"They take it to heart to make it a bigger issue" - Evenepoel praised for giving riders a bigger voice on safety matters
Cycling
Il Lombardia was an important race for the peloton when it came to the safety issue, as the peloton took on a protest at the start. Remco Evenepoel gave a speech in which he's argued for changes so as to stop the upward trend of tragedies in the sport, something which Dutch pundit Thijs Zonneveld has extensively praised.
“We join the protest. Remco Evenepoel took the microphone and said, ‘We’re fed up with our colleagues and friends dying in accidents'. We pay our respects," Zonneveld said on the In de Waaier podcast.
“That guy is such a great speaker! It’s the same in interviews: as soon as he gets a microphone in front of him, he can really say some thoughtful things".
For several minute, riders held a protest before the start of the final monument of the season. With the race having full broadcast and extensive exposure worldwide, there was a specific intent on using it as a platform to advocate for more focus on safety in the peloton.
“It’s great that he did that. Pidcock has also often put it well. So those top riders don’t just think ‘It happened to Finlay Tarling in a race we’re not riding.’ They take it to heart to make it a bigger issue.”
Remco Evenepoel taking to the start of Il Lombardia
UCI holds responsibility
The death of Finlay Tarling has come as the most recent case of a passing during a professional race that has been unanimously agreed to be preventable. The British rider was hit by a non-race vehicle head on during stage 8 of the Volta a Portugal.
The World Tour peloton was not present at that event, but nevertheless it has not been forgotten. During the Italian autumn classics, the intrusion of vehicles on the race course has led to the reignition of the calls for safety. During Tre Valli Varesine, a police motorbike rode head-on into the peloton, crashing into Pinarello - Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team's Tom Gloag and Spanish national champion Marcel Camprubí. Calls for safety have once again been demanded.
“I think it’s good that the riders are getting back to it at all. If you look at everything that’s happened in this area, you can see that a huge step forward has been taken since the Jakobsen and Groenewegen crash—something has been set up where the riders and teams are much better represented: SafeR.”
"In principle, that was a good step," Zonneveld added. "But that platform has lost its power. 'It has since been hijacked by the UCI.' And so the riders need to take matters into their own hands again."
Zonneveld laments the slow evolution of safety within the sport, whilst in recent years the amount of serious crashes has increased. “On the one hand, I find it incredibly sad that the riders have to do this again, and that so little has been done following the death of Finlay Tarling—and also in light of what happened in Italy this week.”
“All the measures that are being implemented come from the UCI. But more importantly, all the measures that aren’t being implemented also come from the UCI. This means, once again, that the responsibility is largely being placed on the riders, while the organizers’ responsibility is traditionally minimal," he concluded.
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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