Ineos Grenadiers owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called for “real action” to ensure safety in road cycling following a number of serious recent accidents.
Ratcliffe, 71, has written a letter to cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, outlining his concerns.
“Governing bodies have made very few changes and serious accidents are a common occurrence,” Ratcliffe wrote.
The UCI said the safety of riders remains their “absolute priority”.
Ratcliffe, who recently became Manchester United’s biggest single shareholder, added in the letter: “In Formula 1, when Ayrton Senna had his fatal crash 30 years ago in Italy, the governing body set out to transform the safety regulations of one of the world’s most dangerous sports and significantly reduced injuries as a result.
“This contrasts starkly with cycling. As recently as last week, we had yet another horrific crash involving three of the world’s top cyclists.”
The UCI acknowledged in a statement that “too many accidents have occurred” and “concern for safety is shared by all road cycling’s stakeholders”.
The crash Ratcliffe referenced included reigning Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike. He required surgery after suffering broken ribs and collarbone in a crash on stage four of last week’s Itzulia Basque Country stage race.
Rivals Belgian Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step and Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic of Bora-Hansgrohe were also injured in the same crash, in which several riders slid off the road on a right-hand corner when descending, many striking sharp rocks and a drain gutter at high speed.
The crash followed an accident for another of Visma-Lease a Bike’s biggest talents. Belgian Wout van Aert also fractured his ribs and collarbone in the recent Dwars Door Vlaanderen one-day classic and will miss the Giro d’Italia in May.
Vingegaard faces a race against time to defend his Tour de France title against Slovenian co-favourite Tadej Pogacar, who suffered a broken wrist in a crash last year.
Ratcliffe added in the letter: “Cyclists are always going to push things to the limit as they are elite sportsmen and that is why action is so important. We now need to see real action to ensure the safety of the sport.”
In June the UCI announced the formation of SafeR,, external a group to oversee all aspects of safety.
The UCI said SafeR is “still in its very early days” but added the “the benefits of its work” should be seen “as early as during the 2024 season”.
“We are working together to ensure accidents such as those recently witnessed are not repeated,” the governing body added.
Ineos have also seen their share of serious accidents in recent years, including the life-threatening injuries in 2019 to four-time Tour winner Chris Froome and a 2022 training accident that saw 2019 Tour winner Egan Bernal hurt at home in Colombia when he struck the back of a bus.
Several professional cyclists have lost their life in competition or in training accidents in recent years.
Last year 26-year-old Swiss Gino Mader of the Bahrain Victorious team died following a crash when descending at high speed on stage five of the Tour de Suisse.