Muriel Furrer

gethinceri
gethinceri Posts: 1,657

There is usually a thread posted when a "big name" passes.

Each tragedy in our sport should be recognised.

You can simply like this post.

RIP.

Comments

  • oxoman
    oxoman Posts: 409

    Sad news for Family and team as well as the sport. She was a fresh and upcoming star for the future. RIP.

    Too many bikes according to Mrs O.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,094

    The announcement of her death just before the u23s podium was extremely moving - feel for her family.

    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,114

    Any news of the investigation? It seems incredible that she went an hour (as reported by the local press) before being found.

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  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,969

    Seemingly nothing, though it is ongoing it would seem.


    I have read an article that said there were also no gps trackers fitted, I don't know if that is true.

    Surely that should be a minimum requirement, as you could have some kind of workflow in place to flag up a tracker that stops moving for more than x number of minutes.

    That would rule out false positives for replacement bikes, as they would get lobbed on top of a car and continue to move, all be it not with a rider on board.

    Does Adam Hansen have any involvement in these races, or do they fall out of his scope?

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  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 780

    The Swiss newspaper Blick reported some new details on Tuesday morning, as well as repeating some of the already-known facts.


    The newspaper stated that just before 11:00, Furrer was seen ascending the 18% steep climb on the circuit between Zumikon and Küsnacht, together with the Austrian Ramona Griesser.

    Just after 11:00, by then over the top of the climb and on the wet descent through the woods, Furrer passed a reporter from Blick, who was on the roadside roughly 400 m before where, it later turned out, Furrer crashed.

    He was able to give some details of how many riders went by him either just in front of, or behind, Furrer. It sounds like there were 3 riders up to 20 m ahead of Furrer, and about 6 riders between 70 and 130 m behind her, the last of those being Griesser. And then farther back 4 more riders and some team cars. The reporter was only able to identify Furrer and Griesser.

    The newspaper reckons Furrer must have crashed 20-30 seconds after passing the reporter.


    On the second circuit, at about 11:45 the leading group went by where Furrer was later discovered. At 12:20, by then all riders still in the race having passed on their second lap, the reporter left his place by the roadside. like others still unaware that Furrer had crashed about 400 m on from where he had stood.

    Shortly thereafter, a race-security vehicle drove the circuit seeking and finding Furrer. By 12:45, at the location where Furrer had crashed, there were 2 ambulances, a police car, a car from Swiss Cycling and another vehicle. A helicopter landed in a nearby field at 12:56, took off at 13:32, and arrived with Furrer at the Zurich hospital at 13:35.


    In the Tuesday morning edition of the newspaper, Blick stated that it is not known whether any of the riders at the time just in front or behind Furrer noticed anything, and that the authorities had said none of the other riders have so far come forward to provide information.


    However by Tuesday evening, Blick reported that it had been able to identify the two riders who were the closest behind Furrer on the descent through the woods, from a video by a spectator who was standing at about the same spot as their reporter. And the newspaper had contacted the riders' federations.

    The federation of the one who was farther back has stated that their rider didn't notice any crash, while the federation of the one who was closer to Furrer has stated that their rider did not see the accident itself but she perceived that Furrer must have gone off the road since Furrer was suddenly no longer there as she continued the descent.

    At the request of the relevant federations, the two riders concerned have not been named by Blick, nor the countries of the federations, and the federations have apparently said they will provide the investigating authorities with the necessary information.

  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,114
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  • gweeds
    gweeds Posts: 2,613

    I read that the UCI made £26m from the Olympics alone. The fact that they're sending out the least experienced and youngest riders with no trackers is a fucking disgrace. I remember a world when people would lose their jobs over this.

    Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,286

    Even I can be tracked while out on my bike, with crash detection. Yup, fucking disgrace.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
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  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461
    edited October 2

    How do they make money from the Olympics? (Genuine question)

    Edit - actually ignore the question as I don't want to turn this thread into any debate that comes out of it.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461

    Struggling to understand how none of the Swiss support team noticed she hadn't appeared.

  • N0bodyOfTheGoat
    N0bodyOfTheGoat Posts: 6,051

    If Blick's account turns out to be how things panned out, heads need to roll for that, a rider leaves the road and isn't found for ~2 hours.

    I don't know her injuries, but if rescued immediately, maybe she might still be around to tell the tale.

