On 3rd of October, every Istria300 rider carries their own live tracker: the phone already in their jersey pocket. Here’s what the app does, what it means for your friends and family, and how to get set up before the start.

Anyone who has waited on the seafront in Poreč knows the feeling: hours of nothing, then suddenly a rider appears. For Istria300 2026 we’re closing that gap. Participants run the Sporlyst Tracker app on their own phone, and the whole race appears on a public live map: for family at home, for friends out on the course, and for our race control.

No extra hardware, no rented GPS box to hand back at the finish. Just the phone you already carry.

Before race day

Download Sporlyst Tracker. Free, for Android and iPhone.

Scan the QR code you will receive by email (check your inbox and your spam folder before race day). It carries your bib number and a personal tracking code. You can scan it with the camera, pick it out of your photos, or type it in by hand.

On race morning, press START once. That’s it.

Do steps 1 and 2 at home, not in the start pen. The app will ask for location access the first time you press START. Choose “Allow all the time”, because that’s the setting that lets it keep recording once the phone goes back in your pocket.

Out on the course

Tracking runs with the screen off, the phone in your pocket and the app closed. You don’t have to keep it open, and you don’t have to look at it.

Three hundred kilometres of Istria will take your signal away at some point. The inland valleys and the wooded sections between the hill towns are the usual culprits. That doesn’t cost you anything: the app keeps recording to the phone and uploads everything the moment you’re back in coverage. A dead zone becomes a gap of a few minutes on the map, not a hole in your track.

Charge your phone to 100% before the start. If it drops to 20%, the app stops tracking by itself and tells race control it paused for battery, rather than quietly draining you to zero. Plug in your power bank, press START again, and your distance carries on exactly where it left off.

There’s a red SOS button in the app. It tells race control you need assistance and puts your position on their map, and if you have no signal at that moment, it’s held and sent as soon as you do. It is not a call to the emergency services: if it’s serious, call +385 99 848 7176 first, then press SOS.

The app downloads the full course and all checkpoints to your phone, so they work offline. On the tracking screen you’ll see how far you’ve ridden and a countdown to your next cutoff. And from Settings you can export the route as a GPX file straight into your navigation app. Handy well before race day, when you’re still planning your ride around the peninsula.

Not only riders

The support vehicles run the same tracking with their own call signs. Race control sees riders and support on one screen, which is what makes a fast, well-aimed response possible when someone needs help. On a 300 km loop that leaves the coast for the inland hills and comes back, that matters.

Following from home

Family and friends don’t need the app or an account. They open races.sporlyst.com in any browser, pick Istria300, and watch the field move. One thing to know: the map deliberately shows nothing until 30 minutes before the official start, so don’t worry if you see an empty map the evening before.

The app shares your GPS position with race control, and only while you have tracking switched on. You can pause it at any time, and you can withdraw from the race in the app so we know you’ve stopped on purpose rather than searching for you.

Download it today, scan your QR code when it arrives, and press START on the morning of 3rd of October in Poreč.

App support will be available during the expo days before the race. Visit the stand to get set up or ask questions.