Road cyclist Gino Mäderin death in a shocking crash at the Tour of Switzerland last week provided a reminder of the dangers of competitive cycling.
The accident that led to the death of 26-year-old Mäder occurred on the fifth stage of the Tour of Switzerland, when he crashed off the road in a tight downhill corner. At that point, speeds rise up to a hundred kilometers per hour.
A Finnish professional cyclist who participated in the competition Jaakko Hänninen26, recalled that accidents and crashes specific to the sport are usually the sum of many parts.
The French professional AG2R team was told in connection with the interview request that the Finnish cyclist does not want to talk about Mäder’s death.
– That’s all I can comment on the tragic event in Switzerland, that every single one like that is too much. I have no idea whose fault it was. Unfortunately, nothing can change what has happened. Such things sometimes happen, thankfully rarely, Hänninen sighed.
Not all accidents or dangerous crashes always fall on the necks of race organizers or routes.
– For example, my crash during the Tour of Switzerland a week ago happened on a wide and straight road. It was a mass crash where you couldn’t possibly blame the organization. There are accidents everywhere, characterizes the Finnish driver.
According to Hänninen, the safety of professional cyclists has many different elements and perspectives in the endgame.
– There are a few more opinions about it (safety). It depends on the driver, how he sees each thing. For others, a certain point on the race route may seem more dangerous than someone else.
– Because of this, it is difficult to say, even in general, what each driver thinks about something.
Hänninen says that it would be best for the sport if the race organizations and drivers could have a proper discussion with the team managers in advance about the points, which might be dangerous places on the routes.
– In practice, however, it’s difficult, when even in a week-long stage race, where the average length is around 180 kilometers, you just can’t influence every point.
Cycling involves a certain amount of risk-taking
Hänninen says that he does not feel that the race routes have changed much over the years.
– The routes have not become more dangerous for me. There are still many races where you drive on the same routes as in many years before. If an accident happens on these routes, which have been driven for many years in a row without any criticism, then isn’t it the role of the drivers to also look in the mirror, Hänninen ponders.
According to Hänninen, the competitive spirit of cycling includes certain risk-taking.
– Still, each driver’s individual risk-taking should not endanger anyone else. You have to respect all colleagues, especially in a sport like this, where after all the number of drivers is reasonably small.
Hänninen points out that when cycling at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, it is a fact that even a small, surprising movement by one rider can easily cause crashes, falls and accidents.
– If all drivers respected each other one hundred percent, then there wouldn’t be any crashes in road cycling. I still don’t want to believe that anyone intentionally wants to bring someone else into an accident by taking a risk.
Setbacks and extraordinary bad luck
Hänninen’s cycling career has had enough unfortunate situations and injuries over the years. The list is long. They have naturally taxed his rise towards the top of the world.
This season, the professional from Ruokolahti, South Karelia, has suffered from two persistent viral diseases in both January and April. During the Corona period, Hänninen experienced the virus in question several times.
– At the beginning of February, the camera helicopter flew too low, as a result of which the helicopter’s air current embraced the fences of the finish area and threw them into the path of our cyclists in the final stretch. Of course, no one wants to include these external harmful factors.
In addition, Hännen has had small bumps since the beginning of the season and he has suffered painful bruises on his body in crashes, most recently just a week ago in Switzerland. It forced him into a bit of a recovery period at this point. No fractures were found in the examinations.
The most important lesson from all accidents is that nothing should be missed.
– I don’t tend to ruminate on things. You can no longer influence the past, you have to look forward, Hänninen points out.
Tour de France missed – a look at the end of the season
Hänninen’s worst moment was during the Tour of Lombardy in 2021, when he hit his head on the asphalt. The scariest event of my career ended the season there.
– I do not know what happened. Someone suspected that a drink bottle had fallen on the road and I ran over it. In any case, the bike quickly left the bottom. I have to say that the helmet that cracked in the shock saved me. I wouldn’t be standing here if there wasn’t a helmet to save me in that situation, Hänninen stated to a couple of years ago.
Hänninen will not participate in the tour of France, which starts on July 1 in Bilbao, Spain and ends on July 23 in Paris. The first three stages of the race are run in the Basque Country.
– Now is a good time to take a breather and get in shape for the second half of the season, which practically starts for me at the end of July after the Tour of France.
A reliable co-driver
Driving for the French AG2R team, Hänninen’s job description is to be an assistant driver for his team’s captains. As a good hill man, he has mostly been one of his team’s many assistant drivers in bigger stage races.
– It has been my goal for a long time to do the jobs that the team management gives me. It is then a matter of time, where it develops or what its condition will be at some point.
During one competition season, the condition varies quite a bit. The long competition season starts at the beginning of the year and ends in October. The Finn has usually been at his best in the “autumn season” starting at the end of July.
– For example, in Vime in the Tour de l’Ain stage race, where I was fourth, I was in such a condition that I rode for the win. At least for now, I won’t be able to race for the whole nine months as properly as I was in that race, Hänninen emphasizes.
– In individual sports, it would be much easier to advance one race at a time. All changes to my competition calendar come from the team management. Here you have to be adaptable and look at the big picture and live in the moment.