2023-06-17 14:31:30
The organizers of the Tour de Suisse announced Friday evening, a few hours after the death of Swiss rider Gino Mäder, that the race would go until its end on Sunday. “After consulting the teams and the riders as well as all the staff of the Tour de Suisse, the management has decided to continue the men’s Tour de Suisse,” the organizers said in a statement. communiqué.
The race management specified that its decision had been taken “in consultation with the family of Gino Mäder” and “after consulting the teams and the riders as well as all the staff of the Tour de Suisse”. The organizers also indicated that the women’s Tour de Suisse would be maintained and would start as planned this Saturday, June 17.
The last two stages of the race, on the other hand, will be run without the Bahrain-Victorious team, of which Mäder was a part, who “will withdraw from the Tour de Suisse and will not participate in tomorrow’s race”.
Two other teams have also withdrawn: the Swiss Tudor and the Belgians from Intermarché-Circus-Wanty. “After careful consideration and discussion with the riders and the staff, the team has decided not to continue to participate in the Tour de Suisse this year, explained the Tudor in a tweet. In these difficult circumstances, we believe it is human to respect the feelings of our riders and pay tribute to Gino”. Same reasons given by the Belgian side, which adds: “Our priority is to respect the well-being of our riders. »
Several riders from other teams have also made the individual decision not to leave, like the Swiss Stefan Kung (FDJ-Groupama) Marc Hirschi (UAE Emirates), Mauro Schmid (Soudal-Quick Step) and Michael Schär (AG2R -Citroen). “We respect the decision of each team, and the withdrawals are in line with what we had planned”, replied the management of the event to AFP.
This Friday, after the announcement of the rider’s death, the 6th stage was “neutralized” and turned into a commemorative procession. “Today was the worst day of my life,” said race director Olivier Senn. But tomorrow is another day and this is the day we have to deal with as an organization. »
The seventh stage between Tübach and Weinfelden will therefore take place on Saturday and if the winner will obviously be the first rider to cross the line, “the timing for the general classification will take place 18.8 kilometers before the finish”, i.e. just after the last climb of the day, specify the organizers. Finally, the eighth and final stage will take place on Sunday from St. Gallen to Abtwil in the form of a time trial.
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