Philippe Gilbert criticized his fellow riders for failing to translate safety complaints into meaningful action.

The 38-year-old former world champion attended the latest meeting of the UCI Pro Cycling Council (PCC) this week, where a number of new safety measures were announced, including standards regarding barriers in the finish straight.

At the meeting, which was made up of various stakeholders, including team associations and race organizers, Gilbert represented the riders' union CPA, along with its management team and fellow rider Matteo Tolentin.

In a long weekend interview with the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad (opens in new tab), Gilbert expressed frustration at the lack of more representation in the pro peloton.

"Only two people thought it worthwhile to attend: the CPA regularly asks players to attend these meetings, but unfortunately usually no one shows up."

"It is not for myself that I participate. In principle, 20 riders should commit, but apparently they don't have enough time."

Rider safety has been a major issue since the season restarted in August, and a series of accidents has led to widespread criticism of current safety standards. At the Tour de Pollogne, Fabio Jacobsen collided with Dylan Groenewegen in a downhill sprint and suffered life-threatening injuries when he hit an unstable barrier.

While many riders have complained about the UCI's safety protocols and the CPA's ability to advocate for riders' interests, Gilbert was frustrated that his colleagues were speaking without being at the table when this issue was being discussed.

"Riders complain in the media for a year about safety, which is not beneficial. If we as riders want to change something, we need to dare to open our mouths at moments that serve that purpose, like last week's meeting."

However, many riders completely lost faith in the CPA, with Michael Morkoff describing it as a "worthless organization." A breakaway union, named the Riders Union, was later founded with the support of many professionals, but it has not been officially recognized by the UCI.

The CPA, established by the UCI, has a seat at the PCC meetings, and at the most recent meeting a UCI Safety Manager was introduced to oversee various new measures.

"Barriers were well discussed," Gilbert said of the meeting. Barriers often do not have the proper profile or are placed too late, just 300 meters before the finish. The racers want the barriers to be on the side when the sprint starts at 60 km/h."

"We also talked a lot about vehicles during the race. Due to injuries, I had to watch many races on TV this year. Often I wondered if I was watching motorcycle racing or MotoGP. The vehicles in the race are really exaggerated. What are they for?

Gilbert advocated the widespread use of off-course detour systems to allow vehicles to overtake riders in races without having to pass them directly, describing it as "the most important invention in cycling in the last five years."