Season ΣI · Stage 5

DIRT Racing Series Season ΣI Stage 5: Avon Flyer

Tuesday 27 October 2026

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Stage 5 is a flat criterium in New York: four laps of Prospect Park's Avon Flyer, 13.4 km with 58 m of climbing, and the Ghost as the only power-up. Two sprints are scored three times between them: the downhill Center Sprint for FTS on the lead-in and FAL on lap 1, and the flat Peristyle Sprint for FTS on lap 3. DIRT's distance ends at the Peristyle Sprint banner on lap 4, so the finish is a flat 400 m sprint worth 120 points. Stage 6, the time trial in Paris, starts shortly after this race finishes, so most riders will race both back to back.

The course

Avon Flyer is a 3.3 km loop of the southern half of Prospect Park, ridden clockwise, with a 1.8 km lead-in from the pens. Each lap starts at the Center Sprint arch on Center Drive, the road that cuts across the park, and the sprint is the 200 m of downhill into that arch. From the arch you ride the rest of Center Drive, turn right onto the park loop, pass the Peristyle, and turn right back onto Center Drive and down through the sprint to the arch again. These are the parts that decide the race:

The rest of the lap is flat with small rollers, and nothing on it will drop a rider who is sitting in. You pass each sprint four times. The Center Sprint arch comes at 1.8 km, 5.1 km, 8.4 km and 11.7 km, and only the first two score. The Peristyle Sprint comes at 3.0 km, 6.3 km, 9.6 km and 12.9 km: the third is FTS and the fourth is the finish.

The sprints

The Center Sprint is 200 m downhill at -2.2%, eastward along Center Drive to the arch. It is fast, 60 kph or more in a group, and short, so it is over in about 12 seconds. The first pass, at 1.8 km on the lead-in, is FTS, your time through the 200 m, less than three minutes after the gun: jump from inside the group as the segment starts and hold it to the arch. The second pass, at 5.1 km on lap 1, is FAL, the order across the line, so the sprint starts earlier and first across takes 10 points. The third and fourth passes are unscored.

The Peristyle Sprint Reverse is 400 m and flat, on the park loop past the Peristyle, and it takes twice as long as the Center Sprint. The third pass, on lap 3, is FTS. The fourth, on lap 4, is the finish: a 400 m drag race for 120 points, with the line at the banner.

Power-up and equipment

The only power-up is the Ghost, which makes you invisible to other riders for 15 seconds. It does not make you faster. Its use is to attack: hit it, go, and the group cannot see which wheel to chase. It is disabled within 400 m of the finish line, so it cannot help in the final sprint. On a flat course with the group doing 45 kph, a Ghost attack only works if the group hesitates. The best chance is on the last lap between the Center Sprint arch at 11.7 km and the Peristyle, when everyone is thinking about the finish. DIRT hasn't said whether you get one in the pen or one at each arch, so check at the start.

There is no draft boost and no aero helmet.

Flat and fast, so ride your most aerodynamic bike with a disc wheel. The S-Works Tarmac SL9 is the fastest all-rounder in the game and 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.

Where the points are

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).

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. Your best four of the six stages count for the individual classification, and today's two stages count separately.

For the sprint classification, this is the biggest day of the season. All 40 segment points here are sprint points, the same as Stage 3, and no other stage offers more than 25. With Stage 6's two sprints starting shortly after this finishes, a sprinter can score 65 of a possible 130 season points in one sitting.

How it will be raced

• It is a 20 minute crit, and it scores from the start. The first FTS is at 1.8 km, under three minutes in, before the group has settled. Be at the front from the gun.
• Two different sprints. The Center Sprint is downhill, 12 seconds, and starts on a bend; the Peristyle is flat, 25 seconds, and rewards a longer effort. Know which one is coming.
• FTS goes on time, wherever you are. Both FTS sprints pay the ten fastest times, so a timed jump from inside the group beats a long sprint from the front.
• The finish is the Peristyle, not the Center Sprint. The lap 4 pass of the Center Sprint arch at 11.7 km pays nothing. The race ends 1.2 km later at the Peristyle banner.
• The Ghost is for the brave. One attack, after the last Center Sprint, invisible for 15 seconds, then 1 km alone against a group. Most riders should save their legs for the sprint.
• The time trial starts shortly after you finish. This race is under 20 minutes, and Stage 6 is 13.9 km alone with a climb at the end. Both pay the same 120 at the line. If the time trial suits you better, don't empty yourself here. Either way, keep rolling after the finish, drink, and have the TT bike selected before you join the next pen.

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). Stage 6 starts shortly after this race finishes, so check both times on your race pass. Your slot and pen show on Teams, then Rider Dashboard, once the race pass arrives.

• Heart rate monitor on and sending to Zwift. No HRM means an automatic DQ, though your team captain can ask for a review.
• Power sending to Zwift, or it is a DQ.
• Don't change height, weight or other settings between the pen and the finish, or it is a DQ.
• ZwiftPower registered with data sharing on, and your DIRT account showing your full name and Zwift ID.
• Keep your Zwift FIT file. Race Control can ask for it within 24 hours, and not supplying it is a DQ.
• Save the ride as public.

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.

Sources

• DIRT Racing Series Season ΣI Stage 5 stage page
• DRS rules and scoring
• Zwift Insider: Avon Flyer, its Center Sprint segment page, its New York expansion guide and its power-up guide
• What's on Zwift: Avon Flyer for segment positions