The SafeR-SafeRoadcycling project that aims to improve safety in men’s and women’s races is in turmoil after the stakeholders of professional cycling voted to oust Chief Executive Officer Jaap Van Hulten less than a year after he was selected for the position.
SafeR is controlled and funded by the different stakeholders in the sport: the UCI, the AIOCC race organisers group, the AIGCP teams association, the UNIO women’s team association and the men’s and women’s CPA riders association.
After the recent high-profile crashes at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Itzulia Basque Country and elsewhere, UCI President David Lappartient told Cyclingnews that “safety is clearly the most important topic for the sport at the moment.”
Lappartient said that 38 WorldTour riders were out of action due to serious crashes.
These include Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, who suffered a fractured collarbone, ribs and a pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax. His Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Wout Van Aert fractured his sternum, collarbone and ribs, while Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) fractured his collarbone and so will miss the Ardennes Classics, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège that he won in 2022 and 2023.
“Crashes ruin our sport,” Visma-Lease a Bike team manager Richard Plugge told Cyclingnews last week.
“There's been an urgency about safety for years, but how many wake-up calls do we need?”
The increase in the number of serious crashes and injuries has sparked huge concern and debate about the reasons for crashes and injury, with some blaming high speeds, road furniture, equipment such as disc brakes, and less respect among riders.
“50% of crashes are due to rider behaviour, with 50% due to other factors, such as obstacles that are not signalled or the speed of the peloton,” Lappartient said, apparently citing data from a study of crashes by experts at Ghent University.
“I'm not here to say it's all their fault; it could just be a brief moment of inattention. That's why we want to introduce a principle of yellow and red cards, like in football, so that dangerous behaviour is better punished.”
Race organisers and local authorities are, in theory, legally responsible for race safety, but it is virtually impossible to fully protect the riders during hundreds of kilometres of race routes.
SafeR is supposed to begin the complex task of improving safety but is still not operative.
Van Hulten had given up his role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Visma-Lease a Bike team to take the role of CEO at SafeR after playing a significant part in creating the semi-independent body. SafeR was presented before the 2023 Tour de France but was only expected to be operative for the 2025 season.
Cyclingnews understands that several stakeholders were no longer satisfied with the work done by Van Hulten as he divided his time between SafeR and Visma-Lease a Bike until he worked for SafeR full time from May 1.
A higher profile and a more independent figure was deemed necessary for the role, especially with plans to introduce red and yellow cards to punish riders and a number of other important but perhaps controversial safety rules.
Van Hulten was obliged to step down during a heated SafeR Supervisory Committee meeting last Thursday, attended by representatives of all the sport’s stakeholders.
“The UCI confirms that at its meeting on 11 April, the Supervisory Committee of SafeR took the decision, unanimously agreed by all the families represented (AIOCC, AIGCP, UNIO, CPA, CPA Women and the UCI) to reorganise the organisation's management,” the UCI told Cyclingnews vis a statement.
“As a result, Jaap Van Hulten will be stepping down from the position of CEO of SafeR that he has held since February. This decision was made after it became clear that the work carried out to date has not lived up to the objectives set, particularly in a context in which too many accidents have occurred.
“The recruitment of a new person at the head of SafeR will begin in the coming days. In the meantime, all the families will continue to collaborate closely and in a coordinated manner on all matters relating to safety. The UCI and all the cycling families wish to reaffirm that the safety of riders remains their absolute priority.”
Cyclingnews has contacted Visma-Lease a Bike for a reaction from Jaap Van Hulten.
