Gear ratio restrictions, security gear and focused occasions for this season have been among the many subjects addressed within the first assembly in 2025 of the SafeR Supervisory Board, the physique tasked with enhancing rider security in highway biking.
SafeR was arrange in 2023 as a method to carry collectively groups, race organisers, rider unions and the UCI to work collectively to enhance security inside races, and their exercise has been pretty nebulous to date, however the physique’s first-ever press launch, issued on Friday, make clear their present focuses and actions.
The assembly was attended by Giro d’Italia race director Mauro Vegni, Vuelta a España technical director Kiko García, AIGCP president Brent Copeland, Picnic-PostNL staff consultant Emily Brammeier, CPA president Adam Hansen, and Rocco Cattaneo and Amina Lanaya of the UCI.
An enormous takeaway from the assembly is that the physique intends to discover the opportunity of limits on gear ratios, a suggestion backed by Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), to assist cut back high-speed crashes.
Following the outcomes of a rider survey, SafeR “will suggest to the Skilled Biking Council that it endorses the organisation of a gear ratio limitation check later this season”, the press launch reads.
The thought of substances restrictions is the newest contribution to the lengthy and sophisticated dialog round rider security. While extra race laws and sensible protections are being put in place annually, the inevitable undeniable fact that the peloton goes sooner than ever stays a priority, and restricted gear ratios would search to restrict the utmost speeds riders can attain.
“Limiting the gears would make the game lots safer, in my view,” Van Aert instructed Sporza in January. “Different riders do not suppose so however I am satisfied about it. In case you are on that descent with a gear restrict, nobody can transfer up. Now the gears are so massive that you simply nonetheless take into consideration overtaking.”
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Gear restrictions have been beforehand mandated for junior riders – extra from the place of not over-stressing their our bodies than in-race security – however this was scrapped in 2023.
In addition to gear restrictions, SafeR’s rider survey, accomplished by 287 female and male riders, additionally centered on the subject of protecting gear corresponding to abrasion-resistant clothes and wearable airbags, which SafeR says there may be an “curiosity” for, in addition to “an openness to seeing the event of extra regulation on subjects associated to gear and their security”.
SafeR has additionally agreed to broaden their racing jurisdiction, now together with a choice of Class 1 occasions, the place many incidents have been recognized.
“Lots of the points occurred at Class 1 occasions, a category of occasions not initially included in SafeR scope of exercise, which was centered on the UCI WorldTour, UCI Girls’s WorldTour and UCI ProSeries. The SafeR Supervisory Board determined to incorporate a choice of Class 1 occasions sooner or later to be supported and analysed by SafeR analysts.”
The press launch confirmed that former Swiss rider Steve Morabito will take over from Romain Caubin because the organisers’ consultant on the SafeR Case Administration Committee. He joins former riders Rubens Bertogliati and Dan Martin and CPA and CPA Girls presidents Adam Hansen and Alessandra Cappellotto on the panel that meets weekly and analyses race incidents.
SafeR laid out which occasions can be analysed in 2025, with the factors being “new occasion, occasion with safety incidents in earlier years or different causes”. The present record of 15 occasions contains Itzulia Basque Nation, the scene of final 12 months’s horror crash, the Tour de Pologne, and new races corresponding to Milan-San Remo Girls and the Copenhagen Dash.
The physique says: “The analysts will work with the organisers forward of their race on safety-related features, specifically, to establish probably harmful sections of the route, and shall be current on the occasions. They may then draw up a report back to be shared with SafeR, which can then use this as the premise for making suggestions to the UCI on areas for enchancment.”
SafeR analysts may also attend chosen levels of every Grand Tour.
On the subject of yellow playing cards, carried out totally this 12 months after a check in 2024, the board “welcomed the now systematic software of the yellow card system within the related occasions organised to date this 12 months”.
Although SafeR has been in place since 2023, Friday’s press launch and the assembly on March 4 are a number of the most concrete communications round what the physique is doing, and their intentions and areas of focus in 2025.
