Professional cyclist Magnus Sheffield, who fell badly during the Tour de Suisse, has been released from the hospital. This was announced by his British team Ineos Grenadiers. “He will now return home for a period of rest and recovery under the supervision of our medical team,” the statement said.
Sheffield suffered a concussion and minor bruises on the fifth stage of the Tour. He fell in the same place as the Swiss Gino Mäder. The 26-year-old fell into a ravine at high speed on Thursday on the descent from the Albula Pass to the destination of La Punt in the final kilometers of the fifth stage and had to be resuscitated for 25 minutes before being flown to the hospital. Mäder died there the following day.
The exact course of the accident is still unclear, as is the question of whether Sheffield and Mäder touched each other before the accident. Sheffield may be able to help clarify how the accident happened.
That would also have been important to Beat Wettstein. The 63-year-old is head of security for the Tour de Suisse and has now given an interview to “Blick”. “What happened to Gino is driving me crazy,” he said: “Our job is to get everyone safely from A to B. It doesn’t matter whether someone is first or last in the field.”
Wettstein said he couldn’t explain how Mäder’s fatal fall could have happened: “I probably took the corner about 15 minutes before Gino. The curve is easy to see, the surface is good.” Mäder and Sheffield apparently drove over a strip of tar and gravel and then fell down the slope. “Gino knew the track very well, also from training. It’s a mystery to me how that could have happened,” said Wettstein.
There had been criticism of the route in the driver’s feds. Belgian top rider Remco Evenepoel complained that it was risky to set such a descent so close to the finish line. In fact, the athletes can reach speeds of up to 90 km/h. Other riders from the field do not see this as a problem, especially since La Punt was the destination of the Tour de Suisse for the ninth time. So far without incident.
The “Blick” quotes two Swiss cyclists. Stefan Bissegger (24) said he did not perceive the curve as technically challenging. And Silvan Dillier reported: “I knew that the curve can be tricky if you come fast and it carries you to the outside.” Nevertheless, the section of the track is “basically not dangerous”.
A police report should provide the final answer. The Swiss authorities are investigating and also started an appeal for witnesses.
