Pello Bilbao hopes Tour de France Basque stages continue Gino Mäder connection

The Bahrain Victorious squad during the 2023 Tour de France teams presentation
The Bahrain Victorious squad during the 2023 Tour de France teams presentation (Image credit: Getty)

Following his tragic death in the Tour de Suisse, Gino Mäder was remembered for once adopting a stray dog on the streets of Bilbao city and naming it Pello, after his Bahrain Victorious teammate Pello Bilbao. The story reverberated across the media.

But if Bilbao himself has his dream Tour de France scenario come true on Saturday, there’ll be another chapter added to that particular narrative about Mäder, very shortly.

“It was a nice story about Gino’s dog,” the Basque rider told reporters on Friday afternoon in the countdown to the start of the Tour de France. “I think he had this small connection to the Basque Country and it would be great to continue with this connection if we can give him a nice victory in the home stages.”

Alasdair Fotheringham

Alasdair Fotheringham has been reporting on cycling since 1991. He has covered every Tour de France since 1992 bar one, as well as numerous other bike races of all shapes and sizes, ranging from the Olympic Games in 2008 to the now sadly defunct Subida a Urkiola hill climb in Spain. As well as working for Cyclingnews, he has also written for The IndependentThe GuardianProCycling, The Express and Reuters.