Incidents involving vehicles and cyclists during a race are nothing new to professional cycling. When mixing machine with man-power, there is always a chance that something will go wrong. However, there has been a flurry of such crashes in recent years, culminating in the horrible accidents involving Antoine Demoitié at Gent-Wevelgem and Stig Broeckx at the Belgium Tour last year.
Following a long battle, Broeckx has officially come out of a coma but it is unlikely that he will be able to race again. Tragically Demoitié succumbed to his injuries soon after the accident. Seeing one of their comrades taken down at such a young age, and in such a manner, sent ripples of fear and anger through the peloton.
"It changes the mood in the peloton," Dimension Data’s Nathan Haas tells Cyclingnews. "We’ve become more sensitive for the dangers because it hits home, and we see the reality of someone leaving the bus and after the race his stuff is still on the bus but he doesn’t make it back. No one in cycling wants that to be a reality."
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"For sure we are more scared," says Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing). "If we have a car or a motorbike close to us we are more nervous but, the way we race our bikes, the problem is not really in our hands."
Discussion has continued throughout the past year about what, if anything, has changed since that tragic day in March. How did we get here and what needs to be done? After all, Broeckx’s crash came two months after Demoitié’s, Elia Viviani was hit during Paris-Roubaix two weeks later, Marco Marcato, who rode for Wanty-Groupe Gobert in 2016, was also hit by a race motorbike in October, and who can forget the incident on Mont Ventoux at the Tour de France when the huge crowds blocked the road and Froome, Porte and Mollema were unable to avoid a motorbike.
Riders have died in the past due to in-race collisions with vehicles. In 1950, Camille Danguillaume died following a collision between two motorbikes during the French national championships, and, in 1987, Spanish rider Vicente Mata was killed when he collided with a car at the Trofeo Luis Puig.
What went wrong?
What has changed?
What needs to be done?
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