Get Involved in Cycling as a Race official!

We are committed to developing opportunities for members of the community to get more involved in all aspects of the sport of cycling.

Commissaires are the sports officials that supervise competitive bicycle races in each cycling discipline. They are qualified at various different levels: provincially, nationally and internationally.

Regardless of the level of competition, having qualified sports officials brings value through alignment with cycling best practice, ensuring the integrity and due process in competition, and encouraging the right values and etiquette of the sport.

Commissaires support the safety of riders and ensure that the sporting rules are respected. They support organisers and are in charge of filing results and reports on race organisation, incidents and penalties, which helps improve the overall quality of events.

Clubs are urged to engage their members and supporters to become trained and active as commissaires and have at least one trained official within their club.

Commissaires are responsible for:

Supervising the behavior of the riders,

Apply penalties (such as warnings, fines, relegation, or disqualification) if appropriate for infractions of the rules,

Judge the start and finish of each race, and

Perform backup timekeeping.

How to get Started:

The first level for commissaires to get involved in officiating races, is completing the Provincial C introductory Commissaire Training (Here). This hour-long module will review the basics of each cycling discipline and will teach you how to prepare for races as a Commissaire, as well as the basic rules essential to officiating. Once you have completed the online portion, you will be expected to attend a local officials workshop in the spring and gain practical experience working at cycling races by shadowing an active commissaire.

It doesn’t end with the on-line course: ongoing mentorship and development is a part of the plan.

To support clubs, organizers, and members in building their capacity to run higher-level races, Manitoba Cycling is offering opportunities for newly trained Provincial C level commissaires to gain experience at races. New commissaires will have opportunities to be mentored by senior commissaires at select events throughout the 2020 season.

Commissaires who are already working at the provincial level will be given further opportunity to upgrade.

Stay tuned for our Spring Commissaire workshops which will be posted to the website soon.

Benefits of becoming a Commissaire in Manitoba:

  1. The MCA will reimburse the online “Introductory Provincial C training” registration fee, for those who sign-up for a spring commissaire training and continue their commissaire mentorship in Manitoba.
  2. Training will be provided free of charge. You must register for training in advance with the MCA. Stay tuned for training dates!
  3. Ongoing mentoring and development will be provided at races.
  4. Official clothing will be provided by the MCA.
  5. A license discount will apply provided once you complete the minimum requirements of races assigned.
  6. Commissaires will be paid an honorarium for races worked (+ travel expenses where applicable).

For more information on the role of the official, and/or the competencies required for the job, please contact the MCA at 204-925-5686.