The biking thread

[Solo]

I think the racing scene in UK/Europe is way better than the US. The only races we have here, even where cycling is very popular, are street circuit crits, special event fondos, or gravel races. Cyclocross, track racing, and time trialing basically don't exist. The crits are pretty far & few between as well - there is no established crit racing scene in my county, for instance, just a single annual event. So we just have group rides.

Racing in the UK is definitely on the decline. There are far fewer Road and Crit events than there used to be. There's still a strong club scene for group rides and TTs but bunch racing is niche.

 

[Touring Mars]

RIP Finlay Tarling

A tragic loss, and questions will need to be asked as to how this could happen during a major international road race. Condolences to his brother Josh, also a pro cyclist with Team Ineos, and the rest of his family and friends.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Horrific. I can't imagine the feeling of seeing an unauthorized vehicle on course. I wonder if we're going to see more drastic changes to the non-marquee cycling events to improve rider safety - limited or controlled descents, more "closed circuit" type courses to limit traffic control, and race calming measures. There's been a lot of deaths in the past 5 years. Personally I think the biggest issue is riders pushing the limits on descents like we saw with Sepp Kuss at the Tour. Unlike motorsports there is basically no protection in a high speed crash - you either get lucky (like Sepp getting caught by the netting) or you don't (like Gino Mader or Muriel Furrer).