“Tech always gets faster – it’s on riders to not do stupid things,” says Tadej Pogačar, after rival team boss called for “slower bikes to save lives” and pro claimed “modern bikes break every time you crash”

Tadej Pogačar has responded to Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme’s claim that pro cycling has become more dangerous in recent years, and crashes more frequent, because “riders are going too fast” by agreeing that “everybody” – from the teams to the manufacturers – “wants to go faster all the time” and that the onus is mostly on the peloton itself to ensure races are safe.

However, the world champion also noted that, while increased speeds can lead to greater risk in the bunch, crashes and injuries have long been part of the sport’s history, even when average speeds were much lower, and that other safety improvements, particularly concerning course design and the extreme weather protocol, are key to reducing risk.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Likewise, in response to reports that the UCI may explore ways to slow down the technology on offer to the sport, Pogačar diplomatically suggested that the bike industry requires tech to keep improving and advancing, and that “everybody is trying their best” to make the sport safe.

> EF boss Jonathan Vaughters slams “fat cats who have never raced so much as a child’s tricycle” after Tour de France director blames crashes on “riders going too fast”

This winter, the issue of rider safety has dominated discussions among cycling’s decision makers, in the wake of a 2024 road season marred by horrendous high-speed crashes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Itzulia Basque Country, and the tragic deaths of Swiss junior rider Muriel Furrer and Norwegian pro André Drege during races.

Last month, Tour chief Prudhomme argued that devastating mass crashes like the one in the Basque Country in April – which brought down Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič, and left UAE Team Emirates climber Jay Vine and two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard with serious injuries – are caused by riders “going too fast”.

 (A.S.O./Etienne Coudret)

Speaking at the annual general assembly of the association of race organisers (AIOCC) in Italy, Prudhomme said: “Beyond the behaviour of the athletes and the work of the organisers, it is absolutely necessary to reduce speed by appropriate measures: the riders are going too fast.

“The faster they go, the greater the risk and the more they endanger themselves and others.

“We already said it here last year: our car and motorbike drivers no longer have a safety margin. Imagine the consequences if one of our drivers, subjected to too much pressure, lost control on a mountain descent or when racing through a built-up area.”

The Tour director’s stance drew criticism from the likes of EF Education-EasyPost manager Jonathan Vaughters, who branded the comments “absolutely infuriating” and dismissed Prudhomme as one of the sport’s “fat cats who have never raced so much as a child’s tricycle”.

“It is absolutely infuriating to me how these fat cats, who have never raced so much as a child’s tricycle, turning tens of millions in profit off the backs of others, squarely throw the blame of safety issues in cycling on the riders,” Vaughters said on social media.

“They are highly competitive people. They are hard wired to the bone to take life threatening risks. Similar to F1 drivers.

“And like in F1, the answer is to create a safer environment around them. Because they will always push the envelope as far as it goes.”

> “Slow down the bikes to save lives, it’s the only solution”: Cycling team boss calls for bike tech safety restrictions and asks, “Is a race at an average of 48kph less exciting than one at 55kph?”

Vaughters’ fellow team boss, Groupama-FDJ’s Marc Madiot, also pointed to Formula 1 as an example to follow in response to Prudhomme’s remarks, arguing that slowing down the increasingly aero and fast bike tech used at the highest level is key to creating a safer environment for pros who “don’t want to understand” the inherent risks they face during races.

 (ASO/Pauline Ballet)

“The equation is impossible,” the two-time Paris-Roubaix winner, who’s managed the French squad since 1997, said in an interview with Le Parisien last week.

“The guys are riding faster and faster on terrain where everything is designed to slow down the vehicles. And downhill, it’s worse than anything.

“And since a lot of guys don’t want to understand anything, there’s only one solution: slow down the bikes.

“Formula 1 has never stopped restricting cars. Not only has it saved lives, but its spectacle has lost nothing. Honestly, is a race at an average of 48kph less exciting than one at 55kph?”

(ASO/Charly Lopez)

Meanwhile, French pro Guillaume Martin, who’s set to move to Madiot’s Groupama-FDJ team in 2025 after five years at Cofidis, has also claimed that modern tech, and its apparent fragility, could be making the sport more dangerous.

“The equipment allows you to go faster,” Martin told the French paper. “I have the impression that the bikes break every time you fall, which means they are more violent.

“We can do like in F1 where everyone has the same tyres. That way we wouldn’t have any differences in grip. We can choose a brand that isn’t hyper-efficient with tyres that make you go a little slower. From one tyre to another, the speed can vary by 3kph.”

> "Profound safety problem" in elite cycling, finds report... but riders union president says it's "getting safer"

But speaking at a press conference at UAE Team Emirates’ Spanish training camp this week, three-time Tour de France winner Pogačar refused to be drawn on whether rules should be introduced to slow down bikes on safety grounds, noting that, just as teams wish to keep improving, the cycling industry is reliant on selling seemingly faster and better products.

“Everybody wants to go faster all the time,” he told Escape Collective’s Ronan McLaughlin. “The whole cycling world is developing like any other sport, breaking records every year and going faster and faster.

“Technology moves ahead, and in one way I totally understand that we cannot be stuck on a steel bike that goes 10kph slower. Marketing doesn’t go so well selling the bikes, the jersey, the helmets. Everything needs to improve.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

However, despite increasing speeds, the 2024 Triple Crown winner pointed out that crashes have always been a part of cycling – and that, instead of focusing on reducing speeds, other measures can be emphasised to create a safer racing environment.

“When you go faster there is more risk, but I don’t think there were no crashes a hundred years ago, or no risk even if they were going 20kph average speed in a race and now we go almost 45,” the UAE Team Emirates rider continued.

“Organisers are trying with new barriers on the roads. In some ways they really good. Choosing the right roads, for me, is crucial. Not to go over speed bumps when it’s 70kph per hour. Sensible finishes.

“There’s also the weather protocol. It’s getting used more and more, especially when there’s snow or rain, or super cold, they’re starting to apply it sometimes in the bigger races.

“In smaller races, they are still using it too [little]. Thinking of the opposite side, it’s 45 degrees in some races, and people don’t care because in the car it’s air conditioned. I think it’s super dangerous. It’s even more dangerous riding 45 degrees full gas than five degrees, because when you get heat stroke it’s super dangerous.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Finally, unlike Vaughters or Madiot, Pogačar concluded that it’s up to the riders themselves to play a major part in ensuring their own safety during races.

“It’s on the riders most to be safe,” he said. “Don’t do stupid things in the bunch. You need to respect all the riders. It doesn’t matter who it is.

“Respect the road and you also need to think about your abilities on the bike. Everybody is trying their best, I think.”