"Unfortunately, there are some mentally ill people in the peloton" - Geschke suggests that a lot of crashes could be avoided
Cycling
In the sport of cycling, there's never really a shortage for crashes - and to that related injuries - yet the most recent crash of Tadej Pogacar at the Vuelta, or Finlay Tarling's fatal car collision in Portugal have reignited the discussions on the topic of rider safety.
Simon Geschke himself has had his fair share of crashes and injuries over the 16 years as a professional. Just the "classic" broken collarbone is something he encountered four times during his career. Now that's one of the injuries Tadej Pogacar has to deal with too.
The Slovenian phenomenon has been able to successfully evade any serious injuries for a vast part of his career, only encountering a broken wrist in the spring of 2023. That's quite rare for a professional cyclist who is always in the center of action.
Pogacar run out of luck
Geschke then states that the world champion's luck simply run out during the Vuelta's stage 8 after seven seasons at the top without any major setbacks. "As a professional cyclist, you know one thing for sure: you're going to crash – the only question is when," the 40-year-old told Sport Bild.
Now the most important thing for the Slovenian is to heal up properly for the sake of his future career. While a collarbone fracture should not pose any long-term drawbacks, there can never be too much caution around vertebra fractures and concussion consequences. "The risk is always there. At least I haven't suffered any lasting damage," Geschke adds.
Some take things too far
And while Pogacar's crash was more of an unfortunate accident caused by a loose rock on the road, a lot of in-race accidents can be accredited to human factor. More precisely, to reckless behaviour of certain individuals.
"Unfortunately, there are also some mentally ill people in the peloton who fight for the stage win without regard for losses, especially in big races like the Tour de France," said Geschke.
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At the same time, he sees a certain willingness to take risks as a prerequisite for a career in cycling: "As a professional cyclist, you simply have to be a little bit crazy."
Despite the risks, professionals have to block out these thoughts during the race, says Geschke. "As a professional cyclist, you block out the dangers. If you couldn't do that, you wouldn't get back in the saddle," said the former Tour de France stage winner.
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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- This shows so well you’ve never ventured out to a cycling event and checked out spectators.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- I preferred the one about amateur riders and passing (perhaps to explain why he can’t ride at 220 which would probably be more effective to return to shape).Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Not just ManU, far worse in some minority sports ventures.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- From your writing it sounds like you’ve been sharing your views with people here for quite a while, quite presumouptuous for a new profile.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Which is amazing given his weight and size, though, unlike in boxing and some rare instances we haven’t a clue what his fighting weight was. Anybody know why these “public” figures floated around are considered as being accurate?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- That’s a first point, everyone can have an off year or just stagnate before a new upward cycle. What would have been more interesting is including Skjelmose’s performance into the discussion, things have also been expected from him after several performances in the past but he hasn’t really progressed either, his TdF was basically what you would have expected but he’s 26 and been kind of stuck at this level for at least 2-3 years. Maybe he’s a late developer or maybe he needs something to change but as manager I’d be just as demanding and worried about both. Perhaps the recruitment concept was to have enough talent so at least one every year would be in shape and they’ve just been unlucky. Don’t want to rub it in but you could even say Mads lost a notch, so is it the riders or is it more to do with the team?Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- Bingo...I was also going to say that young pretty women are obsessed Pogi fan girls... who are chasing him. All glossy "____" (blank) about Tadej. PS: You can all fill in the "blank" yourselves, whatever you prefer. The definition of glossy is: It looks unusually shiny, glazed over, watery, or vacant/unfocused.PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- Are you able to discuss ANYTHING without making a reference back to your Special 1? It’s almost as if you’re paid by his marketing team to improve his ranking in search results.Jumpyjohn12-11-2026
- PogiSloFansUpToDate: The Tadej Pogačar Foundation has awarded scholarships for the 2026/2027 school and academic year in Slovenia. It received more than 60 applications from young people who have faced cancer, and all of them were approved. This year, Pogi's Foundation has therefore signed scholarship agreements with 63 recipients, totalling €166,000. This is almost double last year’s amount, when it awarded 35 scholarships worth €94,000. Pogačar: "We believe in you and your dreams. Now I’m cheering for you."PogiSloFans12-11-2026
- as we all like the david-style rebels, he will leave a gap.Ketterechts12-11-2026
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