June 16, the last day of the Tour de Suisse 2024, will mark the anniversary of the death of Gino Mäder. This rather unusual professional cyclist will not soon be forgotten.
KEYSTONE
June 15, 2023. A gunshot in the air ends the minute of silence observed in Fiesch the morning before the start of the queen stage in honor of Richard Depoorter, a Belgian who died 75 years earlier in a tunnel poorly lit road going down the Susten Pass. After a fall, he was hit by his own assistance vehicle and died instantly.
After a brief stop for the only death to date in the Tour de Suisse, the riders set off to attack the Furka, Oberalp and Albula passes on this magnificent summer day , a hellish race for all those who don’t like climbing on two wheels. This is not the case for Gino Mäder. However, it was to be his last race.
Criminal proceedings abandoned
On the descent from the Albula Pass to La Punt, Mäder leaves the road in a left turn and falls into the stony bed of a stream, passing a sloping embankment and a dam. We will never know exactly why. In November, the case was dismissed by the Graubünden public prosecutor’s office. The investigation revealed neither the intervention of another cyclist, nor a defect in the bicycle, nor an obstacle on the road.
During the clash, the 26-year-old from the Bahrain-Victorious team suffered serious head injuries. He died the next day at the cantonal hospital of Chur in the presence of his parents and his friend. When the news reaches the peloton, the world collapses for many. After a memorial race in Oberwil-Lieli, the organizers decided, at the express request of the family, to continue the Tour. This is, according to them, what Gino would have wanted.
Almost a year has passed since the tragic accident of this great Swiss hope. There remain many memories of a man much appreciated for his accessible character, modest for a professional of his stature, very self-critical and ambitious as a result. Gino Mäder was different. Conviviality was important to him, as was the environment, which he was committed to protecting.
No minute of silence
Gino Mäder and his story will also be present when the 2024 Tour de Suisse begins on Sunday in Vaduz. However, there will be no minute of silence, like that observed in honor of the late Richard Depoorter. “His family did not want it, we respect his choice,” explains Olivier Senn. Since the accident, the race director has always been in close contact with the relatives. “For Gino’s family, it is important not to cry, but to stay positive.”
The organizers will express their esteem for Gino Mäder in another way. Thus, the bib number 44, which Mäder wore last year, will no longer be assigned in the future. In addition, the highest mountain prize will be dedicated to the #RideforGino foundation, created after his death.
On the day Mäder died, June 16, a memorial run will also take place. She will leave Aigle at noon and will take the mountain time trial route that the women, then the men, will complete that Sunday as part of the Tour de Suisse. These will be small moments of commemoration and not of mourning, because the memory of Gino Mäder is still alive.
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