Rider safety has become an increasingly pressing item on the cycling agenda in recent years, and the UCI will hold a working group at Il Lombardia next week, bringing riders, teams and race organisers together to discuss further regulations for next season.
The Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), the Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionnels (AIGCP) and the Association Internationale des Organisateurs de Courses Cyclistes (AIOCC), will represent riders, teams, and race organisers respectively.
In addition to the planned talks, the UCI announced it has already taken action to improve safety at one of the final races of this season - its own road World Championships in Qatar next month. The road races start out in the desert before finishing with laps of Doha's Corniche, with the following measures set to be imposed:
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• Road works to remove and adapt traffic islands to improve the racing line of the final 1.5 kilometres of the circuit;
• The position of barriers will be appropriately adapted to take into account the width of the road in certain sections;
• The caravan will feature smaller, lighter trail-type motorbikes without panniers;
• All vehicles will be driven by people with significant previous experience of driving at races.
The issue of rider safety has come into focus in the past couple of years due to an alarming string of incidents, with Antoine Demoitié losing his life after being hit by a motorbike at Gent-Wevelgem, and Stig Broeckx still in a coma after a similar incident at the Belgium Tour in May. Numerous other riders have been involved in collisions with vehicles, while other incidents have arisen from course design – from barriers to road furniture – as the scars on Peter Stetina’s knee would attest.
Earlier this year, the UCI announced it had introduced new guidelines governing in-race vehicles, but they essentially stressed the importance of following the existing rules, with punishment for those acting negligently. As such, ahead of the UCI’s June management committee, the CPA called on the governing body to take concrete action, and tabled a list of proposals to enhance safety.
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