Hirschi seals overall victory in Hungary; Polanc calls it quits

Marc Hirschi had a more straightforward ride to victory than planned today as he rode to victory at the Tour de Hongrie on Sunday after the final stage in Budapest was neutralised due to adverse weather conditions.

In a tweet published briefly before the scheduled start time, the organisers stated, “There will be no intermediate sprints, no points, no stage winner. The riders will do 8 laps around the circuit for the fans. GC stays the same as yesterday.”

The neutralisation meant that the general classification standings remain as they were after stage 4 where Yannis Voisard of Tudor Pro Cycling surprised with a summit stage win.

Despite attacks from other general classification favourites, Hirschi held onto his general classification lead on the stage, and so won the overall competition 10 seconds ahead of Ben Tulett of Ineos Grenadiers in second place.

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Voisard’s admirable stage 4 effort was enough to put him on the podium in third place, three seconds behind Tulett.

The news meant Hirschi and his teammates could lead the peloton around the city streets of Budapest after a week of strong racing which saw them take home the overall honours. The result marks the 25th win of the season for UAE Team Emirates.

Hirschi: “Even though it was wet and raining I could enjoy every moment of the ride in Budapest today. Obviously we prefer to race and also for the fans it’s a pity that the last stage was neutralised but I think it was the safest option today. The team rode so well this week and I’m glad I could bring home the victory.”

Meanwhile, Polanc will bring the curtain down on his career as a professional cyclist with the Slovenian forced to make the difficult decision following irregularities during routine cardiac scans in the winter of 2022. After further checks it was decided that the risks associated with continuing elite level sport participation were greater than the benefits.

Polancs said: “Firstly I would like to thank the team and all the doctors involved for all their support during this process.

“It has taken a lot of checks and follow-ups and the team has been by my side and working to find answers and to make the right decisions.

“Also special thanks to my family and friends who have been close to me during this time and have always supported me during my career in both the good and bad moments.

“It’s obviously not the way I hoped to end my career as a rider, but when I look back I think I can be very happy.

“I have been in professional cycling for 10 years and with UAE Team Emirates since the very beginning of my career and have shared some amazing moments with them. I hope to continue in this family in some capacity on the road ahead.

“I am looking forward to the future as there are a lot of other beautiful things happening in my life at the moment and I feel very grateful for that and for everything we have already achieved.”

Mauro Gianetti, Team Principal & CEO, said: “In the case of Jan we spent many months seeking advice from our medical team and some of the finest specialists in the world and the final decision was made that it was time to stop for the good of his own health.

“Jan has been an asset to our team since the beginning and we are very proud of what he has achieved with us over the years. Our team and organisation is always expanding and we hope we can work towards finding a new role for Jan in the future.”

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates are pleased to announce the contract extension of Jay Vine who has renewed his existing deal to stay at the team until the end of 2027.

Vine joined the team this year and immediately made an impression with victory at the Australian TT champs and overall win at the first World Tour race of the year the Tour Down Under.

The Australian will now look to continue his development alongside the Emirati squad for the foreseeable future.

Jay Vine: “There’s no doubt in my mind, UAE is one of the best teams in the world, and to be able to extend my contract with them so soon after joining the team has been a big relief.

“A lot has happened already in my first season with UAE, straight away the team fully backed me, and helped bring me to a successful start to the season at Tour Down Under and Australian National Championships. I did get slowed down by my knee injury, but even through that, the team has been exceedingly supportive both on and off the bike.”