"That's how crashes occur" - Sep Vanmarcke bashes ASO for lack of safety staff at 2025 Tour de France
Cycling
It came as no surprise but the first days of the Tour de France have been heavily marked by crashed. Big stars such as Jasper Philipsen and Filippo Ganna have already abandoned the race as a result; Whilst many others have gone down. However not all have been due to natural race situations former pro Sep Vanmarcke argues, with the race organizers being to blame for a few.
"For four stages in this Tour de France, I haven't seen any mobile signalers, like those we have in Belgium. Apparently, ASO doesn't think they're necessary," Vanmarcke said in the Café Koers podcast. The Belgian specifically and heavily criticizes the lack of staff at dangerous points of the course signaling for the danger ahead. The presence of road furniture, dangerous corners or road narrowing is where they are required the most.
"As a rider in the peloton, you're only concerned with the rear wheel of the rider in front of you, and that's it. Road markings with a highlighter are absolutely not safe enough". Vanmarcke has singled out the incident of stage 4 in which several riders gone down in a road narrowing.
This crash led to a split in the peloton and took several riders down including Remco Evenepoel's key domestique Valentin Paret-Peintre. This is also that could've been avoided with a longer narrowing section, instead of a dramatic pinch point in which the peloton simply could not go through safely at that point in the race.
"Mobile signalers are an absolute must. With a road narrowing like today, it has to be done gradually. Cyclists need at least fifty meters to safely move from two lanes to one. That's simply not possible in five meters. Then you end up in a much too sharp funnel, and that's how crashes occur".
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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