the 15 June 2023, Gino Mäder is the victim of a terrible fall on the descent of the Col de l’Albula, during the 5th stage of the Tour de Suisse. He died the next day from his injuries., the 16 June. In this 4 January 2023, he would have celebrated his 27th birthday. This tragedy which affected the great cycling family ranked 1st in our ranking of the most significant moments of this year 2023.
Why did we choose this moment first in our ranking ?
Towards the end of the year, the editorial team of cycling times has decided to create a ranking of the moments that we consider the most significant of the year just gone. word “marking” means in the dictionary “which makes an impression”. We therefore chose these events because they were the ones that had the greatest scale this year, according to our sensitivities. This can have both a positive feeling, but also negative, and such is the case with the tragedy which ended the life of Gino Mäder this 16 June 2023.
Cycling, a dangerous sport.
Cycling is definitely one of the most mentally tough sports there is.. The players in this sport are men (and women) with enormous resistance, which can withstand an effort of several hours, over several days or even several weeks in a row.
Besides the sometimes extreme difficulty, cycling is also a naturally dangerous sport. Indeed, for hours, these convicts of the road, sometimes grouped together like sardines, and at sometimes crazy speeds, risk dying at any moment. This danger is particularly real on the descents of passes..
In these places, the speed of the runners can exceed the 100 km/h, which significantly increases the risk of serious accidents, even fatal. At every turn, riders can fall at high speed and die, especially since some take enormous risks to win, or not to lose.
When we see bicycle acrobats like Vincenzo Nibali, Julian Alaphilippe, or Tom Pidcock making incredible descents, we are impressed, or even amazed by their technical prowess. But at the same time there arises a growing fear in our souls, because we know that they could disappear from this planet if they make the slightest mistake.
If the vast majority of cyclists, amateurs or professionals have survived their career, several of them unfortunately did not have this chance. Tom Simpson, Fabio Casartelli, Wouter Weylandt, Antoine Demoitie, Michael Goolaerts, Bjorn Lambrecht, Kota Ikarashi and many others : these men mentioned died for practicing their sport. And then comes Gino Mäder.
Gino Mäder, a talented cyclist and a committed man.
Gino Mäder was a Swiss cyclist born in 1997. Pure climber, he was one of his country's biggest hopes in the grand tours. Winner of the Ronde de l’Isard in 2019, he began his adventure among the pros the following year by joining the Dimension Data training.
After two years spent with the South African team in which he will progress, he joined the Bahrain-Victorious team in 2021. Over there, he explodes to the highest level : he won the 6th stage of the Tour of Italy and above all ranked 5th and best young person in the Vuelta, to the nose and beard of Egan Bernal.
These last two years have been a little more difficult for the Swiss runner, who still ranked 2nd in the Tour de Romandie in 2022 and 5th in Paris-Nice in March 2023.
Beyond the good runner he was, Gino Mäder was a committed man. Animal and nature lover, he had made public on numerous occasions his commitment to preserving the environment. In 2021, lords of the Vuelta, Gino had decided to donate one euro to an environmental organization for each rider he beat in each stage. An action that he will repeat throughout the season 2022.
This was a person who wanted to spread good in this world. He notably took in a dog once abandoned in the streets of Bilbao. He will name him Pello, from the first name of his Basque teammate from Bahrain-Victorious.
A unanimous tribute to Mäder.
The announcement of his death came as a huge shock to the world of cycling.. The sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse has been canceled, and instead a lap of honor was organized 20 kilometers to pay homage to the deceased.
A tribute that is unanimous in the world of cycling. From teammates to the greatest champions, from simple followers to journalists, on social networks or others, the tribute to Gino Mäder was unanimous.
Remco Evenepoel will raise his hands to the sky to dedicate his victory to the deceased during the 7th stage of this Tour de Suisse. During the Tour de France a few weeks later, Bahrain-Victorious will add the hashtag #ride forgino to pay tribute to their Swiss runner. Training Bahraini will win 3 stages during this 109th Grande Boucle. A sign that will be reiterated in the jersey 2024 of this team.
Proof that Gino's memory will never be forgotten, just like other runners who also had the same fate. No one will forget this talented and endearing runner.
Rest in peace, Gino Mäder.
