Marc Hirschi solos to victory at Per Sempre Alfredo

Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) opened his 2022 racing account with a victory at the Per Sempre Alfredo, soloing to the win eight kilometres from the finish of the hilly one-day race.

Dion Smith (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Remy Mertz (Bingoal-Pauwels Sauces-WB) rounded out the podium in the sprint just seconds behind the Swiss rider, who had missed the early part of the season due to a hip operation.

Hirschi's win is UAE Team Emirates' 20th of the new season and the fourth of his career, following a stage of the Tour de France, La Flèche Wallonne, and a stage of last year's Tour de Luxembourg.

The Swiss rider managed to create a 10-second gap to the lead group with an attack over the third and final climb of the Collina, just outside Sesto Fiorentino. He held a similarly small gap all the way to line, managing to hold off a small group of chasers to claim victory.

"I'm really delighted with this win, it means a lot," Hirschi said after the race. "I've worked so hard together with my team over the past months to come back and it makes me really happy to do it like this.

"I have to thank my team for their confidence and for all the work they've done in getting me to this point. Watching the team achieving everything they have this season was huge motivation while I was on the sidelines and it feels great to be back with them in the peloton again."

Hirschi's UAE Team Emirates squad had controlled the race for much of the day, while out front the breakaway of Didier Merchan (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) and Lorenzo Milesi (Italy) gained five minutes before getting caught 37 kilometres from home.

At 22 kilometres to go a six-man group – including Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe), Filippo Fiorelli (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Marco Canola (Italy) tried a move, but they too were caught just before the final climb where Hirschi made his race-winning jump.

The 173-kilometre race, set largely in the Appennine foothills to the north of Florence, was the second edition of Per Sempre 'Forever' Alfredo, named for longstanding former Italian national coach – and Sesto Fiorentino native – Alfredo Martini.

