All riders will compete with GPS tracking devices at this September’s UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda, cycling's governing body, the UCI has confirmed.
The measure comes after Swiss 18-year-old Muriel Furrer died following a crash in the junior women’s road race at the event in Zürich, Switzerland last year. According to reports, Furrer lay alone for almost an hour and a half before she was discovered at the side of the road. She later died as a result of a head injury.
As part of the UCI’s SafeR initiative to improve rider safety, it has been decided all competitors – from the junior events up to the elite level – will carry tracking devices at this year’s World Championships.
The technology will be trialled at the Tour de Romandie Féminin later this month, where one rider per team will carry a GPS tracker.
“The objective of this test is to refine the UCI’s safety tracking software and establish protocols to provide real-time data to race control, medical teams and UCI Commissaires,” the UCI said in a statement.
“This system will strengthen the monitoring of rider safety during races and enable rapid response in case of incidents.”
With race radios not allowed at the World Championships, concerns were raised in the wake of Furrer’s death about how rider emergencies can be alerted. At the time, UCI president David Lappartient said it was “too early” to say if radios would have made it simpler to locate Furrer.
Lappartient has since suggested his openness to implementing GPS tracking in “all WorldTour events” – “it would enable us to see where they are if they have a crash,” he told Cyclist.
Earlier this year, the Tour de Suisse introduced rider and convoy tracking, claiming to be the first race in the world to do so.
Riders' bikes at the race were fitted with small trackers that sounded an alarm in the case of “anomalies”, race director Olivier Senn explained, “such as if the bike does not move for 30 seconds, leaves the route or abruptly changes speed. In such cases, we are notified immediately and can react.”
The Tour de Suisse fell into mourning in 2023 following the death of Gino Mäder, who crashed at speed descending the Albula Pass.
“We cannot completely prevent crashes with these measures,” Senn said of GPS tracking, “but we are doing everything we can to ensure that all information is available to the teams and that the consequences are as minimal as possible.”
The UCI World Championships will take place in Kigali, Rwanda between 21-28 September. GPS tracking will be tested at the three-day Tour de Romandie Féminin, which takes place from 15-17 August.
