Kiwi road cyclist George Bennett opens up on dangers of the sport following Swiss rider’s death

George Bennett will compete in the men's elite road race at the UCI World Championships. Photo / Getty Images

George Bennett is well aware of the risks that come with his job.

However, he and the rest of the world’s professional road racing cyclists got a stark reminder of that in June during the Tour de Suisse when Swiss rider Gino Mader died following after crashing into a ravine on the descent towards a finish line.

It was an incident that brought a global spotlight onto the sport and Bennett told Newstalk ZB’s Jason Pine that everyone in the road racing scene had been shaken up by it.

“It’s a dangerous sport and there’s risk involved, but I don’t really think anyone ever considers that you’re not going to come home when you put a number on and go for a race,” Bennett said.

“It’s not the first guy to die in a bike race, unfortunately. In my career, there’s been three or four guys that I’ve known that died. It’s a really tragic, part of the sport and I really hope that it’s something the sport can evolve to really limit that or eliminate that risk.”

Asked if the dangers of competing in the sport ever made him second-guess his want to continue, Bennett said while it’s an idea that flashes through his head, he had no intention of walking away.

“We all have our moments where we’re feeling a little bit more risk-averse or something like that, but, in general, I don’t think about not riding because of the dangers. Maybe that will change later in my life when I have other priorities.

“For the moment I love what I do and I feel really excited every time I go to a bike race. It doesn’t mean that that fear isn’t there or that acknowledgment of that risk isn’t there. It’s a complicated, thought process and it’s a complicated issue that isn’t black or white and you go, ‘OK now I’m scared; don’t do this’. It’s a spectrum thing and some days are different to others.

“When fear creeps in it doesn’t really mean that you’re going to get good results. As soon as you’re scared on the bike or unable to deal with that fear, then it’s not conducive to getting any sort of result.”

Bennett noted a handful of basic details that could be addressed in terms of safety, including the way obstacles were marked out, how the cyclists race, the racecourses and the fact they race on the open road.

“It’s a sport that is littered with danger and it’s a topic that every time there is a tragedy or a big crash it is something that gains a lot of attention and then sometimes it feels like we just move on until the next thing happens.

“I do believe there has been some really positive changes and some ideas floated. There’s all sorts of issues and it’s very complicated, but I think there are a lot of basic things that can happen with course organisation, course design, with layouts and how things are marked. That is moving in a positive direction, but obviously not fast enough.”