tour de france 2011 etape 18

Live coverage

Tour de france 2011: stage 18.

January 1 - July 24, Pinerolo, France, Road - HIS (Historical Calendar)

Stage 18 of the Tour de France, 200.5km from Pinerolo to Galibier-Serre Chevalier.

200km remaining from 200km

The peloton has just rolled out of Pinerolo and begun the arduous trek towards the mighty Col du Galibier.

With three Hors categorie passes on the menu today, it's no surprise to see that it's a gentle start to proceedings today. The Colle dell'Agnello, the Col d'Izoard and the Col du Galibier are all part of the agenda on a day that could prove decisive for the aspirations of a number of the overall contenders.

The opening section of the stage is flat, up until the intermediate sprint at Verzuolo (46.5km). Then, instead of taking the Cuneo road and heading towards the rolling hills and wine country of the Langhe, the peloton swings right and heads towards the French border and the high Alps.

Officially, the Agnello is 23.7km in length, but the bunch will already be starting to climb steadily before they reach the base of the ascent proper.

191km remaining from 200km

An early split in the peloton saw a group of twenty riders briefly sally off the front, but it's all come back together again. With the sprint coming so early in today's stage, it might prove difficult for a break to forge clear before the climbing starts.

The 169 survivors are currently riding in pleasant sunshine and under azure skies as they pedal southwards out of Pinerolo, but temperatures will plummet come the end of the stage. It's currently 6.2 °C atop the Galibier...

184km remaining from 200km

The first break to get any traction comes from Gianni Meersman (FDJ) and Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM). FDJ have been throwing riders up the road since the very first stage of this Tour, but in spite of the fine efforts of Jeremy Roy and Sandy Casar, they have fallen just short of their bounty.

Meersman and Marcato barely had the chance to take a couple of turns each before they were swallowed up by the peloton again. The pace is scorching as the bunch zips through the village of San Martino.

It's going to be very, very difficult for a break to slip clear ahead of the intermediate sprint at this rate. Considering the extreme difficulty of the second half of the stage, this is an incredibly fast beginning to the day.

In the points classification, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) holds a 35-point buffer over Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) is all of 70 points clear of Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto). Barring disaster, the Manxman is unlikely to miss out on the green jersey this year.

174km remaining from 200km

Of course, today's stage to the Galibier is also going to be crucial to the destination of the yellow jersey. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) remains the overall leader, but there no fewer than seven riders within 4 minutes of the Frenchman.

Voeckler has been a hugely impressive maillot jaune , but he knows that he'll have his work cut out to keep the jersey to Paris. In spite of impressing on the way up the Pramartino yesterday, a disastrous descent saw his advantage slashed further. But if Voeckler can repeat his Pyrenean form, he could still potentially wear the yellow jersey into the final time trial. No matter what kind of wings the maillot jaune bestows upon its wearers, however, the Frenchman's buffer would need to be bigger than 1:18 if he is to win the Tour.

164km remaining from 200km

Movistar and HTC-Highroad are allies of circumstance here as the peloton bowls through the hinterland of Saluzzo. Rojas and Cavendish's teams are stringing out the bunch with a little under 10km to go to the day's intermediate sprint.

Incidentally, Saluzzo was the site of the start of a famous stage of the melodramatic 2000 Giro d'Italia. Paolo Lanfranchi was the winner after a stage that crossed the Colle dell'Agnello into the France and then climbed the Izoard before finishing in Briancon. The man who finished in second place? Marco Pantani.

Incidentally, Saluzzo was the site of the start of a famous stage of the melodramatic 2000 Giro d'Italia. Paolo Lanfranchi was the winner after the race crossed into France via the Colle dell'Agnello, and then climbed the Izoard before finishing in Briancon. And the man who finished in second place? Marco Pantani.

After a lacklustre Giro, Pantani sparkled into life on the Agnello and the Izoard, working for his teammate Stefano Garzelli, who would go on to wear pink in Milan two days later. Lanfranchi slipped away from the lead group on the descent of the Izoard, however, and in spite of an attack on the sharp climb into Briancon, Pantani had to settle for second place.

160km remaining from 200km

Back in 2011, and it's Movistar and HTC who are still forcing the issue here. The average speed so far must be touching 50kph, and that's going to take its toll on the riders once they hit the climbs. The shock of going from an hour or so of grinding flat out in 53x12 to slipping into the small chainring is going to cause serious problems for some riders.

155km remaining from 200km

The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglae... With barely a kilometre to the intermediate sprint, seven riders have ghosted off the front of the peloton...

Leonard Duque (Cofidis) takes the honours at the intermediate sprint, ahead of Joost Posthuma (Leopard Trek) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun). They're part of a 16-man move that forced its way clear of the peloton ahead of the sprint.

The order at the sprint at Verzuolo (46.5km):

1 Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) 2 Joost Posthuma (Leopard Trek) 3 Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) 4 Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) 5 Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) 6 Brent Bookwalter (BMC) 7 Markel Irizar (RadioShack) 8 Imanol Erviti (Movistar) 9 Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) 10 Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Cervélo) 11 Ruben Perez Moreno (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 12 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 13 Maxim Ignlinsky (Astana) 14 Maxime Monfort (Leopard Trek) 15 Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale)  

The 16th man in that move is Marcus Burghardt (BMC), by the way. They have 45 seconds in hand over the peloton.

