Advocacy & Safety - Tour de France helmetless promo.

North America is so helmetcentric. Europe is not.

YouTube - Rotterdam / Tour de France 2010 Grand Départ / Grand start

Allez Zoop!!!

[edit]

If that's the kind of music helmetless riders listen to, then I'll wear a helmet.

needs better music

True dat.

Well, isn't there a stage of le Tour where the riders aren't even required to wear helmets?

Their all goners!!

Well, isn't there a stage of le Tour where the riders aren't even required to wear helmets?

For a few years, if the stage ended with an uphill finish, the riders could ditch the helmets on the final climb. Not anymore. I don't recall exactly when the change went into effect but it's been several years now.

For a few years, if the stage ended with an uphill finish, the riders could ditch the helmets on the final climb. Not anymore. I don't recall exactly when the change went into effect but it's been several years now.

Seems like an odd thing to allow. I wonder if that was a gimme when they first started requiring helmets to get it through.

Yeah. It's not like the UCI has ever been shy about arbitrarily imposing new equipment regulations.

I assume that the big push for helmets came after Fabio Casterelli died when fell during a descent.

nope. it was after Kivalev died.

After Casterelli died, Armstrong won the stage in honor of is teammate, helmetless.

http://www.grahamwatson.com/gw/gwonline.nsf/b60jxut5-01.jpg

What I think is interesting isn't so much the lack of helmets, but the almost complete lack of sharing lanes with motor traffic.

There's the messenger-lookin' dude at 2:02 who may be among cars, and the woman with the pink top in the shot immediately following, and there are a few other instances of riding in small residential streets, but that's about it.

Maybe it's more due to the logistics of filming the commercial, but then again, there are so many bikeways (such as what the aforementioned messenger is using at 1:58) that I don't think they needed to take to the streets at all.

... then again, Europeans share space with cars more than most North Americans realize.

Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj8uzIYUPEQ) an example of bikes in Amsterdam riding with cars. It's not all separated facilities there. Bikes and cars interact sharing space just like here.

Since it was the French that basically outlawed recumbent bicycles, if they want to ride without helmets its great retribution.

Helmets are required for doing backflips and by police for headbutting people.

Since it was the French that basically outlawed recumbent bicycles, if they want to ride without helmets its great retribution.

I found this statement interesting. Do you mean they were the first group to push recumbents out of racing years ago? Or do you mean all recumbents are virtually banned from French roads today?