Death of Muriel Furrer UCI President Lappartient: "We should not generalize a tragedy"

David Lappartient, President of the UCI cycling world federation, addresses the media following the death of Muriel Furrer. He warns against rushing into the safety discussion.

The Frenchman, himself a father of three daughters, said: "We feel very bad. It should have been the best moment of the season." Lappartient recounts how he was informed at an early stage, how they looked with the Furrer family to see when communication would take place. "Many parties were involved."

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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."

The subject of the radio ban

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."

More on the death of Muriel Furrer

Many unanswered questionsThis is what is known about Muriel Furrer's fatal accident - and what is not

Gammenthaler on the death of Furrer"The route is dangerous, as anyone who has ever driven past it knows"

Great sadness at the World Cycling ChampionshipsTears before the start: elite riders hold a minute's silence for Furrer

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