During the opening stage of the Tour de Suisse women's race on Saturday, many riders wore black armbands in memory of Gino Mader (Bahrain Victorious), who died from injuries sustained in a terrible crash at the Tour de Suisse on June 16.

Switzerland's Maren Reusser (SD Works), who won the individual time trial on stage 2 and took the overall women's lead, said that for many riders it was difficult to concentrate on the race.

"It's very shocking," Reusser said. It's been difficult to stay focused on the sport over the last few days."

"In yesterday's road race, I did my best to stay focused on the race, but I was a little more cautious on the descents."

Anyone who has suffered a major crash knows that it sometimes takes a long time to regain confidence to ride a bike again afterwards.

Reusser, a general physician who entered the sport in his late 20s, suffered serious injuries in a 2017 crash that fractured his pelvic bone, sacrum, and first vertebra (L5).

He also suffered a concussion in a crash at the 2022 Tour de France Femme, forcing him to abandon the race.

"I myself have had bad crashes in the past, and it always takes me a while to come back and feel confident in cornering and riding "full throttle."

"It's just something that's on my mind right now. I'm not going to take any risks in this sport, because it's a little bit of a risk.

Taking such risks in a time trial was not easy for Reusser.

"The flow wasn't good, and I didn't go through 100% of the dangerous corners, thinking that maybe I wouldn't win. But that was okay," Reusser said of the second stage final.

She said she had long dreamed of this race, especially the time trial on Sunday. But the tragic death of Meader put it all in perspective.

"What happened to Gino has changed my feelings about this home race somewhat. Still, I think it's good to run here and enjoy having this leader's jersey on my shoulders," Reusser said.

Reusser, who won her 21st consecutive SD Walks race, is the favorite to win the Tour de Suisse women's overall after taking the GC lead by eight seconds over teammate Demi Vollering with two stages remaining.