(Lausanne) Swiss rider Gino Mäder, 26, succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning after suffering a heavy fall on Thursday in the dizzying final descent of the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse.
“Despite the efforts of the phenomenal team at Chur Hospital”, where he had been transported to on Thursday after being resuscitated, the climber “was unable to complete his last and greatest challenge and at 11:30 a.m. we had to say goodbye to one of the lights of our team,” Bahrain-Victorious wrote in a statement.
Gino Mäder, then 27th in the general classification, fell on Thursday afternoon at kilometer 197 of the queen stage of the Swiss event, between Fiesch and La Punt, in the descent of the Albula pass, after an exhausting day marked by three ascents above 2000 m altitude and 4710 m of elevation gain.
He had been found “inert in the water” of a ravine below the road, “immediately resuscitated and then airlifted to Chur hospital”, the organizers said, adding that “the seriousness of his injuries (had) not yet been established”.
But the next day, “Gino lost his fight to recover from the serious injuries he had sustained,” the Bahrain-Victorious explained. “Our entire team is devastated by this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gino’s family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”
The race was “neutralized” on Friday before the start of the 6th stage between Chur and Oberwil-Lieli. “The peloton will start the last 30 kilometers” and will form “a procession in tribute” to the runner, announced the organization of the event.
“His talent, dedication and enthusiasm were an inspiration to us all. He was not only an extremely talented cyclist, but also a great person off the bike,” Bahrain chief executive Milan Erzen said.
The climber, winner of a stage in the Tour of Italy in 2021, was one of the main Swiss hopes in stage races, and was ranked 5th and best youngster in the Tour of Spain 2021.
The descent from Albula also saw the American Magnus Sheffield (Ineos-Grenadiers) fall in the same place, who remained conscious but hospitalized with “bruises and a concussion”, according to the organization.
Behind the stage winner who arrived alone, the Spaniard Juan Ayuso, the following motorcycle had been intercepted at more than 100 km / h, according to the official live Tour of Switzerland.
As of Thursday evening, the world champion Remco Evenepoel had deplored on Twitter the choice to complete this trying stage with such a route.
“Since a summit finish would have been perfectly possible, it was not a good decision to let (the runners) finish this dangerous descent,” the Belgian wrote.
The German Simon Geschke (Covidis) had replied to him, before the announcement of Mäder’s death, that the descent to La Punt – a classic of the Tour de Suisse – “was not dangerous, with good roads, no tunnels , perfectly visible bends”.
“But I agree that in the last 10 kilometers of a race, it’s looking for trouble. But it’s the riders who take risks, in my opinion, not just on the descents,” he continued.
The fatal fall of Gino Mäder recalls those of Belgian Wouter Weylandt in 2011, in the descent of Passo del Bocco, 25 km from the finish of the 3rd stage of the Giro, and of the Italian Fabio Casartelli in 1995, in the descent du Portet d’Aspet during the 15th stage of the Tour de France.
The International Cycling Union announced new measures at the end of 2020 to secure the routes after the very serious fall of the Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen during the Tour of Poland a few months earlier, but they mainly concerned arrivals in the massive sprint.