Treat it like doping? David Millar voices how he thinks cycling can maximise safety

Former British professional cyclist David Millar has shared his thoughts on how cycling can enhance safety, suggesting a cultural approach similar to the fight against doping during the latter half of his career. Speaking to Cyclingnews, Millar emphasised the importance of fostering respect, self-policing, and empowering riders to hold each other accountable for dangerous behaviour in the peloton.

"It's never going to be a safe sport," Millar said, acknowledging the inherent risks of cycling.

Millar reflected on current and past safety measures, explaining, "I think when they have these ideas (such as) the gear restrictions, it's still going to be insanely fast. It's still going to be people fighting for position. Bike racing is just so mad in the sense that you can have a point-to-point 200 kilometres. There's no way you can make those 200 kilometres safe 100 per cent."

He highlighted various efforts to improve safety, such as the introduction of the three-kilometre rule and experimenting with different rules during last year’s Tour de France. "We've had the three-kilometre rule, the certain barriers. We've experimented with different three-kilometre or five-kilometre rules last year at the Tour."

Millar believes that ongoing experimentation is crucial to improving safety. "I think this experimentation will always be part of cycling. Perhaps that's how we make it safer, just by constantly experimenting, because it raises the vigilance levels, and it allows us to interrogate and raise awareness. Unfortunately, professional cycling is inherently a very high-risk sport."