“Everyone was looking forward to the big showdown at the Tour de France between Vingegaard, Pogacar, Roglic & Evenepoel" - Richard Plugge claims 'crashes ruin the sport'

Excitement had been building for a long time for this summer's Tour de France with Grand Tour cycling's 'Big 4' set to battle it out for the Maillot Jaune in a mouthwatering prospect for fans. Sadly, one crash at the Itzulia Basque Country seems to have put that idea out the window.

Three of the 'Big 4' were caught up in the crash. Remco Evenepoel having multiple fractures and Primoz Roglic fracture fracture-free but covered in scrapes and bruises, but it was Team Visma | Lease a Bike's two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard who was worst affected and remains in hospital at the time of writing, nearly two weeks on from the incident.

“We have to see how they recover as people and only then we can think about when they return to cycling. At the moment it’s way too early, we need to let them rest and recover,” Visma boss Richard Plugge told Cycling News when asked for an update on the Dane's condition.

Plugge, an outspoken advocate for more rider safety in the peloton, is angry and frustrated that crashes continue to 'ruin the sport' as he puts it. “Crashes ruin our sport,” he says bluntly. “Everyone was looking forward to the big showdown at the Tour de France between Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel. Now we might not have that. It’ll be incredibly sad for the sport if any of them are unable to race the Tour de France. We have to do something about it. It's very difficult to see your riders lying on the ground and know that young people, their families and friends will suffer from it all too. It's not only Jonas or Wout that hurts me, it’s terrible seeing any rider crash hard."

Plugge's SafeR campaign's implementation into the peloton has been delayed due to UCI bureaucracy, much to the frustration of the Visma boss. “A lack of action on safety makes me sad and really mad. We have the beginning of the solution in the SafeR project. It’s basically ready to go but for political reasons, it's really dragging on. There's been an urgency about safety for years but how many wake up calls do we need?" he questions angrily. “Why is there a delay? If safety improves, then safety improves, it's good for everybody."

“All the people sit in front of the television or are glued to social media, perhaps they should try to race over wet cobbles – it's like an ice rink, it’s not safe,” he concludes, praising the introduction of a chicane before the Arenberg Forest at the recent Paris-Roubaix. “Everyone has to play their part in improving safety. We all benefit from a safe sport: the rider obviously, but also their teams and sponsors, the race organisers, the UCI, and of course the fans and anyone who loves our sport. We all have to be ready to change the sport, even if we might not like the changes or if it costs us something. We’ll benefit in the long run. We have to put safety first.”