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Results
Pos.Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Marc Hirschi (Swi) UAE Team Emirates 4:23:38
2Dion Smith (NZl) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:00:03
3Remy Mertz (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
4Alessandro Fedeli (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
5Thomas Pesenti (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
6Luc Wirtgen (Lux) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:00:04
7Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe
8Andrea Garosio (Ita) Biesse-Carrera
9Nicola Conci (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo 0:00:07
10Kevin Colleoni (Ita) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:00:15
11Filippo Fiorelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' 0:00:48
12Davide Gabburo (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' 0:00:56
13Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:00:58
14Sergio Meris (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan 0:01:00
15Ben King (USA) Human Powered Health 0:01:11
16Marco Canola (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
17Kenny Molly (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
18Francesco Busatto (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia 0:01:20
19Nicolo' Parisini (Ita) Team Qhubeka
20Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team
21Eduardo Sepulveda (Arg) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:01:22
22Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Gazprom-Rusvelo
23German Dario Gomez Becerra (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
24Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
25Alejandro Ropero Molina (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
26Natnael Tesfazion (Eri) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:01:28
27Gavin Mannion (USA) Human Powered Health 0:01:40
28Alessandro Monaco (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due 0:01:50
29Nicola Venchiarutti (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
30Johan Meens (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:02:06
31Anders Foldager (Den) Biesse-Carrera 0:02:10
32Alessandro Baroni (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
33Daniel Savini (Ita) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
34Sergio Garcia Gonzalez (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
35Cristian David Rico Lemus (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano 0:02:21
36Harold Martin Lopez Granizo (Ecu) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team 0:02:42
37Tom Paquot (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB 0:02:53
38Kristian Aasvold (Nor) Human Powered Health 0:03:28
39Alessandro Santaromita Villa (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane' 0:03:45
40Andrea Piras (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
41Jan Maas (Ned) BikeExchange-Jayco 0:04:58
42Tanel Kangert (Est) BikeExchange-Jayco
43Chad Haga (USA) Human Powered Health
44Davide Baldaccini (Ita) Team Corratec 0:05:21
45Milan Menten (Bel) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
46Raul Colombo (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
47Marco Tizza (Ita) Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB
48Giacomo Villa (Ita) Biesse-Carrera
49Marco Murgano (Ita) Team Corratec
50Samuele Carpene (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia
51Michael Belleri (Ita) Biesse-Carrera
52Edoardo Faresin (Ita) Zalf Euromobile Fior
53Giovanni Bortoluzzi (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
54Alessandro Iacchi (Ita) Team Qhubeka
55Egidio Karim Raviele (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
56Walter Calzoni (Ita) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
57Francesco Di Felice (Ita) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
58Andres Camilo Ardila Ordoñez (Col) UAE Team Emirates
59Juan Diego Alba Bolivar (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli 0:06:21
DNFLorenzo Milesi (Ita) Development Team DSM
DNFKristian Sbaragli (Ita) Alpecin-Fenix
DNFMatthew Walls (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNFPatrick Gamper (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNFFrederik Wandahl (Den) Bora-Hansgrohe
DNFMatteo Sobrero (Ita) BikeExchange-Jayco
DNFRyan Gibbons (RSA) UAE Team Emirates
DNFFelix Groß (Ger) UAE Team Emirates
DNFYousif Mirza Al-Hammadi (UAE) UAE Team Emirates
DNFJan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates
DNFJoel Suter (Swi) UAE Team Emirates
DNFJohnatan Cañaveral Vargas (Col) Bardiani CSF Faizane'
DNFOmar El Gouzi (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane'
DNFAlessio Nieri (Ita) Bardiani CSF Faizane'
DNFAlessandro Bisolti (Ita) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNFDidier Norberto Merchan Cardona (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNFBrandon Alejandro Rojas Vega (Col) Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli
DNFEdward Ravasi (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNFAlessandro Fancellu (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNFDaniel Viegas (Por) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNFDavid Martin Romero (Spa) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNFMark Christian (GBr) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
DNFKeegan Swirbul (USA) Human Powered Health
DNFStephen Bassett (USA) Human Powered Health
DNFKyle Murphy (USA) Human Powered Health
DNFDaniil Pronskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team
DNFNicolas Vinokurov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team
DNFNurbergen Nurlykhassym (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
DNFOrken Slamzhanov (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Development Team
DNFGleb Brussenskiy (Kaz) Astana Qazaqstan Team
DNFMatteo Freddi (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
DNFNicola Rossi (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
DNFPietro Aimonetto (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
DNFAndrea Biancalani (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
DNFMichael Vanni (Ita) Beltrami TSA Tre Colli
DNFRiccardo Ciuccarelli (Ita) Biesse-Carrera
DNFLorenzo Roda (Ita) Biesse-Carrera
DNFMattias Nordal (Den) Biesse-Carrera
DNFBrayan Vargas Hernandez (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
DNFFreddy Avila Avendaño (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
DNFNelson Soto Martinez (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
DNFJohan Ramirez Giraldo (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
DNFRafael Steven Pineda Pineda (Col) Colombia Tierra de Atletas GW Shimano
DNFMatteo Furlan (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFAndrea Ghislanzoni (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFLorenzo Pellegrini (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFNathan Sbabo (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFMattia Viel (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFSimone Roganti (Ita) D'Amico um Tools
DNFLuca Cavallo (Ita) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
DNFOleksandr Shchypak (Ukr) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
DNFRiccardo Perani (Ita) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
DNFKyrylo Tsarenko (Ukr) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
DNFDavide Bauce (Ita) Gallina Ecotek Lucchini
DNFEttore Pozza (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia
DNFFilippo D'Aiuto (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia
DNFGianmarco Carpene (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia
DNFRiccardo Tosin (Ita) General Store-Essegibi-f.lli Curia
DNFGergely Szarka (Hun) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFEmil Dima (Rom) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFDavide Finatti (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFJozsef-Attila Malnasi (Rom) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFAdriano Brogi (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFNicolas Dalla Valle (Ita) Giotti Victoria Savini Due
DNFPaul Wright (NZl) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
DNFEdoardo Martinelli (Ita) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
DNFDaan Hoeks (Ned) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
DNFConnor Sens (Aus) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
DNFMaximilian Stedman (GBr) MG.K Vis Colors for Peace VPM
DNFGidas Umbri (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNFFrancesco CalI' (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNFNicola Plebani (Ita) Team Colpack Ballan
DNFSimone Olivero (Ita) Team Corratec
DNFVeljko Stojnic (Srb) Team Corratec
DNFPreslav Balabanov (Bul) Team Corratec
DNFMatteo Amella (Ita) Team Corratec
DNFJan Stöckli (Swi) Team Corratec
DNFGhebrehiwet Birhane (Eri) Team Qhubeka
DNFEfrem Araya (Eri) Team Qhubeka
DNFJacopo Menegotto (Ita) Team Qhubeka
DNFChristian Danilo Pase (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
DNFEric Paties Montagner (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
DNFFederico Burchio (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
DNFLuca Tornaboni (Ita) Work Service-Vitalcare-Dynatek
DNFAlessio Acco (Ita) Zalf Euromobile Fior
DNFSimone Griggion (Ita) Zalf Euromobile Fior
DNFEdoardo Zamperini (Ita) Zalf Euromobile Fior
DNFStefano Cavalli (Ita) Zalf Euromobile Fior

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Senior news writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Prior to joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly, Rouleur, and CyclingTips.

 

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France and the spring Classics, and has interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering, and Anna van der Breggen.

 

As well as original reporting, news and feature writing, and production work, Dani also oversees The Leadout newsletter and How to Watch guides throughout the season. Their favourite races are Strade Bianche and the Volta a Portugal.

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