A “safety car” to reduce the speed of riders?

Mathieu Warnier, Media365: published on Sunday November 24, 2024 at 10:30 p.m.

While falls have increased during the 2024 season, with several deaths to deplore, professional cycling leaders intend to act to improve safety during races. This could involve more frequent neutralizations.

The professional peloton paid a heavy price in 2024. Still shaken by the death of Gino Mäder during the 2023 edition of the Tour de Suisse, the latter lost André Drege on the Tour of Austria but also Muriel Furrer on occasion of the junior race of the world championships organized in Zurich. Added to these deaths are a significant number of falls, the most notable of which will remain that which occurred during the Tour of the Basque Country, which notably injured Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic. Events which have further highlighted the need to work on race safety as runners go ever faster, whatever the conditions. This Friday, the General Assembly of the International Association of Cycle Race Organizers (AIOCC) allowed discussions on the issue and ideas could be discussed. The organizer of the Trois Vallées Varésines Renzo Oldani, who had to resolve to cancel his event on October 8 due to bad weather causing flooding on the course, notably highlighted the possibility of neutralizing the races more easily.

Prudhomme: “The faster they go, the more the risk increases”

The objective is also not to call into question the holding of the tests. “Solutions are being sought. There was even talk of putting in place a safety car like in Formula 1, said the Italian leader in comments collected by Cyclism’Actu. Maybe that's an idea. The important thing is that the races do not stop, causing harm to the organizers, to the entire cycling world and, above all, to the fans. This is the most important. » Nevertheless, as the president of the AIOCC and director of the Tour de France Christian Prudhomme was able to confirm, “safety will remain an absolute priority in 2025 and in the years to come” for race organizers. And this will involve a reduction in the speed of runners. “The faster they go, the more the risk increases, and the more they endanger not only their own safety, but also that of others,” he concluded. This is a long-term task that the world of professional cycling has embarked on in recent years and the solutions will not necessarily be obvious.