3D Race - Time-trial

Individual time-trial

The individual time-trial is a race in which you control your riders one by one. With each rider having to make the best possible time, it is crucial you know how to manage your riders so they do not crack during the stage, but neither finish with too much energy.

Two actions are available:
1) Automatic: by default, riders start in automatic mode, which means that you have nothing to manage.
2) Infinite relay: this action activates the cursor that allows you to manage his effort. Depending on the difficulty and the distance of the route, the intensity must be set at a higher or lower level. We will then see how to best manage the different parameters.

Energy reserves and distance gauge:
3 gauges are visible in a rider's control panel: yellow and red energy bars as well as the distance gauge. Depending on the difficulty and the distance of the route, the intensity of the effort will change, and you'll have to concentrate on a single energy bar.
On short races, effort is very intense, so you'll have to keep an eye on the red bar.
On long races, effort is more moderate, so it's the yellow bar that will have to be watched.
The aim is to find the right level effort so, when crossing the finishing line, you manage to empty one of the two bars.

Should an energy bar empty before your rider reaches the finishing post, he will be off par for a short period, and a small section of his energy bar will flash. During this period, effort will be limited until he recovers some energy. Use this opportunity to return to an effort level that is better adapted in order to finish the time-trial.

The numbers that must be remembered for effort:
Red: above an effort of 85, you consume this energy, and below this number you recover it.
Yellow: above an effort of 59, you consume this energy, and below this number you recover it.

Team time-trial

The team time-trial is a delicate exercise where you must be acutely aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your riders, if you hope to win.
It's the same principle as for individual time-trials: depending on the difficulty and the distance of the route, one of the energy bars will be restrictive.
By default, riders are on "relay" with a 10 second duration. If you want to change it (1 to 25 seconds) you must move the cursor above the action panel.
You can also remove riders from among those taking a relay by using the "Maintain position" button. This will spare those who are having trouble.
Unlike the individual time-trial, you will not only have to manage your riders' energy levels for the remaining race distance, but also the relay duration of each rider.

When you press "0", you can select all your riders and adjust the effort of each rider in your team and the average duration of the relays. You can also ask a rider to stop his relay by clicking the icon on the left of the screen next to his name. This screen enables you to manage your riders' relays and monitor their energy levels during the race. You will gradually learn how to manage team time-trials as the seasons progress, and learn how to take advantage of the particularities of your riders.

In a team time-trial, the finishing time is taken from one of the riders in the team (the 5th in the Tour de France), and not on the last rider. You can of course arrange your team so that your group is led by excellent rouleurs so that not all riders will be able to keep up with the pace. You can also regularly rotate the relays so the effort is shared among your riders.

The idea is to use the strengths of each rider in your team to optimum effect. A very good climber will certainly be able to lead your group up an incline, but some riders may burn all their energy just trying to follow, if the effort required is too high. As a general rule, try to give more relays to good riders, but make sure you don't exhaust them to avoid finishing the race only with riders of average ability.

NB: in Pro Cyclist mode you only control your own rider. Therefore, some team control functions are unavailable to you. This rule falls by the wayside when you achieve the status of a leader for a race: you can then issue orders to riders from your team who are in the same group as you.