Adam Hansen, chairman of the cyclists' union, speaks out about safety: "If a radio saves a life..."

Gino Mäder, André Drege, Muriel Furrer: in roughly fifteen months' time, the cycling world lost three riders far too young. The recent death of Furrer at the World Championships in Zürich reignited the discussion about safety in cycling. Adam Hansen, chairman of the riders' union CPA, spoke about this much-debated topic with Cicloweb.

"The three recent fatalities all have one thing in common: none of the race organizers or stewards noticed them," the 43-year-old Australian begins. "At the Tour of Switzerland, a director found the rider (Gino Mäder, ed.) simply because he happened to pass by, and the 'reaction time' was quite fast in that instance. At the Tour of Austria, another rider (André Drege, ed.) was found about 25 minutes after the broom wagon had passed. In this case too, neither the organizers nor the commissioners noticed that he was no longer in the race. In Zürich, as far as I understand, it was even worse. The race was over before they realized that (Muriel Furrer, ed.) was missing," Hansen reflects on the three recent cycling tragedies.

"I heard that she had already been there for over an hour," the chairman continues about Furrer's death, where reaction time once again played a crucial role. "Perhaps she was conscious, we don’t know. But the race passed by there many times, and no one saw her." Hansen runs through a simple calculation. "The race started at 9:50 AM (local time, ed.), the winner finished in two hours. It was reported that the helicopter found her at 12:52 PM, more than an hour after the race ended, and even longer when you consider the time of the accident. It’s heartbreaking."

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"Difficult to directly point fingers at organizers," says Hansen

Does Hansen place the blame on the organizers? "It’s hard to point fingers directly at them. In all three cases I mentioned, none of the organizers had their eye on the rider. So you either need marshals covering all the descents or a tracking device," the Australian suggests as possible solutions. "We can’t prevent accidents, it’s part of the sport. But reaction time is crucial. In Austria, the rider passed away immediately. In Zürich, the story was quite different."

After many (former) riders had already voiced their concerns, Hansen also believes that communication via earpieces is the best solution. "Radios can be useful in some cases. And if one of those saves a life, we must implement them. I can't even tell you how many riders asked me for radios after Zürich. In big stage races, I’ve often been alone during extremely fast descents. It’s not a good feeling when the radio doesn’t work," the former rider shares from experience.