When Michael Matthews was removed from the Tour de France by Team Sunweb, questions were raised about the German team. Removing the former green jersey winner seemed like an oversight, but Matthews has since left the team and will return to Mitchelton-Scott next season.

However, Sunweb's Tour team, with an average age of 26 (slightly pulled by Nicolas Roche's 36), has performed admirably. Roche is the only rider on Sunweb over the age of 28, and he and Nikias Arndt are the only riders who have won a Grand Tour stage before this year's Tour de France.

He has also never won La Grand Boucle. This reminds us of Alan Hansen's famous line about Manchester United in 1995: "I have never won a stage of the Tour de France before, and I have never won a stage of the Tour de France before. Hansen was proven wrong, and those who doubted Sunweb were also proven wrong.

It was Marc Hirschi's solo ride on stage 12 that gave Sunweb the victory, with Sören Krafft-Andersen in third and Roche finishing 10th. [Hirschi finished second behind Julien Alaphilippe on stage 2 and third on stage 9 in Larence, where a 90-km breakaway (most of it solo) was caught by an elite group of GC favorites and lost in the finish sprint.

Hirschi, a former under-23 world champion, scored his first professional win at age 22 in his second year of WorldTour competition. He is also a product of the Sunweb Development Team, and it is a credit to the team's hard work and tactics.

With 43km to go, Tiesj Benoot and Claf Andersen attacked from the front of the peloton, followed by Hirschi. Benoot's attack was not a bad one for a stage win, but he burned himself out to close the distance with the group behind him as Krav Andersen continued his strong ride. Hirschi attacked to perfection in the Suc-au-May with 25km to go.

A chase group of 14 formed, including Claf Andersen, Roche, and the day's favorite, Alaphilippe. 14 riders should have been able to catch one, but the group's lack of cohesion was directly in Hirschi's hands. Alaphilippe's second-in-command, Dries Devenyns, was supposed to lead the group, but that didn't work, and instead of all working together, they turned on each other.

Alaphilippe seemed desperate to close the gap to the Swiss riders, but Hirschi remained calm and composed and continued his time trial to the finish. Instead of rallying their collective strength, the chasing riders repeatedly attacked, disrupted their rhythm, and made stop and start after stop, failing to make an impact on the chase. Claf Andersen and Roche were dead weight and sometimes just sat there before Claf Andersen could complete the podium.

As in stage 9, Hirschi was incredibly good on the descents, using every inch of pavement to extend his advantage to the finish. On the second stage in Nice, he allowed Alaphilippe to get ahead of him. This time Hirschi learned from his second battle with the Frenchman.

Just as important as Hirschi's sense of style and racing skill was Sunweb's teamwork. Brian Smith, who once directed the MTN-Qhubeka team, described the team's plan as "master class" on Eurosport. Said Smith: "They ran in numbers and attacked at the right time. They come here every day with the tactics and mindset to win, and it's paying off."

This is not the first time Sunweb has shown strength in this year's Tour. They have been part of several breakaways and have come close to winning on numerous occasions. Roche set up a big breakaway on stage 6, and the Irishman, Hirschi, and Benoot have spent more than 100 km in the breakaway in this year's Tour.

The team also stands out in sprint finishes. In fact, they are the only team to have a train for their only sprinter, Cees Bol. Boll may not have won yet, but he has finished in the top 10 four times and would have won the fifth stage of Prevas, had it not been for a huge effort by Wout Van Aert, who may be the best rider in the world today.

Sunweb's tactics are no one-off. In Paris-Nice this year, Benoot won stage 6 against an attack by Claf Andersen. The next day, Benoot tried again alone to win the yellow jersey, but came up short.

Credit must go to the team's coaches, including Matt Winston, who has experience with British Cycling and One Pro Cycling. The team has a plan for each day and it shows.

With Sunweb winning this year's Tour and achieving their goals, one would imagine that a weight has been lifted off their shoulders and they can continue to aggressively hunt for more stages in the remaining nine days. With a competitive team, and a star in Marc Hirsch, Sunweb is sure to win at least one more.

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