105 minutes)
5th Penalty 60 minutes (Total – 165 minutes)
6th Penalty Disqualification