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CYCLING

Costa wins Tour de Suisse for third time

Portugal's Rui Costa won the Tour de Suisse cycling title for an unprecedented third time in a row on Sunday after riding to victory in the ninth and final stage.

Costa wins Tour de Suisse for third time
Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

Costa, 27, crossed 14 seconds ahead of Dutch rider Bauke Mollema with Swiss Mathias Frank 24sec off the pace in third following the 156.5 kilometre run from Martigny to Saas-Fee.
   
Germany's Tony Martin, who had been wearing the leader's yellow jersey since stage one, finished off the podium in overall fourth behind Costa, Frank and Mollema.
   
World time-trial champion Costa, who finished third in the Tour of Romandie last month, sets himself up as a candidate for the Tour de France which starts on July 5th.
   
The Portuguese could count on his experience to see him through to a third title after 2012 and 2013, as the Lampre rider, leading a nine-man breakaway group, took Martin by surprise.
   
Costa stage managed the race over the final two days in the mountains sticking close to Martin on the penultimate stage at the summit of Verbier to claim victory on the final beyond category climb at Saas-Fee.
   
The Portuguese rider went off with a breakaway group under cloudy skies at the 46-kilometre mark with his advantage on the peloton, in which Martin found himself, more than two minutes 20 kilometres from the line.
   
Attacking on the final two kilometre climb Costa left no chance to his fellow breakaway riders including home hope Frank, who had the consolation of second in the overall standings.

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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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