The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) announced on Thursday a wide range of safety measures to be implemented in the 2021 men's and women's cycling road races, among the 14 key measures are the establishment of safety managers at events, a database of incidents that can be used for targeted measures, Revised measures for organizers, drivers, and television crews, and improved security and barrier standards for finals at events are part of a package of measures that will be implemented in advance of next season. [UCI President David Lapartient said, "With the measures announced today, we are taking an important step forward in strengthening safety in road racing, which has been one of the UCI's top priorities for the last few years. [The announced measures were developed after all professional road cycling families shared their concerns and proposed solutions, before being approved by the various governing bodies, including the Professional Cycling Council (PCC), which brings together representatives of teams, organizers and riders. Cycling now has a solid action plan in place and will continue to make improvements in consultation with all parties involved."

The sport's governing body established a working group dedicated to rider safety after a series of horrific crashes on the revised international road calendar this year.

Fabio Jacobsen (Deceuninck-QuickStep) fell into a coma (open in new tab) after being squeezed at high speed by Dylan Groenewegen at the Tour de Pologne and crashing through the barriers, teammate Remco Evenpor, crashed over a low barrier on a difficult descent of Il Lombardia, fracturing his pelvis (open in new tab).

Riders criticized the UCI, race organizers, and the CPA Riders Association after the crash. Some riders acknowledged that they were responsible for the crash, but also suggested

that more could be done to reduce the risks of racing.

The working group is led by La Partiente and PCC President Tom Van Dam, and coordinated by the UCI's sports department. Members of the working group include Ivan Spekenbrink, Richard Plug, Patrick Leferet, and Carsten Jeppesen, representatives of the AIGCP Team Association; Christian Prudhomme, Richard Chassot, and Thierry Gouvenoux of the AIOCC Organizers Association, Gianni Bugno, Pascal Chantour, Laura Mora, Philippe Gilbert, and Matteo Tolentin of the CPA Riders Association are included.

The main measure is the creation of a new role in the UCI called safety manager, with an event safety manager assigned to each race.

In addition, a tool will be created to assess the risk of scheduled routes weeks before the event and a database of incidents will be created.

Safety measures for organizers, drivers, caravan regulations, regulators, television production and teams will be improved. In addition, better barrier standards will be introduced for finals and other "sensitive sectors," especially bunch sprints.

In addition, organizers, teams, and riders will be given more responsibility for potentially dangerous behavior by riders, dumping of waste and materials outside of dedicated zones, and supervision of the use of equipment such as disc brakes.

The measures will focus on the WorldTour and Women's WorldTour and then progressively apply to the entire UCI international road calendar.

"As a professional rider directly affected by these new measures, I am very pleased to have been able to participate and be heard throughout the consultation process led by the UCI," said Gilbert.

"Thanks to you, I was able to directly voice our concerns about important topics such as barrier design and ensuring that convoys are safe around riders. I am pleased with the results and happy that my input can provide greater safety for us and the next generation of riders that will follow."

The UCI told Cycling News that the working group includes women's event organizers, teams, and riders, with AIGCP representing Plug and Spekenbrink, which will form women's teams Jumbo Visma and Team DSM in 2021, respectively will; CPA will represent women riders through a women's chapter run by Alessandra Cappelotto, and AIOCC organizers include ASO's Gouvenu, which runs women's events in La Course, Liège - Bastogne - Liège and Flèche Wallonne.

"The working group includes members with a wide range of experience covering professional road cycling for men and women," the UCI told Cycling News. And for the UCI World Tour and the UCI Women's World Tour, specific measures will be implemented in a common specification for organizers."

The women's rider association, Cyclist Alliance, and the new women's team association, UNIO, were not part of the working group because they are not officially recognized by the UCI. However, UNIO is expected to be recognized by the UCI in the future.

"The recognition of UNIO by the International Cycling Union (UCI) is underway. We support their approach and have requested that they register the association, and the UCI is already involved in a number of working groups, in particular the reorganization of the UCI international calendar for the resumption of the women's road season in 2020," the UCI told Cycling News.

The PCC has approved all the main principles of a series of measures aimed at improving safety conditions during road races, which will be submitted to the UCI Management Committee for implementation in 2021.