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Crashes, what can be done?

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Pro cycling is fine as it is. Yes, small improvements can be made, motly by fixing oversights like MAAAAAYBE there should have been bales or some other mitigating measure in the basque crash descent. But that was not an organizer failure. It was a '*** happens' or bad luck or part of the sport occurrence.
It sucks, but this is the sport. A beautiful sport that can easily get watered down to crap
 
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Maybe I am Benji? 🤔 but no I have no shares in any company that does anything solely and directly cycling.

I’m just advocating for more safety. More signalling, more safety nets, more secure environments. I disagree that the current signage was enough, since it has a different meaning. Sharp corner is not the same as bumps in the corner.
uneven-surface-road-sign-1514261.jpg


This is I suppose, the correct sign to have as well, but the problem is you would have it everywhere in certain parts of Europe, so it would become meaningsless.
 
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Pro cycling is fine as it is. Yes, small improvements can be made, motly by fixing oversights like MAAAAAYBE there should have been bales or some other mitigating measure in the basque crash descent. But that was not an organizer failure. It was a '*** happens' or bad luck or part of the sport occurrence.
It sucks, but this is the sport. A beautiful sport that can easily get watered down to crap
We can say things are fine, but then there is the impact losing premere stars to such crashes has on viewership. The next races in which they were supposed to compete will lose a share of their audience, among those who only would watch because a certain rider was participating (or because a certain confrontation between riders was gonna happen). Cycling cannot afford this, the sponsors will be livid, commercial funds will decline as people turn away. Think of how devastating the situation is for Soudal and Visma right now. So I think it's significant and that the status quo isn't good enough anymore. The sport has changed and at all levels. The equipment, nutrition and training regimes yield high performances, which means everything is faster. From the junior level they are training and living like pros (which is not good). The pros, I'm sorry to say, are often racing like idiots, foolishly taking too much high risk, but this is driven by the pressure put on them to always be performing at the highest level, team leader and domestique alike. Riders have become enslaved to tech and data, at the expense of losing common sense, race instinct and craft. At the same time, the race organizations manage affairs as if the sport is the same as it was 30 years ago. I think, therefore, what should happen is that teams and organizers should work together to come up with ways to assess courses and develop a better system to signal danger spots and provide the necessary heads-ups, because evidently this generation of riders needs such advanced warning more than those in the past.
 
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Prudhomme talks yellow and red cards ...
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...ion-of-yellow-and-red-cards-system-in-cycling
The Frenchman is clear about the system with yellow and red cards. "We have already thought about it very carefully and you have to keep thinking about how you can better protect the riders. In general the speed of the riders is much too high. New talents, who are just entering cycling, are getting younger and younger, but they lack the years of experience in the peloton and the habit of respecting the rules.
Sounds like another questionable proposal. If descending like a mad man to win at Milan San Remo is dangerous then will the winner get disqualified afterwards? Would Pidcock get disqualiifed for his Tour stage win? There already is a system in place for guys who ride on pavements, bike paths etc so I don't see what this would add.
 
Maybe I am Benji? 🤔 but no I have no shares in any company that does anything solely and directly cycling.

I’m just advocating for more safety. More signalling, more safety nets, more secure environments. I disagree that the current signage was enough, since it has a different meaning. Sharp corner is not the same as bumps in the corner.
Well, it would explain a lot. Like your propensity to act as a mouthpiece for anything Plugge suggests in the Breakaway Cycling League thread.
 
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Well, it would explain a lot. Like your propensity to act as a mouthpiece for anything Plugge suggests in the Breakaway Cycling League thread.
Haha, also not true. I’m saying the business model is bad at the moment and I’m open to changes and would like to see what they propose with ONE cycling.

My apologies if I don’t automatically shoot down any form of change. I prefer to keep an open mind.
 
Haha, also not true. I’m saying the business model is bad at the moment and I’m open to changes and would like to see what they propose with ONE cycling.

My apologies if I don’t automatically shoot down any form of change. I prefer to keep an open mind.
You didn't "prefer to keep an open mind", you actively shut down any criticism and stated that because you didn't like ASO, any change was welcome regardless of what it was.

You also stated that the proposals never included things that were heavily implied that were perceived as bad, and then when they turned out to include those very things, tried to backtrack that you never said it, but that those things were good anyway.
 
There was a good suggestion by a pro rider to limit the max gear ratio. This will allow for more freewheeling and slower speeds on descends. I believe this to be a good proposal.
That being said, I see a lot of dumb risk prone individuals on some amateur races that I take part in. The moment some of these overweight (east Henburry cycling club) guys see a closed road and a little ramp down they send it like there is not tomorrow. And they are doing it for naught (maybe just adrenaline idk). I am writing this to point out that when big money and fame is a stake, there will be individuals willing to take riding a bike beyond the limit and there is little that could be done.

It is quite intractable to have padding on every corner and even that might not prevent serious injuries. Maybe having artificial chicanes before some dangerous curves could be an option but I am not sure about this.
 
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It is quite intractable to have padding on every corner and even that might not prevent serious injuries. Maybe having artificial chicanes before some dangerous curves could be an option but I am not sure about this.
The biggest concern there would be that most dangerous curves are likely to be on roads that are not wide enough to accommodate the artificial chicane, unless there's a conveniently located passing place for them to introduce a bus-stop style chicane like they have in motorsports sometimes, like in Watkins Glen or the old version at Spa.
 
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You are also causing obvious safety issues by introducing chicanes which necessitate tight turns in the first place.

You don't need full air-barrier safety fencing on every turn but on descents, I think it would be reasonable to ask for some standards on the type of obstacles that may require protection (like the culvert, or some bridge abutments).
 
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Bruyneel weighed in on this. Thinks bikes are faster, stiffer, handle bars are too narrow, and disc brakes cause riskier rider behavior. He says riders spend too much time on their hoods and not in drop bars because of aerodynamic positioning.
I feel more comfortable descending on the hoods, because my torso-armreach, with frame geometry, isn't so great. What should I do? Go against a natural inclination? When I listen to the same old advice, I feel less in control. I've tried to go into the drops, but then, invariably, return to the hoods.🤹
 
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I feel more comfortably descending on the hoods, because my torso-armreach, with frame geometry, isn't so great. What should I do? Go against a natural inclination? When I listen to the same old advice, I feel less in control. I've tried to go into the drops, but then, invariably, return to the hoods.🤹
You should get a bike that fits better and learn to descend in the drops which is far safer
 
You should get a bike that fits better and learn to descend in the drops which is far safer
Nah, been riding and racing for over 40 years thank you. There is no bike that fits me better. I'd have to cut the gooseneck down, but that would look ridiculous. I'm not gonna change. Besides, I think the whole notion is BS. I'm perfectly fine descending on the hoods. It's never been a problem. Lower center of gravity isn't the issue ( for me at least). It's taking the right line and I do that just fine.
 
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After numerous accidents, calls to make cycling safer are growing louder. Through special lessons, the Vlaamse wielerschool (Flemish cycling school) aims to teach children additional skills to prepare them better for races. Initiator Kurt Van De Wouwer says, "Something needs to be done."

Includes a short video. I haven't translated it, I think you'll get the gist anyway.

https://sporza.be/nl/2024/04/09/vla...n-via-workshops-veiliger-te-ko~1712687193811/

Interestingly, Van De Wouwer merely mentions "bad publicity" as the reason to do something about the crashes. Reminds me of another comment, perhaps by someone on Twitter, who essentially argued that images of the crashes shouldn't be shown because it's bad for the product cycling.
 
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