Early career Hirschi began competing in cycling at the age of 11, inspired both by his father's passion for the sport and by the success of
Fabian Cancellara, who hails from the same region as Hirschi. He initially competed in mountain biking, before also practicing road, track and cyclo-cross as a teenager. He was a two-time national junior road race champion, winning in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, he was recruited by the for his first season in the under-23 category, joining the year after. In September 2018 it was announced that he would join from 2019 on a three-year contract, having been a member of in 2018. In the same month, Hirschi won the under-23 road race at the
UCI Road World Championships in
Innsbruck, Austria.
Team Sunweb (2019–2021) During his first professional season in 2019, Hirschi finished third in the
Clásica de San Sebastián. In 2020, Hirschi had a breakout year: after starting the
Tour de France for the first time, he won a stage, three combative rider awards for his performances on individual stages and the overall
Combativity award. One week after the end of the Tour, he took the bronze medal in the
Men's road race at the
Road World Championships in
Imola. Three days later Hirschi took the win at
La Flèche Wallonne, pulling away from the rest of the lead group in the last 50 metres of the final climb of the
Mur de Huy. He was the first Swiss rider to win the race since
Ferdinand Kübler in 1952. Several days later, he also finished second to
Primož Roglič at
Liège–Bastogne–Liège. In January 2021, Hirschi's contract with was abruptly terminated, leaving Hirschi as a free agent. No comment was given by Hirschi or , other than that the contract was ended with mutual consent. Days later, Hirschi signed a three-year contract with . He opened the 2022 season in late March with a win at the
Per sempre Alfredo race in Italy. In June, he won the
Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau. The following month, he was selected for the
Tour de France only two days before the start of race after
Matteo Trentin was forced to withdraw after testing positive for
SARS-CoV-2. Hirschi took two more wins in Italy towards the end of the season at the
Giro della Toscana and the
Veneto Classic. Hirschi started 2023 in Australia, finishing eighth in the
Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. In February, he crashed on the first stage of the
Volta ao Algarve, fracturing a
radius. He returned to competition at the end of March. In May, he finished fourth at
Eschborn–Frankfurt, before winning stage three of the
Tour de Hongrie, taking the race lead in the process. Hirschi was able to hold on to the race lead for the remainder of the race, marking his first stage race victory. In June, he became the
Swiss National Road Race Champion for the first time. In September, he won the
Coppa Sabatini and the
Tour de Luxembourg, both events on the
UCI ProSeries calendar. In February 2024, he won the
La Drôme Classic, his fourth race of the season, after a late attack. In April, he placed second to
Tom Pidcock at the
Amstel Gold Race. In August, Hirschi beat Julian Alaphillipe in a two-up sprint to win the
Clásica de San Sebastián. This started a run of five-straight one-day victories for Hirschi, as he won
2024 Bretagne Classic Ouest-France,
GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano,
Coppa Sabatini, and Memorial Marco Pantani. Hirschi ended the season with nine professional wins, his most in a single season. ==Major results==