Tinkoff-Saxo continues on at the Vuelta

As expected Tinkoff-Saxo backed down on its threats to leave the Vuelta a España and lined up for Stage 12 after receiving safety assurances from organisers.

Barring further incident Tinkoff-Saxo will make it to Madrid on Sunday (Sirotti) Source: Sirotti

Tinkoff-Saxo's sport directors held a meeting with the Vuelta a España race director, UCI and TV representatives to reach agreement on measures guaranteeing rider safety.

Among the initiatives agreed on will be a doubling of the minimum safety distance between in-race motorcycles and riders from the current 5 to 10 meters, a technical review of the qualifications of all drivers and that no risks be taken to get video or photographs of the riders.

"Tinkoff-Saxo’s management believes that these initial measures are a sign of attention to riders’ safety," the team said in a statement.

"[We] agreed to start today’s stage under the condition that the team will remain in the race as long as safety is guaranteed while it will be forced to retire from the Vuelta a España if another accident similar to the ones that involved Peter Sagan and Sergio Paulinho takes place again."