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  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,286

    Yeah. I’m going to add to my earlier post. There is nothing stopping DS’s from using crash detection. Especially so when all their riders already have the equipment and there is zero compromise.

    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,114

    I assume she had a transponder, so should have started to be missed when she didn't go through a checkpoint?

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  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,646

    Transponders aren't always that reliable, are they? I think if you started getting weird data for a rider in the middle of the race you wouldn't necessarily jump to the conclusion she'd crashed out - not to the extent that you'd go to immediate search and rescue mode, and without a race radio you'd have a hard time confirming what was going on until you could talk to other riders.

    For me the go-to tool alongside the transponder would definitely be the radio, and next time we get into a radio yes/no debate this is a case we should remember. If the DS gets weird/stationary transponder info then can't get the rider on radio then they'll start a search.

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  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,436

    But how often do we also hear from riders that their radio wasn't working, or they were out of range of the team car?

  • The fact is that we are also talking about Junior riders here. As a basic safeguarding measure, none of them should be left out on a circuit without close communication and tracking at all times. I assume it is not like the men's senior race where there are 180 odd riders and teams cars in communication at all times, so even more reason for the juniors to have stringent measures in place for safeguarding purposes.

  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,461

    I would have thought thinking ‘we haven’t seen Muriel go through’ together with a static transponder would raise alarm bells. Even with the transponder you would think someone would realise they hadn’t seen her on that lap and do some checking with the team car.

  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,646

    All the time, usually when they want to disobey direct team orders.

    No bit of tech is going to single-handedly solve this, everything can go wrong/break/be on the wrong bike etc. It's not foolproof. Radio gives at least a chance to ask the other riders if they know what's up.

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  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,131

    There are no race radios at the UCI world championships.

    Perhaps a little less speculation and wait for a few more facts?

  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,436

    I think everyone knows that, and I don't think anyone was suggesting there were

  • I think comment re radios was that their use may have created a means, that wasn't available as they weren't being used, for this awful tragedy to have been averted.

  • First.Aspect
    First.Aspect Posts: 17,131

    Fair enough, but I'm always uncomfortable with internet coroner's enquiries.

  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,646

    I think it was me that first brought up radios. I definitely wasn't trying to do an internet coroner's enquiry, a proper inquest needs to be held with verified facts. I mainly brought it up because the Worlds is raced without radios and radios are currently being blamed for various safety issues (people being told to move up etc). While a radio *might* not have helped in this specific instance it seems difficult to suggest it would have been a hindrance.

    But from what we've heard so far, which might not all be correct (let's wait for the inquest) it doesn't seem like this was a situation that's been encountered often before.

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  • jimmyjams
    jimmyjams Posts: 780

    Blick reported last weekend that two riders, one being Fuller, didn't cross the finish line the first time it was crossed, though it didn't state its source of this info. Blick has since asked Swiss Cycling how come the federation took a long time to notice one of its riders was missing, but Swiss Cyling has replied, because of the ongoing investigation it won't answer any questions at the moment, about which the newspaper was critical.

    The newspaper has since also reported that the team helpers at three food/water stations on the city ciircuit didn't notice Fuller go by, although as Blick also pointed out, in the hectic sometimes at such locations, not all riders may be noticed anyway, especially if they forego picking up a gel or water.

    On Friday the newspaper printed this map showing the accident location, whereby 1 is where Fuller was filmed riding by, roughly 3 mins behind the leaders, 3 where she went off the road, and 2, 4 and 5 the locations where 1 or 2 marshals stood (because at those places, tracks from the woods, shown as full/striped black lines, met the main road).

    The newspaper reckons the marshal at position 4, and possibly the one at position 5, would have been able to see where Fuller went off the road, although it also states their job wasn't to watch who was coming towards them, rather to check no one went on to the road from one of the forest tracks.

  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,094

    I think it's hard to be too critical of the organisers if it's the case that they haven't deviated from the norm or from the standards laid down by the governing body.

    Yes having watched the race I think I *might* have been alert to the risk of a rider going off the road in that wooded descent if I was tasked with a risk assessment but who knows.

    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,646

    So it turns out the Jnr women did have trackers on their bikes, but they operate on a local network, not mobile data. That means they only transmit data when close to a collecting point - e.g. the finish line - or a collector on a moto.

    Meanwhile Mathieu Heijboer (Visma-LAB's "control van" guy) reminds us that teams aren't actually allowed to transmit and monitor live race data from their riders.


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