Team Chiefs Call for Cycling Safety Action After Fin Tarling's Death

Senior cycling team managers have called for stronger safety measures following the death of Fin Tarling during the Volta a Portugal. The Guardian reported that Richard Plugge, manager of the Visma-Lease a Bike team, criticised the response from cycling's governing body, the UCI, and argued that leading teams may need to take a larger role in ensuring races are secure.

Watch the highlights:

Tarling died after colliding with a non-race vehicle while descending in pursuit of the peloton, according to the Guardian's account. The report said the vehicle was travelling toward him on the race route despite the road closure. The precise circumstances have not been settled: Portugal's GNR police and Public Prosecutor's Office are conducting formal investigations.

The Portuguese Cycling Federation, which organises the Volta a Portugal, said it would be inappropriate to speculate while the competent authorities examine the incident. The UCI also declined to comment further because the circumstances were still being established. The Guardian reported that police statements confirmed Tarling had become isolated and was racing without a police escort.

Plugge said the sport's reaction had lacked urgency and questioned whether point-to-point racing on public roads should continue when a route cannot be fully secured. He suggested that races could instead use shorter circuits if those courses can provide complete protection for riders. His central demand was that competitors must be able to trust the safety of the course.

Jonathan Vaughters, manager of EF Education-EasyPost, also called for change. He argued that professional cycling has too many events operating without sufficient budgets or oversight to meet appropriate standards. Vaughters proposed a much smaller calendar focused on races capable of providing safe conditions, rather than retaining hundreds of racing days.

The debate also covers the rolling road closures used by the Portuguese race and other smaller events. Such systems depend on effective policing at the front and rear of the race convoy, unlike the arrangements at Europe's three Grand Tours. Adam Hansen, president of the Association of Professional Cyclists, told the Guardian that gaps in rolling closures must be addressed, while Plugge said structural changes to race routes may now be unavoidable.