Following the rise of incidents involving crashes between riders and race vehicles, particularly in light of last weekend’s incident at Tour of Belgium, which resulted in a rider being seriously hurt, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced this week, it’s in the process of finalizing new rules that will update safety regulations with regard to motorbikes and team vehicles taking part in road races.
In addition to limiting the number of vehicles allowed in races and how they’ll be positioned differently in the future, the new rules will require absolute vigilance on the part of all drivers, who must prioritize the safety of riders and spectators above all others.
The news rules will also be attended by new sanctions, which will be applied by the UCI’s Disciplinary Commission if any driver is found to be acting negligently.
The UCI is also currently studying elements such as the size and power of motorbikes used in races and how these elements have evolved over recent years in order to assess the safety implications and how best to regulate this aspect of race security.
In order to ensure the right level of understanding and compliance with these new rules and guidelines, the UCI will be significantly increasing the number of human resources deployed at races, as a means of improving the monitoring process as well.
The UCI says, it will continue to consult with its stakeholders and welcomes any input from all those who are concerned about rider safety.
UCI President Brian Cookson said, “Safety is an absolutely vital issue for the UCI and our stakeholders, and it is crucial we do all in our power to protect the riders from unnecessary risks. We have seen too many incidents involving motorcycles, and that is why we recently adopted clear new rules governing how vehicles must be driven in races. Right now, our thoughts are with Stig Broeckx, his family, friends and teammates from Lotto Soudal.”
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