Strade Bianche organizer on the toughness of course: "Everyone knows this isn’t why Van Aert and Van der Poel are skipping the race"

"Yes, there were more crashes on Saturday than in other years," the 66-year-old Italian begins. "That is due to the condition of the gravel. It was very dry and dusty on this occasion, making it more dangerous. But the gravel roads are what the Strade Bianche is all about. This race is not too difficult or too dangerous. At least, not for real cyclists. Unfortunately, there are not many of them."

"It also has to do with the mentality of the riders," says the RCS boss, who has seen the peloton change in recent years. "In the past, the peloton had a moral code. If danger loomed, they warned each other. I have noticed that riders no longer want to try to warn each other of imminent danger. Nowadays, it is like the Romans expressed it in their time: mors tua vita mea, your death is my life."

But do the crashes only happen because of the terrain? The Italian has a definite answer: "Riders are taking more and more risks. That is part of cycling. But you can also take unnecessary risks. The equipment has also improved a lot. The progress made in the development of bicycles means that riders can go faster. Take disc brakes, for example; they can afford to brake later. But in a peloton, that leads to dangerous situations."

According to Vegni, who compares cycling to Formula 1, cycling is all about speed. "We are a sport that revolves around speed. Has Formula 1 reduced the speed of the cars to two hundred kilometers per hour, even though they can drive three hundred? No! They have taken measures to minimize the risk of fatal accidents. Cycling must do the same."

However, it wasn't just the route that was criticized; many also found the field of participants hugely disappointing. "Who's to say that Wout van Aert or Mathieu van der Poel won't be at the start again next year? Pogacar was there; that's all I needed. The race was discussed everywhere, from the New York Times to the BBC. And if Wout and Mathieu are staying away because the race has become longer or harder, then I want to think about that. But everyone knows that's not the reason."

And the additional loop, which made for an even tougher course, why was that? "Everyone forgets that the roads don't belong to the cyclists alone. In the previous course, I had to close off an important public road for two hours, causing traffic heading toward Rome to a standstill. By introducing this stretch, I was able to circumvent that problem," the Italian concludes his story.