Demand safer UCI race courses for every cyclist

 

On 14 August 2026, 19-year-old Welsh cyclist Finlay Tarling lost his life following a collision with a non-race vehicle during Stage 8 of the Volta a Portugal.

 

Finlay was still racing.

 

We believe that no cyclist who is still officially racing should ever be left exposed to ordinary road traffic.

 

We are calling on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to introduce mandatory, enforceable safety standards that protect every rider, for every kilometre, until they finish or are officially out of the race.

 

OUR DEMANDS

 

1. PROTECT EVERY RIDER

 

There must be no unprotected rider who is still officially racing.

 

Race protection must extend to the entire field — including riders who are dropped, riding alone, recovering from a puncture, dealing with a mechanical problem or separated from the main peloton.

 

Being dropped must never mean being dropped from the safety system.

 

2. PREVENT VEHICLES ENTERING THE COURSE

 

Every potential access point to an active race course — including junctions, side roads, driveways, agricultural tracks, service roads and roundabouts — must be properly assessed and controlled.

 

Where necessary, this must include physical barriers and trained personnel, rather than relying solely on signs or temporary restrictions.

 

3. MANDATORY REAL-TIME TRACKING

 

Professional road races should use real-time tracking of both riders and vehicles.

 

Race control must be able to identify potential vehicle/rider conflicts immediately.

 

The purpose must be active safety intervention, not simply reconstructing what happened afterwards.

 

4. IMMEDIATE WARNING AND INTERVENTION

 

If an unauthorised vehicle enters an active race section, race control must be alerted immediately.

 

The threat must be removed as quickly as possible.

 

If the course cannot be confirmed safe, the race must be neutralised or stopped.

 

No sporting result, television schedule or commercial commitment should take priority over a rider's life.

 

5. MANDATORY SAFETY AUDITS

 

Before a professional race receives UCI approval, organisers should demonstrate that the entire route has been assessed for vehicle-intrusion risks.

 

Where adequate protection cannot be provided, the route must be changed or an alternative race format considered.

 

6. INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION

 

Any death or serious injury involving an unauthorised vehicle entering an active race course should trigger an independent safety investigation.

 

The investigation should establish:

 

What failed?

Why did it fail?

Could it have been prevented?

What must change?

 

The findings and resulting safety recommendations should be made publicly available.

 

7. ONE INTERNATIONAL MINIMUM STANDARD

 

Race safety should not depend upon the country, organiser or local authority involved.

 

The UCI should establish a single minimum international standard for race-course security applying to every UCI-sanctioned professional road race.

 

If an organiser cannot meet that standard, the race should not take place on an inadequately secured public-road course.

 

8. CONSIDER SAFER FORMATS WHERE NECESSARY

 

Where hundreds of kilometres of public road cannot realistically be secured to an acceptable standard, the sport should consider alternatives.

 

Closed circuits, shorter repeated loops and other controlled formats may provide a significantly safer environment.

 

The objective is not to change cycling unnecessarily.

 

The objective is to ensure that cyclists can actually come home.

 

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

 

Professional cyclists race at high speeds, often in large groups and on unfamiliar roads.

 

They cannot reasonably be expected to anticipate a vehicle suddenly appearing from a side road, emerging around a bend or entering their path.

 

A rider who has suffered a puncture, mechanical failure or simply been dropped has done nothing wrong.

 

They are still racing.

 

They are still entitled to protection.

 

And they should not have to rely on luck.

 

The safety system must be designed around the rider — not around the convenience of the traffic-management system.

 

THIS IS NOT ABOUT BLAME

 

This petition is not about attacking individual drivers, marshals, volunteers, police officers, race organisers or officials.

 

Mistakes happen.

 

Road closures can be misunderstood.

 

Drivers can ignore restrictions.

 

Communication can fail.

 

Marshals can make mistakes.

 

Technology can fail.

 

But when those things go wrong, the cyclist is the person who can pay with their life.

 

Human error must therefore never automatically become a fatal error.

 

There must be multiple layers of protection between a mistake and a rider.

