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CYCLING

Cycling: Lopez wins Tour of Switzerland

Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez wrapped up the Tour of Switzerland title on Sunday, as his compatriot Jarlinson Pantano won a shortened ninth and final stage in Davos.

Cycling: Lopez wins Tour of Switzerland
Lopez took the title after a shortened final stage. Photo: TdS

Astana rider Lopez, 22, moved into the overall lead after finishing second in Saturday's time trial, and held on to the yellow jersey by finishing safely in fourth place on the last day.

Lopez edged out Jon Izaguirre by 12 seconds, with Frenchman Warren Barguil just six seconds further adrift.

Sunday's route was cut to just 57km because of poor weather, and Pantano took advantage by outsprinting Russian Sergei Chernetckii and Spain's Izaguirre to take the stage.

It meant a fast pace before the crucial difficulty of the day, the 13km climb up the Fluela Pass before the final 17km descent to the finish.

Pantano was part of a three-man attack on the climb before Lopez, who finished seventh in this race as a neo-pro a year ago, gave a display of his authority by bridging up to the leaders.

He then pushed on with only Pantano and Tejay Van Garderen able to follow before a third acceleration allowed him to crest the summit alone with a 30sec lead.

Four chasers caught Lopez with 8.5km still to ride while two more joined just before the sprint finish.

The big loser was American Andrew Talansky, who started the day second overall at just 8sec.

He was dropped on the climb and eventually finished 56sec back, falling to fifth overall.

Pantano climbed above Talansky, meaning two Colombians finished in the top four.

Last year's winner Simon Spilak of Slovenia ended up ninth overall while Briton Geraint Thomas, one of the pre-race favourites, struggled on the final climb and dropped out of the top 10.

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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