Tour de France winner calls on CPA and UCI to improve rider safety
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Chris Froome (Team Sky)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chris Froome signs on(Image credit: Jayco Herald Sun Tour)
The results of the stage 1 crash at the Abu Dhabi Tour for Owain Doull(Image credit: Sophie Smith)
Owain Doull ended up with a slice to his sock after the crash(Image credit: Sophie Smith)
Chris Froome (Team Sky)(Image credit: Con Chronis)
The rear disc brake close up(Image credit: Stephen Farrand)
Tour de France winner Chris Froome has called on the CPA riders association and the UCI to resolve the safety concerns over disc brakes in the peloton. Froome was speaking after his Team Sky teammate Owain Doull claimed that he was lucky to escape serious injury in a fall at the Abu Dhabi Tour. The Welshman believed that the disc rotor on Marcel Kittel’s Quick-Step Floors Specialized bike slashed open one of his shoes, and that the blade could have caused a serious injury.
"If a hot blade like that cuts an artery then a rider could be in big trouble," Froome told Cyclingnews. "I hope that we don't get to that point before we stop and take stock."
"The issue over disc brakes is really down to what the CPA are doing and how they've not represented the peloton's views properly," Froome told Cyclingnews.
Froome pointed to the timing of the CPA's actions, questioning why the union had taken until the winter before canvasing rider opinions on the subject, but he also questioned the UCI's role, believing that the sport's governing body should have met the riders' concerns over disc brake covers. At present, covers are not mandatory and the issue is only in a research and development phase.
"All riders were given the opportunity to vote but only at the end of November once the CPA had already agreed to the trial going ahead on our behalf," Froome pointed out.
"The results of the vote being 16 per cent yes, 41 per cent no and 42 per cent if conditions were met, which they haven't been, I'm amazed the trial was allowed to go ahead.
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"I'm personally not against the disc brake trial, but I would expect a certain level of safety measures to be put in place first.
"These measures have already been put forward. Namely, protective covers and rounded disc edges. It would seem that this has not been implemented, although I hear Marcel Kittel is riding with the rounded discs.
"It's up to the UCI to step in and take control because it feels to me like the riders are not being properly represented, and the voices of the majority of riders aren't being heard. I hope that the UCI will intervene and introduce measures that make the disc brake trial safer."
Froome boiled the matter down to the fact that confusion currently reigns, and that the health and safety of the riders was at stake while bodies, manufacturers and teams play politics.
"The problem is that there are a number of question marks hanging over the whole topic," he said. "As long as there are safety issues regarding the use of discs, the trial should be suspended until those have been addressed.
"There are also questions over the compatibility of wheels with and without discs. Neutral service is challenging at the best of times without the added complication of having some riders using them and some not. Not to mention the discrepancy of braking efficiency in the wet between riders who have, and riders who don't have discs.
"As far as the CPA's role in this, it's a matter of 'too little too late' for truly looking out for the riders safely, something which should be at the top of their list.
"Currently 100 per cent of the peloton pays 2 per cent of all prize money to the CPA. However the CPA only allows eight nations, who have their own rider associations, to vote on decisions that need to be made. The rest of the peloton doesn't get a say.," Froome said. "The rest don't get a say. The CPA has a lot of work to do still before we can trust that they are putting the peloton's interest first. There's currently a big discontent. "
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
