Marc Hirschi has been operating under an increasingly unjustified cloud of doubt for the past few seasons, but he’s been steadily racking up results, culminating this weekend in what many will call a comeback win at San Sebastian where he out-sprinted Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) to take his biggest win in four years.
Visma-Lease a Bike arrived with a formidable team that was keen – perhaps predisposed – to control things with a ten-rider move up the road for much of the day, but it was UAE Team Emirates who stamped their dominance over proceedings once the last-remaining breakaway rider was reeled in 43 km from the finish. As Pavel Sivakov held off a chasing group of about 20, Hirschi and three teammates were able to sit in the wheels and wait as Lotto Dstny set the pace.
Then on the final vicious climb where Sivakov’s day was ended, Alaphilippe made his move, and after a number of accelerations, only Hirschi could stay with him over the top, and the pair rode together to the line where the fresher Hirschi took the prize. Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) was best of the rest in third, rewarding the work of his teammates in the heated chase.
- Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) was the last man standing from the 10-rider breakaway that escaped the bunch early in the 236-kilometre slog through the Basque hills. Carr was one of the many riders on their sixth race day in a row, fresh off the Vuelta a Burgos – 38 out of 175 starters (22%) were at the 2.Pro race won overall by Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), himself lining up in San Sebastián alongside Jonas Vingegaard in the Dane’s first race since the Tour de France.
- Carr led the race onto the only first-category climb of the day – Erlaitz (3.8 km at 10.7%) – with less than a minute’s lead, and as the gradient began to bite, his day on the attack caught up with him and his advantage tumbled away as the peloton lifted the pace towards crunch time.
- Barely a kilometre into the climb and with Carr just a few seconds off the front, Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) was the first to pop out of the peloton with Julian Alaphilippe glued to his wheel. The pair quickly swallowed up the EF rider as the peloton began to dissolve – and Visma-Lease a Bike evaporated from the front.
- The hive of yellow jerseys that had moments ago been setting a fierce pace were replaced with a swarm of white, and Pavel Sivakov went off to chase down the leaders who were just a handful of seconds up the road.
- Lipowitz fell away just as Sivakov joined the duo, and Alaphilippe also seemed to struggle, but everyone was still close at hand, the picture still filled with riders, albeit several metres behind the Frenchman for UAE Team Emirates.
- At the top of the climb, about 40 km from the finish, Sivakov had stretched his advantage to just a little over 10 seconds as two chase groups came together on the rollers that preceded the descent proper. With Sivakov out front and no less than four in group 2, UAE Team Emirates had the numbers, while Lotto Dstny could boast second-best status, their three riders sitting on the front to control the leader’s slim gap.
- The race entered something of a holding pattern for 30 kilometres, Sivakov’s advantage wavering between 20 and 30 seconds.
- The last obstacle between the peloton and a flat sprint in town was a violently steep ramp atop the Pilotegi climb, which stands 2.1 km long with an average of 10.7%, with a maximum gradient of 27%.
- Sivakov was done near the foot where the gradients were far more gentle, but only relatively speaking, and it was Alaphilippe who set off the first firecrackers in his shadow.
- Hirschi was ominous in his quick reactions, with teammate Brandon McNulty also close at hand along with Lennert van Eetvelt and Kevin Vermaeke (DSM-firmenich-PostNL).
- Van Eetvelt moved to the front on the steepest section as the Basque fans pressed in on the lead group, and as McNulty and Vermaeke began to look troubled by the wall.
- Then, just beyond the crowds, Alaphilippe hit out once more, accelerating hard enough to shake off all but Hirschi, and the pair were never seen again.
- Van Eetvelt put in a valiant chase just seven seconds from the front, but Hirschi and Alaphilippe worked well together all the way to the last kilometre where, despite some nervous looking around from Alaphilippe in particular, the pair were able to stay clear and sprint for a landmark victory.
Top 10
- Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) 5:46:12
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) st.
- Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) +0:07
- Kevin Kermaeke (DSM-firmenich PostNL) +0:17
- Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:25
- Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) st.
- Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) st.
- Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) st.
- Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates) +0:36
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +0:37
Quotes of the day:
I think if there was one less Lotto [Dstny] guy Pavel [Sivakov] would win today. They closed and we were ready, we were three guys still so we went full gas on the last climb … We just suffered to the top and then we looked back and we were only two so we knew we had to continue, and we had a nice sprint.”
Hirschi said at the finish.
I feel happy to be back on the podium of a big race and of course little bit disappointed to be really close … I was really suffering [on the last climb], but I felt good so I did my tempo. In the end, I did my best, and Marc Hirschi was really strong. He did a good sprint, good timing and he’s also really explosive.”
Alaphilippe said after finishing second at the race he won in 2018.
Brief analysis:
- Four years ago, Marc Hirschi was about to become one of the the hottest items in professional cycling, despite holding an ongoing contract at then-Team DSM. After a hard-earned stage win at his debut Tour, he then nabbed victory at the rescheduled La Flèche Wallonne at the end of September 2020 – long story short, he attracted the attention of UAE Team Emirates who worked out a buyout in early January, when he started a then-unusual four-year contract. However, a knee injury and relatively anonymous form saw the Swiss puncheur fall out of favour a little as he earned just one second-division stage win in late 2021, then four one-dayers in 2022, all classified 1.1. This all gave rise to a curious story indicating that his team would keep him from all Grand Tours in 2023 – he would have to re-establish his worth. And it worked. Hirschi took seven wins in 2023, and he hit the ground running this season too, starting with the hotly contested Faun Drôme Classic in February, then facing Alaphilippe at the Czech Tour where the Swiss rider took a stage and the overall. With a third WorldTour win added to his palmarès, things aren’t just looking up for Marc Hirschi. He’s back.
- Speaking of riders back to their best, Julian Alaphilippe, though not back to his epic form of 2018-thru-2021, certainly seems to have found something of the fighting spirit he’s seemed to lack at times in recent seasons. While earlier in this season there were instances in which the 32-year-old appeared to be racing with his head in the past, his body unable to keep up, his performance at San Sebastián was somewhat more measured, holding off when Sivakov went clear, and disappearing to recover before the punchy final climb. It was a big day for Alaphilippe whose team boss Patrick Lefevere confirmed on Saturday morning that the former back-to-back world champion will be departing his squad at the end of the season – Alaphilippe will be taking his rediscovered form elsewhere.
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