Hirschi wins 12th stage of Tour de France

After two agonising near misses, Swiss Marc Hirschi finally claimed his maiden Tour de France win, and his first as a professional, when he completed a solo break to take the 12th stage yesterday.

Having finished second in the second stage in Nice and third in the ninth stage in Laruns after a long solo breakaway in the Pyrenees, the former Under-23 world champion held off a group of chasers to prevail following a bumpy 218km trek that ended in former French President Jacques Chirac’s hometown.

France’s Pierre Rolland was second and Hirschi’s Sunweb team mate Soren Kragh Andersen of Denmark took third place as Slovenian Primoz Roglic retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

Thursday’s stage, the longest in this year’s edition, was no walk in the park however as the bunch whizzed through Saint Leonard de Noblat, the hometown of former France great Raymond Poulidor, who died last November.after a very fast start, six riders, including four-time Tour stage winner Luis Leon Sanchez, formed the early breakaway but the

Marc Hirschi

celebrates peloton kept them on a tight leash. It was over for them when Spain’s Marc Soler attacked in the Cote du Pey. The Movistar rider was joined by five riders, including Hirschi and two of his Sunweb teammates.

Soler jumped away in the brutal climb of the Suc au May (3.8km at an average gradient of 7.7 percent) but Hirschi counter-attacked and crested the summit alone. He extended his lead in the descent and never looked back.