The recent tragic death of Gino Mäder in a crash at the Tour de Suisse has helped prompt additional safety measures at the Tour de France, with CPA (Cyclistes Professionnels Associés) riders' association president Adam Hansen among those leading the charge.
Hansen has been highlighting potential dangers on the course and relaying the concerns to the organisers ASO, who are in charge of selecting the Tour de France route. The result has been a notable increase in the use of pads in potential danger areas of descents, in particular the two downhill finishes of the Tour on stage 14 and stage 17.
It might be the first time in history that riders have had a direct say in measures taken for their safety. Cyclingnews spoke to the Australian about his efforts to find out how he's accomplished so much in a short amount of time as CPA president.
Hansen previewed two of the trickiest descents in the 2023 Tour de France and posted onboard videos from the downhill finish off the Col de Joux Plane (stage 14) and Wednesday's descent from the Col de la Loze (stage 17) along with advice for riders.
He also confirmed with the ASO that there would be extra padding in turns and appealed to riders to stay within their limits.
A few hay bales and air pads may not prevent riders from crashing altogether, but Hansen said: "These small things can help a lot. I really do believe this."
Mäder's crash was one of several devastating incidents in recent years. With each death or permanent disability from a fall, the UCI seems to attempt to add safety measures but so far has only provided guidelines to races. Most safety rules in place apply to riders: for example, helmet requirements were added after the death of Andre Kivilev in Paris-Nice, and more recently the UCI banned the super-tuck and discarding bidons except in specific zones.
The UCI have been more reluctant to make demands of race organisers. After unstable barriers at the finish contributed to Fabio Jakobsen's life-threatening injuries in the 2020 Tour de Pologne, the UCI finally created standards for barriers but they were only suggestions.
Hansen wants these guidelines solidified into UCI rules.
"That's sort of how I got everyone's attention. When I was speaking to the riders, I would ask, 'Did you know it's only a guideline to have these types of barriers? It's not a rule'? This is not right."
He says organisers are largely receptive to improving the safety of their infrastructure but are reluctant to take steps until the UCI give them rules to comply with.
"The big organisers, they actually have the funds and they want to buy some barriers or make some barriers, but they're waiting for the UCI to say which barriers are good. They don't want to make an investment and have the UCI turn around and [define] a barrier that doesn't comply with the ones that they've just produced."
The Tour de France organisers mostly use flat-faced interlocking barriers covered with signage for sprint finishes but some events still use barriers with curved feet that can catch a rider's pedal.
"I don't agree on these guidelines," says Hansen. "And that's really why I want to have the riders say, 'we're happy with this' and have the organisers say, 'yes, we can do this'. And then UCI makes it a rule, and not a guideline. And there'll be no reason why the UCI will not comply with that. Because if the organisers say yes, and the riders demand it, then all the responsibility is left on them."
Safety for all
The Tour de France is the most prominent stage to test the safety measures but Hansen is thinking much bigger.
"It's good that it's happening at the Tour de France but the goal is that this happens at all races – that's the long-term goal. I had this discussion a bit with some of the male riders in the continental races and also with the female riders, too. There is a lot of focus on the men's WorldTour. When it's a UCI rule, this trickles down to the women's races and it also trickles down to the continental races. So first we have got to show everyone that it can happen and is possible."
There have been some other groups working to help make races safer and their technology has popped up in high-profile races. Safe Cycling Race rents out LED signs that alert riders to traffic furniture or tight turns, and BoPlan created plastic barriers without any protrusions and which keep spectators further back to prevent collisions.
Mäder's tragic death in Switzerland definitely highlighted the need for more efforts to protect riders, but Hansen has made rider safety his remit since running for president of the CPA.
"I went to the riders in the UAE Tour and I asked them all what are the big three big things that really worried them and they all said the number one thing is safety. So I said I'd work on this to make sure that safety is improved. This is what the riders want and because of that I've been talking to the organisers separately."
Hansen has been gathering feedback from riders on all manner of topics such as how marshalls should warn riders of obstacles or narrowing, where they should be positioned, how far the last corner or descent should be from a sprint finish, how motorbikes should move past the peloton, or how they should drop back. He's also been working closely with Michael Rogers, the UCI Head of Innovation, who has been working on the first steps of the new SafeR project.
"I've gathered all that information and I'm drawing up a set of, let's say rules, and then I'll go to the organisers and ask if that's possible. And then once I make an agreement then we go to the UCI and there's no reason why this should not be implemented."
He acknowledged that it would be difficult to implement the kind of safety measures like the blow-up pads on the descent from the Col de la Loze in every UCI race, or to monitor all courses, but says the UCI needs to act and implement rules.
"If we don't help hold someone accountable, then nothing's going to be improved."
After riding the descent into Courchevel, Hansen described the finish as "pretty wild" and was glad to see organisers address the dangers with a wall of huge inflatable pads.
"It's a very narrow road and my main concern when I did the recon is if you were to go over the edge, you really landed in a rocky field, and it would not be pretty. I'm really happy that something like this is in place."
A photo of the giant pads made the rounds on social media and has also attracted some attention from race organisers.
"A lot of people have seen this on social media those padding areas ... a pretty big race called the Czech Tour, they called me up today asking where they can get the barriers from and also that they would like to have them in their race, too.
"My next goal is to find a company that can produce these at a low cost. And what is good is that they are blow-up ones. So it's what riders want. And they use little space in transportation and I'll try and get the sourced at a low cost and offer them to the organisers."
Hansen has been quite vocal on social media about his ideas and efforts, which has made some of the typically restrained cycling actors nervous.
"A lot of people complain that there's no transparency in the CPA. So I really wanted to show transparency in everything that I do. And I feel some people are a little bit afraid with how I act. But, if they're afraid, then that means they're doing something wrong. That's just my opinion because I'm only working for the greater good. So yeah, a bit outspoken. But I don't think I'm saying anything bad."
While the UCI works on its SafeR project – something that will inevitably be bogged down in the mire of bureaucracy, Hansen is forging ahead with his direct approach.
"I had a rider reach out to me last night about the Vuelta, there's a downhill start [on stage 12] and he gave some experience from the past on what happens with these types of starts. So I'll be contacting the Vuelta organiser about the downhill start."
"We can't change everything overnight, but things are going in a good direction, that's for sure."
