Last year we linked up with Dr Cormac Bryce of City St George’s, University of London, to discuss safety in cycling after reading his academic work on the subject. His study included in-depth analysis of factors that contributed to a high-profile safety incident on the track in the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and the learnings to be taken from this. We were particularly interested in the parallels with other sports including Formula 1. The analysis sought to look broadly at contributing factors and relevant conceptual frameworks that help us to appreciate the complex nature of cycling safety.
The study concluded that safety culture theory provides a valuable framework for understanding safety-related incidents in professional track cycling. The analysis of the AusCycling incident report, through the lens of Leaver and Reader’s safety culture dimensions, revealed significant failures in areas such as adherence to rules and regulations, highlighting the importance of a robust safety culture in elite sports.
Cormac has a unique perspective courtesy of his extensive academic expertise in operational risk management and how this approach can be incorporated into professional road cycling. He comes at this both from an academic and a personal perspective, as he is also a keen amateur cyclist and racing super fan.
We spoke to Cormac to delve further into this topic and discuss how his current work, and views on the subject would shape his approach to take on the challenges of safety in cycling.
Dr Cormac Bryce and Cycling Safety
Professional road cycling is a spectacle of speed, strategy, and unwavering dedication from riders and their teams. The thrilling moments when victory is seized leave both rivals and spectators breathless, prompting them to marvel at the ‘how’ of the seemingly impossible feats of these extraordinary athletes.
Yet as competition and commercialisation of the sport intensifies, the risks associated with racing have never been more apparent. As an avid fan of men’s and women’s road racing I’ve been left wondering all too regularly ‘why’ I continue to witness some of what I consider ‘never events’ during racing – public cars on the course being a good example.
Put simply, professional cycling has a safety problem, anyone who says otherwise I would argue is part of the problem. No professional athlete should ever have to contend with a public car on the course, yet here we are in 2025 and it’s still happening.
The term ‘never event’ is not new, it’s coined from the healthcare industry to describe things that are patient safety events that are ‘wholly preventable’ because of the existence of strong systemic protective barriers at a national level. For those who have been unfortunate enough to have surgery in some shape or form you probably got tired of confirming your name, date of birth, and which limb was going under the knife. It probably also came as a bigger surprise when the surgeon took out a marker in the pre-surgical consultation and put an ‘X’ marks the spot on the area for treatment. It’s not a regular sharpie marker though, it’s an indelible, hypoallergenic, latex-free skin marker.
None of this is by accident – it’s by design, a wrong site surgery that leads to the amputation of the wrong leg is an example of a ‘never event’ and the simple yet effective preventative controls outlined above are key in making sure it doesn’t happen.
Key to minimising ‘never events’ is defining them… What are the things a UCI affiliated race must absolutely make sure never happens in order to protect riders safety?
The next step is understanding the interactions within the race ‘system’ pre and during the event to understand the interrelationships and interactions between different parts of the dynamic system – rather than just examining individual components in isolation. My fear from the outside looking in is that some of the good work on safety within the sport isn’t being optimised currently due to this. Focussing on the ‘X’ marks the spot as a silver bullet, without realising that it’s only one of the many controls within the system, all of which are needed to create redundancy in the system.
When I was approached by VeloViewer to discuss safety in road racing, I was genuinely excited to hear about how their technology could provide some of these simple yet effective solutions pre and during races. To optimise its effectiveness and provide the best possible technological solution as part of the overall system of safety within professional road racing, it is vital that all stakeholders understand their importance within that system. A first but important step.
If surgeons can accidentally remove the wrong leg, in a theatre surrounded by other healthcare professionals no one should be under any illusions as to the size of the task at hand when it comes to the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of safety in the dynamic system that is a professional road race.
Based on Cormac’s initial introduction, he is now in the process of developing a cycling specific theory into creating a robust safety culture in the sport to minimise risks to riders, which we will be excited to share on our blog later this season.