If you look at the knees, hips, shoulders or hands of professional cyclists, you will see the scars. This is not a sport for the faint-hearted. The opening week of the 2025 Tour de France is just the most recent evidence of the dangers that come with bike racing at the highest level. Eight riders have already left the race due to injuries as a result of serious crashes (including green jersey wearer Jasper Philipsen). Of those who remain in the peloton, many are competing while injured – João Almeida, for example, is racing on with a fractured rib after his crash on stage seven.

By its very nature, bike racing is always going to be dangerous, but many believe the sport is not doing enough to try and improve safety conditions in the peloton. In the last few seasons, more noise has been made about ways to change this with the UCI creating SafeR in 2023, an independent entity to improve professional road cycling safety. Since then, measures such as a yellow card system have come in to try and encourage better decision making from riders themselves, but many believe it is too little, too late. Cycling has already had its fair share of tragedy.

One of the most vocal spokespeople when it comes to rider safety is Dan Bigham, Head of Engineering at Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe. He recently gave a presentation at the Grand Départ of this year’s Tour in Lille, where he argued against the UCI’s recent gear limit proposal, which they believe will help to reduce speed in the peloton and hence the severity of crashes. Using science-backed evidence, Bigham debunked the logic behind the policy, but he also stressed that rules like limiting gear ratios distract the conversation from the real issues. Bigham believes that it is political theatre in which the UCI wants to look like it is taking action, but in reality, it is making very little progress at all.

2023 Tour de France -  Søren Wærenskjold, Uno-X Pro Cycling Team, crashes in the final sprint of stage four (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

During his presentation, Bigham said that: “Cycling is scarily close to its Ayrton Senna moment … it’s on us to ensure it doesn’t happen.” He was referencing the changes that the FIA undertook to improve motorsport safety after the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna in 1994. Since then, Formula 1 has become a leader in safety innovation, rebuilding its system from the roots to create revolutionary change.

But what does the peloton think? Does Bigham have a point? Is the UCI waiting until the unthinkable happens with high-profile athletes until they actively make tangible changes? Or are the concerns of riders being heard?

“Catastrophic things have already happened several times,” Mike Woods of Israel-Premier Tech told Rouleur at the Tour de France. “The number of injuries in general are significant and it is surprising how little has been done. I have some optimism towards the SafeR project, they are taking a measured approach.”

The Canadian rider, who has been a pro since 2013, added that despite his optimism, he is frustrated with stakeholders diverting the blame to riders themselves when it comes to safety: “When we did the team presentation at the start of this race, we were lectured by ASO [Tour de France organisers] to be more safe when we ride and take less risks which I thought was a big misunderstanding of how the sport works in general. Athletes are going to always push up against the limit, and it is up to the organisers to change those limits and the rules. 

“It was a foolish statement on their part, also for them to say that ‘if we keep on riding the way we are, then we will have to start wearing protective equipment’ as if that was punitive, was bonkers. It is crazy we’re not already wearing safety equipment. I don’t think the UCI is going to move fast enough before something happens, like Dan Bigham mentioned. There needs to be increased drag, slow the speed down, reduce the peloton size, get rid of the relegation system and like Marc Madiot said as well, get rid of distractions like computers and radios.”

Other riders agreed with Woods that SafeR is a positive step forward for the sport, but that rules need to be implemented fairly across the board for it to really make a difference.

“There’s definitely changes for the good with SafeR and everything, all that is being put in place is for the better most of the time,” Toms Skujiņš, of Lidl-Trek, said.

“Some things are silly and not leaning the right way, but I hope there is no Senna moment here, we have had deaths in the sport already, you don’t need to look far back for that. I hope there isn’t a moment like that which changes the sport; I hope people just come to their senses. One of the major things we are missing is a major concussion protocol that is realistic in the sport, along with commissaires actually implementing rules strictly and fairly to everyone rather than picking and choosing.”

While the likes of Woods and Skujiņš believe that the impetus needs to be taken off rider actions and instead be put on to race organisers and the sport’s stakeholders, others, such as Matej Mohorič of Bahrain-Victorious argue that the riders do bear some responsibility – though it will be close to impossible to force them to ride any differently.

“I think it is pretty difficult to judge the safety situation, I think the UCI have acknowledged it. The organisers are still blaming the riders as the cause of the worst crashes, but it is a difficult thing to comment because, yes, the riders are irresponsible and risk a lot, but it is because the stakes are so high,” the Slovenian rider said. 

“The easiest thing would be to convince riders to be more careful, but the peloton is getting younger and younger, and when you are young, you take more risks and that is the way it is. More needs to be done from the outside to prevent something bad happening. People take the most risks at the Tour because it is the biggest race in the world. It is dangerous and frightening to ride in the peloton. You need to adapt, you need to take more risks, otherwise you never get to the front of the race.”

Mark Cavendish crashes at the 2023 Tour de France (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

Former professional rider and 14-time Tour de France stage winner Marcel Kittel is still in close contact with the current peloton and argued that in professional sport, athletes are always going to push up against the line set by organisers. They race on the courses they are given and with the rulebook they are given. According to him, there would need to be collective action from the riders themselves to force any of this to change.

“The guys I speak to are shaking their heads, saying ‘what can we do?’ Yesterday [stage three] is a perfect example: the winner of the stage Tim Merlier said we knew there was a high chance of crashes and chaos. They all know it, but they are accepting their fate because their lobby is still not strong enough to do anything, and they are not united enough to change something and stop the race,” Kittel said. 

“The ideas are there, like with the gear ratios changing, these are good approaches, but for myself sitting now on the other side of the fence, it is easy to say, but the progress is slow and painful.”

When it comes to Bigham’s comments that cycling is close to a catastrophic Senna moment, Kittel argued that there have already been enough signs to prove that action to improve safety is needed urgently. 

“If you look back on history, when did cycling start to change? It was after hard crashes and deadly incidents that they introduced helmets. It was after the crash of Jakobsen and Groenewegen [at the 2020 Tour of Poland] that they started talking about the safety of barriers and better organisation of the finals. It was with the death of Muriel Furrer and Gino Mäder that they wanted to change something again. There have been so many wake-up calls,” the German said.

“With the introduction of SafeR I feel there is serious ambition with all parties who are involved in cycling to change things. I also see how the UCI and everyone involved is trying to make it fit for everyone. At least they are trying, but if you see the yellow card system, for example, it is very complicated. We need to have more ambition. If you look at the final of stage three, everyone knew it would be tricky in the last kilometres and that there was a big chance of crashes on a day like this. There are so many factors that play a role and safety has gone up in the level of priorities but it’s not where it should be now. I hope with the development of SafeR the changes will come soon because cycling needs that very urgently.”

The topic of safety is nuanced, complicated, and there is no easy solution. As the peloton themselves point out, the nature of competitive sport means that they will always do everything they can to win, even if that means taking more risks. With the introduction of the relegation system and the general growth of the sport, the rewards for winning are greater than ever, and the panic to ensure points are secured can mean a fight for every single position at a race like the Tour. 

Thanks to SafeR, conversations are happening around ideas of how to improve things, but there still seems to be a serious lack of action. What is important, as Bigham himself pointed out, is that conversations are focused on topics that will really make a significant difference. He believes that there is no time to waste, stating in his presentation in Lille that: “If one of our superstars gets seriously hurt, blood will be on our hands.”

Cover image: Getty/Loic Venance