Why Are There So Many Crashes Now! In Road Racing ?

[Anthony.R.Brown]

Is it because of the mentality of the riders ? just as there are now more car road accidents! both are based on the percentage within each group!

 

[roadrash]

I am not sure there are more , you say why is there so many now, compared to when, i know the racing seems more intense but crashes have always been a part of cycle racing, obviously some of them could be avoided , like when road furniture isnt marshalled as it should be, or wrong barriers used in sprint section etc, perhaps the U.C.I should concentrate on rider safety instead of fining riders for throwing bottles to young fans

 

[ColinJ]

Are there really more crashes now than there used to be? I have been watching racing since the late 1980s and there were lots of crashes back then too!

One thing that HAS changed is that many riders are competitive from the start of each season, and the start of each stage/race. Much less of that 'get fat over the winter and spend 3 months burning it back off' or 'take it easy until the last 50 kms' thinking. I've heard ex-pros worrying that riders will 'burn out' because they are not having 'proper' easy off-seasons. That means that there is more intense racing going on and therefore more likelihood of crashes?

 

[Beebo]

There are probably more televised crashes, which could give the impression of more crashes overall.

 

[T4tomo]

Are you comparing modern road racing with old school TT's ?


i think there were more crashes in the sprint etc back in the 80's & 90's

 

[matticus]

Is it because of the mentality of the riders ?

Damn right - they're all trying to win. Madness!

 

[Anthony.R.Brown]

If we look at televised Road races from when road racing cycling helmets became compulsory,which looks like 2003 ? from the link below...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_helmet

There was a gradual increase in the amount of Crashes ? and then when the bikes became even more advanced and faster,then again there was an increase,and now which is the topic of this thread there are Crashes in almost all races ?
Before the above when riders never used helmets there were not that many Crashes ?

 

[Anthony.R.Brown]

Sport Grows, and Grows More Perilous

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/sports/in-cycling-the-fast-lane-brings-increasing-danger.html

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

It seems to me that a lot more cycle races are televised - or at least I see far more

and they are televised better and for longer
e.g. when I first noticed cycling on the TV it was the TDF - and only highlights
It was many years later that I noticed that they were starting to televise the whole stage live
and now I can see different races every week - some live plus highlights - some just highlights

so we see far more - hence see more crashes

maybe

 

[mjr]

It seems to me that a lot more cycle races are televised - or at least I see far more

It's probably just you (or just your country) seeing more. The Tour has been on TV since the 1950s, but only came to the UK in the 1980s. The Giro since 1973 (and newsreel before that). The Vuelta since around then, too. The Ronde since the mid-1960s... and so on.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

OK - I first saw the Tour in the 80s - in the UK
but it is only recently that I have noticed things like a lot of the the one day races being televised on Eurosport

or is it just that I have only just noticed them????

 

[Eric Olthwaite]

Riders now have to contend with eddy currents from disc brakes - that's why.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_...oucault's,perpendicular to the magnetic field.

 

[matticus]

Eddies in the airflow, you say?

 

[HMS_Dave]

Because they're all trying to imitate this guy.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoK7BR-Z-V8

 

[mjr]

Eddies in the airflow, you say?

And it's his sofa, is it?</h2g2>