On Friday morning, the best male and female cyclocross racers in the world will toe the start line at the foot of the iconic Koppenberg. 

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Held in Oudenaarde, Belgium, the Koppenbergcross race will serve as the first round in the eight-race DVV Verzekeringen Trofee series. Unlike many points-based series, the DVV series is based on overall time, making a course as demanding as the Koppenbergcross a crucial event in the series.

If a racer is able to gain a minute or more on their competitors summiting and descending the steep hill, he or she will gain a critical advantage in vying for the overall series title.

As they wait for the start, the racers look out at a climb paved with rounded stones and pitching at gradients as steep as 22 percent. The Koppenberg, which rises more than 250 feet in less than a half mile, is best known for its infamous role in the road racing monument, the Tour of Flanders.

In fact, the Koppenberg has caused so much consternation in the Tour of Flanders — namely, an incident in 1987 in which race leader Jesper Skibby fell over on the hill’s steepest pitch, and had his bike run over by the commissaire’s follow vehicle — that it was excluded from the event for 15 years.

In 1988, following the banishment of the climb from the Tour of Flanders, the Koppenberg was used for the first time in a cyclocross race, the Koppenbergcross. Perhaps local organizers felt the hill was better suited to a cycling discipline in which dismounting and running up a steep climb isn’t seen as disgraceful.

Because the DVV series is more similar to a road racing stage race than a points-based omnium, and becuase the Koppenberg may prove crucial to the overall series, we figured a rules primer ahead of the Koppenbergcross might help viewers understand what’s at stake.

Here’s what you need to know when you tune in on Friday morning:

1. The Clock Is All Powerful: Racers are ranked according to their finish time in each of the eight races in the series. The lowest cumulative time wins. If there’s a tie on overall time, the racer’s overall placing are taken into account. If the overall placing is tied, then the placing in the final race of the series decides the winner. 

2. Every Race Matters: If a racer fails to start, fails to finish, or is pulled from a race, they’re given a five-minute time penalty in the overall series. For example, elite women’s world champion Sanne Cant pulled out of the first race of the DVV series with an illness, and is now effectively out of contention for the overall title.

3. Pay Attention To Time Bonuses: At a sprint point one lap into the men’s and women’s elite races, time bonuses are awarded to the first three riders. The time bonuses are worth 15 seconds, 10 seconds, and five seconds. These time bonuses can prove to be very decisive in the overall series.

4. It's A Team Event: There’s a 5,000 Euro prize for the top team in the DVV series. The team with the top three racers in combined overall time — comprised of two men and one woman — is deemed the winner of the DVV team trophy.

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