David Lappartient, President of the UCI cycling world federation, speaks to the media following the death of Muriel Furrer.
He warned against rushing into the safety debate and justified the continuation of the Cycling and Paracycling Road World Championships in Zurich.
The Frenchman, himself the father of three daughters, said: "We feel very bad. It should have been the best moment of the season." He explained how he had been informed early on, how the Furrer family had been consulted and when communication would take place. "Many parties were involved."
Despite the death of Muriel Furrer, it was the right decision to go ahead with the World Cup. "We believe that stopping the World Cup would not be the best way to remember Muriel," said the Frenchman. "We had a meeting and decided together that we would not stop the races."
Lappartient, one of the candidates to succeed IOC President Thomas Bach, referred to the investigating authorities regarding the course of the accident and the death, but commented on the safety discussion. This also brought the subject of the radio ban onto the agenda. The UCI prohibits the use of radios at the World Championships and would like to extend this to the World Tour races. The world governing body hopes that this will make the races more exciting and unpredictable.
Riders and teams have repeatedly pointed out that the radio is important for safety. For Lappartient, this argument does not hold water: "There are also crashes because of the radio. We should be careful and not generalize a tragedy." It is too early to draw conclusions as to "whether it would have been possible to find Muriel sooner with a radio or not."
SDA
