Hirschi fifth on wet stage in Switzerland

Marc Hirschi showed his condition is on the rise with a solid 5th place from an elite group on what was a wet stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse from Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Lachen (178km).

Hirschi climbed with the best on the tricky final climb which came just inside the final 10 km with 2.4km at 8.5%, bridging across over the brow of the hill as they sped down the slippery descent to the line.

Stage honours went to Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) who broken clear inside 3km to go, with Hirschi 4” behind in the chase group.

Hirschi: “It was a pretty hard day because of the weather. When the rain started the speed ramped up and it was full gas on the last climb. I set my own pace and bridged over to the front guys over the top of the climb. I missed Van Der Poel’s wheels when he attacked and we couldn’t get him back. I sprinted to 5th from the group I managed to go with the best over the last climb so I’m happy with my shape and looking forward to the days ahead.”

 
Tomorrow stage 3 takes the riders from Lachen to Pfaffnau (182.1km) over a hilly parcours.

 
Stage 2 results

1.Mathieu Van Der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) 4:12:13
2.Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) s.t
3.Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) s.t
5.Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) +4’’

 
General Classification after stage 2

1.Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) 4:24:52
2. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep) +1’’
3.Maximiliano Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2’’
15.Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) +48’’