New rule introduced to improve safety of riders in Tour de France bunch sprints

UCI announces that a gap between groups of riders during sprint stage finishes will be determined at three seconds rather than one second, to prevent 'stress and risk'

Photo: Yuzuru Sunada

(Image credit: Yuzuru SUNADA)

A new rule has been introduced for bunch sprint stages at the 2017 Tour de France to reduce the 'stress and risk' posed to riders and improve safety.

The time split between large groups of riders on sprint stage finishes will now be determined by a three-second gap rather than one-second gap. The aim is to reduce the number of crashes in sprint finales caused by large numbers of sprinters, sprint trains and general classification riders and their teams all fighting for position.

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