149km remaining from 200km

The first hour of racing saw the bunch cover an incredible 50.3km. The break has swung right  towards Venasca, as they pick off the villages that dot the road before the base of the Agnello.

Correction. Marcus Burghardt was not the 16th man, it is in fact Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM). Burghardt is attempting to chase across in the company of Mickael Delage (FDJ) and Egor Silin (Katusha). That trio is 1:35 behind the break, while the peloton is around two minutes back.

138km remaining from 200km

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) is the best-placed rider overall, 21st at a shade over 14 minutes down. The Irishman told Cyclingnews in Limaux on Sunday that he would go on the attack in the final week, and he's been as good as his word. He was already aggressive yesterday on the road to Pinerolo.

135km remaining from 200km

The peloton has sat up after the searing pace of the opening hour of racing, and the escapees have almost five minutes in hand on the approach to Frassino.

It's interesting to note that there are two Leopard Trek riders in the break today, Joost Posthuma and Maxime Monfort. The Luxembourg team did a lot of the work on early climbs on the stages to Luz-Ardiden and Plateau de Beille, but the anticipated follow-through from the Schlecks on the final climb never really materialised, save for an attack from Frank Schleck near the summit of Luz-Ardiden.

Frank Schleck lies third overall at 1:22, with Andy a further place behind and 2:36 off the maillot jaune . Given the relative paucity of their time trialling, however, the duo desperately need to overhaul Cadel Evans ahead of Saturday's test around Grenoble. If they are to do that, they will need to attack with far more conviction than they have shown to date.

BMC also have two riders up the road in the shape of Brent Bookwalter and Marcus Burghardt, but one would imagine that Cadel Evans' tactics will be rather different to those of the Schlecks. The Australian is a stronger time triallist than the Luxembourgers and the yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler, and he can afford to ride with a degree of caution. Over the next two days, Evans' main objective will surely be to try and retain as much of his 1:57 buffer over Alberto Contador as possible.

Meanwhile, Alberto Contador's time trialling has regressed somewhat from when he beat Fabian Cancellara at Annency in 2009, and he needs to peg back time on Evans in the mountains if he is to win this Tour de France. In spite of attacking with abandon on the two stages since the rest day, Contador actually lost a handful of seconds to Evans, but the summit finishes at the Galibier and Alpe d'Huez should be more to the Spaniard's liking.

127km remaining from 200km

The break passes through Sampeyre, the scene of Marco Pantani's crash during his final Giro d'Italia in 2003. Although the Italian remounted, he came in over 16 minutes down at the finish at Valle Varaita.

The break's lead over the peloton is now over seven minutes, with Nicolas Roche particularly prominent in pushing on the pace. Burghardt, Silin and Delage have narrowed the gap to a minute, but they'll have their work cut out to make it across before the break hits the slopes of the Agnello.

Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) is a man who could have a big, big say in the final destination of the yellow jersey. He hasn't been shy about collaborating with his friend Contador on the past two stages, and the Spanish alliance could well be to the fore again today. Sanchez reckons Contador can " turn the classification upside down " over the next two stages.

Contador was careful to leave space for Euskaltel-Euskadi to take two stages during the Giro d'Italia, with Igor Anton winning atop the Zoncolan and Mikel Nieve winning the tappone at Gardeccia .

There are two Euskaltel-Euskadi riders in the break today, Pablo Urtasun and Ruben Perez, and one would imagine that that duo are placed with a view to offering support to an attack from behind later on the stage.

In many respects, this Tour is reminiscent of the 1989 edition. Pedro Delgado suffered a disastrous opening weekend. He missed his start in the prologue and lost 2:50, before an abysmal team time trial looked to have ruled him out of the running, The fight back began in the Pyrenees, however, as Delgado went repeatedly on the offensive, and like Contador, he appeared to have support from a number of his countrymen who weren't part of his Reynolds squad.

Delgado's comeback ground to a halt in the Alps, of course, and he had to settle for third behind Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon.

In many respects, this Tour is reminiscent of the 1989 edition. Like Contador, Pedro Delgado suffered a disastrous opening weekend on that occasion. He missed his start in the prologue and lost 2:50, before an abysmal team time trial looked to have ruled him out of the running definitively.

The fight back began in the Pyrenees, however, as Delgado went repeatedly on the offensive, and like Contador, he appeared to have support from a number of his countrymen who weren't part of his Reynolds squad.

Delgado's comeback ground to a halt in the Alps, of course, and he had to settle for third behind Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon.  

117km remaining from 200km

The Burghardt group has succeeded in catching the break just in time for the start of the day's first climb.

The Col Agnel (or Colle dell'Agnello as it is known as on the Italian side) forms part of the border between France and Italy. Its 23.7km length and 6.5% gradient only tell a part of the story. The summit of the Agnel is the highest point of this year's Tour de France, at 2,744 metres above sea level, and at that kind of altitude a rider's efforts take an even bigger toll than normal.

The second hour of racing was covered at a seemingly more sedate 34.6kph, but don't be fooled by that number - the road has already been climbing steadily since the intermediate sprint.

