2023-06-16 17:08:00
“Despite the phenomenal effort of the clinic in Chur, Gino did not make it through this final and greatest test and at 11:30 a.m. we said goodbye to one of the bright lights of our team,” the team said in a statement.
Team boss Milan Erzen said: “We are devastated by this loss. He was not only an extremely talented cyclist, but also a wonderful person. We send our deepest condolences to his family and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. Bahrain Victorious will drive in his honor and he will always be a part of our team.”
The team wrote on Twitter: “Gino, thank you for the light, joy and laughter you brought us all, we will miss you as a driver and as a person. Today and every day we drive for you Gino.”
Tour of Switzerland
“Speechless” and “devastated”: Cycling mourns Mäder
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Mäder falls down the slope on the Albula Pass
On Thursday in the descent from the Albula Pass to the stage destination La Punt in the final phase of the race, Mäder left the road in a left turn at what was presumably very high speed and fell down a slope. The fall happened away from all TV cameras and jury escort motorcycles. While the US professional Magnus Sheffield, who also fell on the descent at the same place, was led away by the Ineos team with minor injuries from the scene of the accident at a drainage basin, the helpers fought for Mäder’s life a little further down the slope.
As the organizers reported, rescue workers were on site after two minutes, but found him “motionless in the water” at a drainage outlet around 30 meters below the street. He was resuscitated on the spot for almost half an hour before he was transported by rescue helicopter to the cantonal hospital in Graubünden in Chur, where he succumbed to his injuries the following day despite all the efforts of the medical team and nursing staff.
Race doctor Roland Kretsch explained to “SRF” that Mäder had almost exclusively suffered “injuries near the head”, in particular “oxygen deficiency brain damage”.
The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating how the accident happened.
The day before, after Mäder’s horrific fall, there had been harsh criticism of the route from the paddock. The core of the safety debate, which was initiated by road bike world champion Remco Evenepoel, among others: How much spectacle is allowed in road cycling?
It was “not a smart idea,” said Evenepoel, “to place the goal of such a stage after a descent. But you obviously still need more spectacle. Something just has to happen for you to react.” And Adam Hansen, chairman of the drivers’ association CPA, also demanded: “We have to make sure that drivers don’t risk their lives. It’s not worth it.”
But Evenepoel also made the drivers themselves responsible: “We should think about the risks we are taking when we drive down a mountain.”
Tour de Suisse: stage becomes a commemorative ride for girls
The 6th stage of the tour planned for today, Friday, was rededicated to a 20-kilometer commemoration of the field in honor of Mäder to the day’s destination, during which the drivers with black ribbons paid their last respects to their colleagues. Previously, it had been shortened before the news of death because of a rock avalanche, of all things, the planned renewed passage of the Albula Pass was made impossible by the landslide.
Memory of Mäder: Tour de Suisse pays his last respects
Mäder started his professional career in 2019 in the Dimension Data racing team and quickly made a name for himself as a strong climber and racer. His most successful year was the 2021 season, when he had won stages in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de Suisse and finished fifth overall in the Vuelta a Espana.
But Mäder was also involved away from the racetracks, campaigned primarily for climate policy issues and used his popularity on social networks to collect donations. The team, said team boss Erzen, will “race in Mäder’s honor and keep his memory on every road we drive on”.
In 2019, Mäder was part of the starting field of the Tour of Poland when the young Belgian Bjorg Lambrecht died in a fall – this was the last fatal racing accident in the WorldTour so far. Wouter Weylandt from Belgium died in the Giro d’Italia in 2011, and the Italian Fabio Casartelli was the last person to die in a fall in the 1995 Tour de France.
(with SID)
Mourning for Gino Mäder: Schweizer dies after a fall at the Tour de Suisse
Fotocredit: Getty Images
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