Finlay Tarling killed in Volta a Portugal

[Dogtrousers]

This is just horrible.

My feelings are very much for his family.

Personally - not that my personal feelings have much relevance here - it does make me wonder whether this is a sport that I want to follow for entertainment. This wasn't an isolated incident. Gino Mader, Muriel Furrer, Andre Dredge have all tragically lost their lives in the last few years. I think there is something deeply wrong here.

 

[ivegotabike]

A tribute to Finlay and Shane O'Brien from Seb Grindley, winner of the North Yorkshire Grand Prix at Ampleforth yesterday

https://www.instagram.com/monument_hq/reel/DcHLk1jsW6B

 

[matticus]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/czxqqlpnx98o
The poor lad gets hit by a vehicle during a pro race and the issue is inadequate helmets??

Yes, I remember Chris Boardman reminding some interviewer that there isn't any practical helmet possible that can absorb the impact energy of a motor vehicle.

I notice that the Cyclist Professional Association president Adam Hansen blethering on about helmets is from Australia, where they have an especially strong misguided belief about helmets and terrible road casualty rates.

Let's hope the investigators focus on the dodgy driving and how it was able to reach the race, not blame the rider or team equipment.

RIP Finlay.

Can anyone find the full statement from CPA? My google-fu is failing me ...

(p.s. I agree with the Doctor - hansen seems to be a terrible fit for this job based on everything I've read from him so far. )

 

[stage hunter]

Can anyone find the full statement from CPA? My google-fu is failing me ...

(p.s. I agree with the Doctor - hansen seems to be a terrible fit for this job based on everything I've read from him so far. )

I think Hansen needs to go. Notwithstanding the poor CPA response here, his time in charge of the CPA has coincided with a very sharp rise in rider deaths and it need to be addressed.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I thought Hansen's input was bizarre and inappropriate, and just the kind of thing we do not need in the wake of something like this: Immediate finger pointing and jumping to conclusions.

The UCI launched SAFER in 2023. There have been several fatalities since then. Plus the major crash in the Basque tour last year that resulted in multiple serious injuries, plus many other things such as Tom Pidcock falling down a ravine unnoticed. I'd go so far as to say that the sport is, or should be, in crisis mode.

So now is the time for SAFER to start delivering with reasoned safety improvements.

I could be wrong but I think that so far they have been most focused on safety in the sprint, what with yellow cards, harder policing of deviating from the line during sprint, 5km zones, changes to time gap calculations. Maybe that was partly in response to Jakobsen's Poland crash.

In addition we've had the rather odd and seemingly not well thought out equipment changes, like handlebar width and gearing restriction. I don't know if they came from SAFER or direct from the UCI department of wheezes.

All eyes should now be on SAFER. It is the UCI's mechanism for dealing with this, for learning lessons from incidents, with input from the organisers, the teams and the riders.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

I thought Hansen's input was bizarre and inappropriate, and just the kind of thing we do not need in the wake of something like this: Immediate finger pointing and jumping to conclusions.

The UCI launched SAFER in 2023. There have been several fatalities since then. Plus the major crash in the Basque tour last year that resulted in multiple serious injuries, plus many other things such as Tom Pidcock falling down a ravine unnoticed. I'd go so far as to say that the sport is, or should be, in crisis mode.

So now is the time for SAFER to start delivering with reasoned safety improvements.

I could be wrong but I think that so far they have been most focused on safety in the sprint, what with yellow cards, harder policing of deviating from the line during sprint, 5km zones, changes to time gap calculations. Maybe that was partly in response to Jakobsen's Poland crash.

In addition we've had the rather odd and seemingly not well thought out equipment changes, like handlebar width and gearing restriction. I don't know if they came from SAFER or direct from the UCI department of wheezes.

All eyes should now be on SAFER. It is the UCI's mechanism for dealing with this, for learning lessons from incidents, with input from the organisers, the teams and the riders.

I thought SAFER was the organisation with all the digital signposts and big padding bits? As far as I remember they were supposed to be doing "data driven" stuff, though I fear the sample size is always going to be a bit too small for the amount of variables they'd need to cover. The UCI's efforts to introduce tracking devices in the women's peloton fell apart because* a) they wanted to use a specific device while some of the teams had sponsors with similar tech and b) the UCI wanted the data and teams didn't want to give it to them (most of the teams kicking up a fuss were associated with Velon, which is obviously trying to sell lots of the data processed into some speed/power graphics etc. for our enhanced cycle-watching pleasure...)

*the official reason given was fairly weak sauce, but it was symbolic of the lack of consultation beforehand

 

[Drago]

The women’s peloton had problems a couple of years ago with cars on the course and cancelled the race in Portugal. The organisers said they should just get on with it.

Let me guess, the organisers being the ones not risking their necks on bikes and with a financial stake in proceedings...?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/czxqqlpnx98o
The poor lad gets hit by a vehicle during a pro race and the issue is inadequate helmets??

You can make an official complaint, as I just have

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Sad and avoidable if the organisations running it took the right measures with the right resources.

 

[Drago]

Forgive me, I've not been following the news surrounding this sad event, but have the authorities even established that it was a head injury that caused his death? It seems a bit pointless yawping about lids if they haven't.

And all this talk of " accident" narks me. I don't get too hung up on nomenclature as a rule, but this was pure negligence on the part of the authorities, the organisers, and a driver that felt advice from mere spectators was an authoritative licence to drive on that road.

 

[Dogtrousers]

You can make an official complaint, as I just have

https://www.bbc.co.uk/contact/complaints

You're complaining to the BBC for reporting what the president of the CPA said? Pretty much every media outlet reported it.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

You're complaining to the BBC for reporting what the president of the CPA said? Pretty much every media outlet reported it.

Indeed, but the BBC is not a mouth piece and should consider what they do and do not include in their reporting. Balance is the word I think they use, and balance and critique was missing.

 

[Dirk Van Der Dirk]

Indeed, but the BBC is not a mouth piece and should consider what they do and do not include in their reporting. Balance is the word I think they use, and balance and critique was missing.

Well I think whoever thought using Hansen's words, and also use the term 'lycra-clad', which we all know is used in a negative sense, was appropriate given the nature of the incident, is either an idiot or has an anti cyclist agenda...or both. Either way they should be nowhere near the job they are doing, that goes for the so called journalist and the editor.

 

[matticus]

You're complaining to the BBC for reporting what the president of the CPA said? Pretty much every media outlet reported it.

My complaint would be how they chose their headline; there was no need to focus on helmets.

It's a 3-page article; they must have had some agenda to come up with that particular headline. Here's a reminder, look how much text there is totally unrelated to helmets: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/czxqqlpnx98o

 

[matticus]

Well, this is a much better headline and article.
And quite frankly I'm in bits reading it. Not sure what's triggered me, but there you go ...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/c5y3n8e1e6eo