The Cyclist Federation (TCA) has called on the UCI to revise its race safety protocols after last weekend's CIC Tour de Pyrenees was cancelled amid a storm of criticism for what the federation called a "highly dangerous" race with "a disregard for rider safety.

In a statement released this week, the TCA claimed that "the race was unsafe from day one" and that the live television coverage "provided ample evidence of disregard for athlete safety."

The Tour de Pyrenees was finally cancelled on June 11, just before the start of the third stage.

Race organizers subsequently strongly criticized the riders' collective decision to cancel the race, but the TCA claimed that "procedures to assess the safety of the race were not clear" and that the organizers' "response to the teams' concerns during the race was at times indifferent and insincere."

Furthermore, regarding the pre-race UCI and federation checks, the TCA stated that it believes the UCI and national federations "should improve the rigor applied in the event approval process." That way, they can ensure that organizers' plans "conform to the safety expectations set forth by UCI regulations."

The TCA also argued that the UCI protocols for assessing safety and extreme weather issues during races need to be clearer.

When a meeting was convened between the organizers, the president of the commissaires, and representatives of the riders and teams to decide whether the race should proceed, the TCA argued that the protocol was too vague about the process for riders and teams to accurately express the views of their respective groups.

The TCA also said that the protocol was unclear as to how much weight each view would carry in the final decision-making process.

Last but not least, the TCA also argued that the current situation where the protocol gives the race organizer and the president of the commissaire committee the final say on the six possible actions to be decided according to the extreme weather/rider safety protocol needs to be changed.

"This corrective action and decision-making process does not recognize the vested rights of the organizers to maintain the status quo, i.e., not to spend money to keep the race going and make it safer for the riders," the TCA argued.

The TCA's press release concludes by urging the UCI to revise these parts of the Statutes with a view to ensuring "greater independence, without conflict of interest, when difficult decisions regarding rider safety need to be made."