Swiss cyclist in “very critical condition” after suffering serious head injury in crash during junior women’s road race at world championships

Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer is in a “very critical condition” after suffering a serious head injury in a crash during today’s junior women’s road race at the UCI world championships in Zurich, the sport’s governing body has announced.

18-year-old Furrer, who finished second in both the junior road race and time trial at this year’s Swiss championships, crashed heavily in sodden and treacherous conditions on the hilly circuit around Zurich this morning, and was taken to hospital by an emergency helicopter.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, the UCI said: “Swiss rider Muriel Furrer fell heavily today, Thursday 26 September, during the Women Junior road race at the 2024 UCI Road and Para-cycling Road World Championships in Zurich (Switzerland) for reasons still to be determined.

“Muriel Furrer was taken to hospital by an emergency helicopter. She suffered a serious head injury and is in a very critical condition.

“Extremely concerned by the situation, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Swiss Cycling, and the Zurich 2024 Local Organising Committee are closely monitoring developments and will communicate as soon as possible.

“At present, there are no established facts regarding how the accident happened. Investigations by the competent authorities are ongoing. For this reason, no further information can be given until further notice.”

(Chris Auld/SWpix.com)

Furrer was one of several riders to crash as the rain fell heavily during the junior women’s road race, which was won by Great Britain’s Cat Ferguson, who outsprinted Spanish rider Paula Ostiz and Slovakia's Viktória Chladoňová to secure her second rainbow jersey of the week following her time trial win on Monday.

Ferguson’s teammate Imogen Wolff was one of many riders who crashed during the 73.5km race, falling off the road, before battling back to the front and eventually finishing sixth.

“Going up the first climb my front wheel got wiped out and it was off the side of a ravine,” Wolff said after the race.

“It felt like I was falling for quite a while. I spent a lot of the time on the back foot chasing. I’m just relieved that my injuries are only minor.

“Going off the side of a ravine, there’s nothing like that to put things in perspective. In that moment, I didn’t think I was going to get up, so to walk away with pretty minor injuries, and for Cat to take the win at the end is everything we hoped for.”

We will have more details of Furrer’s condition when we get them. Everyone at road.cc wishes her all the best.