"We must sanction dangerous behaviour" - Group of French riders warn of 'emergency' in the peloton regarding rise in dangerous crashes

Given the sheer number of dangerous crashes so far this year, safety within the sport of cycling is a hot topic at the moment. As such, a group of French riders from various teams have come together to demand action.

A number of the most notable names in French cycling were present for discussions including Rudy Molard, Guillaume Martin, Pavel Sivakov, Axel Laurance, Marc Sarreau, Julien Bernard, Kevin Vauquelin, Anthony Delaplace, Louis Barré, Geoffrey Soupe, Anthony Perez, Alexis Guerin, Maël Guegan, Hugo Hofstetter and Jonathan Couanon.

"We must sanction dangerous behaviour," demanded a furious Rudy Molard of Groupama - FDJ to open the debate according to reports by Eurosport. "Today this is not the case. When I see guys turning around in the last kilometre to look for their sprinter, it drives me crazy. It’s an absolute emergency."

"The number of falls has increased over the last five or six years. There was a before and an after Covid. These are often behaviours which are the cause of the falls," claims Lidl-Trek's Julien Bernard, with Cofidis' Anthony Perez noting a potential reason behind the rise. "Today some guys are not skilled. They come from Zwift, they have power but they rub badly, they don't know how to do it. Before there was 5% of the peloton who were renewed with young people today, in certain Coupes de France, it is 30% or 40% young people."