Fear in the peloton is something I often see among the cyclists I meet and coach. It appears in many forms: from fear of cornering, fear on the descent, fear of the sprint, or simply a fear of crashing. In this blog I want to take you through where this fear comes from and, more importantly, how to deal with it.
Experiences from the past: Trauma
Often—but not always—fear in the peloton stems from a bad experience in the past. A crash is usually the culprit, though not always. Such a negative experience can cause a trauma. Your brain wants to protect you from potential harm and activates a defense mechanism that puts you in a state of high alert (fight, flight, freeze).
This makes you tense up on the bike and all relaxation disappears from your body. Rational thinking becomes difficult, and tactical or technical decisions are practically impossible. You stop making it through corners and you’ll often find yourself dangling at the back of the bunch. It’s a good system if you’re in a life-or-death situation, but during a race it’s rather inconvenient
Irrational fear
Fear of crashing in the peloton is a bit like being afraid of flying: your brain vividly remembers every news story about a crash, but forgets the millions of safe flights. Meanwhile, you’re actually surrounded by riders who, just like you, want to reach the finish without damage (even if it doesn’t always seem that way).
Crash factor calculation
A good way to convince yourself that your fear is irrational is to look at the number of rides you’ve done versus how many times you’ve crashed. Enter those below to calculate your crash factor. It’s a helpful mindset and a reminder to build confidence on the bike.
Your crash & fracture risk per ride
Fear in the peloton: ETFBC
Event: What's your trigger?
Fear in the peloton—or the trauma— is often triggered by a neutral Event: squealing disc brakes, riders shouting around you, a rear wheel that slips, or a glance at the speedometer showing you’re doing 50 km/h. These are fairly normal race situations, but as a cyclist you start assigning them meaning. The first step is to identify what your trigger is.
Thoughts (automatic vs chosen)
The meaning we, as cyclists, give to a neutral event often first shows up as a negative thought. ‘Oh no, I hope I don’t crash,’ ‘Oh shit, we’re coming in way too fast for that corner,’ ‘Here we go again’ are examples of negative thoughts.
You can imagine that when these thoughts start swirling around in your head, your performance won’t improve. In fact, because of fear’s paralysing effect, the chance of that thought coming true actually gets bigger!
Your thoughts are incredibly powerful. What you think becomes your reality. Your best weapon to break this fear chain is to interrupt your negative, automatic thoughts. We can choose our thoughts. We’ve just calculated our crash factor, and that’s a strong antidote to those automatic negatives. It injects logic into your brain—for example: ‘My chance of crashing on this ride is only 0.5%.
Feeling
Negative thoughts often trigger a physical stress response: tense shoulders, a higher heart rate, shallow breathing. You feel smaller, more insecure, as if you have less control over what’s going to happen. Your gaze narrows, your muscles stiffen—exactly the conditions that make it harder to ride smoothly and stay alert.
Logical, realistic thoughts have the opposite effect. They bring calm, relax your muscles, widen your field of view, and give you the sense that you are back in control. Instead of tensing up into the corner, you ride with confidence and suppleness. One small shift in thinking can immediately change your feeling and your performance.
Behaviour
Negative thoughts almost always translate into hesitant or clumsy behavior. You don’t dare to ride so close to the wheel in front, brake too early, take corners too wide, or choose an unfavorable position in the bunch. That not only reduces your own chances, it can even increase the very risk you were afraid of.
Those logical thoughts we discussed earlier lead to calm and effective behavior. You stay smooth in the wheel, pick your lines deliberately, and hold a strong yet relaxed position. You respond to what’s really happening instead of what you fear, which makes your riding more effective, safer—and better.
Consequence
The consequence of negative thoughts is that your race performance lags: you lose positions, miss breakaways, and end the day feeling like you didn’t show what you’re capable of. Your trauma and fear are maintained. Beliefs like ‘See? I’m not cut out for this’ creep in.
Logical thoughts, on the other hand, increase your chances of a good result. You stay up front longer, respond alertly to race situations, and use your energy when it matters. You start to feel you’re influencing the race and gain confidence in your own abilities. Your fear and trauma melt away like snow in the sun!
Found this interesting and helpful?
Knowing is one thing, putting it into practice is another. Through the link below you can book a free Mindset Scan so I can help you overcoming your fear of crashing in the peloton.
