Swiss Muriel Furrer has died

This article was last updated on September 27, 2024

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Swiss Muriel Furrer (18) died after a serious fall at the Cycling World Championships

Muriel Furrer, the Swiss cyclist who suffered a serious crash during the World Championships in Switzerland yesterday, died today from her injuries. The 18-year-old promise suffered serious head injuries during the road race for juniors and was taken to a hospital in Zurich by air ambulance in a very critical condition.

The international cycling association UCI and the local organizing committee announced the death in a press release. “It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Muriel Furrer. She had a bright future ahead of her.”

The UCI and the organizing committee convey their condolences to family, friends and the Swiss Cycling Federation. The media is asked to respect the privacy of the relatives.

The junior competition took place on the course where the World Cup for women will also take place on Saturday and the World Cup for men on Sunday.

It rained heavily during the race, but not much is known about the cause of the accident. There are no images of it. The UCI will hold a press conference this afternoon at 5 p.m.

Safety

The young Furrer was active as a cyclo-cross rider, mountain biker and road cyclist. Earlier this year she won a bronze medal at the European Junior Mountain Biking Championships. At the Swiss road championships she came second in both the time trial and the road race.

This morning the UCI reported (before the death) that it had been decided in consultation with Furrer’s family that the World Cup program will continue as planned. Furrer is from Zurich, the accident took place about 10 kilometers from her home.

Safety in cycling has been a subject of debate for some time. Last year, Swiss rider Gino Mäder (26) died after crashing in the Tour of Switzerland.

An independent body was then established to make the sport safer. Yet things went wrong again this summer: Norwegian rider André Drege crashed in July during the Tour of Austria.

KNWU response

The Dutch juniors in the race did not experience anything from the fall. They only heard the news after the finish.

The riders immediately wonder why there are no technological aids, such as GPS trackers, available in junior competitions.