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Bike Trial

Bike Trial, or Trial, is one of the most technical sports that can be practiced with a bicycle. The aim is to ride across obstacles with your bicycle, limiting at the same time the amount of penalties. Touching the ground or the obstacle with your feet, falling or exceeding the time limit, will be penalized. Each participant has a scorecard on which the number of penalties are indicated after each test by a competition commissioner. In each zone, one can obtain up to 5 penalty points.

The winner is the one with the fewest penalty points after all zones have been passed.

There are three categories:

  • Men 20"
  • Men 26"
  • Ladies (20" and 26" ride together in one category)

Top level trial Bikers work out an average of 5 hours per day. This sport is very explosive and damaging for joints and muscles. Therefore, in order to avoid injuries, it is important to do also preventively a lot of extra strengthening exercises. A trial biker trains about 30% his speed strength, for 20% on endurance and 50% on technique. It is a very difficult and dangerous sport, but very addictive, and challenging to improve each training.

Competition proceeds as follows : each zone must be finished within the 2min30":

  • 1/4 finals:
    - 6 zones that should be completed ​​2 times within 3h30min
    - Athletes are free to choose the order of the 6 zones
    - it's open to all cyclists with a UCI license
  • 1/2 finals:
    - 6 zones with a higher difficulty level that should be completed 2 times within 2h30min
    - Athletes are free to choose the order of the 6 zones
    - Top 10 of the UCI ranking is automatically selected, + top 15 of the 1/4 final
  • final:
    - 6 zones with the highest difficulty level that have to be completed 2 times within 1h15min
    - Riders must respect the order of the zones, starting with Zone 1
    - First 8 of the 1/2 final
    - Women only participate at the final and do not need participate to the 1/4 or 1/2 finals
  • Super Final:
    - The 4 most difficult zones of the final have to be completed in a maximum time of 15 min
    - Only the 4 best athletes of the final
    - The final points keep on counting

Penalties:

- 1 penalty point if you put a foot on the ground
- 1 penalty point if you touch the obstacle with your pedal, chain guard or the tip of your foot while it is on the pedal (just the tires may hit the obstacle)
- 1 penalty point per 15" that exceed the zone time limit of 2min30"
- 5 penalty points if you fall, put a hand, put both feet on the ground, not respecting the official trail, disrespect of the order of the obstacles within the zone, waving with the front wheel across the virtual vertical line of the arrows and ribbons, cracking ribbons or pushing over arrows.

If you reach the maximum of 5 penalty points, you have to leave the area immediately and go to the next one.

Thanks to Kenny Belaey and:

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