Gino Mäder has been airlifted to hospital after he crashed heavily on the descent of the Albulapass in the finale of stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse.
Both Mäder and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) went off the roadside in the closing kilometres of Thursday’s stage, and they received treatment from paramedics on site before they were taken to hospital.
Mäder’s Bahrain Victorious squad later stated that the Swiss rider had been involved in what they described as a “bad crash.”
Cyclingnews understands that Sheffield has sustained a concussion and will be kept in hospital overnight.
“Both riders are on their way to the hospital. As far as we know, Magnus Sheffield is less seriously injured. Gino Mäder suffered serious injuries, but I can’t go into more detail about them,” Tour de Suisse director Olivier Senn told SRF.
Roland Thalmann (Tudor Pro Cycling) told the Swiss broadcaster that he had encountered the aftermath of the crashes as he descended towards the finish in La Punt.
“After a long curve, two bikes were lying on the side of the road, which didn’t look nice,” Thalmann said. “When I looked back, I saw that two riders were quite far down.”
World champion Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) criticised the presence of the descent at the end of the toughest mountain stage of the race.
“No one can be satisfied that the race ends after such a dangerous descent,” Evenepoel said. “I heard some guys fell. It would have been better if the finish had been on top.”
His thoughts were echoed by the new yellow jersey Mattias Skjelmose (Trek-Segafredo). “Perhaps this descent at the end wasn’t the best idea,” he said, according to Blick.
More to follow…
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