The World Championships in Zurich last year left a tremendous stain with the death of junior cyclist Muriel Furrer after lying on the side of the road for an hour and a half until she was discovered, too late to do anything for her life. After countless criticisms and a silence that seemed to indicate that the UCI did not want to hear about the issue, the cycling’s governing body has just announced measures to prevent such a thing from happening again.
The UCI has been heavily criticized for the lamentable and avoidable death of cyclist Muriel Furrer at the last World Championships in Zurich. Fortunately, this time, the UCI has not dodged responsibility as it seems to have done with other measures recently adopted to improve safety in races.
To prevent such an event from happening again, the UCI will incorporate geolocation for all participating cyclists in the upcoming World Championships in Rwanda, echoing a measure proposed by SafeR, the organization created to promote improvements in race safety.
To test the effectiveness of the GPS geolocation system and fine-tune its operation, the UCI will carry out a pilot test in Switzerland, specifically during the women’s Tour de Romandie that will take place between August 15 and 17, although in this test, only one cyclist per team will carry the GPS device that allows to determine their position at all times.
The goal of this pre-world test is to refine any issues that may arise with the tracking software, establish protocols, and provide real-time data to links, medical teams, and commissioners, all with the intention of having the fastest possible response in case of an accident.
The UCI’s intention is to go beyond the World Championships and continue working with organizers to gradually implement this technology throughout the upcoming seasons.