'It's not normal that riders should risk their life' - Ex-pro cyclist calls for action on crashes

Professional cyclists should not have to "risk their life if they hope to perform", former Vuelta a España stage winner Nicolas Roche has said, after a horror crash at Itzulia Basque Country on Thursday.

In a long post on Instagram, the two-time Irish national road champion said that he has "come to fear" for his friends who are still racing, and suggested that higher speeds and better braking power is partly to blame.

The intervention follows the crash at Itzulia Basque Country on Thursday, which saw three of the favourites for the Tour de France - Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) - hit the deck.

Vingegaard was the worst affected of this trio, suffering a collapsed lung, a broken collarbone and "several" fractured ribs, while Evenepoel also broke his clavicle. 

Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) suffered a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures, while Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) also came away with a collapsed lung, broken ribs and a two fractured vertebrae.

In 2019, Roche was a victim of a crash at the Vuelta a España while in the leader's jersey. It was later revealed that he had broken his kneecap.

"I never really recovered from this crash," Roche said. "It shaped the last years of my career but still today almost 5 years after I still live with consequences."

The Irishman retired from the sport in 2021, and recalled that in his early years in the sport, descents were used as periods of recovery, rather than the full gas race they have become now. 

Roche said that he was "more scared" towards the end of his career, due to increased danger of crashing.

"I have come to fear for my friends racing," the 39-year-old said. "The speed is higher, the general level is higher, the battle for aero has also become on the edge of dangerous, the braking power is greater (meaning less reaction time behind to brake) riders ride closer. 

"Teams make the most of danger zones to put pressure, road furniture is built to make vehicles go slower when cyclist are going faster... the stakes for victory are so high that riders are ready to risk it all."

Last June, a high-speed downhill crash at the Tour de Suisse saw Swiss rider Gino Mäder lose his life, which saw a growth in calls to make the sport safer.

Roche said that the blame for serious crashes is to be shared around, but that all parties needed to work together to provide a less dangerous work environment.

"I feel for many years riders were blaming organisers, but was most times a rider's fault," he said. "But organisers are also looking for more spectacular routes!

"I don't believe there is one single reason to blame for causing all of these crashes. But everyone and everything plays a part.

"Crashes have been part of the sport, they created the drama but this is way out of hand. It's not normal that riders should risk their life if they hope to perform. Hopefully the sport can work all together to provide a safer job."