"Many adjustments can be made that require little effort and money" - Jos van Emden admits little hope but eager for further safety improvements

As many others have, these past 24 hours have been riddled with calls for further safety in the peloton. What measures are to be implied to prevent accidents such as Gino Mäder's is not clear, however Jos van Emden has been vocal on the subject after the tragedy.

“In my opinion, many adjustments can be made that require little effort and money. Progress has been made, but it is much too slow. A few years ago I had hoped that people would take action in such cases," van Emden told NPO Radio 1. “But I have lost that hope. The UCI is just a very cumbersome body. You cannot organize a race without the UCI, but the UCI has no requirements. We have to get to the point where there is a check and they say: this is not acceptable.”

The Jumbo-Visma rider is not too positive on the hopes that there will be immediate changes, more so became it ends up being a collaboration and debate between the UCI, race organizations and riders' organizations.

“That is a price situation out of thousands. A descent where very high speeds are achieved, but that also means that the descent is not very dangerous. Then it is mainly straight ahead and not much can go wrong," he added, but the veteran does not believe cycling will ever be without risks: “That is an illusion. It's a dangerous sport. All young men with an urge to prove, close together and go as fast as possible. Yes, that sometimes goes wrong. But if it goes wrong, it must be manageable. That may be a utopia, but you have to want to go there. And that starts with the federation, which has to put its shoulders to the wheel.”