SafeR looks for new director after dismissal of Jaap van Hulten: "We had the feeling that he was not the ideal person for this position"
Cycling
After the recent increase of rate of hard crashes which took out numerous big guns of the professional peloton, safety in the peloton has become an even more important topic for all cycling stakeholders. To accelerate the pace of improving safety, action was recently taken at a board meeting in the organization of SafeR, where current director Jaap van Hulten was dismissed.
It was suggested from various quarters that this was a political decision related to Van Hulten's past with Jumbo-Visma. "I would like to categorically refute that," Team Jayco AlUla manager Brent Copeland emphasizes in an interview with WielerFlits.
"UCI, teams, riders, the media and the public, they will all soon point to SafeR," Copeland continues. "Our director must be able to delegate well, command respect from all parties and will have to answer difficult and complex questions. So be very strong in communication. We had the feeling that Jaap van Hulten was not the ideal person for such an important and delicate position."
"We now have to get SafeR's structure right from the start. Very tough decisions will have to be made and clear protocols will have to be made. All parties understand that the director of SafeR will play a very important role in cycling. He must know the sport well, be able to delegate and have a strong personality. We are confident that we will find the right person."
Copeland also emphasizes that this must be a neutral person who cannot be tied to an organization and/or team. Especially because the idea is that SafeR will work with a yellow and red card system for riders. Riders who clearly endanger the safety of themselves and/or others will be fined.
"I am optimistic that there is a very good working group of professionals in the supervisory board and the committee that will optimally manage the organization to improve the safety of the riders. That is our main priority. We must realize that changes will not happen overnight. What is important is that we now start moving things in the right direction without wasting any more time."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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