Marc Hirschi won the longest stage of the 2020 Tour de France with a bold solo breakaway, becoming the first Swiss stage winner on the Tour since Fabian Cancellara in 2012.
The Sunweb rider powered away on the Suc au May climb, new to the Tour. He extended his lead by racing with hair-raising speed down the other side and held off pursuers over the last 25 kilometers to win stage 12 by a comfortable margin in Sarran. This marked his inaugural victory at his inaugural Tour.
“It’s unbelievable because I was close two times,” said Hirschi in a post-race interview. “I never believed that I could make it because I was really doubtful. I went full-gas until the last 200 metres, and this is super nice, I can’t describe it. It’s hard to put this into words.”
Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) was second and Hirschi’s Sunweb team mate Soren Kragh Andersen took third place.
The Tour’s top contenders, including yellow-jersey wearer Primoz Roglic, were still some two minutes behind when Hirschi finished the 218-kilometerstage into the Massif Central.
Roglic kept the overall race lead, still 21 seconds ahead of Egan Bernal.
Tour de France 2020 – stage 12 results (Chauvigny – Sarran):
| 1 | Marc Hirschi (Team Sunweb) | 5:08:49 |
| 2 | Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) | +47” |
| 3 | Søren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) | +52” |
| 4 | Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) | ,, |
| 5 | Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 6 | Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 7 | Hugo Houle (Astana) | ,, |
| 8 | Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 9 | Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) | +56” |
| 10 | Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 11 | Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +01’48” |
| 12 | Marc Soler (Movistar) | +02’05” |
| 13 | Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) | +02’30” |
| 14 | Greg Van Avermaet (CCC) | ,, |
| 15 | Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 16 | Michael Gogl (NTT0 | ,, |
| 17 | Cyril Barthe (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) | ,, |
| 18 | Oliver Naesen (AG2R la Mondiale) | ,, |
| 19 | Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 20 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
Tour de France 2020 – general classification after stage 12:
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | 51:26:43 |
| 2 | Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) | +21” |
| 3 | Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) | +28” |
| 4 | Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) | +30” |
| 5 | Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) | +32” |
| 6 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling) | ,, |
| 7 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +44” |
| 8 | Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’02” |
| 9 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +01’15” |
| 10 | Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) | +01’42” |
| 11 | Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’53” |
| 12 | Enric Mas (Movistar) | +02’02” |
| 13 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | +02’31” |
| 14 | Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) | +03’22” |
| 15 | Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) | +03’42” |
| 16 | Damiano Caruso (Bahrain McLaren) | ,, |
| 17 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +03’43” |
| 18 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +13’13” |
| 19 | Sergio Higuita (EF Pro Cycling) | +13’15” |
| 20 | Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) | +18’57” |
