All traffic issues aside and the debates over the nature of the road, there seems to be something else insidiously at work: the performance drive. The Pidcock interview has been mentioned in various contexts, but it could be the key to this accidental disaster. In the quest to diminish turbulence as much as possible, a rider assumes an ever more radical position; while beneficial in terms of lower drag, compromises vision. This is well known, but seems only partly the issue. The computers are the other. Froome was often criticized for staring down too much at his computer. It was a frequent point of contention for its risibleness. Yet here it could be of vital concern. So if Bernal must assume a radical riding possition, because the science of aerodynamics demands it; he must also keep his eye on the computer numbers, because required by the science of performance physiology. The combination of factors likely caused the perfect storm.
Perhaps Ineo's greatests sin, therefore, was not foreseeing the potential for disaster to stike by simulating a TT under such conditions on that highway (however commonly it is done). Riders have to assume those positions and, equally important, they have to pay attention to their numbers on the computer. It's what they're paid to do. But the quest for performance and use of the technology may be a double-edged sword for the teams, because it has now come at too high a price. The teams will surely take note of this. As it's unlikely in the future that we will see TT practice being done within the immediate urban sphere, unless on closed circuits. Yet the problem during races is still very real (with turns, road traffic, fans, barriers, police, pulled over cars and motor cycles, etc). So maybe the UCI should step in, as they so often have done for much more trivial matters, and set limits on a rider's TT position; but also and importantly on how long at a time a rider can look down at a computer during a race (kind of like the drafting rule per seconds), to ensure a heads-up, looking ahead comportment? I'd even be for banning the computers during TTs altogether (actually during all races), but I'm old school.