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CYCLING

Peter Sagan takes Swiss tour sprint stage

Slovakian rider Peter Sagan, of the Cannondale team, won a sprint finish to take the eighth stage of the Tour of Switzerland cycling competition on Saturday with home star Mathias Frank keeping the yellow jersey.

Published: 16 June 2013 11:47 CEST
Peter Sagan takes Swiss tour sprint stage
Fans show their support for Peter Sagan. Photo: Doug Pensinger/Getty Images/AFP

Sagan, who had also won Monday's third stage, was the strongest over the last few metres of the 180.5km run from Zernez and Bad Ragaz.

He finished ahead of Italy's Daniele Bennati and Philippe Gilbert of Belgium.

"I have to thank all my teammates for the amazing work they did to build this win," said Sagan.

"Today we knew was a great opportunity. The third category climb was the decisive point to get an orderly sprint."

"It's one step further for the Tour de France and my form is improving."

Frank has a 13-second lead over Portugal's Rui Costa and 23-second advantage over Czech rider Roman Kreuziger ahead of Sunday's concluding time trial in the village of Flumserberg.

For Sagan, it was his eighth career stage win on the race with two coming in 2011 and four last year.

One of the day's biggest losers was Australia's Cameron Meyer who was forced to stop to change a wheel.

The Orica GreenEdge rider slipped from eighth to 10th place in the overall standings with a 2 min 09 sec deficit.

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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.

Published: 16 June 2023 12:54 CEST
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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