Memorial to the late Gino Mäder unveiled at Tour de Suisse

A memorial to the late Gino Mäder was unveiled at a ceremony on the Albulapass shortly before the start of stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse on Thursday.

Mäder died following a crash on the descent of the mountain pass on the corresponding stage of the Tour de Suisse two years ago. His family was among the 150 attendees at Thursday’s ceremony, as were some riders from this year’s Tour de Suisse.

During the ceremony, Mäder’s friend Marc Hirschi and Swiss national coach Michael Schär unveiled a statue that has been erected in honour of Mäder at the site of his death. The statue was crafted by Mäder’s uncle, Gügi Eugster, a renowned sculptor. 

Following the unveiling of the statue, participants placed stones bearing personalised messages at its base to signify that Mäder would not be forgotten, while his Bahrain Victorious squad laid down a jersey.

Stage 5 of this year’s Tour de Suisse started in nearby La Punt, but the race left the town by way of the Julierpass rather than the Abulapass.

Earlier this week, US champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) paid a vivid tribute to Mäder when he won stage 3, one day after the two-year anniversary of the Swiss rider’s death. Simmons had considered retirement in the aftermath of Mäder’s crash two years ago. “It's really hard for me to be here again, especially seeing his mom at the start,” Simmons said. “I had extra motivation today.”

Mäder’s tragic death and that of Muriel Furrer at last year’s World Championships in Zurich have led to enhanced safety procedures at the Tour de Suisse, with each bike now carrying a GPS tracker to allow responders to locate riders in the event of emergencies.