The 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse was overshadowed by a serious crash. The Swiss cycling star Gino Mäder suffered the worst injury.
The mountain stage of the 86th Tour de Suisse is 211 kilometres long and leads over the Furka Pass from Fiesch to La Punt. Shortly before the finish, the Swiss Gino Mäder and the US-American Magnus Sheffield went off the road at very high speed on a descent on Thursday afternoon and crashed heavily. The 26-year-old Swiss rider was the most seriously injured, apparently landing unconscious in a stream.
Mäder’s team Bahrain-Victorious writes about the accident: “The rider went off the road and fell into a ravine, where he was immediately attended to by the race doctor. Mäder was unresponsive, was resuscitated on the spot and then flown by helicopter to Chur hospital.”
By late evening, Mäder’s condition was said to be stable. But on this Friday, the professional cyclist passed away.
Several drivers who saw the scene of the accident are in shock
Swiss rider Roland Thalmann (29) of Tudor Pro Cycling tells SRF: “In a long bend there were two bikes that didn’t look so nice anymore. When I looked back, I saw two riders lying quite far down next to the road. That was certainly not a nice scene. “
According to Tour de Suisse organisers, 21-year-old Magnus Sheffield of Team Ineos Grenadiers was responsive. He was transported to Samedan hospital with bruises and a concussion.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT@maedergino crashes out of Tour de Suisse @tds
Our thoughts and prayers are with Gino.TourdeSuisse
https://t.co/NpNfGpCtfI pic.twitter.com/QQtytts1aW
– Team Bahrain Victorious (@BHRVictorious) June 15, 2023
Juan Ayuso wins mountain stage of Tour de Suisse
Spanish rider Juan Ayuso has won the royal stage of the Tour de Suisse. On Twitter, Ayuso from Barcelona is happy about his victory and he writes that he hopes Gino Mäder is well
Con paciencia y perseverancia, las cosas terminan saliendo. Victoria en la etapa reina aquí en . Vamos a luchar hasta el domingo por intentar mejorar en la GC. Gracias de nuevo a todo el @TeamEmiratesUAE y espero que @ginomaeder esté bien pic. twitter.com/FwgsNztKsA
– Juan Ayuso (@juann_ayuso) June 15, 2023
Juan Ayuso is now in 3rd place – just 18 seconds behind the leading Dane Mattias Skjelmose. According to the Swiss media, Skjelmose said: “Maybe this downhill wasn’t the best idea to finish the race.