Britain’s Matthew Brennan says it is “disgraceful that nothing has changed” in cycling to make the sport safer following the death of Fin Tarling last month.
Britain’s Tarling, 19, died on 14 August during the Volta a Portugal following a high-speed collision with a van which had strayed on to the closed road.
His funeral took place in Aberystwyth on Thursday.
Brennan, 21, who races for Dutch team Visma-Lease a Bike, told BBC Sport: “It was very sad what happened with Fin. We were watching his funeral yesterday and I said to my friend: ‘It’s so sad we’ve lost someone so special and also nothing has changed.’
“I really think that is disgraceful. Instead of someone somewhere in these organisations saying: ‘OK, this should never ever happen again’, it feels the world has moved on, nothing has changed and there’s events where cars have been on the course still.”
Six riders have died during road races in the past three years, and American rider Ezra Caudell is currently in hospital, external with “multi-system trauma” following a crash at the Philadelphia Cycling Classic.
Brennan, who won five stages at the recent three-week Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour, believes there should be an independent body to force through safety requirements at races.
“It’s unbelievable, because you’ve lost a friend and when nothing changes it is really shocking.
“I think these big organisations and [sport’s world governing body] the UCI should have a look at what they need to do to increase the safety.
“In my personal opinion, there should be an independent organisation that holds the organisations, the UCI and everything accountable to some very strict rules that makes sure the safety of the riders is held as a priority.”
The UCI has been contacted by BBC Sport for comment.
Earlier this month the UCI proposed the introduction of GPS trackers at all races to pinpoint riders’ locations at all times.
The sport’s biggest races, such as the three-week Tour de France, typically have a good safety record. This is thanks in part to extensive safety measures which include total road closures on stages for much of the day.
Smaller events such as the Volta a Portugal and Tour of Britain use ‘rolling roadblocks’, where police and officials travel in front of and behind the peloton.
Races such as the third-tier Volta a Portugal sell their rights to be broadcast at a lower fee than the bigger races and use more cost-effective measures to manage road closures.
However, Brennan, who also won the prestigious one-day classic race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne this year, believes the demands of the sport are changing as it grows, and was vocal at the recent Vuelta over racing in 44-degree heat.
“We have big outside factors such as TV … I would say that’s a massive one. The instances of racing in Spain, and instead of moving it forward to racing at 09:00 we’re racing at 15:00 in the midday heat.
“I think a real independent organisation that can really say to the teams whether something is safe, or whether something needs to be changed would benefit the sport and hopefully would stop these sad tragic events that happened at World Championships [referring to Muriel Furrer in 2024] and what happened with Fin and all the other sad events that happen in the sport.”