 

THIS PROBLEM DID NOT END WITH FINLAY

 

Finlay's death has highlighted a vulnerability that has subsequently been demonstrated by further incidents.

 

Only days later, Maeve Plouffe reported a near miss involving public traffic while racing in the Tour of Britain Women after becoming separated from the main group.

 

Then, on 3 September 2026, another vehicle entered a closed time-trial course during the SauerlandRundfahrt in Germany, forcing 21-year-old Louis Leidert to take evasive action.

 

Fortunately, those incidents did not result in another death.

 

But that cannot be the standard we accept.

 

Cycling should not rely on riders being lucky enough to avoid the next vehicle.

 

TECHNOLOGY IS NOT ENOUGH

 

The UCI has recognised the need for improved monitoring and has announced plans for a framework for real-time tracking of riders and vehicles at professional road races.

 

That is welcome.

 

But we must distinguish between detecting danger and preventing danger.

 

An alert telling race control that a car has entered the course is valuable.

 

A system that prevents that car from reaching a cyclist is better.

 

The hierarchy should therefore be:

 

PREVENT.

DETECT.

WARN.

REMOVE.

STOP.

 

Every layer should be designed around the same objective:

 

GET EVERY RIDER SAFELY TO THE FINISH.

 

THE FINAL RIDER MATTERS TOO

 

Professional cycling celebrates winners.

 

We rightly celebrate the rider who crosses the finish line first.

 

But there is another rider who matters just as much.

 

The last rider on the road.

 

They may be minutes behind the peloton.

 

They may be exhausted.

 

They may be riding alone.

 

They may have suffered a puncture.

 

They may have been dropped.

 

But until they are officially out of the race:

 

They are a racing cyclist on an active race course.

 

They deserve protection.

 

The race leader deserves protection.

 

The last rider deserves protection.

 

Everyone in between deserves protection.

 

WHY FINLAY'S DEATH MUST BE A TURNING POINT

 

Finlay Tarling was just 19 years old.

 

He had his entire life ahead of him.

 

He should have been thinking about racing, training, his teammates, his family, his friends and the future.

 

Instead, those closest to him are having to live with his loss.

 

Nothing can bring Finlay back.

 

But the sport can decide what happens next.

 

His death can become another tragic entry in the history of professional cycling.

 

Or it can become the moment when cycling finally says:

 

GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH WHEN PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE AT STAKE.

 

OUR MESSAGE TO THE UCI

 

We are not asking the UCI to eliminate every risk from professional cycling.

 

We understand that cycling is a demanding and inherently dangerous sport.

 

We are asking the UCI to address a risk that can be systematically reduced.

 

A cyclist falling on a descent is one thing.

 

A cyclist colliding with another competitor is part of racing.

 

A cyclist encountering an unexpected public vehicle on a supposedly secured race course is something else.

 

Where a risk can be prevented through better systems, we have a responsibility to prevent it.

 

So our message to the UCI is simple:

 

DON'T JUST INVESTIGATE THE NEXT CRASH.

 

PREVENT IT.

 

Don't just track the vehicles.

 

Stop them reaching the riders.

 

Don't just issue recommendations.

 

Make them mandatory.

 

Don't just protect the peloton.

 

Protect every rider.

 

And if a race course cannot be adequately secured:

 

Don't race on it.

 

HOW MANY MORE?

 

How many riders must be killed or seriously injured by vehicles entering race courses before this becomes unacceptable?

 

We believe the answer should be:

 

NONE.

 

For Finlay.

 

For every professional cyclist racing today.

 

For every young rider dreaming of becoming a professional.

 

For every family waiting at the finish.

 

And for everyone who loves this sport.

 

SIGN THE PETITION

 

I support the call for the UCI to introduce mandatory, enforceable measures to prevent unauthorised vehicles from entering active cycling race courses and to ensure that every rider — from the race leader to the final rider on the road — receives effective protection.

 

THERE MUST BE NO UNPROTECTED RIDER WHO IS STILL OFFICIALLY RACING.

 

FOR FINLAY.

 

FOR SAFER CYCLING.

 

FOR EVERY RIDER WHO DESERVES TO COME HOME.