Tudor Professional Biking have confirmed the signing of Marc Hirschi and Fabian Lienhard for 2025, with Julian Alaphilippe additionally extensively anticipated to additionally be part of the bold Swiss ProTeam.
Like many groups, Tudor had postpone revealing their 2025 signings in the course of the Paris Olympic Video games however they confirmed the arrival of Hirschi on Monday, two days after he gained Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa. The 30-year-old Fabian Lienhard joins from Groupama-FDJ on a two-year deal.
Hirschi has signed a three-year contract and can depart UAE Group Emirates after a four-year spell. Hirschi is from Bern, like Tudor group proprietor Fabian Cancellara, who has lengthy acted as a mentor and advisor.
Hirschi broke by way of within the pandemic-delayed season of 2020, successful a stage at that yr’s Tour de France after which including Flèche Wallonne. He was additionally third on the world championships in Italy and second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Group Sunweb surprisingly terminated his contract in early 2021 and he moved to UAE Group Emirates shortly afterwards. He was once more aggressive within the Classics however solely returned to success in 2022 when he gained 4 races between March and October. He was additionally Swiss nationwide champion in 2023.
Hirschi is not going to trip a Grand Tour in 2024 attributable to UAE Group Emirates’ robust stage race roster, however he was second within the Amstel Gold Race after which gained Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa, beating Alaphilippe after the 2 acquired away within the closing kilometres.
At Tudor, Hirschi will get pleasure from a transparent management position, maybe with Alaphilippe and Matteo Trentin as highway captain.
“As a Swiss rider, it feels particular to hitch a Swiss group. I’m 25 so it’s time for me to endorse the position of a pacesetter and see how far I can go. Tudor Professional Biking is giving me this chance and I hope to return the belief with some positive victories.” Hirschi stated.
Tudor stepped as much as ProTeam degree in 2023 however have severe ambitions due to strong monetary help from the Swiss watch model that’s owned by the identical buyers as Rolex. The arrival of Alaphilippe may treatment them a Tour de France wild card in 2025 and maybe a spot within the WorldTour in 2026.
Cancellara leads the group administration, with Raphael Meyer the group supervisor, Ricardo Scheidecker head of sport and Matteo Tosatto one of many skilled directeur sportif.
“Signing Marc appears like the subsequent piece of the puzzle of our story,” Cancellara stated.
“We’ve been supporting him for a while, we all know him effectively and perceive his wants. He’s the appropriate match for the group and the values we stand for. We’re satisfied we might help him to realize the best degree.”
Fabian Lienhard can even return to a Swiss group in 2025 after 5 years at Groupama-FDJ. “Racing for a Swiss group has all the time been my dream. Sadly, it by no means occurred till now, so I’m actually pleased it’s changing into actuality with Tudor Professional Biking,” he stated.
“We’re excited so as to add Marc and Fabian to the group roster,” says Raphael Meyer stated.
“Each convey huge expertise and can assist us to carry out higher as a group. Marc might be a pacesetter in one-day and one-week stage races whereas Fabian might be one other strong addition to the Classics group, which can all the time be an essential a part of our group. He can even be a job mannequin and a mentor to the children. He’s a strong rider with potential to nonetheless develop. These two additions make us very proud.”
