SARRAN, France (Reuters) - 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 on Thursday.
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 218-km trek that ended in former French president Jacques Chirac's hometown.