Amaury Pierron speaks out about World Cup safety issues after broken vertebrae
Past overall winner suggests more should be done to protect riders
Photo by:
Amaury Pierron / Instagram
Downhill racing is inherently dangerous, but it shouldn’t be unnecessarily unsafe. After a potentially life-changing injury during the Leogang World Cup, French powerhouse Amaury Pierron is speaking out about what he sees as increasing safety issues.
Pierron isn’t asking for easier courses or saying the racing itself is unsafe. The Commencal Muc-Off racer isn’t exactly known for holding back on course. What Pierron points out is that there are ways to mitigate if not necessarily eliminate, the risks to riders when things do go wrong. That’s part of what he sees as a growing lack of regard for rider safety, even as mountain biking is growing in popularity.
Pierron highlights two issues that contributed to his injury. First, the lack of a safe area outside of the course for riders to land when they crash, known as the “B zone.”
The second issue is the complete lack of medical oversight from organizers. While Warner Bros Discovery shows there’s more support for racing, Pierron says there isn’t the same increase in support for the riders.
There’s more money, but, Pierron says, “But not more safety. And not a single doctor working for the organization, which means no one in a capacity to forbid a rider to race. Because pain won’t stop a racer. Nothing will stop a racer except for a doctor.”
Pierron continued to race in Leogang, not knowing he had an unstable fracture to his C5 vertebrae. Had Pierron crashed again, or even had an awkward moment, he could have been paralyzed.
Growing safety concerns
The issue of rider safety is a growing cause for concern and Pierron’s injury isn’t the first moment of controversy for the UCI. When Brook MacDonald crashed hard at Mont-Sainte-Anne, there was much dissatisfaction from riders, teams and fans that his extraction from the mountain took hours. The hosts and the UCI appeared to have no plan for dealing with a serious rider injury. In 2022, a particularly questionable downhill track in Andorra proved to be the final catalyst needed for the formation of a rider’s union.
The addition of another race run to the World Cup weekend, in form of a semi-final round, initially raised questions about rider fatigue and safety. Pirron’s comments show those concerns have not necessarily been addressed.
Amaury Pierron’s full statement
Hey guys, it’s been a while. But such a shit start to the season, and it’s hard to put into words a disappointment this big.
Honestly, it was not a big crash, but I was unlucky enough to break my C5 vertebrae. Unlucky to land head first into a stump and a rock right next to the track. Which is supposed to be safe ?
Our sport is growing apparently. More money (don’t know for who), more TV, more race runs, and faster tracks.
But not more safety. And not a single doctor working for the organization, which means no one in a capacity to forbid a rider to race. Because pain won’t stop a racer. Nothing will stop a racer except from a doctor.
I was lucky that my unstable fracture held for quali, and that I didn’t feel able to race on Sunday.
So we went to the hospital for further information and found this broken vertebrae which was a real shock.
It was my fault to crash, but it could have been avoid with a clean B zone maybe? We’ll never know …
Anyway, the result is what it is, and I’m gutted not be racing and defending my title.
I feel so sorry for everybody involved in hunting my dream. I promise you that I will be back on the bike ASAP.
It’s just another cloud in my life, but it will pass and I’ll be back ??
Massive thanks to the people around me, Gaet, Thibz, my family, ma Suze, @commencal_mucoff , my friends, and everybody for the messages
See you soon.
AP
