Hirschi says 'adieu' to the desert and 'bonjour' to Tour dreams at Tudor: "I'm coming into my best years"

"I changed basically for performance reasons," Hirschi said in an interview with Velo, explaining his decision to leave the top team of 2024, where he spent four years. "I’m coming into hopefully my best years and I wanted to see how far I could go. I was comfortable at UAE but it was hard because in a Grand Tour you would never get the freedom to go for stages because the goal for UAE is always the GC. There’s no space to go for stages and this was the reason why it was time to change."

"I look back on UAE as four nice years," continued the 26-year-old Swiss rider. "I definitely don’t regret going there, but it was the right moment to move on, to go to another team where I can be the leader in the biggest races, and not have to fight internally for any leadership." At the Swiss team, Hirschi will share leadership duties with Julian Alaphilippe in key races.

Hirschi, now one of the best one-day specialists, also hopes to grow as a stage racer with his new team. "I hope I can improve, I really hope I can challenge the best guys and be there among the best one-day racers. I would love to go back to a Grand Tour. I’d love to be at the Tour, it’s a dream to be back there, and a dream to win a stage again."

The chance to shine in La Grande Boucle could come as early as this year. The first week features several puncher-friendly stages in the Romandy region of France. This opening week is highlighted on the Swiss rider’s calendar. "I think it’s going to be a bit easier to go in the breakaway with a Tudor jersey."

While Hirschi ultimately joined Tudor, it wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Several WorldTour teams were in the mix for his signature. "I was in contract with WorldTour teams but I chose Tudor because they gave me everything I needed. I have my freedom here, they work super professionally, and they have the same structure as WorldTour teams. They work a lot in innovation and aerodynamics and it was a pretty easy decision for me. The only difference really is we have to apply for wild cards," Hirschi said realistically.

Hirschi’s road season starts early. In just a few days, he will debut at the Mallorca Challenge, where he’ll race five events. From there, he’ll head to the French opening weekend in early March before targeting the Walloon classics later in the spring.