Dan is back in the studio with another edition of the Racing News Show, covering all the action from the past week—from intense racing in Spain to fast-paced battles in the Middle East.
The main topic this week? Rider safety.
After a few road complications and a minor crash at the Etoile des Bessèges in France, concerns about safety in the pro peloton are on the rise once again.
Dan breaks down the incidents and discusses the stance of the UCI and local organisers in terms of rider safety 🚴♂️⚠️
00:00 Welcome back to the GCN Racing News – Headlines
00:27 Winner of the TTT at Volta a Valenciana
00:47 Zwift Academy returning to GCN
01:58 Rider safety back in the spotlight
04:36 It is the organiser’s responsibility, not the UCI
05:47 The Tour du Gard so far
06:39 UAE Women’s Tour
08:59 UAE Men’s Tour
09:14 Racing in spain
12:40 Tour of Oman
13:12 Egan Bernal back on the bike
13:56 Cyclocross racing
Useful Links:
Subscribe and don’t miss a thing! 👉 https://gcn.eu/subscribe-racing
Visit the GCN Shop 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcnshop
Insurance: Viewers in the USA and UK can explore GCN Insurance products 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNinsurance
Sign Up To The GCN Newsletter 👉 https://gcn.eu/Newsletter
GCN Training Plans 👉 https://gcn.eu/gcntp
GCN WhatsApp Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/GCNwhatsapp
GCN Instagram Broadcast Channel 👉 https://gcn.eu/instagrambroadcast
🎵 Music – licensed by Epidemic Sound 🎵
📸 Photos – © Velo Collection (TDW) / Getty Images & © Sirotti Images
Brought to you by the world’s biggest cycling channel, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), GCN Racing brings you the best of the world’s bike races to your screens. So get involved, join us, and get ready to be in the thick of the action.
Engage with us on the channel and across social media – we’re here to answer every question you’ve got on cycling racing.
Facebook: https://gcn.eu/FBGCNRacing
Instagram: https://gcn.eu/IG-GCNRacing
Twitter: https://gcn.eu/TW-GCNRacing
Watch our sister channels:
Global Cycling Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gcn
GCN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gcntech
GCN Racing – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnracing
Global Triathlon Network – https://www.youtube.com/@gtn
GCN Italia – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnitalia
GCN en Español – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenespanol
GCN auf Deutsch – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnaufdeutsch
GCN en Français – https://www.youtube.com/@gcnenfrancais
GCN Training – https://www.youtube.com/@GCNTraining
Global Mountain Bike Network – https://youtube.com/@gmbn
GMBN Racing – https://youtube.com/@gmbnracing
GMBN Tech – https://www.youtube.com/@gmbntech
Electric Mountain Bike Network – https://www.youtube.com/@embn
32 Comments
What do you think of the current UCI stance on road safety? 🚴🛑
Show some unity!
If 5 teams drop out all should have.
Pro bike racing started as pure exploitation of the riders. Long past time for a riders union
Check Pogi's bike for us next week, Dan!
Just an fyi, on my iPad the thumbnail ads on the lower left cover about 50% of the closed caption text.
Sorry Dan, but if the volunteer run Wilmington Grand Prix (a tiny, local non UCI event here in the USA) can host a time trial, a crit, and a grand fondo over the course of a weekend without multiple vehicle incursions on track, a world tour level race also organized by volunteers with a 54 year history should be able to do the same.
There is no forgiveness or leeway for any organizers to be so flippant about participant safety.
I hope you hire Cecille when she retires
This is the second event that the riders have had to take their safety into their own hands. The UCI talks a big game but makes performative rule changes
@ timestamp 5:25 to timestamp 5:35:
Your experiences on the Cervélo-Test-Team and Garmin-Cervélo (and the other teams you raced for) in terms of how-seriously was rider-safety taken back-then compared to now [/compared to today] (especially when comparing it to the incident that you talked-about in this video).
as an ex-Pro-rider I am sure you have a boatload of experience on this subject (especially in terms of how did the riders of the incident that you talked today about feel when they went-through this incident, especially when considering you’ve been in their shoes (you were a Pro-rider too. AND you’ve been in races like these)).
Dan: When you go to the race in person can you ask if pro teams balance their wheels for a high speed stage?
How does the UCI just wash their hand of it? They need to police the rules. This is corporate plausible deniability at its most blatant. Very ordinary.
My suspicion is that the issue of races providing safety is twofold: one is simply execution, but the other more challenging one is funding. Big races can afford the resources needed to provide a safer course, but smaller races may struggle. Of course, the big races can’t survive without the smaller ones (or vice versa). We need to fix cycling’s revenue model to truly solve this issue.
