a descent from the Albula too dangerous?

The St. Gallen cyclist succumbed to his injuries after his fall in the descent of the Albula pass (GR), during the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse. Was this place too dangerous? Should we stop the race before? The runners do not agree among themselves.

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Gino Mäder was motionless in the water when the race doctor found him. The 26-year-old Swiss cyclist had fallen at high speed on a slope as he descended the Albula pass (GR).

Mäder was unresponsive and had to be resuscitated. A Rega helicopter transported him to the cantonal hospital in Chur, where he succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning.

Two policemen (bottom left) at the place where Gino Mäder was found.Image: imago

It is the world champion Remco Evenepoel, 23, one of the star riders of the peloton, who https://twitter.com/EvenepoelRemco/status/1669398480975020032 against the organizers after the stage:

At the same time, the Belgian addressed his professional colleagues: “We runners should also think about the risks we take when descending a mountain”.

An arrival at summit? Not a good solution

The fact that the stage did not end at the Albula pass has its reasons. First of all, it’s a big logistical challenge to set up all the arrival infrastructure up there. There are a few parking spaces next to the hospice, otherwise there is only meadow.

A variant would have been a light version of this infrastructure, in which only the necessary would have been installed on the pass road. This one is quite flat for about a mile and a half.

The top of the Albula pass with its hospice.Image: www.imago-images.de

There is another important reason why the finish was fixed in the valley. The Tour de Suisse is an event that wants to meet people. He wants to be a popular celebration, he also wants to ensure that the stopover towns are not just the scene of a cycle race. The Engadine village of La Punt has already hosted several Tour de Suisse finishes after crossing the Albula Pass, the last times in 2010, 2013 and 2017.

In case of arrival at the top of the pass, no event could be organized. No school class would come into contact with cycling, there would be no room for the guests of the sponsors who, in the end, with their money ensure the very existence of the Tour de Suisse. It would be a sterile arrival like in the days of the coronavirus. Nobody wants it.

“The descent was not not dangerous»

The descent to La Punt is no more dangerous than others, according to German professional cyclist Simon Geschke, 70th in the general classification of this Tour of Switzerland. The 37-year-old Tour de France stage winner replied to Remco Evenepoel:

On the other hand, he agrees that problems can arise in the last ten kilometers of a race. However, specifying:

Everyone who rides a bike, whether pro or amateur, knows the dangers. You have to know how to control your machine when you rush at 60, 70 or even 100 km / h, like Thursday at the Albula pass, on narrow tires and with a helmet as your only protective equipment. You have to have confidence in your equipment and, more often than you would like, have a guardian angel when you are caught in a gust of wind, you have to avoid a stone in the road or you have to brake suddenly. because of another road user or a cow.

Participants in a popular cycling race must dodge cows on the Albula Pass in 2010.Picture: PHOTOPRESS

The police are looking for witnesses

The causes of Gino Mäder’s downfall are unclear. Police opened an investigation. In collaboration with the public prosecutor, she is looking for witnesses who may have even filmed the accident.

French adaptation: Yoann Graber