Safety concerns in cycling are intensifying at the Tour Down Under as new UCI rules are poised for implementation in 2025. Influenced by his personal injury from a severe concussion, rider Taco van der Hoorn has voiced mixed opinions on proposed gear ratio restrictions, arguing that speed is integral to the sport. He agreed with a ban on dangerous riding positions but criticized the regulation eliminating roadside hand-ups outside feed zones, claiming it makes those zones more chaotic and potentially hazardous. Van der Hoorn insists that a spread-out approach is safer for riders when handling bottles.
Personally, I don't have a really high cadence, so I always ride a bigger gear... I like it to ride with 70 rpm all the time.
I think going fast is also part of cycling, so I think it's a difficult discussion, because if you limit gears, do we also ban skinsuits or aerodynamic bikes?
I feel like the feed zones are more dangerous... When everybody is spread out, it's much easier to take your bottle and you don't influence the other riders so much.
A lot of crashes happen in feed zones because it's messy. People get bottles, and everybody is close to each other.
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