Team managers weigh in on motorbike debate after an awkward Giro moment: ‘The numbers do not lie’

The role of motorbikes in racing has become a much bigger talking point in recent years. In the Giro d’Italia, riders also complained about the motorbikes during the sprinters’ stage to Milan, and in stage 18 a motorbike rode right in front of the breakaway too. The team leaders see it as a major problem and are hoping for improvement.

Fredrik Dversnes won the sprinters’ stage to Milan, but afterwards the peloton vented that motorbikes must have played a role. And on Thursday’s stage to Pieve di Soligo, Johannes Kulset accelerated together with white jersey Afonso Eulálio. “Good grief, that motorbike is really close in front,” Eurosport commentator Karsten Kroon exclaimed. And he was right: the riders were really not far behind the camera.

They were eventually caught, but at UAE Team Emirates-XRG the motorbikes are seen as a major issue. “It is not a matter of opinion, it is a mathematical and scientific reality,” sports director Matxín told Marca. “Studies by engineers such as Bert Blocken have shown that a motorbike riding five metres in front of a cyclist provides assistance that translates into a gain of about 12 seconds per kilometre.”

That is a huge difference, of course, but that is when the motorbike is really close to the riders. There is also an effect when the gap is larger. “If the UCI requires cars to stay 25 metres back in time trials because their slipstream has an influence, then it is clear that a motorbike riding less than ten metres in front of a rider has a huge impact. When a cyclist is at 99.9 per cent of their limit, every little bit of help counts.”

Sometimes the zoom function gives a distorted picture, but Matxín knows there are still problems. “If on television you see a motorbike take a corner and the rider follows less than a second later at 50 kph, the numbers do not lie: the real distance is less than five metres. Another piece of evidence is the behaviour of the riders themselves: if you see a rider gesturing to the motorbike to move aside, it is clear the motorbike is riding very close behind. Or when the peloton takes a corner on the outside rather than the inside to follow the motorbike.”

So how can the problem be solved? The Spaniard explains it. “Install a laser device on the motorbike that indicates the minimum required distance, for example the same 25 metres as for cars... If the laser touches the cyclist, the motorbike is too close. Another, more analogue option is that the motorbikes never ride on the ideal racing line of the cyclist, but on the opposite side of the corner, so as not to create any slipstream.”

Movistar sports director Max Sciandri also thinks the influence of motorbikes is problematic. “The current problem is that the speed is already extremely high,” he explains. “When you are riding at those speeds, the advantage of two, three or five kilometres per hour that you can gain by riding in the slipstream is an incredible difference. Just think about it: the riders behind you are riding at 65 or 70 kilometres per hour, which is why the impact of the motorbike is so extreme.”

Juanma Garate, sports director of EF Education-EasyPost, also believes the higher speed in the peloton should lead to a rule change regarding vehicles in races. “If you are riding at 20 kilometres per hour and the motorbike is 50 metres away, it makes no difference; but if you are riding at 60 kilometres per hour, it is noticeable, very noticeable even.”

There was already a debate about motorbikes after Paris-Roubaix. Oliver Naesen explained how Tadej Pogačar was able to get back to the front after his puncture thanks in part to a “wall of motorbikes”. In the Tour of Romandie, Valentin Paret-Peintre complained about the help the Slovenian received from the motorbikes. “If the organisers want Pogačar to win...”