Boplan and Tour de Pologne, another year united by commitment to race safety

The partnership continues under the banner of research to enable the development of ever more advanced crash protection for cycling.

Boplan ended 2021, its first year of collaboration with cycling’s most prestigious races, by deploying 532 race totems, 2342 race bumpers and 4502 race barriers. Not bad for a company that decided to support the sport in one of the most delicate aspects such as safety.

‘Since the beginning of 2022 we have already participated in 45 races that have adopted our safety systems,’ says Xavier Ramon – CEO and founder of Boplan. ‘We were delighted to confirm partnerships with the organizers of almost all major Belgian races, Invictus Games and RideLondon, and the Tour de Pologne, undoubtedly one of our biggest partners and also a challenge since it is a WorldTour stage race..’

‘As a rider I can confirm how much the road, though controlled, always holds surprises. It is intrinsic to the roads on which our wonderful sport takes place,’ explains Czeslaw Lang – General Manager of the Tour de Pologne UCI World Tour. ‘That’s why relying on companies that develop cutting-edge safety products is increasingly important. For us, Boplan is synonymous with professionalism in the specific field, and together we can do a lot to provide riders with the right environment in which to fully express their talents.’

Boplan is the world-leading reference and expert in industrial safety, and has shown in just a few years a real determination to change the concept of safety in cycling. Indeed not every race or stage can always combine magnificent landscapes and the desired level of competition with an environment free of obstacles. After developing high-performance impact protection which was thoroughly tested together with the UCI, Boplan is still investing in improvements and optimizations in the usage of safety solutions, especially during stage races. It is indeed a different organization having to provide for the installation of protections both at the start, on the route and at the finish of each stage.

However, this is not the only focus of the Belgian company, which this year also introduced the Race Pillar; a new device to make dangerous traffic bollards and the road direction more visible to the peloton.

‘The opportunity to work with such established names in professional cycling has allowed us to quickly learn from their years of experience, enabling us to grow and offer ever more precise and high-performance crash protection’, continues Ramon. ‘The professionalism that distinguishes Agata Lang and the whole group ensures excellent collaboration and allows us to provide, together with them, a more confident image of cycling.’

‘After noticing Boplan in some races in the last few years, I wanted to look into it to see if and how they would fit into a stage race.’ says Agata Lang. ‘Until then I had seen the performance of their

products with one-day races where logistics, while challenging, is definitely more streamlined than an event that moves day after day for a week. I was very impressed with the proactivity of the working group and how they came together rather quickly. Needless to say, I am glad to always improve in the organization of a race that has over time become a benchmark for Polish and even world cycling.”

‘When, at the end of the 2021 edition, we received the photos of the race, we felt incredibly proud for being able to actively secure and participate in one of the most successful stage races in recent years. It is always good to see that you can actually contribute to the safety of cyclists,’ concludes Xavier Ramon.

For the second year in a row the Polish roads will be tinged with yellow, not only as a symbol of the overall leader but also representing safety at the most critical points along the route where Boplan will be positioning their innovative systems.