After winning a stage at the Tour de France and being honored as the most aggressive rider, Switzerland's Marc Hirsch also had an important result at the world championships in Imola, finishing third.

He defeated former world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, Jakub Fuglsang, and Promish Roglic to win the bronze medal.

Hirschi had just won the under-23 world title two years ago in Innsbruck, and once again proved his rapid development with another remarkable performance. He has the potential to be a force in the Classics and World Championships for the next decade and to become the successor to Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara, who has won the Under 23 World title in Innsbruck two years ago.

"I am really happy to be third. I didn't expect to finish third," Hirsch modestly told Cycling News. [Alaphilippe was the strongest today. I wasn't in very good shape, so I was just happy to be in the second group. But when the race exploded, I was able to go with the chasers and that gave me some momentum."

On the final climb, Hirschi was wise beyond his years. As a result, he was able to get to the front of the pack in preparation for an attack near the summit. When Kwiatkowski attacked, others were too far back to react, and riders like Vincenzo Nibali had no legs. Hirschi had the positioning and strength to get into the chase group that formed behind Alaphilippe.

Hirschi and his chase companions were confident that the chase group could catch Alaphilippe on the fast descent to the Imola circuit. However, Alaphilippe used his daring downhill skills to prevent this. On the fast, wide, flat, closed circuit, the gap closed, but then the chasing group began to slow their pace as they became aware of the sprint for second place.

"At first we were riding together, but in the last two kilometers everyone could see that Van Aert was the strongest in the sprint, and that affected the chase. It always does," he explained.

"Wout Van Aert won the group sprint and everyone knew we couldn't beat him.

Hirschi enjoyed a roller coaster of a race this month. Making his Grand Tour debut at the Tour de France, Hirschi showed his ability and determination by attacking on stage 2 with Alaphilippe and Adam Yates to take second place. On stage 9, he finished third behind Tadej Pogachar and Promoj Roglic, and on stage 12, he won solo. A crash on stage 18 prevented him from winning a second stage, but he solidified his talent as an aggressive and talented rider.

"I didn't have much time to understand what I had done. Also because after the Tour, this race was so fast," he admitted. [The next big race is Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. I feel really good right now, but once the season is over I want to enjoy the time to understand what I have done."

Hirschi will be part of Team Sunweb's Classics team for the next few weeks, racing the Amstel Gold Race, Ghent-Wevelgem, and Tour of Flanders. He is still struggling after his crash at the Tour de France, but feels he is in great shape.

"Maybe I'm not in the best shape, but I just want to enjoy it and hope it continues. I just want to keep doing the same things I'm doing now and hope I keep progressing."