The clouds hung low over Glenna Indy. It is raining as the team’s sporting directors, world association commissioners and organizers make their way to the meeting. They leave in silence. The sadness and horror of the accidental death of Norway’s André Drege the day before while coming from the Großglockner is evident.
It was decided together that the last stage of the Tour of Austria from Kufstein to Kühtai would be cancelled. Instead, a memorial tour for André Drege will take place. “Together with the team’s sporting directors and drivers, we decided not to go on today’s stage and instead to run a condolence neutralization tour in memory of André Drege,” says tour director Thomas Pupp. The organizers also involved the family of the accident victim in the decision. “The memorial trip was the wish of André’s father, his teammates and all his team. It gives the whole cycling family a chance to process what happened together and remember André Drege. Our entire team has been affected by this tragic accident and our thoughts and prayers are with André’s family, his relatives and the Coop-Repsol team during this extremely difficult time.”
The condolence tour will take place in two parts. At 11 am the drivers take their places on the starting grid in Kufstein, then drive a short lap together. The teams then get into their vehicles and move to Tulfes. The condolence tour starts at 1:30pm at the mountain classification originally planned. It ends after a good 10 kilometers at the valley station of the Patscherkofelbahn in Igls.
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