In case anyone is interested in racing fatality stats, I found this page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._during_a_race

It would be good to know how many total racer-miles this represents, but for the Tour de France we can make a reasonable guess. There have been two riders killed in crashes. Figuring 150 riders, 2,000 miles, and 100 races, divided by 2 fatalities, gives us ~15 million miles per fatality. Which is a little better than the number I got for general cycling in the US (12 million). Note that famous blood-baths like Paris-Roubaix have never had a fatality... guys crashing on cobblestones for 100 years... without helmets.

Note that these guys crash a lot, and often at high speeds. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if your odds were less than 50/50 for getting through an entire Tour without crashing, and for single year at Paris-Roubaix it's likely no better. They also did not start wearing helmets until 2003. From 2003-2006, there have been 5 deaths... a higher rate than at any other time in history. Of course this is a small sample, and maybe in future years it will look better... but it is still disturbing that an *increase* in fatalities coincided with the enactment of helmet rules.

However you look at it, bicycle racing is and always has been a pretty safe sport.