Tom Boonen proposes mandatory safety gear after crash filled Opening Weekend

Tim Wellens of UAE Team Emirates XRG broke his collarbone and Stefan Küng of Tudor Pro Cycling suffered a thigh fracture, making them the biggest names among the injured and likely ruling them out for much of the spring.

They were far from the only victims, though. Vlad Van Mechelen of Bahrain Victorious also broke his collarbone, Ben Swift of Ineos Grenadiers sustained a pelvic fracture, Rick Pluimers of Tudor lost several teeth, and Rory Townsend of Unibet Rose Rockets suffered a fractured shinbone.

“It was noticeable last weekend that we are racing on Flemish roads again, because there were so many crashes,” Boonen said on Sporza's Wielerclub Wattage. “Not nice to watch at some moments.”

The three-time Tour of Flanders winner and four-time Paris-Roubaix champion pointed to where many of the incidents appeared to unfold. “The crashes happen mainly on concrete roads,” he said. “But it has nothing to do with the high speed.”

Jan Bakelants, also on the panel, looked back to underline how the explanations have shifted over the years. “15 years ago it was tramadol, a painkiller, that was said to be the cause,” he said. “Now there is no tramadol in the peloton and they crash even more.”

Both former riders agreed that cycling will never be crash free. “Crashes are part of racing,” Bakelants said. “We just need to make sure crashes do not have consequences.”

That is where protective technology comes in. The idea of an airbag for cyclists has hovered around the sport for years, but it is still far from standard equipment in the pro peloton. “In horse riding and skiing that has existed for a long time,” Bakelants said. “Why would that not be possible in cycling?”

Boonen went one step further, shifting the discussion from individual choice to industry rules. “Maybe there should be a certification label that clothing manufacturers have to meet,” he said, “with for example an abrasion index and an airbag. If that then becomes mandatory through the UCI, nobody can say anymore: ‘We are not racing with that.’”

The UCI has signalled it wants to speed up progress on airbag technology for road racing and has invited key players in the industry to get involved. The aim is to move towards a proper set of rules and shared standards, so these systems can be evaluated and used in a consistent way.

That work is happening while several teams are already testing solutions on their own. Team Picnic PostNL has been trialling an airbag built into race clothing, designed to offer extra protection when a rider hits the ground. The Aerobag concept relies on sensors and CO₂ canisters that trigger almost instantly, inflating protective chambers around areas such as the hips, upper body and neck.

At this stage, Picnic PostNL is still in an evaluation phase, looking at how practical the system is in real riding conditions. Using it in races would require UCI sign off, but the approval route is not yet clearly defined.

Recently, Domestique spoke with Team Picnic PostNL R&D expert Piet Rooijakkers, who has played a key part in the project’s development. Rooijakkers was optimistic that the Aerobag could become the biggest leap in wearable safety equipment since the hard shell helmet. While no single piece of kit can remove the consequences of crashes entirely, he believes this technology could reduce them significantly.

“The helmet didn’t protect riders from everything, and the airbag will not protect from everything either, but in the end, the helmet had a big impact,” said Rooijakkers. He sees the airbag following the same path: a measure that will not solve everything, but could still change the baseline.

“The helmet is a lifesaver sometimes, and hopefully the airbag also will be. It doesn’t cover everything, but I think it has the potential to be as big as the helmet.”