Reducing the time between impact and intervention - Inside Velon's safety tracking system

Norsgaard’s comments reignited the debate on safety in cycling, sparking a wave of online reactions and, in many cases, disbelief.

The debate itself is ongoing. The tragic, fatal accidents involving Gino Mäder in 2023 and Muriel Furrer in 2024 intensified calls for stronger measures, especially given that the situation might have unfolded differently if help had reached them sooner.

In that context, it has often been suggested that a tracking device could play a crucial role in locating riders after a crash. It is therefore not surprising that Norsgaard called for mandatory tracking devices in UCI races, something that is technically already possible to implement.

Domestique spoke to Mark Coyle about SAVE, the rider tracking system developed by Velon, and how it can help reduce the time between impact and intervention when an incident occurs.

The Velon rider data system was not originally built as a safety tool. When Velon was formed in 2014 by eleven WorldTour teams, its mandate was commercial. Teams placed specific rights into the new company, including the right to mount electronic devices on bikes during races.

That covered two pillars. First, on board cameras. Second, live rider data.

The data project debuted at the Tour de Suisse in 2016 with six riders, among them Fabian Cancellara and Peter Sagan. The concept was simple. Capture real time metrics such as speed, power and cadence, transmit them live to broadcasters, and create new storytelling layers and sponsor inventory.

Over time, the system expanded to races organised by RCS Sport, including the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Il Lombardia, and to multiple other WorldTour events like the UAE Tour. But what began as a fan engagement tool quietly evolved into something more consequential.

The turning point came after the previously mentioned death of Gino Mäder, and renewed concerns about delayed response when riders crash out of sight. Velon’s leadership began asking a different question. If the system already captures live location data, could it also detect when something has gone wrong?

The safety layer added to Velon’s rider data system is known internally as the SAVE dashboard. Built with the Tour de Suisse organisation, it debuted at the 2025 men’s and women’s races, with every rider carrying a device.

It relies on the standard under saddle unit already used on riders’ bikes, capturing GPS and performance data and sending it via the mobile network instead of the aircraft relayed radio systems seen at the Tour de France.

An important difference with regard to scalability. Radio frequency systems send data from bike mounted transmitters to an aircraft overhead, which then relays it back to the ground for processing. It is powerful but extremely expensive, often far beyond the budgets of most races.

Velon’s system relies primarily on cellular connectivity, making it significantly more financially accessible for a broader range of organisers.

Coyle made it clear that scalability has always been a foundational principle of the system’s design: “We built this to be scalable. If safety tech only works for the biggest races with the biggest budgets, it will never become a standard. Using cellular connectivity means far more organisers can realistically deploy it.”

When the system is used in a race, Velon offers it to all teams on a voluntary participation basis. Beyond the teams who own Velon, the company has working agreements with most other WorldTour and several ProTeams for the use of their data.

The safety functionality sits on top of this existing data stream, with alerts currently generated by two core triggers:

• Sudden deceleration: If a rider’s speed drops abruptly from high velocity to zero, for example during a descent, the system flags a potential incident.
• Course deviation or prolonged stop: If a rider moves a defined distance off the official route, or remains stationary beyond a set threshold, an alert is generated. This includes filtering out obvious false positives such as natural breaks.

When a trigger is activated, the dashboard displays the exact coordinates of the rider. In races such as the Tour de Suisse, organisers operated a dedicated control room monitoring the system. Ambulances and medical vehicles were also fitted with trackers, allowing controllers to dispatch the closest response unit immediately.

The key is not just knowing something happened, it is knowing exactly where it happened. The moment an alert fires, we see precise coordinates and can direct the nearest medical resource straight to that point,” Coyle said.

In other races, Velon monitors the system and relays precise coordinates directly to teams and, where appropriate, organisers. During the Giro last season, a rider who had gone over a barrier was located rapidly after the system identified his position before team staff were aware of the crash.

Of course, the system does not prevent accidents, but it can significantly reduce the time between an incident and the emergency response.

The reliance on cellular networks introduces black spots, particularly in alpine terrain. Connectivity can drop in remote mountain sections or wooded areas. That is acknowledged openly.

Race organisers such as Tour de Suisse have mitigated this by working with national telecom providers to secure priority bandwidth. Velon is also exploring reinforcement options such as Starlink connectivity mounted on motorbikes to create more robust relay coverage.

Inside the device itself, further capabilities are being activated. A gyrometer is already embedded, enabling detection of abnormal tilt angles. Development is underway to use this axis data to identify crashes more precisely.

This leaves us with the key question: if the technology already exists, why has it not been implemented at full scale yet?

That takes us to a familiar force in cycling: politics.

Rider data in professional cycling is not purely technical. It sits at the intersection of commercial rights, governance, and team autonomy, and that is where things get complicated.

Alongside Velon, the UCI has also developed its own system, which was tested for the first time last year at the Tour de Romandie Féminin. The trial sparked controversy, and ultimately a handful of teams were disqualified from the race.

Seen through that lens, 2026 could be a pivotal year. The question is whether the sport’s stakeholders can align, put safety first, and make the technology mandatory in every UCI race, as Norsgaard argued.