Mac Hirschi wins the 2024 Memorial Marco Pantani race(Image credit: Sprint Cycling Agency)
Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) continued his incredible run of success, winning the Memorial Marco Pantani in Italy on Saturday.
The Swiss rider has won his last five races, since starting his summer campaign at the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa. On Thursday, he won the Coppa Sabatini with a long solo breakaway. He won the Memorial Marco Pantani in a sprint after a two-rider attack was caught inside the final kilometre.
Hirschi beat Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) and Vincenzo Albanese (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) in the sprint in the centre of Marco Pantani's hometown of Cesenatico.
Hirschi is expected to ride Sunday's Trofeo Matteotti further down the Adriatic coast and then next week's five-day Tour de Luxembourg before the World Championships in Zurich on Sunday, September 29.
"Luck is on my side at the moment, so it's nice to continue my winning series," Hirshi said post-race. "It was a tough race. We controlled it from the start and then we opened the race early.
"Baroncini attacked and it was a good situation for us, with three guys and probably one of the fastest guys there, then with three others behind in the peloton.
"We tried to block but unfortunately we caught Baroncini with like 300 metres to go, so we changed the plan and I sprinted. I was a bit lucky, I followed the heels and came from the back. There was a lot of headwind and so the gap opened, and I could get through in the end and win again."
The 195km one-day Italian race once again remembered the former Giro d'Italia and Tour de France winner, starting inland in Cesena and ending in Cesenatico after five circuits of the Diolaguardia climb. The final 50km were on flat roads to the coast and then covered a short finishing circuit.
Filippo Turconi (VF Bardiani Csf Faizanè) Ivan Romeo (Movistar) Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) formed an early break and then Diego Ulissi (UAE) Giulio Pellizzari (VF Bardiani Csf Faizanè) and Gregor Muhlberger (Movistar) also tried a move on the Diolaguardia climb, as UAE Team Emirates played out different tactics.
The trio were caught with 72km to go, on the Diolaguardia, and so Baroncini (UAE) Matteo Vercher (Total Energies) Marco Brenner (Tudor) attacked on the descent. Vercher was dropped on the last climb and the 2021 under-23 world champion and the current German national champion rode to Cesenatico together.
Despite some blocking by UAE Team Emirates, the peloton finally got organised during the last five-kilometre lap of Cesenatico and caught Baroncini and Brenner in sight of the finish line.
As they consoled each other with a handshake, Hirsch emerged from the wheels, waited for the right moment and then accelerated past Albanese and Milesi to win yet again.
Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.