The break's lead is 8:55 as the 19 riders in front begin the long trek to the highest point of this year's Tour de France. The first man to the top will not receive the Prix Henri Desgrange, however. That honour is reserved for the first man to the top of the Galibier today. Normally the Galibier is also the highest point in the Tour, but when the pass is not included in the route, the Prix Desgrange is awarded to the first man to the top of the race's highest climb.

A crash for Mickael Delage (FDJ) as the climb begins, but the Frenchman is quickly back in the action.

The only other time the Tour tackled the Col d'Agnel was in 2008. On that occasion, the race was crossing from France into Italy en route to Pratonevoso. Egoi Martinez led over the summit, but it was Simon Gerrans who took the stage honours.

110km remaining from 200km

The sixteen breakaways are continuing to work together on the lower slopes of the Agnel. Nobody is going to want to go out alone this early in the stage, especially with two long descents to come.

The main peloton has hit the Agnel, with Europcar setting the pace.

The gap to the break has come down by just about a minute as the break skirts around the edges of the Lago di Castello.

105km remaining from 200km

The pace is sedate in the main peloton, as Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) drops back for a chat at his team car.

103km remaining from 200km

Europcar may be a Pro Continental team, but the French squad have dealt well with the weight of the yellow jersey to date. Voeckler said yesterday that he will have to reconsider his approach to the Tour in future and prepare as an overall contender .

Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) climbs out of the saddle as he sets the tempo at the front of the leading group.

101km remaining from 200km

An inattentive fan turns to wave at the camera and almost knocks Maxime Monfort from his bike. The Belgian manages to weave past, and shows admirable calm by not even deigning to gesticulate in his direction.

A little under 8km to the summit of this mighty climb. So far the break hasn't fragmented on the ascent, The pace appears to be rising slightly in the main field, although it still appears to be intact.

Europcar are still setting the tempo at the front of the peloton, but there are a number of Liquigas-Cannondale jersey prominently placed up there too. Ivan Basso struggled on the descents to Gap and Pinerolo, perhaps proving Gilberto Simoni's harsh 2007 assertion that "Ivan Basso can practice descending as much as he wants, but he'll still always descend like cement."

The Italian is on terrain more suited to his diesel engine today however. The long, long climbs of the Agnello and the Galibier should be to his liking, but he'll need to do something very special to force his way into yellow jersey contention again. He is currently 8th at 3:49.

99km remaining from 200km

Andriy Grivko (Astana) and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) have launched ambitious attacks out of the main peloton, and there are a number of other riders now looking to bridge across.

Andrey Zeits (Astana) and Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) have launched ambitious attacks out of the main peloton, and there are a number of other riders now looking to bridge across.

Carlos Barredo (Rabobank), Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack), Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Remi Di Gregorio (Astana) and Kristijan Koren (Liquigas-Cannondale) have joined Gilbert and Zeits and they have 20 seconds on the peloton.

Meanwhile, Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) has been dropped out of the breakaway.

Leopard Trek have taken up the pace-setting in the main peloton now, and a number of riders are being shelled out the back. The gradient is steeper here on the upper section of the climb, and Stuart O'Grady's injection of pace is causing problems in the main peloton.

Mark Cavendish is among the riders dropped from the peloton, while Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) is also beginning to suffer.

Leipheimer and Di Gregorio have jumped clear of the Gilbert group, and they now have Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) for company, as the road really begins to kick upwards towards the summit of the mighty Agnello.

Posthuma and Monfort are doing the lion's share of the work at the head of the breakaway, while their Leopard Trek teammates continue to pull behind.

O'Grady's stint on the front of the bunch has sown riders all over the mountainside, but Leopard appear to have desisted their efforts now.

Leonardo Duque and Michkael Delage have been dropped by the break, while Erviti, Irizar and Bookwalter are also losing contact.

The Leipheimer group has expanded. The American is 30 seconds clear of the peloton with Westra, Zeits, Di Gregorio, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and David Moncoutie (Cofidis).

94km remaining from 200km

Alberto Contador is a long way down in the yellow jersey peloton and there don't appear to be any other Saxo Bank-SunGard riders in that group. Worrying times for the Spaniard? Or is he bluffing? He was back at the doctor's car earlier in the race, but yesterday it seemed as though his knee problems were behind him.

Up in the break, Ignlinsky sprints clear to take the points at the top of the Agnello, which we can now start calling the Agnel, as the riders descend into France.

Hoogerland led Devenyn and Monfort to come over the summit in second place. Roche is also still up there, but that early break blew to pieces in the final 5km approach to the summit, and it might not all come back together on the descent.

While Hondo et al are going backwards, the Leipheimer group is pressing on. They are 4:50 down on the break and 30 seconds clear of the yellow jersey group.

Iglinsky is descending alone ahead of his erstwhile companions on the way down the vertiginous slopes of the Agnel.

The yellow jersey group crosses over the summit 5:30 down on Iglinsky. Although the sun is shining, it's pretty cold up here, with gilets and winter gloves the order of the day as the riders begin the descent.

83km remaining from 200km

Iglinskiy swoops through the first village on the French side of the border, Fontgillarde. It's a long, steep and technical descent, but Iglinskiy is about to be swept up by the ten of the original breakaways.

Juan Antonio Flecha is leading the peloton down the Agnel in support of Rigoberto Uran. Sky want to keep tabs on Arnold Jeannesson, who is just 3:16 off Uran's white jersey.

