Muriel Furrer's parents still without answers a year after fatal Worlds crash

Furrer, a Swiss international rider in road, cyclocross and mountain bike, sustained a critical head injury when she crashed in the junior women’s road race and she died in hospital the following day. It is believed that she lay injured for more than 90 minutes before she was found and airlifted to hospital. 

The Zurich public prosecutor’s office opened an investigation, but it has not issued any formal update since October of last year. The body has, however, confirmed to Swiss newspaper Le Temps that the inquiry is still ongoing.

Speaking in only their second interview since their daughter’s death, Furrer’s parents Christine and Reto told Pierre Carrey of Le Temps that they hoped the investigation would eventually provide answers that might prevent a similar tragedy from occurring in the future.

“It’s hard to know whether the findings will bring us peace,” Reto Furrer said. “Clearly, a serious mistake was made. Muriel was only found 90 or 100 minutes after the crash. If she had been discovered sooner, maybe she would have had a chance of survival… 

“Many questions remain unanswered. But when a mistake happens, there are inevitably people responsible. When we know exactly what happened and who bears responsibility, maybe we can prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”

Furrer’s crash took place near Küsnacht, barely more than 8km from her family home. The event, which took place on a circuit around one of the wealthiest cities on earth, was broadcast live on television, but Furrer lay undiscovered after she slid off the road in her crash. 

Le Temps has reported that a Zurich-based engineer had offered the free use of a GPS system to track all riders during the Worlds. The local organising committee was reportedly receptive to the idea, but the UCI was not, as the governing body’s rules forbade the use of GPS tracking systems in races.

Furrer’s parents told Le Temps that Muriel had usually trained with a tracking system and that they had once received an alert on their phones when she had stopped to fix a puncture during a training ride in Italy.

Reto Furrer also appealed for efforts to improve safety in cycling to extend beyond the use of GPS trackers, pointing out that most equipment and clothing was designed purely for speed.

“We really need to improve cyclists’ safety,” he said, citing time trial helmets as an example: “They’re designed for aerodynamics, not for safety.”