Tour of Austria drama

Drege’s death: professional cyclist calls for airbags for riders

The 25-year-old Andre Drege from the Coop Repsol team crashed on the descent from the Grossglockner to Heiligenblut and succumbed to his injuries.(Bild: GEPA)

Following the fatal crash of Norwegian Andre Drege, German professional cyclist Max Walscheid has spoken out in favor of airbags in cycling. He considers this to be a "promising approach" to minimize the consequences of falls. This is Walscheid's reaction to a series of recent tragedies in cycling. 

"I think airbags in particular are a promising approach. There are already models that can be worn as a kind of mini backpack," Walscheid told the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung newspaper. The German professional cyclist was reacting to Drege's fatal accident at the Tour of Austria. 

Walscheid himself also took part in the Tour, but two days before the tragedy, he had to pull out of the tour as the leader after a crash. The German hopes that the UCI will take up the matter: "There needs to be a regulation that is mandatory and sets a new standard," says the 31-year-old. 

Questions still need to be clarified
However, he fears that implementation will still take some time. "What happens if you fall but are not injured and want to continue riding, but the airbag has already deployed? What happens in bad weather if you put a rain jacket over the airbag?" These are important questions that still need to be clarified, explains Walscheid. 

Drege was the next professional to die in a race after Gino Mäder at the Tour de Suisse in June 2023. The Swiss rider crashed on the descent from the Albula Pass and died the next day in hospital. Five weeks later, a 17-year-old Italian also died on a descent in the Tour of Upper Austria.