One month after the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced new measures to promote safety at road races, some of these initiatives have already been successfully tested during the first two weeks of the 2024 Tour de France. Testing will continue at other UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour events.
The main measures are as follows:
modification of the so-called ‘three-kilometre’ (or ‘sprint zone’) rule,
simplification of the method for calculating time gaps in stages with a bunch sprint finish,
restriction on wearing and using earpieces in races,
introduction of a yellow card system.
The first two were tested at the Tour de France.
The tests are being implemented based on recommendations made by SafeR, the structure dedicated to safety and which includes representatives of all road cycling's stakeholders. SafeR will analyse the outcomes, enabling them to make informed recommendations when it comes to the safety of everyone present at professional road races. These could lead to changes in the regulatory framework, recommendations to stakeholders and awareness-raising initiatives.
Already, the SafeR Case Management Committee – comprising analysts and representatives of teams, riders and organisers – meets on a weekly basis to review any race incidents that may have occurred in the previous week, propose disciplinary measures, investigate safety concerns raised by riders and teams, and consider recommendations that could be made as a result. Recent reviews have focused on behaviour of riders in sprint finishes, incidents involving vehicles and analyses of course segments that have raised safety concerns.
Among initiatives tested at the 2024 Tour de France was the modification to the so-called three kilometre (or sprint zone) rule, enabling the distance taken into consideration to be extended from three kilometres to a maximum of five kilometres at the request of stakeholders before the start of the event. As a reminder, this refers to the distance before the finish line of a road stage (excluding for summit finishes) in which, in the event of a duly noted incident (for example a fall, mechanical problem or puncture), a rider affected is credited with the time of the rider or riders with whom he was riding at the time of the incident. Extending the zone in which the rule applies, when necessary, reduces the pressure on riders during the phase of the race leading up to the final sprint. This modification was tested at six stages in the last two weeks – along with the simplification of the method for calculating time gaps in bunch sprint finishes – and received positive feedback from stakeholders. It will subsequently be tested at two stages of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift (12-18 August) and four stages of La Vuelta Ciclista a España (17 August – 8 September).
A key tool in SafeR’s efforts to improve safety at races is the UCI Race Incidents Database, established in partnership with Ghent University, Belgium, in 2021. To increase the effectiveness of this tool, SafeR is increasing its investment in resources to maintain the database, which is made up of automatic and manual entries that can include useful footage from spectator videos and other clips that appear on social media.
Since the beginning of the year, 341 crashes – plus other ‘near miss’ incidents - from UCI WorldTour, UCI Women’s WorldTour and UCI ProSeries events have been logged into the database.
Analysis so far shows that around 49% of crashes occur in the last 40km of a race, involve on average two to three riders and frequently occur just before points of interest such as climbs, cobblestone sectors, and sprints, as well as on slippery roads, near/on traffic infrastructure, or during descents.
SafeR analysts will make informed recommendations for safety improvements based on trends observed, for example the prevalence of crashes involving young riders underscoring the need for enhanced rider education and, for example, establish a framework concerning the number of neo-professionals who can take part in certain events.
Other measures announced last month will be tested in upcoming events on the UCI Road International Calendar, including a restriction on the use of earpieces at three stages of the Tour de Pologne (12-18 August) and at the UCI ProSeries event Vuelta a Burgos (5-9 August).
Meanwhile, as previously announced, following extensive consultation in 2023 within SafeR, the system of “yellow cards” will undergo a trial phase from 1st August until 31 December 2024 at UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour races. For the five-month trial period, the yellow cards will represent a sanction listed in the race communiqué but will not physically exist and will not result in any restrictions in terms of participation in following events.
At the end of the 2024 season, a full evaluation of the yellow card system will be carried out by SafeR before being presented to the Professional Cycling Council then to the UCI Management Committee. Then, from 1st January 2025, sanctions will be imposed for the accumulation of yellow cards, resulting in different periods of suspension depending on the number of yellow cards received by any individual over a given period.
Yellow cards will be issued for offences likely to pose a risk to the safety of the competition and will apply to anyone present in the race convoy (riders, sport Directors, other drivers, motorbike riders, etc.) who might engage in behaviour that could jeopardise the safety of the event.
The test period will apply to races in the UCI WorldTour and UCI Women’s WorldTour, and from 1st January 2025, the system will be extended to events in the UCI ProSeries (Men and Women Elite), the Olympic Games, the UCI World Championships (Men and Women Elite and Under 23) and Continental Championships (Men and Women Elite and Under 23).
SafeR is also working on a second phase of a study of barriers used to protect the finish zone of a race. Following up on barrier testing that was conducted in 2021, the focus is on the medium- and long-term to define new standards in terms of design, size, strength, and impact absorption of barriers separating the riders from the public.
UCI President David Lappartient said: “SafeR’s work to improve safety at men’s and women’s professional road competitions has gained a great deal of momentum in the last months. There are many factors that contribute to the safety of people present at races, and SafeR is studying them all, collecting information, analysing data, listening to stakeholders’ concerns and making informed recommendations. The safety measures that were announced in June and are already being tested out in the field, are concrete signs that we are moving in the right direction when it comes to safety at men’s and women’s professional road races.”