The world of cycling is in mourning. “Despite the efforts of the phenomenal team at Chur Hospital”, where he had been transported on Thursday after being resuscitated, the Swiss climber “was unable to meet his last and greatest challenge and at 11:30 a.m. we were had to say goodbye to one of the lights of our team, ”wrote the Bahrain-Victorious formation in a press release. Gino Mäder, then 27th in the general classification, fell on Thursday afternoon at km 197 of the queen stage of the Swiss event, between Fiesch and La Punt, in the vertiginous descent of the Albula pass after an exhausting day marked by three ascents beyond 2,000 m. altitude. He had been found “inert in the water” of a ravine below the road, “immediately resuscitated then transported to the hospital in Chur by air”, had indicated the organizers, specifying 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 suffered,” explained the Bahrain-Victorious. “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.” “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 descent from Albula had also seen 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. 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 finish at the top would have been perfectly possible, it was not a good decision to let (the runners) end up on this dangerous descent,” wrote the Belgian. 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.
The fatal fall of Gino Mäder recalls those of the Belgian Wouter Weylandt in 2011, in the descent of the 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.