The UCI will be studying the issues at length…and eventually issue their Final Judgment on Sock Height Fines
In the racing deep dive….please cover how other racing sports (ie Formula 1 in the 50s-60s with Niki Lauda) work this problem
Safety Issues. Suggested topic for discussion. "On-Line services like Strava and Rouvy should consider adding traffic lights and tricky intersections with trucks turning etc. into the On-Line content where the content is about training on virtual public roads. Riders (and other using the service) are putting themselves at risk by training hard in a virtual world which does not include the road hazards of the real world. When they ride on a real physical public road, they have not been trained in how to safely deal with trucks turning, cars, pedestrians etc. and they are putting themselves into dangerous positions, with fatal consequences in some cases. If the safety and defensive riding training was coded into the on-line services, bicycle riders would be a lot better prepared to deal with real and dangerous roads and less likely to turn into a public nuisance or getting seriously hurt by not considering other road users when riding on public infrastructure in normal circumstances". I propose this subject after Doom Scrolling FaceBook Reels over a few weeks and seeing the many many Reels posted by bicycle riders, truck drivers, car drivers and pedestrians. The stupidity of some bicycle riders is only equaled by their stubborn focus on being right over being safe. Obviously the other road users also do some stupid things, but my suggestion is about bicycle riders taking responsibility for their own safety. I have been wondering why they are so stupid and seem to ride with a death wish all the time. I have concluded with a theory that they train a lot in the virtual world and just cannot switch over to the real dangerous world, especially when they are tired and thirsty during a hard training ride.
Why The UCI DOESN'T Take Responsibility For Rider Safety? Why? Money above Safety? Why is UCI is one of the most bashed organisation?
Same UCI, who’s president declare the last world champs a big success even though a young girl died while they were responsible for her safety.
darn UCI toke a money for every certification bike component but not want take responsible. that was weird.
Id genuinely recommend watching the old anti doping videos in cycling. Its still very much involved in cycling today.
The UCI is all about money , it’s a hideous organisation and needs to go. They are probably all buying new yachts off the money Lance won them .
There was a womens race on open roads last year… but I'm sure it didn't make your top story! Only when its male athletes do you run it as the headline story.. please find how you covered the womens race story and compare. This topic should have been dealt with then, but hopefully now the men have raced in similar conditions something will change to keep ALL our riders safe.
Interesting discussion of rider safety, thank you, but can I make a suggestion re language? You referred repeatedly to "cars driving on the course" etc. rather than "drivers on the course". This removal of any 'driver' making a choice is a real issue in discussing cycling safety more widely (as well as road safety in a broader sense). Only referring to a vehicle, and never a driver, removes the feeling of responsibility from the person at fault. "Accidents" caused by "cars" is common language, but rarely true. Thank you.
I can't watch a whole year of cycling on Discovery+, can I?
Riding bikes it’s not a matter of if you crash but when.
2025 UCI Snow Bike World Championships?
How many bicycle riders are awarded UCI rainbow jerseys each year?
I am since 35 in cycling, as rider, as material car driver, on the motorbike as Adroisier etc. etc. and it is to see that the future will be bike races will only possible on round courses. This needs less wollentiers , less police etc etc.. too much people on the road and dont accept when they have to "give up" their freedom in their cars.
Danke for pronouncing Lidl correctly 🙂
Dan, been thinking more on your upcoming piece re WB / TNT massive paywall for cycling. I am feeling more and more irked about your defence of their pricing. Saying that they are trying to compete with other streamers and that sports rights are expensive. Well they dont HAVE to compete with other streamers – thats a choice. In any event they are a lot more expensive than most streamers and so I dont really get that as a reason for the price they want to charge. Secondly, you told us GCN+ was financially viable and didnt "fail", that simply once WB bought it they then decided they wanted to do other things….we have seen what they were….but what that shows is it is possible to have the cycling content provided at a reasonable cost, so my sympathy for WBs expenses is very limited and hence cant be an excuse either.
Streamers have killed traditional TV and even the old "cable/satellite" provisions on the premise that they allowed more choice, competition and the ability to only pay for what you want. On that basis we were sold a lie as this new move has removed all competition and choice from where we get our cycling content and also that we only pay for what we want as we are now told that what we get is a great deal on the bundle. Well I dont want the bundle of other tat they are selling with it. Its perfectly possible for them to sell the cycling separate as GCN+ or Eurosport showed. I dont know why anti monopoly laws or the competition commission arent involved and it would be great if you spoke to them as part of your piece.
Bring back cable tv where i had one price and it included everything and didnt involve dozens of companies all each charging me a load whilst moaning about how hard their life is.
Eventually it will kill the whole cycling model as its not like football, TV rights holders dont pay the cycling teams in the same way they pay the football clubs. It relies on sponsorship and if ASO allow companies like WB/TNT to monopolise the market AND put in unreasonable costs viewer figures will go down and that then kills advertising revenue which kills a lot of ASOs profits, but also importantly will cause many teams to fold. Therefore please also be sure to talk to ASO about the longterm detriment this is likely to cause cycling and their own back pocket and whether they have considered that some form of TV rights (maybe only the last 2 hours of races) should also always be sold/given to a free to air channel in each country.
Had my second trip out to MIddelkerke for the Superprestige this weekend past…highly recommend for the full Belgian CX immersion experience…dead easy to get to from Calais or Dunkirk if you're in the South of the UK
I'm really interested in the saddle to bar drop and stem length. Are stack heights getting bigger?
The UCI and riders are collectively responsible for rider safety.
I've marshalled at a couple of races in the U.S. (both some time ago). At one race (single side of the road, not full closure), I had a driver pull out of the line of cars to pass the line just before the cyclists came around the corner. At a criterium, a driver threatened to run me over if I didn't let him across the course immediately (allowed after the follow escort went by). Without physical barriers and uniformed police, drivers will pull really stupid stuff.