By Anders Lorenzen

In our obituary of the tragic passing of the professional cyclist Gino Mäder, we pointed out he was a passionate and dedicated environmentalist seeking to raise awareness about environmental destruction and climate change through his sport.

The Basque cyclist Pello Bilbao who rode with Mäder on the Bahrain Victorius cycling team is honouring his former teammate by donating €1 to the Basque environmental group BaSOS for every rider who finishes behind him on every single stage.  

On Twitter, Bilbao wrote:

“Following in Gino’s footsteps and continuing his legacy, during this Tour de France I will donate 1 € to BaSOS for each rider who finishes after me in each stage. The goal is to buy deforested land and replant it with local species.”

BaSOS is a forest group local to the Basque country that works to protect and promote local forests.

Bilbao chose this model as it was the same model Mäder had used to raise money for the Just Diggit organisation. 

This year Tour de France started in the Basque capital of Bilbao with the first three stages being ridden in the Spanish picturesque region with a strong local identity and its own language.  

You can raise money for the project here.