"Having your life, I think, is always more important" - Tim Declercq advocates for riders to take less risk in the peloton

Tim Declercq is a rider closely associated to the long flat stages, where he would spend large hours in the front working for his leaders. The former pro and now Soudal - Quick-Step coach believes that this would be the safest position however in a peloton that is riding with increasingly more and more risks.

"I tried so many times, but I couldn't really put this aside. I tried to analyze things a little bit and I was of course lucky to be always more towards the front. And that's the most safe spot in the bunch," Declercq believes, as said in words to the Domestique Hotseat podcast.

Declercq worked for sprinters such as Mark Cavendish, Fabio Jakobsen and Tim Merlier's success, before joining Lidl-Trek in what was his last season as a pro. With the likes of Jonathan Milan and Mads Pedersen onboard, he continued having the same domestique role, which he fulfilled all the way into his retirement.

However, regardless of how much time he spent in the head of the peloton, he was well aware of what happened in the back. And a few moments would get him quite nervous: "On those descents where the speed was so high, then I sometimes I just drifted completely to the back".

Hence the conversation revolved around safety in the sport, coming from a rider that turned pro in 2012 and has seen the evolution throughout the years. One such aspect were the narrower handlebars so as to be more aerodynamic, but would make bike handling more difficult in the peloton.

The Belgian believes the minimum handlebar width rule was an important decision: "Of course, first of all, I really am a fan of the minimum handlebar width. But actually the biggest problem is the riders themselves without throwing a stone to anybody because it's just so important to always be there in the front and there's only place for 20 riders in the first 20."

Other ideas include the reduction of gear ratios, the yellow card system, and also potentially the creation of protection systems in the riders' equipment, as is the case in motor racing. "It's maybe a bit naive, but I have something I don't want to settle for that idea. Maybe they could in theory also make an airbag system or something like this."

However, Declercq knows that the riders are taking many more risks nowadays, and makes an urgent call for the riders to be more considerate when racing in groups. "Having your life, I think, is always more important and having a little bit more respect towards each other in the bunch. I think this is something where the whole bunch could benefit from."

The increased competitiveness and attention to detail leads to more teams looking to be in the leading positions; whilst the evolution in nutrition and technology is seeing the peloton move faster than ever before - all of it increasing the risks of large falls.

"Sometimes when the positions were made, sometimes I said to the riders close to me, just stay in position. Positions are made now and I think most of the times they also kind of listen to this. In the end you're just overtaking each other at some points and they just make it super dangerous, more dangerous".