Professional riders have been asking for safer conditions on the Tour de France but the nature of their sport makes it almost impossible to avoid tumbles and injuries as tension and stress are at their highest on the biggest cycling event in the world.
After just five days of racing, the Tour peloton is battered and bruised after countless crashes wreaked havoc on the race, triggering a protest from the riders.
Bloodied bodies, concussions, broken collarbones, dislocated shoulders were among the injuries sustained in the first three stages.
"Just looking around in the peloton I can't remember seeing so many injured riders," four-time champion Chris Froome, who himself was sent tumbling, told reporters.
Organizers and the International Cycling Union (UCI) have been targeted by some riders who demand larger roads, but with the number of traffic islands, roundabouts, and speed bumps having been multiplied by six in the last 25 years in France, the request is an impossible one.
"Towns are now designed for cars to pass through at 30 kph and the Tour is coming with 180 riders charging through at 60 kph," said Pascal Chanteur, a former professional rider who represents the riders' union (CPA) on the Tour de France.
The nature of racing, with all teams looking to be at the front of the bunch to be safer, adds to the danger.
"Back in the day, the peloton was in the shape of a V with the tip pointing forward, and now, it's in the shape of a V with the tip at the back," said Arkea-Samsic sports director Yvon Ledanois.
To avoid congestion in the last part of flat stages, when sprinters gear up for a high-speed finale, the UCI has designed a rule that states that any rider suffering a crash or a mechanical inside the last three kilometers is credited with the same time as the front group.
The riders' union asked that this rule be adapted after a mass crash occurred four kilometers before the line in Monday's third stage.
STRESS
Some teams, like French outfit AG2R-Citroen, have their staff check all the stages from start to finish and film the whole route to help the riders better visualize upcoming danger.
For Jonathan Vaughters, the manager of the American EF Education-Nippo team, the Tour de France is a special race.
"It's the only race of the year that no one uses their brakes. Last year was an exceptionally safe Tour. But this year seems to be back to normal," he said.
With the stakes being so high on the Tour, one of the most televised sporting events on the planet, the lighter riders who contest for the overall title cannot afford to lose precious seconds in the stage finale.
Through earpieces, sports directors instruct the whole team to bring their leader to the front and they find themselves thrown into the tumbler of a peloton with heavier riders at 60-70 kph - often making crashes inevitable.
"It's two worlds colliding. Conditions are harder in the Flanders classics (one-day races featuring narrow, cobbled sectors) and there are fewer crashes because the riders taking part are used to it and they are shaped for it," Jean-Rene Bernaudeau, the team manager of the Total Energies team, told Reuters.
"The route is not responsible for the crashes. It's just that you don't need the whole team to protect your leader and put him in front. One or two are enough. On the Tour, the stakes are so high."
Bernaudeau added that riders have been outstandingly stressed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Recently they've been riding like the season could end eight days later because of the pandemic. It's made them super stressed. COVID brought a lot of tension.
"We have to ease the pressure on the riders. I've asked my staff to do five stages where they ask nothing from the riders."
Odds to win 2021 Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar -286
Primoz Roglic +700
Richard Carapaz +1200
Julian Alaphilippe +3300
Geraint Thomas +3300
Rigoberto Urán Urán +3300
Jonas Vingegaard +4000
Enric Mas +6600
Nairo Quintana +6600
Richie Porte +8000
Wilco Kelderman +10000
Miguel Angel Lopez +10000
Mathieu van der Poel +10000
David Gaudu +12500
Wout Van Aert +12500
Steven Kruijswijk +15000
Alexey Lutsenko +15000
Jakob Fuglsang +20000
Pierre Latour +20000
Bauke Mollema +20000
Pello Bilbao +30000
Emanuel Buchmann +30000
Esteban Chaves +30000
Lucas Hamilton +30000
Vincenzo Nibali +30000
Tao Geoghegan Hart +40000
Sergio Higuita +40000
Guillaume Martin +40000
Ben O'Connor +50000
Wout Poels +50000
Odds courtesy of DraftKings
