Cyclist Safety Concerns Prompt UCI to Take Action
Concerning incidents at races over the past few weeks have spurred the UCI to revisit their cyclist safety measures, following feedback from riders and race delegates via the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA).
A meeting between the CPA and the UCI was held on October 9 to discuss how to improve cyclist safety. A joint press release was issued afterwards.
The UCI has stated that they will unveil their new proposals during the WorldTour seminar from December 10 to 11.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) held a meeting on October 9, in part to discuss concerns over cyclist safety during UCI-sanctioned races.
While the UCI is the international governing organization for the sport, the CPA is the international organization for the riders themselves; the CPA refers to itself as “the only association for riders recognized by the UCI.”
According to the initial press release from the CPA on October 4, the discussion comes after collecting feedback from riders and race delegates.
“We have several ideas to suggest: a mandatory minimum distance between vehicles and riders, different feeding zones, safer barriers and arrivals for all the races. We would like the protocol in case of extreme weather conditions to be applied to all races, even in the smaller ones,” said Gianni Bugno, the president of the CPA, in CPA’s press release.
While the CPA doesn’t cite any races specifically, a later press release from both the UCI and the CPA on October 9 confirmed that this review of safety protocol stems from certain incidents at recent races.
The joint press release also refrained from naming any incidents in particular, but one of the races that comes to mind is the under-23 men’s individual time trial during the world championships in Yorkshire. Many of the races dealt with bad weather, but the under-23 men’s ITT was especially hard hit. The heavy rain and ponding on the course during the ITT resulted in a few crashes.
There were also crashes at Stage 2 of the CRO Race on October 2, which prompted pro cyclist Brent Bookwalter to voice his frustration with that day’s race on Twitter, citing “cars on course” and an “absurdly technical-slick finishing circuit.”
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Then, at the Tour de l’Eurométropole on October 5, Colombian cyclist Álvaro Hodeg suffered multiple fractures after crashing into a barrier with raised feet during the final sprint. Fellow cyclist Matteo Trentin expressed his dislike towards that type of barrier on Twitter, noting that those unsafe barriers are unnecessarily used at other races as well.
Previous safety initiatives that have been introduced by the UCI over the past few years include one for “extreme weather protocol,” safe driving courses for on-course drivers, and smaller team sizes for the WorldTour.
“The safety of cyclists is an absolute priority,” said David Lappartient, president of the UCI, in the press release. “Along with our partners from cycling’s various families, we have already done much to improve race conditions for riders, although recent events have reminded us that we can never rest on our laurels.”
With this latest review, the UCI has stated that they’ll roll out a set of proposals to improve safety measures for the 2020 season. These proposals are expected to be released during the upcoming WorldTour seminar from December 10 to 11.
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