> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.time2.bike/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Interval starts

> Downhill, time trial, hill climb, enduro stages — one rider off the gate at a time.

Races where riders leave one at a time and several are on course at once get
their own screen. Time2Bike gives it to any race whose format is **time trial**,
**downhill**, or **enduro stages**.

Every rider carries their own start time, so nobody's result depends on a shared
gun.

> !!-IMAGE-NEEDED-!! — The interval-start screen: the on-deck rider, the on-course list with live clocks, and the big FINISH button.

## The shape of it

<Steps>
  <Step title="Start each rider as they drop in">
    Type the rider's bib into the start box and press start as the gate opens.
    Their clock begins right then.
  </Step>

  <Step title="They join the on-course list">
    Everyone currently on the hill, each with their own running time, oldest
    first.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Press FINISH as each rider crosses">
    The big **FINISH** button closes out **the rider who's been on course
    longest** — which is right whenever nobody has been passed.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## When someone gets passed

The big button's guess is wrong exactly when a rider is overtaken. Two ways out:

* **Every rider on course has their own Finish button.** Use that one when you
  can see who's actually coming down.
* **Reassign afterwards.** If a finish landed on the wrong rider, move it to any
  other rider still on course. **The recorded crossing time doesn't change** —
  only who owns it. You're fixing identity, not the clock.

<Tip>
  Don't try to fix an ownership mistake by deleting and re-recording. You'd lose
  the real crossing time and replace it with the time you noticed. Reassign
  instead.
</Tip>

## What else is on the screen

| Control         | For                                                       |
| --------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Void**        | A false start — throws the run away entirely              |
| **DNF**         | A rider who set off and didn't come down                  |
| **Clear**       | Undo a finish you just recorded                           |
| **Race picker** | Switch between interval races without leaving this screen |

## Enduro stages

Make each stage its own race. Riders get an independent start and finish per
stage, and the transfers between them aren't timed.

## Hardware

This is the screen that benefits most from beam-break timing — a start gate and
a finish beam remove human reaction time from both ends, which matters when
runs are separated by hundredths.

→ [Laser timing](/timing/hardware/laser)

## Next

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Laser timing" icon="tower-broadcast" href="/timing/hardware/laser">
    GPS-accurate gate and finish beams.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Dual slalom" icon="code-branch" href="/timing/formats/dual-slalom">
    Two riders, side by side.
  </Card>
</Columns>