"I had been waiting for this moment for a long time" - Michel Hessmann makes long-awaited return from doping ban for Movistar at Milano-Torino 2025
Cycling
The 2025 edition of the Milano - Torino had its share of memorable moments, offering celebrations for every type of cycling fan. From Isaac del Toro’s impressive victory to Michel Hessmann’s long-awaited debut with Movistar Team, it was a day to remember.
Hessmann, the German rider, quickly became one of the main stories of the day. While Einer Rubio’s strong fifth-place finish for Movistar Team was a standout performance, the spotlight was on Hessmann. At 23 years old, he was the latest signing for the Spanish squad, and this race marked his long-awaited first appearance of the season.
After serving a doping suspension that kept him out of competition since August 2023, Hessmann had finally returned to racing. Yet, despite the excitement of his comeback, he was unable to fully express his emotions after the race in an interview with Movistar Team.
"It was a good race. I was so happy to see some old teammates here. I was really excited before we started because I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. It’s so nice to finally be here with the guys," said Hessmann, reflecting on his return.
Hessmann’s role in Milano-Torino was more about gaining experience and building his form for future goals. Movistar Team’s main hope for the race was Einer Rubio, who finished in an admirable fifth place.
For Hessmann, the goal was clear: to build up his sensations within the peloton. "I felt really good in the bunch. I think I played a solid role for the team today. So, I couldn’t be happier," he added.
Looking ahead, we can expect to see more of Hessmann in Movistar Team’s lineup over the coming months. Once considered one of the most promising young riders in the world, the 23-year-old German is now ready to realize his potential. With time on his side, Hessmann could soon emerge as a key figure for Movistar Team in the future.
🇮🇹⛪️ #MilanoTorino
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) March 19, 2025
🏆 La clásica más antigua del mundo, con un recorrido exigente y un desenlace épico en Superga.
📍 Rho → Superga | 174 km
🌾 Tramo inicial llano atravesando la llanura del Po
⛰️ Doble ascenso a Superga (4.9 km | 9.1%)
🔥 Las diferencias se definirán en las… pic.twitter.com/HZiGbqcWqf
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- My sympathy goes to Olav. There is no need to be so hard on someone who suffers and he is not a bad person.
KerisVroom01-04-2025 - Nice though you have to ask why they call it a wildcard as it’s always pretty obvious who will receive them.Mistermaumau01-04-2025
- Absolutely, we are inundated by articles (not only in cycling or sport but everywhere from stocks to weather to elections) from self-called or popularly regarded experts making calls without reasoning. They basically know little more than any other informed or interested party and base everything on odds. The fact that they never have to justify their wrong calls post event but continue to get to make calls should get some attention. It would be cool if someone tallied up and recorded their predictions for future reference.Mistermaumau01-04-2025
- Yes, I agree but you’re taking risks writing such long posts here ;-) In that sense, the Tourless Primoz discussion is also pretty pointless as he virtually won a Tour (nobody would have counted on Tadej doing what he did at the last moment at that time and I guess it was bad karma for Primoz for so ofren cutting things so fine). I think you over interpreted my original thesis, it was not for trying to explain his current state, it was to suggest there was already mental material pre-crashes that has helped worsen his state, when it rains it pours. I really do remember having the feeling in that past he was more focused on not letting MVDP get better than him than doing his own thing. The seed of doubt was already planted and it doesn’t take much for doubt to grow in all sorts of directions.Mistermaumau01-04-2025
- i wouldn't count Pogi out. Low probability of a win, but not impossiblemobk01-04-2025
- Right now it doesn't seem that his legs are there or that his head is in the racevappaxbipmv01-04-2025
- would have been nice to hear exactly WHY he thinks pog has zero chance in some greater detail. i mean, tend to agree that his chances aren’t GREAT, but some explanation from the expert with an opinion would be nice. MINE is that, in spite of the recon he did where tadej concluded that the course “wasn’t that hard” i think that doing the full route at full gas is really going to beat up pogacar’s 145lb body, to a degree that he maybe isn’t expecting. but hey, we’ll see in a couple weeks. like everyone else, i do think it’s supercool that he’s going.OCexile01-04-2025
- Go back to that era and look at the lousy mechanicals he's had at Paris-Roubaix. Take those away, maybe he has another Monument, Van der Poel has one less, and suddenly all the rules change. Those mechanicals preceded his awful crashes - and you're right, that Tour was amazing. Ventoux, TT, and Champs-Elysees?! Something that Pogacar and Van der Poel can't do, just Wout. It still amazes me.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Oh, the impossibility of this kind of comparison. A pre-WW2 Binda had amazing statistics, and that was one era. During what I think of as the romantic era, Poulidor had an incredible run at the Tour without winning, and Bobet won some grand tours and some Monuments. In this modern era (for me: after Hinault), we've had multiple Monument winners win a grand tour (such as Valverde and Kelly, with Kelly the better rider in general), and then we've got someone like Roglic, the true GC rider. Sure there was a Monument that was kind of a fluke (both Pogacar and Hirschi might have won, and twitchy Alaphilippe deserved relegation), but what matters are the 5 grand tours and all these wins across the 1 week GC races except for the Tour de Suisse (you'd think he'd race it to get the set of them all). In this era, since 2000 or so, maybe he meets the description as best non-Tour winner. How many GC riders have these wins and not the Tour? To compare to other eras really is not possible. He's his own unique rider, and it's been amazing watching him for the past many years. That's about all we can say.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Ease up on a brother!bobo01-04-2025