After Tragedy, UCI Rolls Out GPS Tracking for Rwanda World Championships

In pro cycling, crashes are part of the deal. But what happened to 18-year-old Muriel Furrer at last year’s World Championships wasn’t just a crash. It was a failure of the system meant to protect her. Lying with a severe head injury in a Swiss forest for an hour and a half before being discovered, the promising junior racer never made it home, passing away in hospital following day. While we can only speculate if a quick medical response would have saved her life, the UCI has finally decided to do something to prevent such scenarios.

Now, a year later and in the shadow of a police investigation into the fatal crash, the UCI is taking a step it hopes will make sure that never happens again. When the 2025 Road World Championships roll into Kigali, Rwanda, next month, every rider will be equipped with a GPS safety tracker. The technology will pinpoint their location in real time and summon help faster when things go wrong.

The rollout starts next week at the Tour de Romandie Féminin (August 15), where one rider per team will carry the device. In Kigali, which runs September 21–28, the entire peloton will be tracked. Live Data will feed to race control, medical crews, and UCI officials for rapid response in the event of an accident.

Furrer’s crash in Zurich on September 27, 2024, happened just 20 minutes from her hometown of Egg. She died in the hospital a day later. Her bike carried only a transponder to record passing checkpoints, not a tracker to locate her in an emergency. According to The Athletic, two separate offers to use public tracking systems ahead of the race were declined due to time constraints and data concerns. The Swiss police investigation into her death remains ongoing.

The UCI’s Thursday statement said the GPS system "will strengthen the monitoring of rider safety during races and enable rapid response in case of incidents." The press release went on, calling the initiative "an important step forward in ensuring the safety of riders... the UCI will continue to work closely with event organisers and all stakeholders on the broader implementation of such technology in the coming seasons."

With the embrace of tighter tracking technology, the UCI is finally taking a no-brainer step to improve rider safety. And the Worlds at Kigali will be historic in another way, too. It’s the first time the World Championships will be held on the African continent. With the world watching, it’s a chance for cycling to prove that the lessons learned from tragedy can translate into real change.