Muriel Furrer: 18-year-old cyclist dies after fall

At 2:48 p.m. the cycling world stood still for a moment. Muriel Furrer is dead – the world association announced what many had long feared but preferred to forget. The 18-year-old Swiss succumbed to injuries she sustained in a fall in the junior world championship race in Zurich the day before. Furrer died in the Zurich University Hospital.

“This is so sad. May you rest in peace, Muriel. My sincere condolences to her family and friends,” said ex-professional and current ZDF expert Marcel Kittel. “The cycling world has lost a rider with a great future. Our thoughts are with all of Muriel’s family and friends. Rest in peace, dear Muriel,” wrote the Visma team of two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard on Furrer’s Instagram profile.

Sandra Mäder had previously reported there with moving words. Mäder lost her son Gino in June 2023, who died at the age of 26 one day after his fall on the descent from the Albula Pass at the Tour de Suisse.

“I feel so extremely for your family. Be strong,” Mäder wrote and addressed the parents directly: “Dear Furrer family, I feel for you. Very intensely and I know so much how you must be feeling now. Hold on I wish you a lot of strength to get through these hours.”

Speculation about late rescue of Muriel Furrer

When the news of Furrer’s death finally cast a dark light on the title fights on the Gold Coast of Lake Zurich, the U23 men were just finishing their race. The World Cup continued that morning at the request of Furrer’s family. It is still unclear exactly how the fall occurred. The investigations are ongoing. The award ceremony for the U23s was supposed to take place in a quiet setting; the interview zone for athletes was closed.

What is known is that Furrer fell in a forest on the lap on the north side of Lake Zurich, which is run in all road races. The newspaper “Blick” reported more than questionable circumstances surrounding the rescue. Accordingly, a helicopter only landed in the forest where Furrer was said to have been found in the undergrowth an hour after the end of the race. The world association and the organizing committee would like to comment on this in the afternoon at 5 p.m.

Frequency of serious falls

There has been an increasing number of serious falls in cycling in recent times. In July, the Norwegian André Drege fell and died on the descent from the Großglockner during the Tour of Austria. In June 2023, Mäder left the road on the descent of the Albula Pass. Mäder’s death sparked a debate about safety in cycling.

Something has happened since then. “The route security has improved significantly, as has the route. You can’t reduce the risk to zero,” said German professional cyclist Simon Geschke. The 38-year-old explained that many falls happened in very clear places due to driving errors or other influences. However, the CPA drivers’ association has become significantly more influential and is working better. “It just takes a while and doesn’t happen overnight,” said Geschke.

Circuit actually good for safety

The organizers received praise from the drivers for the safety on the World Cup route, a 27 kilometer long lap through the Zurich area. “A lot has been done here. Many traffic islands and obstacles have been removed,” said World Cup driver Maximilian Schachmann. His German teammate Franziska Koch also emphasized that a lot has happened since inspecting the track a few weeks ago: “There was still an island in the way every now and then, but it’s all clear now. They’ve done a really good job in that respect. “

The fact that it is a circuit also makes the World Cup track safer based on the drivers’ experiences. “We drivers know what to expect and can calculate the risk better,” said Schachmann. Many crashes, especially on tours, result from the drivers not knowing the route in detail and assessing curves and dangerous areas differently.