The organizers of the Tour de Suisse react to the accidental death of Muriel Furrer – they introduce comprehensive rider tracking

(sda) The safety of participants should be the top priority in cycling. Even in 2025, however, this is often not the case. Severe falls and dangerous situations occur again and again that could perhaps have been prevented with better risk analysis.

Tour de Suisse director Olivier Senn now wants to lead the way with the tours for which he is responsible, and is therefore introducing "the first cycling race in the world to introduce comprehensive rider and convoy tracking, as well as a mobile security center." To track the riders, each bike will be equipped with a small GPS tracker that will sound an alarm if certain abnormalities are detected.

"All information is consolidated at the security center, which is staffed by three specialists. From there, we can monitor the entire situation and intervene immediately if necessary," Senn continued at the Tour organizers' media conference in Küssnacht am Rigi. The Aargau native is pleased that "all the teams are participating without exception, because we can't dictate it to them."

At the Tour de Suisse, the entire race convoy is also tracked and displayed on the screens of the security center. According to Senn, this provides a "complete picture of all movements on the race track and any upcoming difficulties."

In the run-up to the race, all routes and potential danger spots of this year's Swiss Tour will be mapped using VeloViewer, a system that all teams already know and use. These will be "also available to the professional teams before and during the race," Senn explains. The security center also has access to all TV cameras and a weather radar. All information from the center is transmitted to the racers via radio.

During the 2025 Tour de Suisse, all of these measures will be combined for the first time. The various race situations will show where there is potential for optimization in the future, says Olivier Senn. For him, one thing is clear: "There is no such thing as absolute safety. We cannot completely prevent crashes with these measures, but we are doing everything we can to ensure that the teams have all the information they need and that the consequences are as minimal as possible." Senn is convinced that this is a necessary step forward in terms of safety.

The women's Tour de Suisse begins next Thursday in Gstaad. The four-day, approximately 500-kilometer tour, with the last two overall winners, Marlen Reusser (2023) and Demi Vollering (2024), as favorites, concludes on Sunday, June 15, in Küssnacht am Rigi.

The men's national tour, which spans eight stages, begins in the Schwyz town on the same day. According to the provisional start list, the favorites for the overall victory include last year's runner-up Joao Almeida, as well as strong climbers like Felix Gall and Ben O'Connor. Last year's winner, Adam Yates, is absent this year.

From a Swiss perspective, Jan Christen may have the greatest ambitions for the overall classification. It will be interesting to see whether the young Aargau native, who, like the Portuguese Almeida (and the Briton Yates), rides for Team UAE Emirates, can keep up with the favorites over eight days, 1,300 kilometers, and around 20,000 meters of elevation gain.