“It’s frustrating. Nothing has changed since Gino Mäder" - Geraint Thomas criticises lack of effort in increasing rider safety
CyclingFriday, 19 April 2024 at 11:30
Safety within cycling is a hot topic at the moment. Geraint Thomas has seen the sport develop a lot during his near-20-year spell in the peloton. According to the Welshman however, not nearly enough is being done to keep the riders safe.
“Traffic calming, curbs sticking out, all this kind of stuff: that certainly adds an element of danger as well. If I thought about it too much, I would be at the back, I wouldn’t be racing," the former Tour de France winner, who's been no stranger to a crash himself over the years, says in conversation with Velo. “It’s frustrating. Nothing has changed since Gino Mäder. In this sport, it’s got that danger element already, but I feel that they could do so much more to increase safety.”
At the recent Itzulia Basque Country, the peloton was rocked by a mass crash that left Jonas Vingegaard in hospital for nearly two weeks and the likes of Steff Cras, Jay Vine and Remco Evenepoel also seriously hurt. Thomas' INEOS Grenadiers boss, Sir Jim Ratcliffe also recently demanded more from race organisers in an open letter posted to the team's website.
“In Formula 1, when Ayrton Senna had his fatal crash 30 years ago in Italy, the governing body set out to transform the safety regulations of one of the world’s most dangerous sports and significantly reduced injuries as a result,” Ratcliffe wrote. “This contrasts starkly with cycling where, until now, governing bodies have made very few changes and serious accidents are a common occurrence.”
With the one-year anniversary of Gino Mäder's tragic death following a crash at the 2023 Tour de Suisse nearing, UCI President David Lappartient recently attributed “50 percent of the crashes” to the attitude of riders themselves. “That is why we want to introduce a principle of yellow and red cards this year, just like in soccer,” Lappartient said. “So that these dangerous attitudes are better punished.”
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look at the picture of Thomas in his instagram post. is it not ironic or funny that the person being interviewed for the article Thomas, and his team owner that is bemoaning lack of safety is quoted in the article, but the picture from IG is Thomas riding no hands taking a jersey on or off while someone is pushing him. what is more unsafe than this picture? and it has nothing to do with the race organizers.
I wonder how many formula 1 racers race with no hands on the wheels while changing their clothing during a race.
this is one of the few times I agree with the UCI. 50% or more of the crashes are rider created due to unsafe riding.
Wout’s recent crash - he broke a basic rule - don’t allow an overlap when going downhill at high speed. there is no reason for it from a sporting standpoint, it gives no advantage. but he crashed solely because of an overlap when following wheels.
I agree almost entirely but as I don’t know the EXACT details of Wout’s crash, I cannot let the overlap explanation go without inserting some food for thought.
Yes overlap is extremely risky but cycling being what it is, it cannot be totally excluded as the sport is built on the advantages and needs of wheelsucking to be exciting.
Firstly, in crosswinds it is extremely advantageous
Secondly, nobody denies that cyclists have to stay extremely closely behind to stay grouped and we don’t enforce the training rule of riding 2by2 so inevitably several lines form on wider roads and with one line changing speed inevitably overlap will be created.
Thirdly even if riding perfectly in line, at some point (easiest to see in sprinting) a rider will move out from behind to overtake, the rider in front will not notice this at first (shall we make mirrors or cameras obligatory, or will that just shift the problem to creating different dangers through more distractions?) and it only takes one small mishap for the 2nd rider to choose the wrong side whilst the leader moves over or slows down in the same direction.
I have not paid attention to pro bike designs lately but if there were no hookable parts, spokes couldn’t get caught (by far the most dangerous occurrence on bikes).
At least it seems pros are a little bit more responsible than amateurs when it comes to creating dangers deliberately, the number of times I’ve seen crashes around me when some smartass moves up front to slow down an accelerating peleton just to shake things up, or do they do that too?
Gets on my nerves almost as much as the ones who spew their noses or throats onto whoever is downwind, is it sooooo difficult to learn how to do that within your own space?
Seems to me that the first thing we need is actual data. The crashes have been nauseating of late, but they have been nauseating since I became a cycling fan in 2019. I started watching races and cycling media in May of that year, and within just a few weeks Froome broke his femur and Wout tore his quad muscles. The next year Chloe Dygert, MVDP, Jacobsen, and Remco all had injuries that could have been career-ending, if not fatal. The next year TJV lost half its squad in the first few stages of TDF after series of horrifying crashes. And those are just a few famous accidents. Many, many others have taken place, but as far as I know there is no clear data about how many, how severe, and due to what cause are available.
So while I want there to be more and better safety measures, it's not clear to me that things are worse. Its just a really dangerous sport.
Froome was training, not in a race. So was Bernal... The biggest concession riders made was to wear helmets, back somewhere in the late nineties.
Not sure what your point is, but will note that accidents in training just emphasize my point: it's a dangerous sport. This isn't just about road furniture or new gearing or any other seemingly new thing, and making it safer will take more than any one solution.
Agreed - so shouldn’t the governing bodies be at least as fastidious about safety as they are x-raying bikes?
He always being negative towards this sport. If he bored, then he chose the wrong sport to be fair
I agreed. I'll ignore the guy who replying your comment😁. Just not into the drama, really. Had 1 drama already. Don't want another one today
Coming from a guy who never crashed..........so sad that when has beens have to make comments like this. Cycling does not need this from riders who have made a good living from the sport.
Thomas never crashed?
I wonder, how can the race organizers addressing each of potential hazards on every race stages? Probadly due to budget problems and the riders going faster and faster throught the years of the sport
Especially at Tour of The Alps, where this stage which is at a distance of 184 km, that ends at the center of a metropolitan area?
How can you address each potential hazard on a 184km stage through the Alps that ends in the center of a metropolitan area?
Sorry guys but who asked THAT? Anything against starting with a small number of painfully obvious ones?
Next you’ll be asking they remove the barriers at the finish and allow regular traffic back on the course too?
That's sounds even more dangerous