Pro Road Racers Retire Over Dangerous Riding Conditions

When top riders cut their careers short, something is amiss.

Over the past few years, the UCI has seen road racers retire due to safety concerns. This is a relatively new fear for racers at this level.

There's no agreement about the cause of escalating crashes, injuries, and fatalities. Pundits have hypotheses, but none can account for the 300-plus percent increase in injuries over the past decade.

We discuss the incorrect blaming of faster racing (a few percent of the past decade), more racing (UCI racers are racing fewer races than ever, and races are getting shorter overall), and road furniture (this has increased crashes, but the share has only increased by a few percent). Most other explanations share a similar lack of impact or empirical evidence.

What Seven can objectively show is that carbon frames are getting stiffer and harsher every year, and this has accelerated in the past decade. It's gotten so bad that riders are starting to speak out about it despite likely sponsor backlash. Even the media is beginning to concur. Take for example, insightful comments from the Global Cycling Network (GCN): "The Problem With Aero Bikes" and thoughts from Bicycling Magazine: "Real Road Bikes."

Athlete Concerns

Several professional road bike racers have recently retired unexpectedly, citing safety concerns, increased dangers, and fear of crashes as reasons to step away from the sport.

Louis Kitzki : The German pro for Alpecin-Deceuninck Development retired in August 2025, citing that the sport was "too dangerous" BBC: "Does cycling have a safety problem?" and having been present for two fatalities in professional races. "I became increasingly concerned about my safety and felt increasingly uncomfortable in races." Cycling Weekly: "The more chaotic a race became, the more brutally I broke down mentally' — pro cyclist retires at 21 over safety concerns after recent deaths"

Mike Woods : The Canadian Grand Tour winner announced his retirement at the end of 2025, saying "cycling is a ludicrously dangerous sport" Cycling Weekly: "'Cycling is a ludicrously dangerous sport' — Mike Woods to retire at the end of 2025" and citing the frequency of crashes.

Ellen van Dijk : The Dutch world champion announced her retirement in 2025, citing a fear of crashing; she had "increasing worry about dangerous crashes [...] this for sure makes me more scared on the bike in the peloton". ESPN: "Dutch cyclist Ellen van Dijk worried about crashes, to retire"

Salvatore Puccio : A retiring Ineos Grenadiers rider who, in October 2025, described the sport as "incredibly dangerous and exhausting." Cycling Weekly: "Dutch cyclist Ellen van Dijk worried about crashes, to retire"

Tony Martin: Retired in 2022, the multiple-time world time trial champion specifically cited the increased danger of crashes in the modern peloton as a primary reason for leaving, stating, "I just didn't feel safe in cycling anymore." Road.cc: "“I just didn't feel safe in cycling anymore” — Tony Martin opens up on why he's retired"

New Bike Designs Are The Cause

Riders are starting to speak out about aero carbon bikes as the primary problem to address. In a surprisingly frank conversation, two pro racers discuss that issue.