New Omnium Scoring

[Rachel Marcuson]

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who have not been keeping up with recent rule changes, the way the individual and team omniums are calculated has changed.  We will now be using a single points table for all categories and for team rankings.  You can find the updated points table here.  You will notice that the points awarded in each category are now equal.  If a rider upgrades, they will still carry only half their individual omnium points up to the next category.  If you have any questions please email me.  If you want further explanation of how the individual and team omniums are calculated, keep reading.

-Rachel

Individual Omnium

In each mass start race during the season, a rider earns individual omnium points based on their placing in the race.  1st place is 80 points, 2nd place is 72 points, 3rd place is 66 points, 4th place is 62 points ... 40th place earns 1 point.  In the D category, points are awarded in the same way but stop at 20th place.  Points are also awarded for a top four finish in a prime sprint.  At the end of the season, every rider's individual omnium points are added up to determine the omnium winner.

Team Omnium

For each "event" during the season, every team is ranked.  "Event" in this case means each race and each gender.  For example, last weekend at UCLA there were four separate events in which teams were ranked- the women's road race, the men's road race, the women's crit, and the men's crit.  Teams are ranked based on the sum of their top four riders in each category for individual events and the top team entry in each category for team events (TTT), and points are assigned for the team omnium.  The team with the highest total i.e. ranked first is awarded 80 points.  The team with the second highest total i.e. ranked second is awarded 72 points. etc. 

[Judd R. Van Sickle]

Wait, hold the phone.

All categories are now scored evenly?

A win in a D race is now worth as much as a win in an A race for team omnium???

 

This makes sense for the individual omnium scoring, but should we really give equal weight to the races across categories?

I feel like this would encourage sandbagging quite a bit.

Has USA Cycling provided a justification for this seismic shift in the scoring?

 

Any clarification is greatly appreciated,

-Judd

 

Head Coach, UC Davis Cycling Team

 

Judd Van Sickle, Jr. MS, MBA, CBDT

UC Davis Health | Sports Medicine

Sports Performance and Wellness

3301 C St, Suite 1600, Sacramento, CA  95816

(916) 551-2220 '  |  vans...@ucdavis.edu *

www.sportsperformance.ucdavis.edu

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[Rachel Marcuson]

Hi Judd, and everyone else who is probably thinking the same thing,

The main reasons given by USAC were as follows:

- Simplifying the scoring and making it fair to teams with lower class riders

- The new points table is a better overall idea to create a team sport mentality (winning the omnium does not just depend on A riders doing well)

- Incentive to bring more racers out at every level 

Before the change was made, a number of conferences checked how the new points table would have affected last season's omnium and generally the change was pretty minimal. I haven't checked what difference the new points table would have made to the 2019 road season, but I have checked what our season omnium would look like this year so far with the old points table. I've attached the result here, and as other conferences found, the difference is minimal. Regardless of which points table is used, the teams that will do the best will bring out riders in every category, and focus on having riders at all levels improve throughout the season.

Regarding sandbagging- I will be keeping a much closer eye on the results this year and making sure that riders who meet the upgrade criteria are moved up into the next category.

Yes, there are ways to game the system to improve your school's standing in the omnium, but it's important to remember there are many other reasons we race- to have fun, to become skilled and safe riders, to push our individual limits, to foster a better sense of teamwork, and to have fun!

I hope this sheds at least some light on the recent change, and I'm happy to field any further questions on this.

-Rachel

[Rachel Marcuson]

One more important point- the "Nationals" omnium will be calculated with the new points table but using only results from A riders.  More details on our nationals allocations will come out as soon as I have them.

-Rachel

[mary maroon]

Rachel, 

You summed up the many discussions the WCCC BOD and USAC had regarding the change perfectly. 

Thanks!

Mary Maroon

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