Gino Mader the cyclist died after yesterday’s crash in the Tour of Switzerland- Corriere.it

He was twenty-six years old, he was a pure talent and a very sweet boy. Gino Mader died today, Friday, at 11.30 in the intensive care unit of the Chur hospital, where he had arrived yesterday at 5pm in desperate conditions, transported by helicopter, after a terrible fall in the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland. The boy from Bahrain-Victorius had fallen into an escarpment on the descent of the Albula Pass, a few kilometers from the finish line, at a point where many of his colleagues have reached 100 kilometers per hour, plummeting several hundred meters down to a creek bed. There are no images of the accident, the companions who followed him only saw Gino’s bike and that of Magnus Sheffield, an Ineos rider, stuck and crumpled on the guardrail. But while Sheffield remained practically unharmed, for Mader it was immediately understood (help arrived in two minutes) that it was very serious injuries (the runner had been revived with a defibrillator and CPR) caused by a violent impact with the rock.

Mader was known by Italian fans for his solo victory in the Ascoli stage of the 2021 Giro d’Italia, when he had detached three phenomena such as Bernal, Martin and Evenepoel and wore the blue jersey of best climber. In his palmares there were also a stage of the Tour of Switzerland 2021 but also the second place in the general classification of the Tour of Romandie and the fifth in the Vuelta: a winning and complete rider.

Who at the Giro d’Italia asked him if his first name was inspired by Bartali, he candidly replied that he did not know the cycling legend Italian but promised to study its history. If there is one lesson I have learned – Gino explained to the Italian podcast Bidon – that if you are not the strongest in the race, to win you can only go on the run. And today I gave my all to the line. Even if you know you have all the strongest behind you, your spirit shouldn’t be conditioned by it. The spirit makes the difference. The bike is giving me so much. I remember very well when in 2019 we went with Dimension Data to South Africa to deliver bicycles to the children. I remember their smiles and thought that I too want the same joy when I see my bicycle. I want to enjoy running, I want a happy life and the bicycle can give it to me.

After the controversy of Thursday (Remco Evenepoel had accused the organizers of having made a mistake by inserting a steep and dangerous descent before the finish line), yesterday Mader’s colleagues joined in remembering the Swiss boy on social media. Friday’s Chur-Oberwil, sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse, was neutralized with only the last 30 km to go in a tribute parade.