SWITZERLAND has produced a new star in road cycling, says Tour de France expert JOHN TREVORROW:
CYCLING’S new guard continue to trumpet their arrival at the Tour de France, with Swiss young gun Marc Hirschi delivering a virtuoso performance in stage 12 that belied his years.
After finishing a close second to Juliian Alaphilippe on stage 2 and a cruel third on stage 9, the 22 year old Tour debutant swept those disappointments aside to seize not only his first Tour de France stage, but his first Pro win.
“It’s unbelievable because I was close two times,” said Hirschi in his post-race interview. “I never believed that I could make it because I was really doubtful. I went full-gas until the last 200 metres, and this is super nice, I can’t describe it. It’s hard to put this into words.”
On the longest stage from Chauvigny to Sarran, 218 km, the former U23 World Champion looked to be in a class of his own, bursting clear from a small group and never looked like being caught.
Team Sunweb produced a masterclass performance through the lumpy climbs of central France. The pace was on from the moment the flag was dropped but the early breakaway was never given much leeway and were nullified by Peter Sagan’s Bora team. Sagan was on a mission as he knew the terrain would be too tough for his arch rival Sam Bennett in the dual for the Green jersey.
Then, with 40km to go, Team Sunweb took control. Tiesj Benoot and Kragh Andersen attacked and Hirschi jumped across.
They were joined by teammate Nicolas Roche and this set up the opportunity for Hirschi to attack alone on the Suc au May, with 25km to go. It was a well formulated plan superbly delivered. As he did on stage 9, Hirschi descended incredibly well, using every bit of bit of the road but there were plenty of small climbs as well and he looked the strongest.
Alaphilippe saw the danger and tried to close the gap with some help from his Deceuninck team but they never looked like they could bring back the brilliant Hirschi.
It was great to see Team Sunweb finally rewarded for their aggressive riding in this Tour. They have been implementing strong tactical plans each day only to see them thwarted each time. But not on this occasion and thoroughly deserved their first stage victory in three years.
The GC contenders were on high alert all day but never actually featured in the action. Primoz Roglic and his powerful Jumbo Visma squad kept a watchful eye on proceedings and all of the overall protagonists, including Aussie Richie Porte, seemed content to save as much energy as possible for stage 13 summit finish so there was no change in the overall standings.
Stage 12
1 | Marc Hirschi (Swi) Team Sunweb | 05:08:49 |
2 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 00:00:47 |
3 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Den) Team Sunweb | 00:00:52 |
4 | Quentin Pacher (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 00:00:52 |
5 | Jesus Herrada (Spa) Cofidis | 00:00:52 |
6 | Maximilian Schachmann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe | 00:00:52 |
7 | Hugo Houle (Can) Astana Pro Team | 00:00:52 |
8 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | 00:00:52 |
9 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | 00:00:56 |
10 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb | 00:00:56 |
11 | Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck-Quickstep | 00:01:48 |
12 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:05 |
13 | Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe | 00:02:30 |
14 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) CCC Team | 00:02:30 |
15 | Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo | 00:02:30 |
16 | Michael Gogl (Aut) NTT Pro Cycling | 00:02:30 |
17 | Cyril Barthe (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 00:02:30 |
18 | Oliver Naesen (Bel) AG2R la Mondiale | 00:02:30 |
19 | Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:30 |
20 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 00:02:30 |
21 | Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:30 |
22 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:30 |
23 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:02:30 |
24 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:30 |
25 | Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:02:30 |
26 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 00:02:30 |
27 | Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:30 |
28 | Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:30 |
29 | Simone Consonni (Ita) Cofidis | 00:02:30 |
30 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 00:02:30 |
31 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 00:02:30 |
32 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren | 00:02:30 |
33 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:30 |
34 | Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel) Israel Start-Up Nation | 00:02:30 |
35 | Luka Mezgec (Slo) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:30 |
36 | Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:30 |
37 | Daryl Impey (RSA) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:30 |
38 | Matteo Trentin (Ita) CCC Team | 00:02:30 |
39 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team | 00:02:30 |
40 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:30 |
41 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | 00:02:30 |
42 | Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren | 00:02:30 |
43 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:02:30 |
44 | Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis | 00:02:30 |
45 | Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 00:02:30 |
46 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 00:02:30 |
47 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic | 00:02:30 |
48 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale | 00:02:30 |
49 | Niklas Eg (Den) Trek-Segafredo | 00:02:30 |
50 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) NTT Pro Cycling | 00:02:30 |
51 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:30 |
52 | Romain Sicard (Fra) Total Direct Energie | 00:02:30 |
53 | Neilson Powless (USA) EF Pro Cycling | 00:02:30 |
54 | Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren | 00:02:30 |
55 | Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Team Sunweb | 00:02:30 |
56 | Andrey Amador (CRc) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:02:30 |
57 | Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 00:02:30 |
58 | Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:30 |
59 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) EF Pro Cycling | 00:02:30 |
60 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:30 |
61 | Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:30 |
62 | Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 00:02:30 |
63 | Carlos Verona Quintanilla (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:30 |
64 | Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale | 00:02:30 |
65 | Rudy Molard (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:30 |
66 | Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 00:02:30 |
67 | Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Arkea-Samsic | 00:02:30 |
68 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:30 |
69 | Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 00:02:30 |
70 | Winner Anacona (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic | 00:02:30 |
GC after stage 12
1 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 51:26:43 |
2 | Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:00:21 |
3 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 00:00:28 |
4 | Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale | 00:00:30 |
5 | Nairo Quintana (Col) Team Arkea-Samsic | 00:00:32 |
6 | Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 00:00:32 |
7 | Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates | 00:00:44 |
8 | Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:01:02 |
9 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team | 00:01:15 |
10 | Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Bahrain McLaren | 00:01:42 |
11 | Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo | 00:01:53 |
12 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:02 |
13 | Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo | 00:02:31 |
14 | Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:03:22 |
15 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 00:03:42 |
16 | Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain McLaren | 00:03:42 |
17 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:03:43 |
18 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:12:13 |
19 | Sergio Andres Higuita Garcia (Col) EF Pro Cycling | 00:13:15 |
20 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept | 00:18:57 |
JOHN TREVORROW is a multiple Australian champion road racer and Olympian who has been doing media commentary at the Tour de France for more than 20 years.
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