Despite Pogacar’s strong words, Madiot sticks to his guns in cycling safety debate

Monday, 23 June 2025 at 07:55

Follow IDL Pro Cycling on Google

Stay up to date with the best cycling news by making us a preferred source on Google.

Modern cycling is getting better and faster, but in recent years, a small group has started to push back, finding the evolution of the sport increasingly problematic. They point to safety concerns tied to higher speeds and argue that cycling needs to return to its roots. One of the loudest voices in that movement is Groupama-FDJ team boss Marc Madiot, a long-time advocate of limiting progress for the sake of safety. He welcomed the UCI’s newly announced actions.

One of Madiot and his allies’ key concerns is the increasing speed of the peloton. There have already been calls to impose limits on gear ratios, and starting August 1, the UCI will begin testing exactly that: a maximum of 54 teeth in the front and 11 in the back. That decision is sure to bring a smile to Madiot’s face. “We have to fight to slow the evolution of cycling,” he told L’Équipe.

In a sport where every rider and team is constantly chasing that one percent improvement, this small group actually wants to take a few steps back. Crashes are cited as living proof that the sport has become too dangerous with all the advancements in equipment, nutrition, and training. “There will be more and more deaths,” Madiot warns. “But you see that and we’ll still get back on the bike the next day.”

Read more below the photo.

Marc Madiot

Madiot wants to get rid of technology on the bike

In addition to limiting gear ratios, the French team boss believes that less technology would also lead to greater safety. “We need to slow the development of the sport, and there are simple solutions for that. Get rid of earpieces, hide power meters, and ban the use of GPS. If you do all that, the danger decreases and riders will take fewer risks. Right now, we're in constant contact with the rider, they’re being remotely controlled.”

According to Madiot, this leads to situations where the entire peloton wants to be at the front at the same time. “From the team car, we’re telling them: watch out, danger ahead, a village, speed bumps, roundabouts. You need to be in front. But there’s not enough space for everyone at the front. We’re going faster and faster just to be up front, and without all that tech, that wouldn’t happen anymore.”

Read more below the photo.

Pogacar strongly opposes inhibitory measures

Large part of peloton opposes restrictive measures in cycling, including Pogacar

Tadej Pogacar, currently the biggest star in cycling, already voiced his opinion this past winter. “Everyone always wants to go faster, the entire cycling world is evolving, just like every other sport. Records are being broken because of technological progress. A bike that goes ten kilometers per hour slower isn’t going to change that much,” the Slovenian said in December 2024.

He also made a key argument for why teams should keep pushing the limits of what’s possible. “From a marketing standpoint, such a limit would be a problem, if we have to promote things that are actually worse. Everything has to keep getting better; sponsors want that too. There are no limits to that. It was just as dangerous in the past. I don’t think riders took fewer risks when they were going slower.”

Read also

Write a comment

Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

See author's posts

IDL-productions

Glasgow set to shine as World Cup demand outstrips expectations and Mason eyes first home cyclocross race

Pogačar, Vingegaard and Van Aert went faster again in 2026... except when they didn't

Team GB dominate, China on the rise, Lavreysen the best ever? Five takeaways from the 2026 Track World Championships

Track World Championships day 2: A golden day for Team GB, Levreysen goes 2 for 2, and Kopecky eliminates the competition

Rumours, speculation and guesswork: 2027 Tour de France route will be revealed live on October 22 in Paris

Latest Cycling News

Former cyclocross star and Indurain's lead-out man, now 62: 'Struggling with an opponent he can’t shake'

Vote for the best mens rider of the 2026 cycling season: Pogačar, Pidcock, Vingegaard, McNulty, and more

Alberto Contador thinks 2027 Tour de France will be different: 'Pogačar is only this good because of Vingegaard'

Bas Tietema chats with Wout Poels about why he's staying with Unibet Rose Rockets for one more year

Vanthourenhout guiltily admits wrongdoing after confrontation with Scot Cameron Mason: 'That's a closed chapter'

Popular Cycling News

99 steps await the European Cyclocross Championship competitors: 'There’s no hill quite like it'

Cameron Mason brushes off Vanthourenhout's angry abuse : 'A taste of his own medicine'

Video shows Vanthourenhout lashing out at Brit Cameron Mason after mistake costs him the win at Middelkerke

Wout van Aert's 2027 Calendar | There is one big title missing from his list of wins...