Parents of late Furrer still waiting for answers a year after the accident: "There was clearly a major mistake"

Furrer fell during a tricky descent and ended up far from the road, in the vegetation. She was found only an hour and a half after she ended up there. The question of how this could have happened haunted everyone's minds, but especially those of her father, Reto, and mother, Christine. It is still unclear exactly how the accident could have happened: the investigation into Furrer's death is still ongoing.

This is very difficult for the parents of the then-18-year-old talent. “It's hard to say whether the conclusions will bring us peace,” her father, Reto, told Le Temps. “There is clearly a major mistake. Muriel was only found 90 or 100 minutes after the accident. If she had been discovered earlier, she might have had a chance of survival...”

Whether it will resolve anything remains to be seen. But Furrer's parents know that the truth can be very important. “Many questions remain unanswered. But when a mistake is made, someone is inevitably responsible. If we know exactly what happened and who is responsible, we may be able to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”

Reto Furrer is a sales manager, but he is still involved in cycling. He is part of BIXS Performance Race Team, a mountain bike team. “This work makes me feel connected to Muriel.” Some may say that this sport took his daughter away from him. “That's true, but you can't avoid the problems.”

Christine Furrer has also experienced this. The mother of the deceased cyclist has started to push her own limits, such as ice baths in the middle of winter and running. “Sometimes you have to endure extreme experiences to feel alive. You experience this grief day after day, like a stage race. In the morning, you have to get up, but your body says, ‘No, it's impossible.’ That's when exercise helps."

This is how the family is coping, one year after the accident. The cycling world has responded with new measures, such as the GPS trackers that were tested for the first time this year. “We really need to improve the safety of cyclists,” says Furrer’s father, who still sees many areas for improvement. Such as time trial helmets. “They are designed for aerodynamics, not safety.”