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CYCLING

Frenchman Pinot stays in Tour de Suisse lead

French rider Thibaut Pinot, of the FDJ team, remained in the lead of the Tour de Suisse cycling race on Saturday after the eighth and penultimate stage won by Astana cyclist Alexey Lutsenko.

Frenchman Pinot stays in Tour de Suisse lead
French rider Thibaut Pinot. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Kazakhstan's Lutsenko took the honours over the 152.5-kilometre stage in and around Bern.
   
Belgium's Jan Bakelants, of AG2R, and France's Warren Barguil of the Giant team came in second and third respectively.
   
“This is the biggest win of my career,” said Lutsenko, a former under-23 world champion.

“I paced my attack 20 kilometres from the finish. I wasn't too worried about Bakelants as I knew I could beat him in a sprint.”
   
Pinot again lost time in the overall standings as closest rival Geraint Thomas of the Sky team chipped three seconds off the Frenchman's lead.
   
He has now surrendered a total of 13 seconds over the last three stages which could prove costly in Sunday's concluding stage, a 38-kilometre trial on the streets of Bern.

Pinot will take an overall lead of 34 seconds over Thomas into Sunday’s finale while Slovenia's Simon Spilak is 47 seconds off the lead.

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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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