As part of an ongoing effort to improve safety in women's cycling, the Cyclist Alliance (TCA) collated data provided by 30 ambassadors from 28 UCI road teams and conducted monthly surveys throughout the season to produce a road race safety report.

In parallel with this survey, the TCA created a "crash report tool" to track incidents during races, allowing the TCA to check whether the correct safety regulations were being followed.

Several important trends emerged from these reports. On the positive side, riders appreciated the new lights and audio alarms that indicate dangerous points on the course.

The peloton also welcomed the increase in television coverage, but stressed that these efforts to improve race coverage have been inconsistent. For example, in Strade Bianche, only the last 23 km were broadcast live, even though races such as Bourges des Pannes received the same amount of coverage as the men's race.

Riders had serious concerns about Marc Bracke's participation in two spring classics events: in October 2020, Bracke, sport director of Dolcini Van Eyck Sport, was found guilty of harassment by the UCI Ethics Commission, Disciplinary Committee handed down a three-year suspension.

In addition to these broader trends, the investigation also highlighted problems at individual races. Each race was ranked according to three criteria: safety, coverage, and equality.

In this way, the TCA is able to identify a wide range of issues in races, from the rigor of COVID protocols and the safety of the finish line to the quality of available live broadcasts and issues of equality in prize money. Each criterion is rated on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent), so a race can earn up to 15 points.

In the first quarter of the 2021 season, only Healthy Aging Tour and Ghent-Wevelgem received more than 12 points. Athletes praised the Healthy Aging Tour organizers' approach to extreme weather and the extensive live TV coverage by Eurosport/GCN.

Ghent-Wevelgem did not fare as well in terms of equality, as the women's prize money accounted for only 15% of the total prize money in the men's and women's peloton, but it also scored well in terms of coverage.

GP Ecostructure, on the other hand, scored only 7 points. In particular, it was criticized for the lack of live coverage and the lack of road furniture signage 500 meters from the finish, which caused a crash in the peloton

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By aggregating information from all races, the TCA can elevate the voice of riders and provide specific critiques and improvements for race organizers to consider.

For more information, see the TCA's Road Race Safety Report for the 2021 season (opens in new tab).