Marc Hirschi wins Giro della Toscana from the break
Lorenzo Rota and Daniel Martinez complete the podium.
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Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) took the third win of the season at the Giro della Toscana in Italy on Wednesday. The Swiss rider was part of the final break of five riders and eventually outpaced his rivals with Lorenzo Rota and Daniel Martinez completing the podium.
“It’s a climbers race but you need a good sprint and it’s beautiful race,” Hirschi said at the finish.
It looked as though Martinez would take the race after the Ineos Grenadiers rider kicked clear on the final ascent of the Monte Serra with around 30km to go. The Colombian built up a lead of around 25 seconds and held that advantage on the descent.
He appeared to suffer from cramp and was caught before the finish with Hirschi, Rota, Einer Augusto Rubio (Movistar), and Esteban Chaves (EF Education-EasyPost) drawing him back in the closing stages.
In the sprint for the line Rota hit the front with just under 1,000m to go. Hirschi sat patiently on the Italian’s wheel before unleashing a powerful sprint.
“On the climb I suffered a lot, and Martinez was stronger, but it was still a long way and we had a group of four riders so it was hard for him to go alone. We worked together but Martinez was the strongest on the climbs. I crashed in the Tour on my knee and I had a crack in my patella, so I took a break after the Tour and I don’t have enough training in my legs for 260km. I will skip the worlds and concentrate on the Italian races.”
🥇🥇🥳🥳 DOUBLE WIN DAY!
🔥 @MarcHirschi wins the #GiroDellaToscana 🇮🇹.#UAETeamEmirates #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/qnmg6mI0VU
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) September 14, 2022
