The first stage after the death of Gino Mäder at the Tour de Suisse prompted the winner of the day, Remco Evenepoel, to make emotional gestures. The continuation of the tour is discussed controversially.
Remco Evenepoel kissed his fist, stretched his index finger towards the sky and put his hand on his left breast.
During his emotional stage victory, the Belgian world champion was thinking about professional cyclist Gino Mäder, who had died the day before. The accidental death of the Swiss took away any normality from this year’s Tour de Suisse, the sporting results at the final weekend remained a side note.
mourning for girls
“Of course, this victory goes to Gino and his family. It was the best way to honor him and show respect to his family. It didn’t matter to me that I couldn’t buy any time. That was for Gino alone,” said Evenepoel after crossing the finish line as a soloist ahead of Wout van Aert and Bryan Coquard on Saturday’s stage seven between Tübach and Weinfelden.
Only late the night before had the organizers decided to continue. This is how the stage became special: instead of a starting gun, white doves were let fly. The drivers wore black ribbons and there was a minute’s silence. Because the time for the general classification was not taken until 25 kilometers before the end, the peloton drove together for a long time. Only at the end did the pros pick up the pace and attacks came. As expected, the outcome had no impact on the overall standings. Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose continued to wear the yellow jersey.
Tour direction insisted on continuing
The continuation of the tour had been discussed controversially. On Sunday, tour director Olivier Senn was “one hundred percent sure” in an interview with the Keystone-SDA news agency that it was the right decision. “When we made it, I was sure that it was the best possible decision, but I wasn’t sure if it was the right one. Personally, it was important to me not only to dedicate myself to the grief, but also the good memories.” He described the previous two and a half days as a “bad film”.
The last days of the 86th edition of the tour in Switzerland, which ends on Sunday with a final time trial in the canton of St. Gallen, were all about the dead Swiss professional cyclist. On Thursday, Mäder fell into a ravine at high speed on the final kilometers of the fifth stage on the descent from the Albula Pass to the destination of La Punt, then had to be resuscitated and died a day later from his serious injuries in the hospital.
Shock for cycling
His death had shocked the entire cycling world. The sixth stage that was actually planned was cancelled, instead the pros remembered their colleagues on Friday during a 20-kilometer commemorative drive.
Despite the decision of the organizers, in consultation with the athletes, teams and also Mäder’s family, to continue the tour, the main field was greatly reduced on Saturday. The Bahrain-Victorious team, to which the Swiss belonged, had already announced that its drivers would be out of the tour shortly after his death. The Swiss cycling team Tudor Pro Cycling and the Belgian team Intermarché Circus Wanty also withdrew after the dramatic incident. In addition, 17 drivers from other teams withdrew. Among them were Swiss professionals, including Stefan Küng, who had won the opening time trial.
Call for witnesses started
The exact course of the accident is still unclear. The authorities are investigating and have also called witnesses. In addition to Mäder, 21-year-old Magnus Sheffield also fell at a similar point and suffered a concussion and minor bruises. Sheffield may therefore be able to help clarify how the accident happened.
Again and again cyclists die in falls and collisions. The tragic death had sparked renewed debate about driver safety. World Champion Evenepoel criticized shortly after Thursday’s fall that it wasn’t a smart idea to place the finish of such a stage after a descent.
“In the future you may have to make sure that descents are not made so close to the finish line,” said ex-professional Fabian Wegmann when asked by dpa. At the same time, he defended the organizers: “That was a driving error, from what I heard.” The organizers have often organized this stage in this way. “You can’t just say that now only the organizer is responsible,” affirmed Wegmann.
Source: Stern
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