UCI President David Lapartient defended the UCI's work to improve rider and race safety, refuting suggestions that professional cycling is moving too slowly after a number of serious incidents in recent weeks.
Several key team managers have called for an independent body to audit race safety, and riders have banded together to disable stages they felt were too dangerous at the Tour de France and at the Tour de Luxembourg when vehicles entered the race route
The team has also been working to strengthen unity in the Tour de France.
Rather than blame each other on social media, La Partiente called on all stakeholders in the sport to work together and made it clear that there would be no independent safety audit. Instead, a separate meeting will be held on October 13 to fully understand the safety issues and find a long-term, agreed-upon solution.
"It is true that Jacobsen, Evenepaul, and the other riders fell. But we realized that it was not the time to put a band-aid on it or get stitches," Lapartiento told the media at the Imola World Championships on Saturday.
"We need to get a complete picture of the problem. I don't think the safety issue will ever end. There are many things that need to be done to improve safety, but we have to agree on what needs to be addressed and how. Sometimes this is through mandates and rules, and sometimes it is through changing riders' habits. For example, riders with race radios carry units on their backs, which I believe is dangerous for riders.
"Of course, barriers are a problem. We all saw what happened in Poland. Gränevegen, who pushed Jacobsen, was first to blame.
"There are some concerns about the finish and the organizers of the Tour de Pollogne have said they will never use that finish again. There seems to be some issues regarding the barriers and we have to make some specifications regarding this. These will be clarified soon."
"We don't have numbers on crashes, and we hope that in 2021 we will have a complete study of each crash on the international calendar, with the number of crashes and the reasons for them, so that we can monitor the situation.
"We can blame each other on Twitter. We can fight among ourselves or cooperate with each other. But we have common goals.
LaPartient also answered questions about many other issues, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sport and the risks for this year and the 2021 season.
9,500 COVID-19 tests were performed to protect teams and racing bubbles, and 1,230 tests were performed at the World Championships in Imola. There were 21 positive cases, and only one in Imola.
"This is a positive message for the Olympics and we hope that it will be held in 2021," La Partiente said after International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach visited Imola on Friday.
"Our goal is to celebrate the end of the Women's World Tour and the Vuelta a España in Madrid on November 8. Then we can say that we have saved an important season for the economy of the sport."
"We are very happy that the Vuelta a España is coming to an end,"
he said.
He suggested that 18 or even 19 teams could remain in the men's World Tour in 2021; CCC teams are struggling to find new title sponsors, and at least eight teams could see their budgets cut, but readjusting the racing season, especially the Tour de France has been an important lifeline for the survival of many teams.
La Partiente believes that the Vuelta a España will take place, but acknowledged that there are concerns about Paris-Roubaix, as the race passes through the red zone in France, where there are many COVID-19 infected riders. As with all races, the local authorities in each country have the final say on whether or not a race can be held.
La Partiente also hit back at attacks by several French politicians that major professional races like the Tour de France are not environmentally friendly. He revealed that riders will face harsher penalties for dumping trash during the race outside of designated drop zones, with higher fines plus additional time penalties.
The UCI continues to investigate Lemco Evenpole's crash at Il Lombardia to see what Davide Bramati took out of his pocket while the Detunink-Quickstep rider was injured and collapsed.
The Belgian team claims that it was not a data modem, but a so-called "finish bottle" containing Coke, Red Bull, or a small amount of caffeine. However, La Partiente again voiced concerns about the possibility that some sort of illegal data device was used.
There have been several reports of teams being able to view their riders' performance data from team cars and other locations, and even spying on rival teams' data to gain tactical advantage.
"Capturing live data is illegal, but it appears to be happening. The UCI is investigating this. We are asking all parties to prove their answers," Lapartiento said.
"This is related to the Evenpole case and more generally. I think Bramati said, 'I knew he crashed because I didn't see his data. That's impossible, because you shouldn't be able to see live data."
[13Deceuninck-QuickStep and others deny stealing riders' on-bike data, but La Partiente wants to eradicate it.
"We are working on a solution to this. We are also thinking about sanctions for violating this rule," he said.
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