ABTWIL, Switzerland — Two days after the death of Gino Mader from injuries suffered in a crash at the Tour de Suisse, Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose dedicated his race victory to the Swiss rider.
Skjelmose maintained his lead in the overall standings and finished just nine seconds ahead of 20-year-old Juan Ayuso, who was fastest in the closing time trial.
“I wanted to win for Gino, I think everyone today raced for him,” Skjelmose said according to AP. “Everyone I spoke to said he was the most wonderful person you could ever imagine.”
“Of course it’s been an emotional rollercoaster, a big high with my stage win in Villars-sur-Ollon to a much bigger low with Gino’s death,” the 22-year-old Dane said.
Mäder went off the road and crashed down a ravine on a fast descent near the end of mountainous fifth stage. He was airlifted to a hospital.
The 26-year-old Swiss rider´s death was announced less than an hour before the scheduled start of Friday´s stage, which was canceled.
Three teams including Mader´s Bahrain-Victories declined to continue and the stage was raced as a tribute to him.
Ayuso won the 25.7-kilometer (16-mile) time trial from St. Gallen to Abtwil after briefly holding a virtual lead over Skjelmose. Ayuso finished eight seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel and nine seconds quicker than Skjelmose.
Evenepoel moved up to third place overall and at age 23 the Belgian world champion was the oldest rider on the podium.
The eight-day Tour de Suisse is one of the last preparation races for next month´s Tour de France.
“Sadly I didn’t know him personally but I wanted to give something back to him because he gave so much to a lot of other people.”
And, combined with his obvious, blistering, promising talent on a bicycle, it’s that impact on other people and the world around him that will provide Mader with perhaps his most enduring legacy.
“Smart and polite, rational and loyal like few” was how Bahrain-Victorious teammate Damiano Caruso described the 26-year-old in one of the many heartbreaking messages that flooded social media following Friday’s devastating, unimaginable news.
At the first checkpoint, Evenepoel was the quickest of anyone, setting a time of 12 minutes dead to put 55 seconds into Gall and 24 into Skjelmose. Ayuso, meanwhile, was only five seconds down on the Belgian and 19 up on Skjelmose to move into virtual yellow.
The hilly mid-section of the stage saw Evenepoel gain even more time, crossing the second checkpoint 16 seconds up on Bissegger with a time of 26:12. Ayuso was flying, though, and went even quicker – a 26:06 to move into the driving seat.
Another teammate, the Australian Jack Haig, described his friend as “not only as a fantastic and hardworking cyclist, but also as a wonderfully intelligent person with a deep curiosity for everything around you.”
That deep curiosity for things was famously embodied in the Swiss rider’s decision to adopt a stray dog from the streets of the Bilbao, named Pello – after his teammate, Pello Bilbao – and his staunch environmental activism.
In a sport where others turn a blind eye to the ever more obvious effects of climate change, Mader proved a wonderful ambassador for cycling’s green consciousness.
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