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CYCLING

German cyclist wins second Tour Down Under

Germany's Andre Greipel clinched an emphatic second Tour Down Under victory on Sunday, just a year after he spectacularly crashed out of the race.

German cyclist wins second Tour Down Under
Photo: DPA

The big HTC-Columbia rider ended the final stage fifth, preserving his overall lead of 11 seconds behind Chris Sutton and Greg Henderson’s one-two finish for Team Sky.

“I’m really happy, and for the team as well,” Greipel said. “The team did a really good job the last week. I’m just really happy.”

American cycling legend Lance Armstrong, who is building towards this year’s Tour de France, started the day 47 seconds adrift and did not finish among the leaders.

Greipel, 27, bombed out of last year’s race when as defending champion, he ploughed into a parked police motorbike and spent four months out with shoulder surgery.

He has dominated this week, claiming the first two stages with trademark sprint finishes and then eclipsing an Armstrong attack with another powerful dash on day four.

The six-stage Tour Down Under, raced over 800 kilometres (500 miles) of road around Adelaide, has grown into one of Australia’s biggest sporting events attracting hundreds of thousands of fans.

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CYCLING

Swiss rider dies after fall into ravine on Tour of Switzerland

Swiss rider Gino Maeder has died from the injuries he sustained when he plunged into a ravine during a stage of the Tour of Switzerland, his team Bahrain-Victorious said on Friday.

Swiss rider dies after fall into ravine on Tour of Switzerland

Maeder, 26, fell during a high-speed descent on the fifth stage between Fiesch and La Punt on Thursday, after an exhausting day marked by three ascents over 2,000 metres altitude.

He had been found “lifeless in the water” of a ravine below the road, “immediately resuscitated then transported to the hospital in Chur by air”, organisers said.

But the next day, “Gino lost his battle to recover from the serious injuries he sustained,” Bahrain-Victorious said in a statement.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we must announce the passing of Gino Mäder,” his team wrote in a statement.

“On Friday June 16th, following a very serious fall during the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse, Gino lost his fight to recover from the serious injuries he had suffered. Our entire team is devastated by this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gino’s family and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”

“Despite the best efforts of the phenomenal staff at Chur hospital, Gino couldn’t make it through this, his final and biggest challenge, and at 11:30am we said goodbye to one of the shining lights of our team,” the team said in a statement.

Maeder had enjoyed a strong start to the season, finishing fifth in the Paris-Nice race.

American rider Magnus Sheffield also fell on the same descent from Albula, during the most difficult stage of the race with multiple climbs. The Ineos-Grenadiers rider was hospitalised with “bruises and concussion,” organisers said.

On Thursday, world champion Remco Evenepoel criticised the decision to compete on such a dangerous road.

“While a summit finish would have been perfectly possible, it wasn’t a good decision to let us finish down this dangerous descent,” the Belgian wrote on Twitter.

“As riders, we should also think about the risks we take going down a mountain.”

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