Marc Hirschi made it third time lucky by winning the 12th stage of the Tour de France with a stunning solo attack.

The 22 year old had been set up by his Team Sunweb team-mates Tiesj Benoot and Soren Kragh Andersen after he bridged over to them on the penultimate climb of the day, and once they’d paced him as far as they could on the following ascent, the Swiss rider pressed on alone for the final 28km.

Despite a group containing Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) mounting a determined chase behind, no-one could catch Hirschi as he time trialled home, and eventually wrapped up his victory by a 47-second winning margin.

The triumph was the first Tour stage win of Hirchi’s career, and came after second and third-placed finishes on stages two and nine respectively.

Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels - Vital Concept p/b KTM) was the next rider across the line in second place, with the aforementioned Andersen five seconds behind him in third.

Elsewhere, there were no significant changes at the top of the General Classification meaning Primoz Roglic (Team Jumbo-Visma) retained his 21-second lead over Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers).

Sam Bennett (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) retained his grip on the green jersey, while Benoit Cosnefroy (AG2R La Mondiale) lived to fight another day as King of the Mountains.