Marc Hirschi

Swiss rider Marc Hirschi vaulted onto the world stage with a rainbow jersey in the under-23 road race in 2018 just after turning 19. Born in Bern on August 24, 1998, Hirschi had won two junior national road titles by the time he was 16 years of age, and taken two bronze medals in the time trial.

In 2017 the emerging Swiss talent raced for the BMC Development Team, winning his country’s ITT for U23 men as well as the Tour du Jura one-day race. The next season he moved to Sunweb’s development programme, where he became the U23 world champion on a demanding road course in Innsbruck. He had already made noise leading to Worlds with a U23 European road race title and high placings at Liège-Bastogne-Liège U23, Eschborn-Frankfurt U23 plus a stage win at GP Priessnitz spa. 

Sunweb promoted Hirschi to their WorldTour team in 2019 and he had a top 10 at E3 BinckBank Classic and followed later with third at Clásica Ciclista San Sebastián. He made his Tour de France debut the next year, impressing straight away with a pair of podiums before a career-defining victory on stage 12. His Tour began with a second place behind Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and ahead of teammate Adam Yates in the three-up sprint at the finish of stage 2 in Nice. He then placed third in Laruns on stage 9 after his 90km solo move. Then three race days later, he was in another breakaway which saw him break free at the front in the last 23km to ride to a solo victory.

Hirschi’s 2020 campaign did not end at the Tour de France, as he finished third in the elite men’s road race at the world championships in Italy, then won the fall edition of La Flèche Wallonne and was second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He looked set to be a team leader for Sunweb in 2021, but the team announced in January they terminated his contract, which was set to expire at the end of that year.

By mid-January 2021, Hirschi had quickly moved to UAE Team Emirates on a three-year deal. The 22-year-old made his debut with the new team in Spanish stage races in the spring and then finished sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, now back to its regular April spot on the calendar following the pandemic year. He had a stage victory late in the year at the Tour de Luxembourg, but the Swiss rider endured many setbacks, from a hip injury and dental issues to a crash that ended his World Championships challenge in Leuven.

His 2022 season began and ended with top spots on the podium in one-day races, starting with Per Sempre Alfredo in March and ending with Veneto Classic in October. In between, HIrschi had top 10s at Amstel Gold Race and Liège-Bastogne-Liège and a win at Giro della Toscana, but did not perform well as a late roster addition for the Tour.

An arm fracture suffered at 2023 Volta ao Algarve reduced his spring Classics campaign, but he returned with fourth at Eschborn-Frankfurt in early May and then won the GC at Tour de Hongrie. He completed the year with a flourish, winning the overall at the Tour of Luxembourg and earning 11 podiums in 12 one-day races.

The 2024 season would be his final with UAE Team Emirates, as he signed a three-year contract to co-lead at Tudor Pro Cycling beginning in 2025. While he did not ride a Grand Tour in 2024 due to UAE Team Emirates' strong stage race roster, Hirschi did score second in the Amstel Gold Race, won the GC at Czech Tour as well as seven one-day races including a sweep of five consecutive races in August and September from Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa to Memorial Marco Pantani.

Key Results

2024

🥇 One stage and GC at Czech Tour

🥇 GP città di Peccioli-Coppa Sabatini

🥇 Coppa Agostoni - Giro dell Brianze

🥇 Memorial Marco Pantani

🥇 GP Industria & Artigianato

🥇 Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France

🥇 Faun Drôme Classic

🥈 Amstel Gold Race

🥈 Two stages at Czech Tour

🥉 Circuit Franco-Belge

🥉 Milan-Torino

2023

🥇 Youth classification and GC at Tour Luxembourg

🥇 GP città di Peccioli-Coppa Sabatini

🥇 Giro dell’Appennino

🥇 One stage and GC at Tour de Hongrie

🥇 Swiss National Championships men’s elite road race

🥈 Veneto Classic

🥈 Gran Piemonte

🥈 Coppa Agostoni

🥈 Memorial Marco Pantani

2022

🥇 Veneto Classic

🥇 Giro della Toscana

🥇 Per Sempre Alfredo

🥉 One stage and GC at Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali

2021

🥇 One stage at Tour de Luxembourg

🥈 Veneto Classic

🥈 Youth classification, points classification and GC at Tour de Luxembourg

🥈 Swiss National Championships elite men’s ITT

2020

🥇 One stage at Tour de France

🥇 La Flèche Wallonne 

🥈 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

🥈 One stage at Tour de France

🥉 One stage at Tour de France

🥉 World Championships elite men’s road race

2019

🥈 Swiss National Championships men’s elite ITT

2018

🥇 World Championships junior men’s road race