Now could be a good time to test pro riders on their unique skillsets

Motor racing drivers take a test, why not pro cyclists?

- Dr Hutch

Long ago I got my first racing licence. I was surprised that there wasn't any sort of exam or test. I simply handed over a significant proportion of my student funding, and in return British Cycling sent me a bit of paper and ba-boom! I was a fourth-cat.

At my first race it was clear why there was no exam. The Venn diagram of 'People who want a fourth-cat racing licence' and 'People who are technically competent to ride a bike race' would have had no overlap whatever. There was no exam to get to the next level either, there was just a winnowing down until at the end of the season all the survivors were third-cats, BC had everyone's money, and the fourth-cats who didn't make it were buried in a mass-grave in the Essex countryside.

A friend reminded me of this recently when he suggested that if we wanted to make racing safer, perhaps, like motor racing, there should be a test. He was thinking particularly of pro racing, where it feels as if there are just more and more crashes.