The UCI has described the illegal crossing over the railway lines at Paris-Roubaix and the poles on the finishing straight of the opening stage of the Vuelta al Pais Vasco that led to a huge crash that severely injured Peter Stetina and Sergio Pardilla as “two extremely worrying incidents” and they said that they “would like to reiterate that safety should at all times be the number one priority of all those involved in a cycling race.”

The UCI has promised to investigate both incidents in order to ensure that answers can be found to why they happened and measures can be put in place to ensure they don’t happen again.

In a statement published on its website, the international federation said that “The UCI is taking both incidents very seriously and has requested that a comprehensive report on each of them be submitted as soon as possible for review and potential action. It is everyone’s duty to make sure that our beautiful sport of cycling is not tarnished by incidents that appear to have been avoidable.”