"This race is not too difficult or too dangerous. At least, not for real cyclists" - Strade Bianche organizer Vegni launches hard words on critics
CyclingMonday, 10 March 2025 at 19:00
Tadej Pogacar crashed at Strade Bianche and that was a striking image from 2025 already. Many were the riders that fell during the race, with almost half a dozen confirming fractures. With rider safety as a constant topic for cycling fans and riders alike, the Italian race fell under criticism as well. Race director Mauro Vegni however did not take these words kindly and has hit back.
"Yes, there were more crashes on Saturday than in other years. That is due to the state of the gravel. This time it was very dry and dusty, and that did indeed make it more dangerous," Vegni told Het Nieuwsblad. "But the gravel roads, that is what the Strade Bianche is all about. This race is not too difficult or too dangerous. At least, not for real cyclists. Unfortunately, there are not many of them".
"It also has to do with the mentality of the riders. In the past, the peloton had a moral code. If there was danger, they would warn each other. I notice that riders no longer want to make the effort to warn each other of impending danger. Nowadays, it is like the Romans said: mors tua vita mea, your death is my life".
The dry roads featured little traction in some areas, and the RCS man believes that combining this with higher speeds and more modern material sees riders take substantially more risks, which also contributes to the rising number of crashes. Christian Scaroni, David Gaudu, Mathias Vacek, Romain Grégoire and Michal Kwiatkowski were amongst those who crashed out of the race whilst Max Poole was amongst those who alongside a fall also suffered fractures. Besides the race's difficulty, this track record will not be a good sign for the race's future.
"Cyclists take more and more risks. That is part of cycling. But you can also take too many risks. The material has also become much better. The evolution of bicycles ensures that people ride faster. Take disc brakes for example: this allows them to brake later. But in a peloton, that leads to dangerous situations," he argues.
But like many who have been asked, Vegni is not too positive that the situation regarding the speed will soon change. "We are a sport that revolves around speed. Did F1 reduce the speed of the cars to 200Km/h, while they can drive three hundred? No! They did take measures to minimize the risk of fatal accidents. Cycling needs to work on that".
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I agree with everything he says about rider safety related to bikes and the riders themselves.
Every bike company talks abou how many watts have saved off a 40k.
Clothing is more aero.
Materials are refined and made lighter than ever.
All of which means more crashes.
And then look at Jonas' tragic crash from a year ago. A bummer of a situation, yes - but Jumbo allegedly emailed the organizer about the bad roads. The organizer keeps them in. So Jonas knew there were bad roads, the organizer keeps them in - but who forced Jonas to go so fast or ride that corner in a group situation? back down, take a different line. races are rarely won on the downhills, they're lost.
the organizers can only do so much. the tour of poland situation or leaving cars on the road IS bad. but rough roads? the riders need to own this too.
As Tadej said, I was going to fast, and I crashed.
More or less how I see it too. Jonas himself warned publicly 6 months in advance. We were warned of the slippery dry gravel BEFORE the race do riders had no excuse not to take it into account. It’s not for nothing Moho warned Tadej not to follow him downhill in MSR, not every rider has the same skills and each has to know his limit. Tadej was too focused on riding with Pidcock to check his limits. After that, yes of course in a peleton if one goes down (for whatever reason) in a critical place, they’re likely to take others within their limits with them, can’t do very much about that without destroying the sport, that will always be a risk to live with. It’s the same as with development in cars, drivers are made to feel safer so take more risk and become more dangerous to others.
and keep in mind the start of many crashes in the group are a violation of every group no no. don’t cross wheels that’s why wout went down, taking the group with him
Sure but hard to respect in every peleton situation. Not supposed to discuss personal experience according to some so consider this a hypothetical situation. Small group in formation with two riders perfectly aligned, the rider behind moves to the side to accelerate and overtake at « exactly » the same time as the rider in front moves to the same side and decelerates after deciding he’s had enough of pulling up front, too late, crash bang, spokes hollowed out of front wheel broken into half a dozen rim sections. Now imagine the same at the front of a large peleton at pro speed, no reaction time but neither really did anything wrong or unusually dangerous. The nature of the sport is that people stay too close to each other, it would be impossible to avoid all accidents. No-one drives a car that closely on the roads, not even at a standstill for lights.