UCI President David Lappartient spoke to Cyclingnews about rider and race safety before the start of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes, calling on everyone in the sport to come together for the good of the sport.
Paris-Roubaix Femmes and the men’s Paris-Roubaix are arguably the two most dangerous races of the year due to the cobbles and the intense racing. Race organiser ASO accepted a request from the CPA rider’s association to create a chicane before the entrance of the Forest of Arenberg to slow the speed of the men before the treacherous sector. However, there is concern crashes could happen once again during the two days of racing.
Everyone in the sport was shocked to see the extent of the crash at the Itzulia Basque Country and the serious injuries suffered by the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel, Jay Vine and others.
“Safety is clearly the most important topic for the sport at the moment, for the UCI and for all the different stakeholders,” Lappartient told Cyclingnews, sensing it is time to act.
“I think 38 WorldTour riders have crashed and been injured since the start of the year. That’s a lot.”
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The UCI and other stakeholders in the sport recreated the SafeR project in 2023, with the aim to study crashes and race dangers and work together to resolve them. It is funded by the stakeholders, much like anti-doping, and in theory, is independent of the control of the UCI or one stakeholder.
However, SafeR has to become fully operative. Jaap Van Hulten has only recently been appointed the CEO of SafeR, while Michael Rogers recently left the UCI after playing a key role in the creation of SafeR.
Visma-Lease a Bike team manager Richard Plugge, who worked hard on SafeR during his presidency of the AIGCP team association, criticised the delay in the full launch of SafeR.
Wout Van Aert crashed out of Dwars door Vlaanderen and missed the biggest cobbled Classics, while Jonas Vingegaard fractured his collarbone, several ribs and suffered a pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax in the Itzulia Basque Country crash. Visma-Lease a Bike lost their two leaders within two weeks and their biggest goals of the 2024 season are now in doubt.
"There is sadness, but also a kind of anger," Plugge said on Friday of the crashes.
"SafeR is ready, but it has not yet been successful. I don't want to point the finger at anyone, but I get angry that we are not working on it yet. I feel responsible for that towards all riders.
"We must implement those recommendations as quickly as possible. It has now become too much of a political process. You have to stand up for the people and also think about the business. This is harmful to our sport."
Lappartient showed his support for the injured riders via social media. He admitted to Cyclingnews that he swapped messages with Plugge after his criticism.
“I agree with him that it's not time for politics; it's time for better safety,” Lapparitent told Cyclingnews.
SafeR has begun holding weekly meetings to study race safety concerns. Last Thursday's meeting was cancelled just 24 hours after the mass Itzulia Basque Country crash, but Lappartient promised action during next Thursday’s meeting.
“We created SaferR to make some decisions and improve race safety. We have an important meeting next week,” Lappartient said.
A key part of the SafeR project is the analysis of crashes and their causes. Lappartient revealed to Cyclingnews that the rider behaviour is the cause of 50% of the crashes.
“We carried out a survey and created a database of all the crashes in all the races of the last three or four years, so now we know the reasons,” Lappartient said.
“50% of crashes are due to rider behaviour, with 50% due to other factors, such as obstacles that are not signalled or the speed of the peloton.
"I'm not here to say it's all their fault; it could just be a brief moment of inattention. That's why we want to introduce a principle of yellow and red cards, like in football, so that dangerous behaviour is better punished.
“I’ve seen all the debates about equipment, new technology, earpieces, etc. There’s still a lot to understand. But it’s time to act and improve race safety.
“We need to have a lot of small safety gains. That’s what the riders want and that’s what we’ll work on, we all have to work together on this.”