The Leipheimer group's efforts would appear to be doomed due to Jeannesson's presence. Sky aren't going to let the Frenchman slip up the road.

The early break fragmented on the climb, but 14 of its number have come back together on the descent, while Burghardt, Delage, Delaplace, Hondo and Duque are giving chase a little further behind.

73km remaining from 200km

Five minutes the gap to the peloton as the break approaches the feed zone at Chateau-Ville-Vielle.

Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) has crashed on the descent, but word reaching us that he is back on his bike.

71km remaining from 200km

Monfort forces the pace at the head of the breakaway as they approach the base of the Col d'Izoard.

The irrepressible Philippe Gilbert swoops clear of the peloton on the descent with Jelle Vandendert on his wheel. Thomas Voeckler has also bridged across, but this trio are hardly likely to be allowed to stay clear ahead of the Izoard.

Gilbert and Voeckler bridge across to the Leipheimer-Gesink group, but the peloton is breathing down their necks and it should all come back together before they start the Izoard proper.

The fearsome Col d'Izoard is 14.1km of climbing at an average of 7.3%, and today the peloton approaches it from its more famous side, via the stirring Casse Desert and its evocative scree slopes.

Joost Posthuma is driving at the front of the break. Ruben Perez Moreno has slid off the back of the group, as has BMC's Brent Bookwalter. The lead group is really start to thin out as the climb begins in earnest.

Back in the main peloton, Frank Schleck waves angrily at a television camera for reasons unknown.

66km remaining from 200km

Maxime Bouet accelerates out of the yellow jersey peloton and blast past the dropped Danilo Hondo, who is retreating in search of the gruppetto.

Posthuma is doing all of the work in the break with 9.5km to go to the summit of the Izoard, while Nicolas Roche is sitting on his wheel.

Maxime Bouet is picking his way through the remnants of the early break, but he'll have his work cut out to make it back up to his teammate Roche. He's just gone by Mickael Delage.

With two teammates up the road, are the Schlecks going to try and make a move on the Izoard? So far, they haven't given any signs of doing so, they're tucked safely into the yellow jersey group.

Here is today's trivia question in the Easton/Cyclingnews Tour de France Trivia Challenge: If you are the randonly drawn Grand Prize winner of our Easton/Cyclingnews 2011 Tour de France Trivia contest, you'll win a BMC Teammachine SLR01. What wheelset does that bike come equipped with?

You are entered for the random drawing for prizes by filling in your answer here - http://easton.cyclingnews.com/ . Good luck!  

62km remaining from 200km

Jens Voigt starts to up the pace for Leopard Trek in the peloton, but as he does so Linus Gerdemann and Jakob Fuglsang are dropped. Meanwhile, Posthuma continues to press on in the breakaway. Leopard Trek are trying to do it all today, but when it comes down to it, the Schleck brothers themselves need to deliver a telling attack.

Johnny Hoogerland is dropped from the break as the Izoard pitches upwards. He gestures to the camera to show that his day is finished.

Stuart O'Grady leads Andy Schleck at the head of the yellow jersey group and his forcing is beginning to take its toll as David Moncoutie is unceremoniously deposited out the back.

60km remaining from 200km

Posthuma swings over from the lead group, and Iglinskiy immediately puts in an acceleration.

Andy Schleck attacks on the Izoard and immediately opens a sizeable gap.

Pierre Rolland tried to follow but couldn't. Andy Schleck took a glance over his shoulder before his went, but he hasn't looked back since.

This is a very impressive attack from Schleck, and there is clear daylight between him and the yellow jersey group. After two weeks of hesitancy, the Luxembourger is finally, finally seizing the initiative.

Daniel Navarro comes to the front of the yellow jersey group and labours in pursuit of Schleck. Contador moves up and sits on his wheel.

The other overall contenders were caught napping by that Schleck attack, and even now that they have organised the chase, he has 30 seconds in hand.

58km remaining from 200km

Andy Schleck's advantage continues to grow. He now has a 45-second lead over the yellow jersey group. So far Contador has resisted the temptation to chase in person. This is a daring move from Schleck, the first time in four Tours de France that he has really thrown off the shackles.

Brent Bookwalter has been caught by the yellow jersey group, and he is helping Cadel Evans to limit the gap.

It would be fascinating to be able to eavesdrop on the radio conversation between Alberto Contador and Bjarne Riis right now. Navarro and Contador have drifted away from the front of the yellow jersey group - does Riis reckon that Andy Schleck is going to run out of steam?

At the head of the race, Maxim Iglinskiy climbs through the almost eerie expanses of the lunar Casse Desert, one of the most hallowed sites in Tour de France lore. The Kazakh is riding well here.

56km remaining from 200km

Andy Schleck has made it across to Joost Posthuma and the Dutchman is burying himself in the service of his leader, who now has all of a minute over the yellow jersey group. This is a crucial, crucial moment in this year's Tour de France. Somebody needs to take responsibility for the chase behind.

Sylvester Szmyd takes over the pace-making for Liquigas-Cannondale in the yellow jersey group, but Andy Schleck has taken flight up front. The Luxembourger is showing no signs of letting up as he powers past Posthuma and sets off alone again against the majesty of the Casse Desert.

One kilometre to the summit for Iglinskiy.

Incredibly, Andy Schleck has an advantage of two minutes over the yellow jersey group. Schleck is 26 seconds off the overall lead on the road.

