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Jonathan Vaughters sounds alarm after Tarling death: ‘We don’t trust smaller races’ Jonathan Vaughters has called for higher safety standards across professional cycling following the death of British rider Fin Tarling, warning that teams do not have the same confidence in smaller races as they do in the sport’s biggest events. Tarling, 19, died on Friday after colliding at high speed with a van during the Volta a Portugal. The vehicle had entered a road that was being used by the race. The death of the NSN Cycling Development Team rider has once again brought road safety to the centre of the conversation in professional cycling. For Vaughters, the founder and team boss of EF Education-EasyPost, the incident should not be dismissed as an unavoidable consequence of racing on public roads. “What I'm really not enjoying is this sentiment that's coming from very powerful people in cycling, that says: 'What can you do? Sometimes cars just end up on the road - this is just part of doing competitive sport on the open road,” Vaughters told BBC Sport. “That is not true. This is preventable.” His comments go beyond the circumstances surrounding Tarling’s death. Vaughters believes the accident highlights a broader weakness in professional cycling, particularly at races where organisers have fewer resources to control hundreds of kilometres of public roads. ‘We don’t trust smaller races’ One of Vaughters’ strongest concerns is the gap between cycling’s biggest races and events operating with significantly smaller budgets. At races such as the Tour de France, roads can be secured long before the peloton arrives, with police, barriers and personnel stationed at intersections along the route. “The Tour de France closes its road for the duration many hours before an event,” Vaughters said. “There’s a gendarme on every T junction. A barricade at every T junction.” That level of control is far more difficult to achieve elsewhere. Smaller races often rely on rolling road closures, where traffic is temporarily stopped as the race passes. The system can become vulnerable when the peloton splits into several groups and motorists assume the road is clear after the main bunch has passed. “As a team, we trust races like the Tour de France, but we don’t trust smaller races,” Vaughters said. It is a problem he says he has witnessed repeatedly. “The number of smaller races I’ve been to where there’s traffic on the course is unreal,” he said. Vaughters believes rolling closures are particularly vulnerable once a race fragments. Residents or motorists can assume the race has passed after seeing the main peloton, even though smaller groups of riders may still be approaching at speed. “People think, ‘The race is done, I’m free to go on the road,’” he said. The potential consequences are severe. Riders can be travelling at 50km/h or more, while an approaching vehicle may be moving just as quickly in the opposite direction. “Rolling enclosures, I don’t think work that well,” Vaughters said. ‘It could have been any of the other races’ Vaughters has stopped short of placing the responsibility entirely on the Volta a Portugal. Instead, he believes Tarling’s death should force cycling to look at a problem that exists across multiple races at the same level. “There have been too many races at this level that have exactly the same problem,” he said. “This just happened to be terribly unlucky. It could have been any of the other races.” Part of the challenge is financial. Smaller races face considerable costs while operating with significantly fewer resources than the Tour de France and other major events. Road closures, police, security personnel, television production and logistics can put considerable pressure on organisers. Vaughters acknowledged that reality. “The costs are enormous, organisers are really struggling,” he said. But financial pressure, in his view, cannot lower the standard of protection afforded to riders. Vaughters’ criticism also reaches beyond race organisers to cycling’s governing body. The UCI sanctions international races and sets standards for events on its calendar. At the same time, teams are required to collect ranking points across those races, making participation strategically important throughout the season. For the American team boss, that creates a clear responsibility. “If you are forcing teams to fight for ranking points at this event then you damn well better make sure the event is up to standard,” he said. He also questioned whether the sport has put too much energy into relatively minor technical regulations while more fundamental safety issues remain unresolved. “I’m tired of the governance in charge of this sport introducing changes around ridiculous little issues,” he said, arguing that keeping traffic away from an active race course should be a far more pressing priority. Join our WhatsApp service Be first to know. Subscribe to Domestique on WhatsApp for free and stay up to date with all the latest from the world of cycling.