Van Aert and Froome get support from Trentin, but Rasmussen opposes gear restrictions: "Goes against everything in cycling"

Wout van Aert is very vocal about safety in cycling after his crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen. He would like to see more measures such as a limit on the number of gears, which he said earlier would be a positive move. Four-time Tour winner Chris Froome also agreed: the lower the speed, the safer the sport. They are now getting support from the peloton, but others think the idea is crazy.

Matteo Trentin, at age 35, is one of the more experienced riders in today's peloton. He likes to see the sport develop in all areas. "We can't take crashes for granted," he told Cyclingnews. "We have to have that mindset and change for the better, as other sports have done. We need to understand that cycling has changed. The speeds are higher, but that's not actually the main problem."

Racing has become more vigorous than ever. "The general level of intensity and competitiveness has increased too. Where we once had 15 riders going into a corner, now we have 50 riders going for it. In other key moments of big races, riders aren't dropped or lined out like they once were. That only creates more problems and needs more attention." The Italian of Tudor Pro Cycling would like to see races follow the example of Paris-Roubaix. "If we've always used the same approach to a key part of a race, maybe that's not good enough anymore and we have to change things to ensure safety."

In The Hell of the North, just before the notorious Forest of Arenberg, a chicane has been set up. The speed at which the riders enter the heavy strip is thus significantly lower. "The way they changed the entrance to Forest of Arenberg in Paris-Roubaix after listening to the riders was an example of that. There have been so many crashes there, but now, thanks to the chicane, that danger has been reduced."

Read more below the photo!

In 2024, riders rode through the chicane before the Forest of Arenberg for the first time.

Rasmussen: "For 150 years, it's been about going as fast as possible"

However, Michael Rasmussen does not like the idea of restricting gears at all. "You rarely hear that from the young, progressive riders, and I think this initiative goes against everything we have seen so far in cycling," he is immediately adamant in the Viaplay program Cykeltimen. He does not want the innovation of the sport to be obstructed. "People have been cycling for 150 years, and all that time, it has been about going as fast as possible and developing bikes to be as fast as possible. To impose restrictions like in Formula One, I can't imagine. The next time there is a crash on cobblestones, you will hear people ask themselves how the cobblestones can be made safer."

The former Rabobank rider thinks that Van Aert and Froome let their personal experiences, and thus their emotions, prevail. 'These two have been exposed to crashes in relatively simple situations. Froome crashed when he got the wind on his side, alone on his bike. Moreover, he then came up with a proposal to ban bikes with gears because they were too dangerous to ride. It's a little ridiculous. Van Aert went down on a long, wide downhill strip in Dwars door Vlaanderen.

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