Season ΣI · Stage 3
DIRT Racing Series Season ΣI Stage 3: Seaside Sprint (UPDATED)
Tuesday 13 October 2026
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Updated 9 October with DIRT's corrected scoring order. Stage 3 is a flat points race in Watopia: four laps of Seaside Sprint, 28.4 km with 220 m of climbing. The only scored segment is the 200 m sprint over the Julynn Washington Bridge, scored at the end of laps 1, 2 and 3: FTS on lap 1, FAL on lap 2, FTS on lap 3. The sprint segment ends at the lap banner, and on lap 4 that banner is the finish line, worth 120 points and nothing else.
The course
Seaside Sprint is the shortest Watopia loop with a sprint in it. You start at the pier, ride 2.8 km through the Esses to the sprint banner at the end of the Julynn Washington Bridge, and then do four clockwise laps of 6.4 km from there. The lap goes through the Italian Villas, along a twisty gravel road and over the land bridge into the Volcano, round the Volcano Circuit banner, back over the glass bridge, through the Esses, and down onto the bridge for the sprint. These are the parts that decide the race:
| Where in the lap | What | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| About 2 km | Short pitch into the Volcano | Short and sharp |
| 5 to 6 km | The Esses, then one last short climb a few hundred metres before the sprint | Rollers |
| 6.1 to 6.3 km | Sprint over the Julynn Washington Bridge (FTS on lap 1, FAL on lap 2, FTS on lap 3, the finish on lap 4) | 0%, off a short descent |
Nothing on the lap is long enough to drop a rider who is sitting in. Expect a big group all the way to the line.
The sprint
The sprint is 200 m and flat, starting where the bridge starts. What decides it happens before that. The road kicks up for one last short climb at the end of the Esses, a few hundred metres before the segment, then drops down a short straight ramp onto the bridge. The group is at its fastest on that ramp, so you need to be in the first few wheels at the top of the climb, because there is no time to move up on the way down.
The two scores reward different things. FTS, on laps 1 and 3, is your time through the 200 m, wherever you are in the group. The fastest time usually comes from a rider in the draft who jumps as the segment starts and holds it to the banner. FAL, on lap 2, is the order across the line, so it goes to whoever is first, and the sprint starts earlier.
On lap 4 the 200 m ends on the finish line, and there is no FTS: the last sprint is for the finish points only, 120 for first, 95 for tenth, and everyone scores something.
Power-up and equipment
The only power-up is the Draft Boost, which increases your draft for 40 seconds. Use it on the way into a scored sprint: hit it at the top of the last climb, so it covers the descent and the 200 m, while you are still in a wheel. Alone at the front it does nothing. DIRT hasn't said whether you get one in the pen or one at each arch, so check at the start.
There is no aero helmet and no feather.
This is a flat race, so ride the most aerodynamic bike you have with a disc wheel. The S-Works Tarmac SL9 is the fastest all-rounder in the game, and an upgraded S-Works Tarmac SL8 is within a second an hour of it. A pure aero frame such as the Cervelo S5 is a touch faster still on the flat. Pair it with the DT Swiss disc, or the Zipp 858/Super 9 if you have it.
Where the points are
| Score | Where | Who scores | 1st | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTS | Sprint, end of lap 1, time through the 200 m | Top 10 | 15 | 5 |
| FAL | Sprint, end of lap 2, order across the line | Top 10 | 10 | 5 |
| FTS | Sprint, end of lap 3, time through the 200 m | Top 10 | 15 | 5 |
| Finish | The sprint banner, end of lap 4 | Everyone | 120 | 95 |
The finish pays three times as much as all the sprints put together. The most one rider can take from the sprints is 40 points, and the gap between 1st and 10th at the line is 25 (DRS rules and scoring).
You cross the sprint banner five times. The first, at 2.8 km at the end of the lead-in, pays nothing. The next three are the scored sprints, and the fifth is the finish. The stage page lists the scoring laps as 2, 3 and 4 because it counts the lead-in as a lap. DIRT has confirmed the order above: nothing on the lead-in, then FTS, FAL, FTS and the finish.
Miss the time cut, 135% of the winner's time, and you lose your segment points but keep your finish points. Four riders score for each team.
How it will be raced
- It is a bunch race. Nothing on the lap splits a group that wants to stay together. Save your legs for the three sprints that count.
- Position is decided on the last climb, not on the bridge. Be in the first five wheels over the top of the kick at the end of the Esses, every scored lap.
- FTS goes on time, wherever you are. Both FTS sprints pay the ten fastest times through the 200 m, so a well-timed jump from inside the group beats a long sprint from the front.
- The scoring starts early. The first FTS is at 9.2 km, about twelve minutes in. Be in position from the first lap.
- The last lap is the finish only. No FTS on lap 4, so there is nothing to gain from a fast time; only the order at the line counts.
- A break is unlikely to stick, with four laps of flat road and no help from the course, but a late move on the final lap's climb could take the group by surprise.
Before the race
Start times in UTC: Atlantic 09:45, Central US 11:00, EMEA C 17:15, EMEA W 18:30, US E 23:30, US W 01:30 (Wednesday in UTC). Your slot and pen show on Teams, then Rider Dashboard, once the race pass arrives.
Running Sauce for Zwift? Open the free Race Report mod before the start, and afterwards relive the race: where the splits happened, which group you were in, and how the finish played out.