55km remaining from 200km

Maxim Ignlinskiy cross the summit of the Izoard alone, with Nicolas Roche and Monfort chasing around a minute behind.

Rigoberto Uran is dropped from the yellow jersey group.

Andy Schleck presses over the top of the Izoard, a shade under two minutes down on Iglinskiy. Monfort has waited for him to guide him down the descent.

Schleck makes a very nervous start to his descent of the Izoard. If he continues at this rate, he'll risk throwing away a big chunk of his lead.

Schleck links up with Monfort, and he will benefit from following the Belgian's line on the descent.

Rein Taaramae was impressive in the yellow jersey group as they reached the summit, but they are all of 2:10 down on Schleck with a little over 50km to race.

49km remaining from 200km

Maxime Monfort is using every available inch of road as he plunges around the sharp bends of the Izoard's descent.

So far, Schleck hasn't had any trouble in following his teammate, and they also have Egor Silin and Devenyns for company.

Andy Schleck is now leading on the descent. He is unrecognisable from the rider we saw in the Pyrenees, and he has opened out another 10 seconds on the yellow jersey  group.

Iglinksiy is still holding firm out front, with Nicolas Roche chasing hard behind.

Crash for Rigoberto Uran on the descent, although he doesn't appear to be injured.

The Schleck group has now hoovered up Nicolas Roche. If that quintet works together, Schleck will fancy his chances of holding this lead until the base of the Galibier.

43km remaining from 200km

There is no cohesion in the efforts of the yellow jersey group, which is fragmenting and regrouping on the descent. Schleck's attack has sown seeds of panic it seems.

Schleck turns and remonstrates with Roche, Devenyns and Silin. He wants them to ride with him and Monfort, but understandably they are reticent to tow the Luxembourger to the foot of the Galibier.

40km remaining from 200km

Schleck has 2:20 in hand on the yellow jersey group with 40km still to race. Considering how poorly coordinated the chase effort has been on the way down, Contador, Evans et al are fortunate that they have only conceded a handful of seconds since the summit. BMC are now taking matters in hand.

Alberto Contador consults with Samuel Sanchez at the rear of the yellow jersey group. 2:35 behind Andy Schleck, they'll need to conjure up something special on the Galibier.

36km remaining from 200km

Alberto Contador stops to change his bike as he approaches the bottom of the descent of the Izoard. He didn't appear to have any mechanical problems, so it's possible that he is changing to a special bike for the final climb.

Contador is chasing back between the cars to latch on to the yellow jersey group. Once there, he needs to get his head around reeling in Andy Schleck's sizeable gap.

Iglinkiy has passed through Briancon and is on the long false flat before the Galibier begins in earnest.

Today's final climb to Galibier-Serre Chevalier is the highest summit finish in the history of the Tour de France, 2654m above sea level. The road climbs for 23km at an average gradient of 5.1%.

The race approaches the Galibier via the "shoulder" of the Col du Lautaret today, with the toughest section of the Galibier "proper" coming in the final 8km of the stage.

33km remaining from 200km

It's been a long time since a possible Tour winner has gone on the attack from so far out in a decisive mountain stage... Scheck looks remarkably comfortable as he leads his five-man group towards the base of the final ascent.

Chris Anker Sorensen hits the front of the yellow jersey group for Saxo Bank. It's very hard to believe it, but Schleck is now all of three minutes clear of Contador et al. He is betraying no signs of suffering.

30km remaining from 200km

Iglinskiy is swallowed up by the Schleck locomotive with a shade under 30 kilometres still to race.

Maxime Monfort has put in a fine day's work in the service of Schleck. He puts in another long turn at the front of the lead group.

Euskaltel-Euskadi are now taking up the chase for Sanchez and Contador. The gap is coming down ever so slightly to 2:55.

The word from the summit of the Galibier is that it is very windy at the summit and that riders will have to combat a headwind all the way up the climb. It would be a remarkable feat if Schleck succeeded in maintaining all of this lead over that chase group between now and the finish.

26km remaining from 200km

Thomas Voeckler was reluctant to commit riders to chasing Andy Schleck on the descent. He takes a deep breath as he sits in the wheels of the yellow jersey group - it's been a tough day, and there are still 23km of climbing to come.

25km remaining from 200km

Andy Schleck has 3:10 over the yellow jersey group with 25km to go. Dries Devenyns is setting the pace now, but once the climb starts, one would assume Schleck will have to take over again.

Schleck is yellow jersey on the road, but there is a long, long way to go to the finish. While the opening slopes are very shallow, Schleck will have to battle against a stiff headwind, and that's where the chasers will hope to peg back a considerable amount of time.

Pierre Rolland passes a bidon to Thomas Voeckler as they approach the foot of the final climb.

22km remaining from 200km

Maxime Monfort takes over from Devenyns in the leading group as the climb begins.

It's 100 years since Emile Georget led the Tour de France over the Galibier for the first time. With the yellow jersey on the line, now is the time for somebody else to step up and write himself into Tour lore.

Monfort's pace-making has added another 30 seconds to Schleck's buffer. As the yellow jersey group starts the climb, they are 3:40 behind Andy Schleck.

