ANALYSIS: Remco Evenepoel joins Egan Bernal and Chris Froome on the list of nasty training crashes – but is there anything cycling can do about it?

Earlier this week, the cycling world was shaken by the news that Remco Evenepoel had been involved in a training crash. The Belgian superstar, fresh off the best season of his career, collided with a car whilst riding in Belgium. Patrick Lefevere, his team manager at Soudal Quick-Step, later confirmed that Evenepoel had suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and right hand.

But it definitely could have been worse, considering the frame of his bike was broken in two, and Remco should still have plenty of time to recover ahead of the new season.

While details are still emerging, the accident is a sobering reminder of the dangers professional cyclists face even when they’re not racing. Yes, there’s been a huge increase in safety measures in cycling since the early years, but the fact of the matter remains, there are unavoidable dangerous elements of the sport we love. And this is not the first time Evenepoel has been involved in a dramatic crash. In 2020, at Il Lombardia, he suffered a horrific fall over a bridge railing after misjudging a descent, resulting in a fractured pelvis and a long recovery.

Evenepoel’s latest crash casts a shadow over what has been the most remarkable season of his young career. At just 24 years old, he Evenepoel silenced his doubters in 2024 and brought glory back to Belgian cycling. His long awaited debut at the Tour de France saw him finish third overall, claim a stage victory, and secure the young riders classification.

But his real French summer came a few weeks after the Tour. At the Paris Olympics, Evenepoel made history by becoming the first male cyclist to win both the road race and time trial events in the same Games. And he wasn’t done yet! In September, Evenepoel successfully defended his World Time Trial Championship in Zurich, reinforcing his dominance against the clock. For Evenepoel, this crash is a cruel way to end such an extraordinary year, with recovery time now cutting into his crucial pre-season preparations for 2025.

Unfortunately, Evenepoel’s crash is far from an isolated case. Whilst there’s been an increase in safety measures during races, there’s not a whole lot the UCI can do for training rides. In football, players train behind closed doors, as do boxers, rugby players, and most other sports people. Cycling in that case is unique, given pretty much all the training cyclists do is in public spaces, on open roads.

Several riders have endured similarly terrifying accidents in recent years. Colombian Tour de France champion Egan Bernal famously suffered a life-threatening crash during a training ride in his home country in 2022. While riding at high speed, Bernal collided with a stationary bus, resulting in a fractured vertebra, femur, kneecap, ribs, and a punctured lung. Doctors described his recovery as a miracle, and Bernal himself admitted he was “lucky to be alive.” Whilst Bernal is back in the peloton, the truth is he’s never quite been able to live up to the level he was at prior to the crash, which is a true shame. Could he have been mixing it with Evenepoel, Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard?

In 2019, Ben Swift experienced a frightening crash on a training ride that left him in intensive care with a ruptured spleen. While descending a climb in Tenerife during a training session, Swift lost control of his bike and was thrown onto rocks, and he credited his helmet with having saved his life. And then of course there was Chris Froome, who suffered a serious crash while reconnoitring a time trial course during the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné. The incident left him with a broken femur, elbow, and ribs, sidelining him for months, and we all know how the four time Tour de France winner’s career has turned out since then.

The inherent risks of cycling on open roads cannot be overstated, and there’s no clear cut solution to it. There’s nothing much the UCI can do about an angry driver, or a road littered with pot holes. And Evenepoel’s crash, like Bernal’s, occurred because of a collision with a vehicle, and can you imagine what it’s like to crash whilst riding at over 40 km/h?

And Remco was definitely lucky to get medical attention so quickly, given many training routes are chosen for their challenging terrain, often in remote or mountainous areas. While these locations provide ideal conditions for improving fitness, they can make emergency response times longer in the event of an accident. There’s no shortage of ambulances at the ready during the Tour de France, but if you crash on your own during the winter months, you could be in trouble.

The issue of training safety raises important questions about whether cycling is simply an inherently dangerous sport or if more can be done to protect riders. We’re not denying that the very nature of the sport involves unavoidable risks, several measures could potentially improve safety during training. In many countries, the lack of dedicated cycling lanes forces riders to share roads with motor vehicles, and expanding cycling-specific infrastructure could reduce the number of interactions between cyclists and cars, significantly lowering the risk of collisions. Advances in cycling technology could also offer additional protection for riders, as Garmin and other companies now produce radar systems that alert cyclists to approaching vehicles, and wearable devices with crash detection features could provide quicker emergency response times. However, it remains to be seen whether these systems are widely adopted at all times.

Increasing public awareness about sharing the road with cyclists is another crucial step, but of course that is an uphill battle given the constant war between cyclists and drivers. Maybe it is time that cycling teams and pro riders became more involved in this battle, as they’re the ones whose voices will be most well heard. They’d be doing their fans a favour too, as the more respect for all cyclists on the road, the better.

Ultimately, professional cycling is a sport defined by its inherent risks. And that’s part of the reason why we love it, just think back to Tom Pidcock’s descent at the Tour in 202. But how would that have gone on a training ride if there was a van or traffic round one of the corners?

For Evenepoel and others who have endured these frightening accidents, the road to recovery will be long, but he will soon be back doing what he does best. But for the sport to thrive, reducing the dangers of training rides must remain a priority for teams, organisers, and the cycling community as a whole.

As fans, we celebrate the bravery and determination of riders like Evenepoel, Bernal, and the many others who crash off camera, whilst pushing themselves to the very limit. However, these moments are becoming one too many. No, cycling is never going to be a danger free sport, and no, there’s no way to eliminate crashes entirely. But it’s probably time for the sport to start playing a greater role in increasing road safety for cyclists, as some of the worst crashes happen a long way from the professional peloton.