Organiser of cancelled Tre Valli Varesine proposes introduction of safety cars in cycling: "We can adapt it to our needs"

The discussion about safety in cycling races has been heated up again recently, but is there even anything that can be possibly done to make cycling safer without damaging the attractivness of the sport? Renzo Oldani, the organizer of the Italian one-day race Tre Valli Varesine (1.Pro), puts another idea in the mix.

Oldani advocates the introduction of a so-called safety car, inspired by that from Formula 1. In F1, the safety car usually enters the race either when there is need to clear dangerous parts of crashed cars off the track, or when weather conditions become unsafe for the drivers.

Earlier this year, Oldani's Tre Valli Varesine was stopped due to heavy rainfall. The organization responded to the plea of ​​the peloton - led by world champion Tadej Pogacar - to stop the race and even cancel it.

“Romain Bardet and Enric Mas were riding together at the front and had come through the descent unscathed, but the riders were understandably scared by the rain. A safety car could have accompanied the riders at a controlled speed,” he explains in an interview with the Bici.pro. “The duo could have simply continued riding, which meant that those ten minutes of heavy rain were monitored.”

Oldani realises that introducing a safety car will also have consequences for the race dynamics, as time differences between, for example, escapees and the peloton will disappear, but he still sees possibilities. “It is clear that we cannot adopt and introduce the idea in its entirety. An evaluation must first take place, so that we can adapt it to our needs.”

"But it is something to study. It is a formula that everyone would be happy with, but we first have to talk about it with all the stakeholders in the sport, from the UCI to the teams and the riders' union. But how do you set up a course of more than 200 kilometres these days? Other solutions have to be looked at."