Hirschi is not allowed to go to the Tour de France

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Big, bigger, Tour de France. The Tour de France is the most important cycling race in the world. The Swiss have played only a minor role for years. No cycling comrade has been able to celebrate a victory in 51 stages. And it is likely that the winless list will continue in 2023 as well. Both Stefan Küng (29), Gino Mäder (26) and Mauro Schmid (23) will hardly be there in France, with Stefan Bissegger (24) much is unclear after his hand operation.

Marc Hirschi (24) stays. The Bernese is the last Swiss to win a stage in the Tour – 2020 in Sarran. And he also finished the Grande Boucle in 2021 and 2022. But now this: Hirschi is not meant for his UAE Emirates team’s tour!

“They don’t want me as a helper”

“I’d love to be there, after all I’ve won before,” says Hirschi. Although he is on the reserve list, he is not normally eligible for the tour. But that’s not all: Hirschi is not scheduled for the Giro in May or the Vuelta in September – so he probably won’t ride a grand tour this year. “They don’t want to use me as a helper in a grand tour. The team’s idea is that I can ride more on my own and win races that way,” says Hirschi.

Sounds good. However, we know that a three-week stage race also offers one or the other chance to win as a helper – even if, as with Hirschi’s team, the focus is entirely on Tadej Pogacar’s third overall victory (24, Sln) . At the same time, there is no training that can simulate the racing rigors of such an event.

Now there are other touchstones

We remember: three years ago, Hirschi broke through with a beautiful victory in the Tour de France in Sarran. No, after that he continued in the same style. He collected bronze in the World Championship road race, won the Walloon Arrow and was second in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. “At the time, I took the momentum after the tour.”

Everything is different in 2023. It should be Hirschi’s first professional year without a big round. Will it pay off for him and the team? The balance takes place in the autumn. The first touchstones will arrive in the coming days: the Amstel Gold Race (today), the Walloon Arrow (Wednesday) and Liège-Bastogne-Liège (in a week). It is those races that suit Hirschi particularly well.

Source : Blick