Zurich cycling organisers to pressure UCI to address fatal accidents

Speaking to the press on Wednesday, the organisers gave no further information on the circumstances of the accident that led to Furrer's death. Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Three days after the end of the Road and Para-cycling World Championships in Zurich, the local organising committee has drawn up an initial assessment. Muriel Furrer's fatal accident was inevitably mentioned.

From the organisers’ point of view, public interest was high: despite the bad weather, 1.2 million people attended the nine days of competition, more than the 850,000 spectators that were initially expected.

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Even during the week, around 30,000 people regularly followed the races. The peak was reached last Sunday during the men’s road race, with an estimated 800,000 spectators lining the course. The general manager of the project, Daniel Rupf, spoke of a “great cycling spectacle”. The world championships have also established new criteria for inclusion, the committee said.

Putting pressure on the UCI

But these world championships will forever be associated with the tragic death of the young Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer. The organisers have given no further information on the circumstances of the accident. The investigation is in the hands of the public prosecutor. “We provide information and contacts; we are the link with the UCI,” said Olivier Senn, the world championships’ sports director, referring to the world cycling body.

The organisers nevertheless spoke about the accident. Senn confirmed that race management had not had access to the riders’ GPS data during the races. The subject of GPS tracking has recently been in the news, as Furrer had apparently remained at the scene of the accident for a long time without being discovered after her fall.

GPS tracking a ‘perfect solution’

On the subject of safety, Senn said: “There have definitely been too many deaths recently. We’ve let the UCI know that we want this discussion to be intensified. We are going to put pressure on them to do something about it.”

In terms of safety, it’s a question of learning lessons from these accidents for the future, said Senn. “In retrospect, GPS tracking would have been a perfect solution,” he said.

Translated from French with DeepL/gw

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