The reason for Marc Hirsch's sudden transfer from Team DSM (formerly Sunweb) to UAE Team Emirates at the beginning of the year remains a mystery. The confidentiality agreement states that.

Hirschi appeared to be at the center of their plans in December when DSM announced their roster for the 2021 season, but on January 5, the German-registered team announced that they had terminated his contract with immediate effect.

Marcel Kittel, Warren Barguil, Tom Dumoulin, and Michael Matthews had left Ivan Spekenbrink's team before their contracts expired, announcing that they were leaving for other teams, but there was no explanation for Hirschi's sudden departure.

Hirschi, a Fresh Wallonne and Tour de France stage winner, will move to UAE Team Emirates four days later. Speaking to reporters via video call from his new team's training camp in Dubai on Monday, Hirschi declined to elaborate on his reasons for leaving DSM.

"I can't say much because of the settlement agreement, but at the end of the day I had a chance. I had a chance to leave. 'I'm here now and I'm really happy it worked out. Now I'm focused on the future. For me, this is perfect."

UAE Team Emirates manager Mauro Gianetti explained last week that he learned of Hirschi's availability in late December and moved quickly to sign Hirschi, reaching an agreement with his agent, Fabian Cancellara, before New Year's Eve.

While it is highly unusual for such a rider to move teams so close to the new season, Hirschi insisted that the move was not much of a problem ahead of a campaign that has already gotten off to a slow start due to a coronavirus outbreak. For example, DSM's team did not attend training camp in December.

"Everything got delayed quite a bit, but I was really happy it worked out," Hirschi said. "In this Corona situation, with no training camp and no new bikes, I think it was still okay. In a different season, it would have been more complicated. But in a year like this, everything starts late anyway, so it wasn't a problem to make the change so late.

"Now I'm at my first training camp. I got my new bike, I got to meet my teammates.

Gianetti claimed the deal was done in December, but Hirschi still arrived late to the UAE Team Emirates training camp in Dubai. In other words, he was not among the 59 riders and staff who received the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, which was tested in the UAE in late 2020.

"We will know in the future if we have a chance to vaccinate, but for now we have not," Hirschi said.

"It is very possible that the start of the season will be delayed or that many races will be cancelled until the vaccine is available in many countries. At the moment I am just preparing normally and hoping the season will start, but many races are in doubt."

In a condensed 2020 season, Hirschi packed a lot into a short period of time. All-action at the Tour was followed by a bronze medal at the Imola World Championships and a victory in Flèche Wallonne. If Julien Alaphilippe had not deviated in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege sprint, he might have ended his second professional season with a monumental victory.

The 2021 race calendar should be more even throughout the year, but the 22-year-old's schedule begins with the UAE Tour, with Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico coming up before Milan-San Remo. The Tour of the Basque Country will be Hirschi's final preparation for the Ardennes Classics, the centerpiece of the spring.

Hirschi plans to compete in the Tour de France with the support of Tadej Pogachar after his return at the Tour de Suisse. Later in the year, the World Championships and Il Lombardia are his goals, and the European Championships are also a possibility. Hirschi explained that despite the change in teams, his main goals have not changed.

"The big goals of the Ardennes Classics and the Olympics remain the same," Hirschi said, adding that he has not yet considered whether he will need to cut the Tour early for quarantine before the road race in Tokyo.

"It's hard to say because we don't know yet what the rules will be. We have to wait a month before the Tour and see what the plan is. It's not worth putting energy into that right now."

Hirschi, who enjoyed the freedom to expend his energy almost as much as he wanted as part of the young Sunweb team in its debut Tour last September, knows that in 2021 he will have to focus his efforts on supporting defending champion Pogachar

"We fought a lot to win together. But he was always the GC rider and I was the one-day rider," Hirschi said, dismissing the idea that he might eventually spend three weeks testing his strength.

"I need more time and grand tour to make changes, but I don't want to push it. But I don't want to overreach."