A working group dedicated to rider safety created by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has examined a series of measures to improve safety conditions during road races. The aim is to introduce these from the 2021 season.
The working group meeting, which saw the participation of event organisers, teams and riders, came after several prior meetings. These were organised on 27 August in Nice, the day before the start of the Tour de France, then on 13 October and 5 November. Three other meetings were each devoted to a specific theme, and ‘enabled concrete propositions to be developed’:
- 18 November: course protection and signalisation;
- 19 November: equipment and rider actions; and
- 20 November: vehicles in the race convoy.
A release from UCI noted… ‘The subjects discussed covered different safety aspects of a road race, from general supervision of safety before the competition to the management of safety during the race.
‘Concrete measures were proposed and discussed at length, and the UCI will continue working on these.’
The measures in question will be presented to the Professional Cycling Council (PCC) on 9 December then approved by the UCI Management Committee before their introduction. The first measures will come into force in January 2021, while the others will be gradually introduced throughout the year. Their effects will be under constant evaluation and will be examined by the UCI’s Security and Technical Regulations working group.
The working group, led by the UCI President David Lappartient, with the participation of the President of the Professional Cycling Council Tom Van Damme, and coordinated by the UCI’s Sports Department, is composed of the following members:
- AIGCP (teams): Iwan Spekenbrink, Richard Plugge, Carsten Jeppesen and Patrick Lefevere
- AIOCC (organisers): Christian Prudhomme, Richard Chassot and Thierry Gouvenou
- CPA (riders): Gianni Bugno, Pascal Chanteur, Laura Mora, Philippe Gilbert and Matteo Trentin
