Cycling is brutal, Mader dies

That's really terrible. I was watching the race and only heard later that that Mader and Sheffield had crashed, but no mention was made of how serious it was. The cameras were concentrating on the front of the race and one descent in particular was extremely fast with riders touching 100kph and sudden hairpins that came out of nowhere. I'm continually amazed that there are not more fatalities in the sport. So sad for Mader and his family, and in his home Tour.
 
pierrequiroule said:
That's really terrible. I was watching the race and only heard later that that Mader and Sheffield had crashed, but no mention was made of how serious it was. The cameras were concentrating on the front of the race and one descent in particular was extremely fast with riders touching 100kph and sudden hairpins that came out of nowhere. I'm continually amazed that there are not more fatalities in the sport. So sad for Mader and his family, and in his home Tour.
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Just started watching the Tour de France documentary on Netflix, gives you a great insight into how absolutely brutal a sport it is. RIP young man.
 
Just read this horrific news. Seems Evenepoel was spot on in his criticism of the race organisers. Tragic. As the OP says, a brutal sport.
 
borolad259 said:
Just read this horrific news. Seems Evenepoel was spot on in his criticism of the race organisers. Tragic. As the OP says, a brutal sport.
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His comment was made prior to knowing Mader had died, most probably talked about among the teams & cyclists prior to the race:

“One thing I don't think anyone was happy with today is the finish," Evenepoel said in a post-race interview with Cycling Pro Net.

"The course now ends with a dangerous descent, and we have seen some crashes there as well. It would have been better to finish on top."

www.cyclingnews.com

Remco Evenepoel critical of 'dangerous descent' at Tour de Suisse

'It wasn't a smart idea to place the finish of such a stage after a descent' says world champion
www.cyclingnews.com www.cyclingnews.com
 
Evenepoel actually witnessed the crash, but obviously was unaware of the seriousness of it at the finish. I think he, Mader and Sheffield were part of a small group of riders chasing the eventual winner Ayuso. The cameras were mostly following Ayuso and it was certainly hair-raising.
 
It’s devastatingly sad.

Mader and Sheffield came off on a hairpin descent and fell into a ravine, thankfully not televised. Sounds like it was a 100 km/h descent.

Medics were there in 2 minutes and apparently found Sheffield conscious but shaking, and Mader face down in a stream surrounded by rocks. They performed CPR and he was airlifted out by helicopter but never regained consciousness.

Such a shocking incident. Shows the awful, tiny margins involved in these things that one guy walks away with concussion and the other doesn’t make it. I really feel for Sheffield too, being so close to that must be so hard to deal with.
 
pierrequiroule said:
That's really terrible. I was watching the race and only heard later that that Mader and Sheffield had crashed, but no mention was made of how serious it was. The cameras were concentrating on the front of the race and one descent in particular was extremely fast with riders touching 100kph and sudden hairpins that came out of nowhere. I'm continually amazed that there are not more fatalities in the sport. So sad for Mader and his family, and in his home Tour.
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Continually amazed. Straightaway made me think of that horrific Evenpoel crash in similar circumstances, and Froome’s horrendous injuries after his. There’s not two bigger names in the sport and either one of those crashes could have ended the same way as this tragedy.

Not sure what can be done to make it safer. It’s a really hard one.
 
Yes this tragedy always brings back bad memories for those who love watching the sport. I think back to two in particular. Wouter Weylandt in the 2011 Giro descending the Passo del Boco and before that Fabio Carsatelli who was an Olympic gold medalist in cycling crashing on the col de portet d’aspet both high speed descending fatalities both very gifted young riders who had won tour stages. The latter before helmets were made compulsory.
 
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