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He is widely appreciated for his expertise: Beat Wettstein (63). The man from Zurich has been the “Mister Safety” in the Tour de Suisse for decades. This year he is there for the 32nd time. Wettstein has already been through a lot during this period. “But what happened to Gino is driving me crazy,” he says.
Wettstein first took part in the tour in 1990, then as a police motorcyclist. This was followed by nine years in the security service squadron and 20 years as chief. Wettstein has been Head of Route Safety for two years now. No one knows better where dangers lurk on and off the track. Bends, roundabouts, traffic dividers – nothing that could be dangerous escapes his eyes. “It is our job to get everyone from A to B safely. It doesn’t matter if someone is first or last in the field.”
Gino Mäder was neither the first nor the last on the 5th tour stage from Fiesch VS to La Punt GR. He was fighting neither for the stage victory nor for a top position in the general classification. And yet in the first sharp turn after crossing the Albula Pass he fell so badly that he died the next day in the canton hospital in Chur. “I always blame myself when something happens. A lot goes through my mind when I think about Gino’s accident,” says Wettstein.
Bissegger and Dillier saw no danger
At this point, it seems unlikely that Wettstein or anyone else in the tour company made a mistake. What exactly happened on the descent of the Albula Pass is still under investigation. It also remains unclear whether Mäder and Magnus Sheffield (21, USA), who fell at the same point, touched each other before they fell.
The fact is: no professional cyclist has criticized that corner. The reproach of the Belgian top star Remco Evenepoel (23) that it is “not smart” to score a goal at the end of a descent, was generally formulated. Stefan Bissegger (24) said he did not find the corner technically challenging, although he probably had to slow down from 90 km/h. Silvan Dillier (32) explained: “I knew the corner could be tricky when you come in fast and take you out.” Yet he did not experience the passage as “essentially dangerous”.
“The toppings are good”
Wettstein is still worried. “I probably took the corner fifteen minutes before Gino. The bend is clearly visible, then it closes a bit before turning right again. The siege is good.” There is tar and gravel at the edge of the road about half a meter wide. And as the pictures with the police markings suggest, they probably both drove over it. “Gino knew the circuit very well, also from the training.It is a mystery to me how that could happen’, says Wettstein.
In fact, La Punt GR was the destination of a stage of the Tour de Suisse for the ninth time – there were never any problems at this point. The discussion of whether and how such accidents can be prevented in the future has not really taken place yet. On the one hand, this is due to the statements of the riders, but on the other hand, it is also due to the immense sadness that still envelops cycling.
Categorize departures in the future?
During training, the cycling professionals live much more dangerously because of the traffic than in the races. There are many more deaths there. Benji Naesen is a Belgian cycling journalist and podcaster. He was one of the few who came up with a concrete proposal. Going forward, descents should be classified in the same way as climbs. For example, the «Hors category», the highest category, for particularly difficult routes. That might make motorists more careful.
Memories of the fall of Soler in 2011
In more than three decades, Wettstein has had some bad experiences in the Tour de Suisse. The terrible fall of Juan Mauricio Soler (40) during the 2011 tour worried him as much as that of Mäders. The Colombian flew headfirst into a garden gate with iron bars in Sirnach TG.
“I keep thinking about it. Then the bike path turned into the sidewalk – today I spray such places with lime spray. I don’t know if Soler would have done anything at the time, he was riding in the field.” The driver had fractured his skull, was in a coma, spent four months in the hospital, struggled to survive, then got back on his feet. He never raced again after that.
Despite everything: Wettstein concentrates on his work, he only allows emotions in his spare time. For him, Mäder’s family was crucial after his tragic death. “If she had wanted us to cancel the tour, we would have done so right away.”
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
