After a crash in the junior women’s road race at the 2024 World Championships in Zürich, Switzerland, this Thursday, rider Muriel Furrer, 18, has died after suffering severe injuries to her head. The UCI confirmed her passing via a press release issued Friday.
The crash happened on the same course all road racers will be tackling this weekend, near the southern end of the city circuit in Zürich. Multiple crashes have been reported on the road race route, primarily due to the wet weather. But without enough information about what exactly caused the incident, the UCI confirmed that the World Championships would continue. However, a spokesperson said, “Investigations by the competent authorities are ongoing.”
The UCI statement read:
“It is with great sadness that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and the Organising Committee of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zürich (Switzerland) today learned the tragic news of the death of young Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer.
With the passing of Muriel Furrer, the international cycling community loses a rider with a bright future ahead of her. The 18-year-old rider fell heavily yesterday, Thursday, 26 September, during the Women Junior road race, and suffered a serious head injury before being flown to hospital by helicopter in a very critical condition. Muriel Furrer sadly passed away today at Zurich University Hospital.
The UCI and the Organising Committee of the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships offer their sincere condolences to Muriel Furrer’s family, friends, and her Federation of Swiss Cycling.
Muriel Furrer’s family asks that their privacy be respected at this very painful time.”
The 18-year-old from Egg, a municipality south of Zürich, rode for BIXS Performance Race Team, a Swiss mountain bike squad, and also raced cyclo-cross, in which she also finished second in the Swiss nationals last season.
This was Furrer’s second and final year as a junior. This year, she finished second in the junior road race and time trial at Switzerland’s national championships. And she had finished 44th in the junior time trial at the Worlds on Tuesday.
“Our hearts are broken; we have no words. It is with a heavy heart and infinite sadness that we have to say goodbye to Muriel Furrer today,” Swiss Cycling posted on X. “We are losing a warm-hearted and wonderful young woman who always had a smile on her face. There is no understanding, only pain and sadness.”
In another heartbreaking loss for Swiss Cycling, last year, Swiss rider Gino Mäder died following a crash at the Tour de Suisse. Earlier this summer, at the Tour of Austria, Norwegian rider André Drege died after a crash.
Last June, the UCI established SaferR, a cycling safety initiative to improve safety in professional cycling. The initiative is overseen and funded by the UCI, the CPA Riders Association, the AIOCC race organizer group, the UNIO women’s team association, and the AIGCP teams group.