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CYCLING

Tour de Romandie stage shortened due to snow

Switzerland's Stefan Kung battled wintry conditions to claim Thursday's shortened second stage of the Tour de Romandie as Italian Fabio Felline remained in the lead.

Published: 28 April 2017 08:02 CEST
Tour de Romandie stage shortened due to snow
Stefan Kung wins the stage. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
The BMC rider Kung beat Ukrainian Andrey Grivko in a sprint finish to win stage two of the race for the second time in three years.
    
Kung and Grivko finished just ahead of the chasing peloton after the pair were the two lone survivors of a four-man breakaway that held a six-minute lead at one point.
   
Originally due to begin in Champery and cover just over 160km, the stage instead began in Aigle and was reduced to 136.5km with a potentially treacherous descent removed due to chilly temperatures and “light snowfall”.
   
Felline, who won Tuesday's prologue, stayed eight seconds clear of German Maximilian Schachmann and Jesus Herrada of Spain.
   
Twice former champion Chris Froome is 36th but only 29 seconds off the lead ahead of Friday's flat 187km stage around Payerne in western Switzerland.
   
The race ends in Lausanne on Sunday with an 18.3km individual time-trial.
 

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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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