Logically, Schleck should not be able to maintain that advantage with the likes of Contador, Sanchez, Evans and Basso chasing behind, but incredibly his lead is still growing. It's now at 3:50.

19km remaining from 200km

Chris Anker Sorensen takes up the pursuit behind once again, rocking from side to side in typical style. With such a long way to the summit, the contenders themselves are not keen on committing themselves to the chase in person.

18km remaining from 200km

After the gridlock of the Pyrenees, the race has exploded into life in the Alps. Schleck has dramatically thrown caution to the wind here.

It's still a very big yellow jersey group. If they can concert their efforts, they should be able to make inroads into Schleck's lead, but so far they've scarcely made a dent in his advantage.

Monfort swings over, and now it's up to Andy Schleck alone. Roche, Silin and Devenyns are still battling to hold his wheel.

16km remaining from 200km

Silin struggles at the rear of the lead group under Schleck's impetus. Euskaltel and Saxo Bank and leading the chase in the yellow jersey group.

And then there were three. Silin is dropped and it's just Roche and Ignlinskiy who can match Schleck's forcing.

Nicolas Roche is beginning to show some signs of suffering as Schleck continues in his inexorable rhythm.

15km remaining from 200km

Uran, who crashed on the way down the Izoard, is safely tucked into the yellow jersey group.

BMC are now lending a hand to the chase effort, but there is still a lack of cohesion in the yellow jersey group. Schleck, Roche and Iglinskiy are 3:55 clear with 15km to go.

If Alberto Contador wants to win this Tour de France, he is going to have to respond now. He is 4:39 behind Andy Schleck overall on the road...

13km remaining from 200km

And right on cue, Contador comes to the front of the yellow jersey group. The armada of Euskaltel and Saxo Bank domestiques failed to make any inroads into Schleck's lead and now Conador has to take this chase in hand himself.

Contador and Evans are now sharing pace-setting duties at the front of the yellow jersey group, with Frank Schleck tucked in behind.

Evans presses so hard that he opens a small gap to the rest of the yellow jersey group, but he quickly sits up. There is no rhythm to this pursuit, and it is playing right into Schleck's hands.

Voeckler sits coolly on Evans' wheel, but he is determined not to do any work to defend his jersey.

12km remaining from 200km

Incredible scenes - the yellow jersey group is spread across the road. Nobody wants to commit to the chase. Evans remonstrates with his companions, but nobody wants to help the Australian limit the damage.

11km remaining from 200km

And all of that tactical manoeuvering means that Andy Schleck now has 4:15 in hand over the yellow jersey group with 11km to race. Roche and Iglinskiy are resolutely hanging on to Schleck's wheel.

Schleck climbs out the saddle. The gradient begins to rise here, before kicking up definitively with 8.5km to go.

After disappearing to the rear of the chase group, Contador drifts back on to the front and sets the pace, but there is no urgency in his chase. 4:24 the gap to Schleck.

A brief injection of pace from Andy Schleck has done for Nicolas Roche, and he is not going to get back on. Iglinskiy remains on Schleck's wheel, but it surely only a matter of time before he is dropped.

9km remaining from 200km

Cadel Evans attacks hard down the right hand side of the road, but Pierre Rolland responds, and brings Voeckler and then the rest of the yellow jersey group up to him. Basso and Szmyd were also vigilant but Contador was slow to respond.

Evans is throwing himself into the chase, and with good reason. He was 1:18 clear of Schleck this morning, but is now almost three minutes down on the road.

Samuel Sanchez was caught at the back of the group behind Rigoberto Uran, but he lifts himself out of the saddle and manages to move back up.

8km remaining from 200km

Schleck and Iglinskiy reach the top of the Lautaret and swing onto the Galibier proper. Andy Schleck still has the bones of four minutes in hand over the yellow jersey group, in spite of the headwind on the lower slopes of the climb.

7km remaining from 200km

Schleck drops Iglinskiy and simply motors away while remaining seated.

Evans continues to lead the chase in the yellow jersey group, but his style appears a bit more ragged compared than Schleck's.

Finally a grimace on Schleck's face, after over 50km off the front. His advantage has fallen to 3:30 over the chasers as they hit the Galibier proper.

Fine riding from Evans. He may well pay for these efforts at the top of the climb, but if he didn't take the risk of leading the chase, he risked letting Schleck simply ride away with the Tour de France. Rolland, Voeckler, Szmyd and Basso line up behind him.

6km remaining from 200km

Schleck takes a swig from a bidon and powers on towards the summit. He still has 3:25 and that advantage isn't coming down quickly enough for Evans' liking.

Sanchez is dropped from the yellow jersey group. Contador sits in seventh place, and is showing no signs of preparing an attack.

Meanwhile Andy Schleck continues to glide up the mountain. It's been a eyebrow-raising turnaround from Schleck, he looks to be a completely different rider to the one we had seen in this Tour before now.

5km remaining from 200km

Evans' efforts are chipping a handful of seconds here and there off Schleck's lead, but the Luxembourger still has 3:15 in hand as he passes the 5km to go banner.

Voeckler needs to recoup 45 seconds on Schleck if he is to keep that yellow jersey tonight.

Evans continues to do all the work in the yellow jersey group.

4km remaining from 200km

Schleck flashes under the 4km to go banner, but his lead is now down to 3:10.

