Ineos Grenadiers workforce proprietor Jim Ratcliffe has referred to as for skilled cyclings’ governing our bodies to take “actual motion” to enhance security after the Itzulia Basque Country high-speed crash and different race incidents which have left plenty of riders out of motion and Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard reportedly nonetheless in hospital in Spain.
Ineos Grenadiers have been one of many driving forces within the creation of SafeR (SafeRoadcycling), the impartial entity created and funded by the game’s stakeholders to enhance race, and Ratcliffe is the primary workforce proprietor to publish an open letter about security.
Cyclingnews has been informed there’s actual anger in some components of the game that politics and workforce rivalries are slowing the method of enhancing security.
Jaap Van Hulten has solely just lately been appointed the CEO of SafeR, whereas Michael Rogers just lately left the UCI after enjoying a key position within the creation of SafeR. Van Hulten has left his position as Chief Operations Officer at Visma-Lease a Bike workforce to develop into the CEO of SafeR however will solely begin to work on May 1.
Cyclingnews understands that SafeR has began to carry weekly conferences and apparently mentioned the Itzulia Basque Country crash on Thursday however has nonetheless to formally start the massive process of enhancing race security, which is anticipated to start for the 2025 season.
Ratcliffe’s open letter requires extra motion with out specifying what must be achieved.
“In Formula 1, when Ayrton Senna had his deadly crash 30 years in the past in Italy, the governing physique got down to remodel the security laws of one of many world’s most harmful sports activities and considerably lowered accidents because of this. This contrasts starkly with biking. As just lately as final week, we had yet one more horrific crash involving three of the world’s prime cyclists,” Ratcliffe mentioned in an open letter revealed by the Ineos Grenadiers groups.
The UCI and different stakeholders liable for race security have nonetheless to answer Ratcliffe’s name for motion.
Ratcliffe accepted that skilled athletes are “all the time going to push issues” and recalled how Chirs Froome and Egan Bernal suffered main accidents whereas respectively learning a time trial course on the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné and in coaching in Colombia.
“Cyclists are all the time going to push issues to the restrict as they’re elite sportsmen and that’s the reason motion is so necessary,” Ratcliffe wrote, highlighting the position SafeR could make.
“In June, the UCI introduced the formation of SafeR, a specialist entity to supervise all points of biking security. For the primary time, the game may have a devoted security physique whose sole concern is to make the game safer, lowering the dangers to riders and spectators while dropping not one of the thrill of racing.
“This is what Formula 1 has achieved so nicely over the previous 30 years and I’d hope that we’ll now see the identical in biking.
“I applaud the UCI for taking the problems on board and agreeing to help the institution of SafeR. We now have to see actual motion to make sure the security of the game.”
Before final weekend’s Paris-Roubaix races, UCI President David Lappartient referred to as on everybody within the sport to return collectively for the nice of the game.
“Safety is clearly a very powerful subject for the game in the intervening time, for the UCI and for all of the totally different stakeholders,” Lappartient informed Cyclingnews, understanding the game has to behave.
“I’ve seen all of the debates about tools, new know-how, earpieces, and so forth. There’s nonetheless lots to know. But it’s time to behave and enhance race security.
“We have to have quite a lot of small security positive factors. That’s what the riders need and that’s what we’ll work on, all of us should work collectively on this.”