Major victory for Cyclists and Visma | Lease a Bike! UCI finally unveils groundbreaking safety measures

On Wednesday evening, the UCI unveiled a comprehensive plan detailing new safety measures for cycling. The cycling federation outlined a notable feature in a press release: a new system being tested that involves yellow cards and suspensions. There is also consideration being given to the use of earpieces.

In recent months (if not years), the UCI has been under significant pressure regarding safety issues. This year, there were serious crashes in events like the Tour of the Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné, which resulted in severe injuries to prominent riders. The safety organization SafeR, in which Visma | Lease a Bike and director Richard Plugge play key roles, has made recommendations that the UCI now intends to act upon. A crucial focus for Plugge and his team is having leaders in the race identify potentially dangerous points on the courses in advance. This will now be addressed through the 'SafeR Safety Analysts' who will advise race organizers on route planning, take risk-reducing measures, and ensure that teams uphold their safety responsibilities.

The safety plan further focuses on four points: the introduction of a yellow card system, restrictions on wearing and using earpieces during races, modification of the so-called 'three kilometer' (or 'sprint zone') rule, and simplification of the method for calculating time differences in stages ending in a mass sprint finish. "All these changes will be subject to testing periods during upcoming races and until the end of the season, in collaboration with stakeholders, before they are finalized and implemented," the statement reads.

The system for yellow cards and potential suspensions will be tested from August 1 to December 31, 2024. Race juries have been issuing penalties for years, but will soon also be able to issue yellow cards for 'bad behavior'. SafeR will present the system to teams during this period, where in 2024, no penalties will be associated with a yellow card. Following an analysis in the winter, sanctions will be attached to such a card starting from January 1, 2025, in races at all UCI levels.

The penalties are quite harsh. Anyone who receives two yellow cards in one race will be disqualified and suspended for seven days. Three yellow cards within thirty days will result in a fourteen-day suspension, and six yellow cards in a year will lead to a thirty-day suspension. A red card is not needed in this system, as it already exists in the UCI regulations. Juries can disqualify riders in races. Thus, the yellow card system is merely an addition to the existing rules, including the imposition of fines and time penalties in races.

Another major issue in the new measures is regarding earpieces. In recent years, riders have consistently used earpieces during races, except in championships. The cycling union wants to test how racing without earpieces fares in other competitions for the remainder of 2024. "The list of involved events and stages has yet to be determined," it states. "This decision is based on discussions on this topic within SafeR, which concluded that earpieces can be both a source of distraction for cyclists and a physical danger because the radio units are mounted on their backs, posing a risk when a large number of teams ask their riders to move to the front of the race simultaneously."

During the test phase, various arrangements will be tried, including races where only two riders per team may use earpieces. An evaluation at the end of the season will determine future measures regarding this aspect. This does not apply to the three-kilometer rule. The UCI firmly announces that from now on, organizers can set the boundary for measuring time differences as far as five kilometers from the finish. Riders who encounter any issues in these final kilometers (crashes, mechanical problems, etc.) will not be penalized with time losses. This allows classification leaders to move aside sooner and let sprinters do their work.

Following this, the UCI will also test expanding the calculation of time differences. Riders will soon be able to finish three seconds behind the rider in front of them and still receive the same time. This will mainly apply in sprint stages, as in hill and mountain stages, a three-second difference will still be penalized. "This systematization of the three-second rule is intended to relieve pressure on riders not directly involved in the sprint and to allow them a certain margin with the front of the sprint," they explain, noting that three seconds corresponds to a gap of about fifty meters, not seventeen. This enables classification riders to finish more cautiously.