"At the moment there is too little being done in this area" - John Degenkolb demands better communication in regards of race safety

After the death of Gino Mäder, the cycling world is discussing riders safety ahead of the Tour de France start in Bilbao. Speaking to DW, veteran cyclist John Degenkolb believes athletes must take responsibility.

"I was at the Tour of Belgium. It was time-trial day. We were all sat together on the bus and heard the news. The atmosphere changed abruptly. It was a tragedy, people were affected and grieved, even for people like me who were not there or who did not know Gino closely. He's one of us, one of the guys from the peloton and that stays in your head."

"We shouldn't point fingers and say they or you are responsible for this accident. I think it is much more important that we try to get the stakeholders in cycling, i.e. the UCI, the race organisers, the teams, the riders' union, to come to the table to work on shared concepts for safety. We need clear regulations that say: this is what safe routes must look like, this is how far racers are willing to go, and this is how safe equipment must be."

"At the moment, that is what I am most critical of, that too little is being done in this area. Just looking at the route of one stage is the wrong starting point for making cycling safer in the long term. We are all responsible for safety and we have to pull together as riders, unions, teams, federations and organizers."