IN BRIEF
Thierry Gouvenou, who describes himself as the safety manager for the Tour de France and the other A.S.O. races, told road.cc that riders are moving “much faster” and that securing a course is becoming “significantly harder”. On descents, he says, “these bikes are behaving more like motorcycles than bicycles”. Organisers, in turn, are calling for measures to reduce speeds. He also announced identical race signage across all UCI events, requested by the teams.
The message comes from the man who draws up the Tour route. Interviewed exclusively by road.cc at the announcement of Castelli as jersey supplier to the Tour de France and the A.S.O. races, in an interview published on 16 October, Thierry Gouvenou said he understood the riders, a few days after their protests at the start of Il Lombardia and Paris-Tours.
Thierry Gouvenou: “the riders are moving much faster”
“Races have evolved – the riders are moving much faster, which makes it significantly harder for organisers to secure the course,” says Thierry Gouvenou, whom road.cc presents as the Tour de France course designer. “We, the organisers, are also calling for measures to reduce speeds,” he adds, without detailing them in the interview. He puts it this way:
“I am the safety manager for the Tour de France and other ASO races. I signed on to be the safety manager for a bicycle race, but I don’t want to end up being the safety manager for a motorcycle race. Right now, on the descents, these bikes are behaving more like motorcycles than bicycles.”
Thierry Gouvenou, to road.cc
“I can understand the riders; they don’t get on their bikes with the intention of ending up disabled or dead,” he also says, while pointing out that no race organiser can ever guarantee that an incident will not occur during their event.
Lombardia, Paris-Tours: the peloton delayed the start
On 10 October, at Il Lombardia, the riders staged a five-minute protest before the start, Reuters reports. The next morning, at Paris-Tours, the peloton delayed the start by a few minutes, with Dorian Godon as spokesman, Escape Collective writes. road.cc sums it up: the riders were denouncing organisers’ inaction on safety. The outlet also recalls that at Tre Valli Varesine, a police motorcyclist coming the other way crashed into the peloton, injuring one rider and damaging another’s bike.
Identical signage at every UCI race
Thierry Gouvenou also revealed to road.cc that SafeR, the UCI’s independent safety body launched in June 2023 to analyse race risks, will next year issue regulations standardising the signage used by race organisers. road.cc writes that the aim is for each UCI-regulated race to be sign-posted in the same way. The signage covers directional instructions, not the sponsored roadside posters. “This was a request put forward by the teams, and the organisers have agreed to change how races are marked,” he says.
Other options are on the table, Thierry Gouvenou explains:
“We are discussing rider safety – including the use of airbags – as well as GPS technology, the issue of speed, and the education of the riders themselves.”
Thierry Gouvenou, to road.cc
