Hirschi was a clear winner, finishing 47 seconds ahead of second place rider France's Pierre Rolland and 52 seconds in front of third placed rider Denmark's Søren Kragh Andersen, his Sunweb teammate.

Hirschi's victory was the first win of his professional racing career, with the 22-year-old coming close to winning stages previously in this year's Tour - including on stage nine at Laruns where he lost in a sprint to Slovenia's Tadej Pogačar.

Yet, the 218 kilometre route from Chauvigny to Sarran - the longest on this year's Tour - proved to be successful for the youngster.

Kicking on with 30 kilometres to go, Hirschi moved away from the group of Germany's Max Schachmann, France's Quentin Pacher, Belgium's Tiesj Benoot and Kragh Andersen to make a stunning solo effort count.

"Today I never believed I could make it," he said after the race.

"I was always doubting, it was only in the last kilometre I believed I could do it."

Spain's Marc Soler, who had been caught by the group, and Schachmann, pushed on to attempt to stay with the Swiss rider.

However, they were soon dropped, with all riders falling back to join a group involving France's Julian Alaphilippe who looked desperate in the final stages of the race.

Alaphilippe seemed unhappy with his bike in the final kilometres as he fell off the chasing pack to finish in 11th, 1min 48sec off the lead.

Hirschi at one point had nearly a minute on Alaphilippe's chasing group, but that did come down slightly when Rolland pushed on in a sprint for second, while Kragh Andersen had just enough to hold off the rest of the top 10 for third.

Rolland's B&B Hotels - Vital Concept teammate Pacher just missed the podium in fourth with Schachmann in sixth behind Spain's Jesús Herrada.

Canada's Hugo Houle, Switzerland's Sébastien Reichenbach, France's Kenny Elissonde and Ireland's Nicolas Roche completed the top 10.

The top 10 in the general classification remained as it was after stage 11, with Roglič continuing to lead by 21 seconds over Colombia's reigning Tour de France champion Egan Bernal and 28 seconds over France's Guillaume Martin.

Colombia are well-represented in the top 10, with four riders among the front runners at the moment, including Nairo Quintana, while France's other hope at the moment Romain Bardet, sits just 30 seconds off the lead.

Hirschi, despite some incredible stage performances, is far off the pace, leaking more than an hour to the leaders so far in the general classification.

However, a medium mountain stage could give the Swiss cyclist something to aim for in the King of the Mountains race, where he sits just five points off the leader, France's Benoit Cosnefroy.

Bernal and Pogačar also look in good shape to win the youth classification, with Spain's Enric Mas just over a minute behind.

Ireland's Sam Bennett continues to hold the green jersey in the points race ahead of Slovakia's Peter Sagan, despite not featuring near the front on this stage.