UPDATE: Tour de Suisse organizers have decided to hold the last two stages of the race this weekend, but three teams including the Bahrain Victorious team and staff member Gino Mäder announced they had dropped out.
A Swiss cyclist who crashed on a fast descent during the Tour de Suisse died on Friday, a day after he and another competitor fell into a ravine in the Swiss Alps.
The driver, Gino Mäder of Switzerland, was taken to hospital after Thursday’s accident but died of his injuries on Friday morning, his team Bahrain-Victorious said in a statement.
Friday’s stage was canceled after race organizers informed the other teams and the other riders in the race about 30 minutes before the scheduled start of the death of 26-year-old Mäder. The Tour, a key preparatory race for next month’s Tour de France, is scheduled to continue through Sunday.
Some drivers cried after hearing the news along with the other participants. Race organizers said the peloton will complete part of the planned route together on Friday as a tribute to Mäder. The race is expected to continue on Saturday.
Mäder crashed alongside an American rider, Magnus Sheffield, on stage five of the week-long race, a day ending with a final descent over the Albula Pass in the Swiss Alps. The final section on which the accident occurred, down an unprotected mountain road with mountains on the left and a steep drop just past the right edge, was mostly empty as drivers traversed it.
Mäder and Sheffield were treated where they came to rest, near a set of drains on a steep slope. Sheffield, who reportedly suffered a concussion as well as cuts and bruises, appeared to be able to walk back up the hill with help. Maeder was seriously injured. After the first treatment, he was evacuated from the scene of the accident by helicopter.
“Gino Mäder lay motionless in the water,” said the race director said in a statement after the crash. “He was immediately revived and then transported to the hospital in Chur by rescue helicopter.”
According to another rider in the race, Mäder and Sheffield apparently fell off their bikes and then fell down an embankment.
“After a long curve, two bicycles were lying on the side of the road, which didn’t look nice,” cyclist Roland Thalmann told the Swiss broadcaster SRF. “Looking back, I saw that two riders were pretty far down.”
Another driver suggested that the accident and the area in which it occurred should be a warning for race organizers.
“I hope that the finale of today’s stage is food for thought for both the cycling organizers and us as riders,” said reigning world champion Remco Evenepoel said on Twitter after the crash but before news of Mäder’s death became public. “It wasn’t a good decision to let us finish this dangerous descent. As cyclists we should also think about the risks we take when we go down a mountain.” Evenepoel is fourth in the Tour de Suisse.
Mäder’s career highlights included a fifth place finish at the Vuelta a España and a stage win at the Giro d’Italia in 2021. That season he finished fifth in the Paris-Nice race behind two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar.
Serious injuries and deaths of professional cyclists in accidents are not uncommon, but most often occur in collisions with cars during training. In racing, the danger is greatest when driving downhill, where speeds of up to 60 miles per hour can be reached.
Italian rider Fabio Casartelli, a teammate of Lance Armstrong, died after falling on a descent in the 1995 Tour de France.