Clock starts when you cross the start line and only stops when you cross the finish line.
Though as has been said, it’s not a race so who cares.
I’d be inclined to agree…
So he doesn’t want to count all the Cake-stops, never mind, in a real race he’d be “found out”, but it wasn’t a real race was it…
The bigger questions to ask are, firstly why is your Missus treating Sportives as serious competition? And why has she got such a problem with this fella?…
If it get’s the bloke in question out riding and gives him a bit of a boost in the exercise and confidence stakes then what’s so terrible about a bit of minor self-delusion?