Tudor Pro Cycling will participate on Saturday in the Tour de France. The training led by Fabian Cancellara thus signs the return of a Swiss team to the Great Loop.
KEYSTONE
It was 9 years and the withdrawal of IAM Cycling that Switzerland was no longer represented by a team from the most followed annual event in the world. An absence filled by Tudor Pro Cycling, which also aligns two white cross runners, Marc Hirschi and Fabian Lienhard.
If the opportunity arises, the team will not be asked to try to conquer the yellow jersey, whose simple fact of carrying it for a day allows to enter the annals of world cycling. Fabian Cancellara knows something about it: the owner of the Tudor team carried it 29 days during his career, more than any other Swiss. He is even the runner having the most worn the golden tunic without ever winning the tour.
An opportunity to seize
The presence of Tudor’s runners at the big departure of Lille was made possible thanks to a Wild-Card, allowing this second division formation to rub shoulders with those of the World Tour present.
The team was able to count on a double competition of circumstances: the modification of the regulation of the UCI allowing the organization of the test to align 23 teams at the start against 22 previously, and a constant progression of its results since 2022.
The signing of the partnership with the watch brand Tudor marked the launch of a project capable of attracting renowned runners such as the double world champion Julian Alaphilippe, Marc Hirschi or the veteran Matteo Trentin. The team was able to participate in its first Italia Giro last year, and the sponsors (Red Bull, MSC) continued to flock.
Stage victory as a goal
Tudor does not have the ambition to win the general classification, Marc Hirschi specifies it: “We do not have a leader for the general classification”. The objectives for this first participation of the Tour are nevertheless ambitious: “We want to target stages victories. For each day, we have someone who can fight for the victory, “continues the Bernese, who confided in Keystone-ATS during the Tour of Switzerland.
Indeed, Tudor presents a balanced and competitive team on all terrains. With Julian Alaphilippe and the Australian Michael Storer, the team has two runners who are likely to win in the mountains. For arrivals to the sprint, the Italian Alberto Dainese is a candidate for success, while his compatriot Matteo Trentin, as a specialist in the classics, has a good profile for the transition stages.
And of course, Marc Hirschi himself is an asset in this selection-or could be. Because behind its shape hides a large question mark. The three-week altitude training camp in the Sierra Nevada, which he carried out among others with Alaphilippe after his non-selection for the Italia Giro, has not so far had the expected effect.
While Alaphilippe recently fought for a place on the podium in the general classification at the Tour de Switzerland, Hirschi did not yet have the necessary form during his tour at home. “I did not have completely legs yet to be at the front,” admits the 26 -year -old runner.
Find the rhythm
Because despite a promising start to the year that saw Hirschi win his first race with the Tudor jersey, a disease prompted him to skip training blocks in March. Since then, the Bernese has not yet been able to meet the expectations that Tudor places in him as a co-leader.
To be able to compete with the best in the Tour de France, everything must match – as in 2020. Hirschi had then celebrated his first professional victory in the Tour de France and had been appointed as the most combative runner of the whole tour. Then spent in the UAE Emirates team, he was at the service of the Superstar Tadej Pogacar during his two participations in the Tour.
This year, Marc Hirschi can again surprise the peloton, try to escape and demonstrate his sense of race. The electrical atmosphere of the Tour de France is perfect for waking up the numb bodies.
