World champion Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) says that disc brake use needs to be all or nothing in cycling, not just a handful using them as it has been so far this 2017 season.
>>> Industry body reports find no evidence of disc brakes causing injuries in crashes
Sagan, who races on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche on Saturday, faced the question following a recent incident in the Abu Dhabi Tour.
Team Sky's Owain Doull claimed that in a crash with Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors), a disc brake slashed his shoe and foot.
"I don't think I'm using them tomorrow," Sagan said.
"Why not? If we use them, the entire group needs to use them, not just one person."
The riders' union, CPA, is pushing with renewed intensity for the UCI to prohibit disc brake use after Doull's crash.
It took a vote: 40% asked to prohibit their use, 40 per cent – including Kittel – favours prohibiting them until better safety measures are in place and only 16 per cent want to continue with the current rules.
An incident last year with Francisco Ventoso in Paris-Roubaix forced the UCI to stop disc brake use. The governing body allowed their return this season with changes to make the rotor safer.
"Safety concern? No. No," Sagan said of his reasoning. "By now, safety is not even a concern in cycling!"
Watch: What do the pros really think of disc brakes?
Sagan's Bora team uses Specialized bikes like team Quick-Step Floors.
Tom Boonen, racing for Quick-Step, became the first professional to win a race with disc brakes in the Tour de San Juan in January. Kittel also won with them in the Dubai Tour.
Sagan spoke in a pre-Strade Bianche press conference with the women's world champion Amalie Dideriksen (Boels - Dolmans).
"It's not Formula One if everyone has a 800 horsepower motor and one arrives with a 2000 horse power motor and uses that," he said. "You need to create a rule that's valid for everyone and see that it's applied."
The Strade Bianche covers 175 kilometres in Siena's surrounding hills.
61.9 of those kilometres run over undulating white gravel roads, which would be ideal for disc brakes, especially given the rain forecasted, if they did not have the related safety concerns.
Riders fear that if 200 cyclists are using bikes with hot spinning rotors then someone could be seriously injured in a crash.
It is unclear if someone besides Sagan will use disc brakes in the race. Sagan said that his Bora team-mates will not.
"If someone uses a disc brake bike tomorrow in the race? That's his decision."
