A moment’s silence was held at the start of the 2024 Road World Championships elite/U-23 road race on Saturday to honour the memory of Swiss junior rider Muriel Furrer.
Furrer died on Friday after suffering major injuries the 18-year-old crashed during the junior road race earlier this week.
After consultation by the UCI with Furrer’s family, the remaining races in the Championships continued, and on Saturday morning in the town of Uster, moments before the start of the elite women’s road race, riders and public stood in heavy rain in silent tribute to Furrer.
The six-strong Swiss women’s team were present on the front line of the peloton underneath the startline gantry, with their arms around each others’ shoulders as they faced racing in the toughest of circumstances.
“With this moment of silence we would like to remember the young, cheerful, always humble and extremely positive Muriel,” the race speaker said over the loudspeakers to the crowds and assembled riders in English and German.
“It’s a really special feeling, it’s a really difficult situation for all of us, we just try to make the best out of it,” Swiss racer Noemi Rüegg told Eurosport.
“It’s a home Worlds, we worked hard for this, we are trying to do our best and we will race with Muriel in our hearts and we will see how it goes.”
“We can’t talk about results, it’s just about going out and showing we are racing for Muriel and I think the result will be secondary today.”
“It can go both ways, we’ve never been in such a situation and it’s ok that whatever happens can happen. We cannot be too hard on ourselves today.”
The commemoration at Uster was not the only tribute being paid to Furrer on Saturday morning in Switzerland, with flags flying at half-mast in the finish area of the road race. Meanwhile in the Para-Cycling Road World Championships, which are running concurrently in Zurich, Swiss rider Franziska Matile-Dorig pointed to the sky and to a black armband she was wearing as she crossed the line and claimed silver in the women’s C4 category road race.