There's still no reaction from Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey group, and he will need to do something very special indeed on Alpe d'Huez now if he is to win the Tour.

3km remaining from 200km

Evans' efforts have closed Schleck's advantage to 3 minutes, but the Luxembourger doesn't seem to be weakening significantly.

2km remaining from 200km

Voeckler, Rolland, Basso, Cnntador and Cunego are lined up on Evans' wheel, but it doesn't appear that anyone has the wherewithal to attack.

Alberto Contador is dropped by the Evans group. He is really struggling here, although he manages to make his way back up to the tail of the group.

Contador is definitively dropped from the Evans group. His Tour de France challenge is over. We should have known, he surely would have contributed to the chase had he had the legs.

Like Indurain on Les Arcs in 1996, it's been a sudden capitulation from Contador.

1km remaining from 200km

Andy Schleck powers under the red kite, with his grimace beginning to curl into a grim. Over 60km off the front for the Luxembourger.

Schleck has a shade under 3 minutes over Evans, but 3:30 over Contador.

Pierre Rolland sets the pace for Voeckler. The Frenchman is battling to hold on to his yellow jersey here.

Voeckler needs to close the gap to 2:35 to hold the yellow jersey.

Evans and Voeckler lead the yellow jersey group in pursuit of Schleck.

Schleck appears to have slowed in the final kilometre, his efforts have finally begun to tell in this steep upper section of the climb. He should take yellow by a handful of seconds, but it might be close.

Andy Schleck crosses the line to take the stage win, after a surprising 60km sortie off the front of the race.

Inside the final kilometre for the yellow jersey group. It's every man for himself as they tackle the final push to the line. Cunego has been distanced, and it's just Evans, Voeckler, Basso and Frank Schleck left.

Voeckler is distanced by Schleck, Evans and Basso.

Frank Schleck clips off the front to complete a Schleck one-two on the stage. What a difference 24 hours can make on the Tour de France...

Evans and Basso are next over the line, now can Voeckler save yellow?

Yes he can... Voeckler dives across the line 2:20 down on Andy Schleck to salvage the maillot jaune by  16 seconds. He is visibly exhausted as he crosses the line.

Frank Schleck came home 2:07 down in second. Evans 3rd at 2:15 and Basso 4th at 2:18, while Voeckler was 2:21 down.

Contador crossed the line 3:49 down on Andy Schleck. He now lies 4:44 down overall, and his yellow jersey challenge is surely over.

1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 6:07:56 2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 6:10:03 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 6:10:11 4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 6:10:14 5 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 6:10:17 6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 6:10:23 7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 6:10:29 8 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 6:11:18 9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 6:11:21

General classification#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult 1Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar79:34:06  2Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek0:00:15  3Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek0:01:08  4Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team0:01:12  5Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD0:03:46  6Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale   7Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard0:04:44  8Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi0:05:20  9Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo0:07:08  10Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale0:09:27 

General classification after stage 18:

1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 79:34:06 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 00:00:15 3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 00:01:08 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 00:01:12 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 00:03:46 6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 00:04:44 8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 00:05:20 9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 00:07:08 10 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 00:09:27  

An overall contender hasn't gone on the offensive from so far out since the 2007 and 2006 Tours de France, it's been quite a turnaround for Andy Schleck from the measured approach we saw in the Pyrenees.

The Schleck brothers now lie in second and third place overall, and will fancy their chances of dispossessing Thomas Voeckler of his maillot jaune on the slopes of Alpe d'Huez. Cadel Evans remains poised just behind them, and Damiano Cunego hung tough to move up to 5th, while Alberto Contador surely bade his Tour chances farewell.

Thanks for joining us on Cyclingnews for our live coverage of today's stage of the Tour de France. We'll be back for more on the short, sharp stage to Alpe d'Huez tomorrow. We'll have a full report, results and pictures from the Galibier online soon, as well as all the news from a dramatic day's racing.

Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*

Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read any 5 articles for free in each 30-day period, this automatically resets

After your trial you will be billed £4.99 $7.99 €5.99 per month, cancel anytime. Or sign up for one year for just £49 $79 €59

Try your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Latest on Cyclingnews

Redlands Classic: Tyler Stites edges Tom Williams for stage 1 victory

Redlands Classic Women: Mara Roldan sprints to opening stage victory

Eight-hour live broadcast for Sunny King Crit races on tap Saturday - North American Roundup

Best bike chain locks 2024: Our pick of versatile bike locks

As it happened: Benoit Cosnefroy sprints to win De Brabantse Pijl 2024

Brabantse Pijl: Benoît Cosnefroy turns podium performances into victory in Overijse

Behind the scenes at Paris-Roubaix: What it’s like to report on the most chaotic race of the year

Giro d'Abruzzo: Jan Christen grabs race lead with stage 2 victory

Lotte Kopecky to ride Giro d'Italia Women ahead of Paris Olympics

Category : Etape 18 du Tour de France 2011

Media in category "etape 18 du tour de france 2011".

The following 19 files are in this category, out of 19 total.

• Tour de France 2011
• Tour de France in Italy
• Tour de France in Savoie
• Uses of Wikidata Infobox

Navigation menu

2-FOR-1 GA TICKETS WITH OUTSIDE+

Don’t miss Thundercat, Fleet Foxes, and more at the Outside Festival.

