'If you attack first, you get the motorbike' - Jakob Fuglsang sounds alarm over cycling’s hidden advantage

For Fuglsang, who has been part of the peloton from 2006 till 2025, the issue is not marginal. He argues to Feltet.dk that motorbikes influence races far more than most spectators realise.

“I’ve held this view for several years, that motorbikes decide more than many other things. They help determine whether the rider who breaks away can stay away, depending on how close they are.”

Motorbikes are typically positioned ahead of breakaways or at the front of the peloton to deliver live images and photos. In doing so, they can unintentionally provide a slipstream effect, something riders are increasingly factoring into their decisions.

“It’s about attacking first. If you do that, you get the motorbike, and then they can’t catch you, even if they are four riders chasing together. Mathieu van der Poel probably wouldn’t have won E3 if he hadn’t had a motorbike in front. It was one rider against four.”

According to Fuglsang, this is not a new phenomenon. Teams have long been aware of the advantage and, at times, have built tactics around it.

“I know they also used that tactic at Quick-Step in the Belgian classics. Attack first and get the motorbike. It’s hard for the motorbikes to get away on narrow, winding roads because they need to capture good TV images.”

For Fuglsang, the discussion ultimately points to how the sport is governed, and whether the right problems are being addressed.

“When they talk about limiting gear ratios to reduce speed in the peloton, I think it’s not the gearing that makes the difference. It’s the motorbikes. When the rider at the front has a motorbike a bit too close, he can go faster than someone sitting in position 100.”

He recalls situations where chasing riders simply could not close gaps, despite riding at their physical limit.

“Last year in the Tour there were moments when we got dropped from the back because we physically couldn’t go faster. When you’re pedaling at a cadence of 120 and still can’t close a gap, it’s because the riders in front have caught a motorbike that allows them to go faster.”

There is also a psychological layer. Riders hesitate to interfere with motorbikes because they assume others may be benefiting at the same time.

“If you move up in the peloton and wave a motorbike away, the rider up front gets angry and says ‘Well, the breakaway probably has one too.’ Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. But the doubt alone makes you follow it anyway, because you don’t want to be cheated.”

Fuglsang’s conclusion is straightforward. The distance between riders and motorbikes needs to increase, even if changing behaviour in the peloton will be harder to enforce.

“Something needs to be done to keep them further away as a first step, and then there should be a gentleman’s agreement in the peloton, which probably will never happen, not to ride after the motorbikes.”