Following Finlay Tarling’s tragic death in a collision with a van driver at the Volta a Portugal on Friday, the president of the riders’ union has called for more stringent safety measures concerning race traffic management and helmets, but admits that “closing every single road and driveway is difficult”.
19-year-old Tarling, riding for the NSN development team, was killed during the eighth stage of the Portuguese race in a head-on collision with a member of the public who drove his van onto the course, travelling in the opposite direction to the peloton.
The fatal collision has provoked a wave of sadness and anger within a cycling community mourning the latest rider to die while racing, the CPA – the union representing the peloton – describing itself as “speechless and filled with anger” at the “preventable” tragedy.
According to new details released by the National Republican Guard (GNR), which has launched a full investigation into the young British rider’s death, Tarling was one of three riders attempting to catch the rear of the peloton, which had been split into three groups, on a steep downhill section at the time of the collision, which occurred 85km into the 167km stage.
Colonel Carlos Canatario told RTP that the GNR police escort “could not keep up with Tarling” on the descent, after the 19-year-old had raced clear of his NSN support car. The broom wagon, the vehicle signifying the end of the race convoy and the rolling road closure, was behind him.
Like many bike races, the Volta a Portugal operates a rolling road closure system, stretching from the very front of the race convoy to the back, and policed by both officers and volunteer marshals. Once the full convoy passes, the road can reopen to external traffic.
According to Canatario, the van driver entered the course via an access road after waiting at the road closure. He drove onto the course after being told by spectators that the race had passed, despite signs indicating that the road was still close. There were no police officers present at the junction.
“We know that he stopped at the access road, saw the peloton pass, waited for a moment, and asked bystanders if the race was over yet. They reportedly told him that the last riders had passed and that he could drive on,” Canatario said.
“In that specific location, we know there were no officers present because it was not one of the locations prioritised in the assessment that had been carried out.
“It is impossible to station an officer at every access point to the course. Priority is given to access points where there is a greater chance that vehicles and people will enter the course. This was a secondary access point without officers, but with signalling.”
A number of other riders taking part in the Volta a Portugal have claimed that they encountered members of the public driving on the course during Friday’s eighth stage.
He continued: “It is important to understand this: throughout the entire race, the mobile security team must constantly adapt because the composition of the peloton is constantly changing.
“At the broom wagon, we have a police car and two motorcycles to protect the riders. Three riders, including Tarling, started dropping back from the peloton at intervals. The two motorcycles rode ahead to catch up with them.
“The vehicle was going in the opposite direction to the direction of the race. The cyclist [Tarling] cut across the curve on the left lane – as is natural, as [racing] cyclists do – and that is what caused the cyclist and the vehicle to collide.”
Tarling’s death has raised serious questions concerning professional cycling’s approach to safety and traffic management, coming as it does after a number of incidents in recent years involving motorists straying onto race routes and endangering riders.
In 2023, the peloton at the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées refused to start the race’s third and final stage in protest at a range of safety issues, which included members of the public driving on the course, metres away from the riders at times.
The organiser of the race Pascal Baudron attracted criticism after branding the protesting riders “spoiled children”, before claiming that it is “impossible” to completely close the roads in France.
In February 2025, a number of WorldTour teams pulled out of the Étoile de Bessèges stage race following two incidents involving motorists driving on the course, while later that year a stage of the Tour of Holland was cancelled after an oncoming motorist, seemingly ignoring the warnings of the event’s volunteer marshals, entered the course and drove towards the riders.
In the wake of Friday’s fatal collision, the CPA issued a statement on social media saying it was “filled with anger” at the news that yet another rider has died racing their bike professionally.
“It is not right that a young athlete’s life should end this way, and we are furious that even today it is still not possible to prevent such serious accidents,” the union said.
Speaking to the BBC, the CPA’s president, former pro Adam Hansen, argued that an overhaul of cycling’s safety measures – concerning both traffic management and equipment – is necessary.
“One thing we have to look at is helmets,” Hansen said. “They need a major upgrade. Bike helmets only need to meet standard testing like all helmets, EU standard CE EN 1078 is only rated for 19.5kph and I do not believe this is enough for road racing.”
Hansen also pointed out that the circumstances leading to Tarling’s death exposed a flaw in the rolling road closure system.
“The organisation is [generally] very good, but what happened is a bit of a hole in the system,” he said.
“When the breakaway or the main group goes past, sometimes the drivers [from the general public] think that’s the whole race. But in fact, there are riders behind and on some mountain stages the difference can be 45 minutes.
“If people do not know racing, then they just naturally think the race has passed and go on to the course, where in fact there can be many groups.
“To close every single road and driveway is difficult and it gets to the point how little risk the organisers want to take and if it’s even possible for them to have people at all those points.”
Tarling’s NSN Development team withdrew from the Volta a Portugal on Saturday as the race continued as planned, with other races across Europe paying tribute to Finlay over the weekend.
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On Sunday morning, Tarling’s parents Michael and Dawn, whose other son Josh races for Netcompany Ineos, posted the following message on social media: “This has been the hardest couple of days of our lives and it’s taken us a bit of time to be able to post this.
“One of the things that has helped carry us through is the wave of posts, messages, emails, articles and calls from across our family, friends, team, local and sporting communities. Hearing how lovingly and fondly Fin was thought of has been a huge help to us.
“We simply can’t thank you all enough for the support we’ve had. I don’t know how we carry on from here but we’ll figure out with the support of all of our family, friends and community.
“Whilst our broken hearts will never be fixed, he was not only our son and brother but our best mate. Gentle, loving with the driest sense of humour we will miss him terribly.
“Whilst he was only 19 his short life was packed full of wonderful experiences and achievements and we couldn’t be prouder of him.
“If you’re heading out on your bike in the next few days give him a thought as you clip in.”