GET TICKETS

BEST WEEK EVER

Try out unlimited access with 7 days of Outside+ for free.

Start Your Free Trial

Powered by Outside

2011 Tour de France, Stage 18

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

2011 Tour de France, Stage 18 Results

1 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 6:07:56 2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:02:07 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:02:15 4 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:18 5 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:21 6 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:02:27 7 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:02:33 8 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:03:22 9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:03:25 10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:03:31 11 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 0:03:35 12 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:03:38 13 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack 0:03:44 14 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:03:50 15 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 16 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:55 17 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:07 18 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:42 19 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:58 20 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:05:07 21 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:05:35 22 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 23 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:06:53 24 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ 0:07:01 25 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:07:25 26 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:07:31 27 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 28 Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team 0:07:44 29 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha Team 0:09:17 30 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team 31 Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ 0:10:33 32 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:11:17 33 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:12:21 34 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:13:37 35 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek 0:14:06 36 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:14:20 37 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:14:45 38 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:15:53 39 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:17:23 40 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:17:32 41 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:18:18 42 Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad 0:18:25 43 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:19:12 44 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Pro Team Astana 0:20:08 45 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:20:29 46 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 47 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:20:43 48 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar 49 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre – ISD 0:21:27 50 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Leopard Trek 0:21:51 51 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:22:29 52 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:26:21 53 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack 0:27:39 54 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:28:18 55 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:28:33 56 Jesús Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:28:38 57 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:31:02 58 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:31:10 59 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 0:31:17 60 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 61 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Leopard Trek 62 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 63 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack 64 Jens Voigt (Ger) Leopard Trek 65 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 66 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 67 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 68 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 69 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 70 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 71 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 72 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 73 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana 74 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team 75 Yuriy Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 76 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 77 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Team Garmin-Cervelo 78 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Cervelo 79 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack 80 Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:33:44 81 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 0:35:40 82 Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ 83 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Highroad 84 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek 85 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ 86 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 87 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 88 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto 89 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 90 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 91 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 92 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar 93 André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto 94 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 95 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 96 Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad 97 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 98 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar 99 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Pro Team Astana 100 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD 101 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Procycling 102 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 103 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 104 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 105 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 106 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 107 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 108 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 109 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) HTC-Highroad 110 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 111 Mark Renshaw (Aus) HTC-Highroad 112 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad 113 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team 114 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 115 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD 116 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD 117 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 118 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo 119 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 120 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD 121 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 122 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 123 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 124 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 125 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 126 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 127 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 128 Addy Engels (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 129 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 130 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 131 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 132 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 133 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 134 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Pro Team Astana 135 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 136 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 137 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 138 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 139 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) HTC-Highroad 140 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek 141 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 142 Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 143 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 144 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team 145 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 146 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 147 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 148 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 149 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Quickstep Cycling Team 150 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling 151 Brian Vandborg (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 152 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 153 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 154 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 155 Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 156 Danny Pate (USA) HTC-Highroad 157 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 158 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 159 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 160 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard 161 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 162 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 163 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team RadioShack 164 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 165 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 166 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 167 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 168 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto DNF Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Lampre – ISD

General classification after stage 18

1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 79:34:06 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:00:15 3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:01:08 4 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:01:12 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:03:46 6 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:04:44 8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:05:20 9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:07:08 10 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:09:27 11 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:09:36 12 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:10:09 13 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 0:11:21 14 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack 0:12:01 15 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:12:46 16 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:13:08 17 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:15:30 18 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ 0:15:32 19 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:16:43 20 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:20:05 21 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:23:06 22 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:23:19 23 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Katusha Team 0:25:38 24 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:25:59 25 Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad 0:28:10 26 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:31:52 27 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:33:56 28 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek 0:35:16 29 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ 0:43:52 30 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:48:53 31 Yuriy Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:50:10 32 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:52:25 33 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:55:42 34 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team RadioShack 0:58:30 35 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:59:46 36 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 1:00:16 37 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Movistar Team 1:00:55 38 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 1:03:32 39 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team 1:04:47 40 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 1:05:38 41 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 1:07:09 42 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 1:07:13 43 Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:08:42 44 Julien El Fares (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:10:20 45 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:10:56 46 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 1:11:03 47 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:12:31 48 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Pro Team Astana 1:13:47 49 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 1:16:05 50 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 1:23:57 51 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 1:24:20 52 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team 1:25:03 53 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 1:27:05 54 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Team Europcar 1:27:18 55 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek 1:29:59 56 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:30:18 57 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:30:31 58 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 1:30:40 59 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek 1:31:10 60 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 1:33:45 61 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:34:09 62 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 1:40:14 63 Jens Voigt (Ger) Leopard Trek 1:40:29 64 Egor Silin (Rus) Katusha Team 1:40:31 65 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre – ISD 1:41:50 66 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:42:09 67 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team 1:42:24 68 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 1:42:40 69 Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1:46:53 70 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Cervelo 1:47:29 71 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:48:09 72 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 1:48:46 73 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 1:50:08 74 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:52:14 75 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 1:53:28 76 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team 1:53:46 77 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 1:55:38 78 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) HTC-Highroad 1:56:49 79 Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard 1:57:26 80 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team 1:57:42 81 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Team RadioShack 1:59:44 82 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack 2:00:06 83 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team 2:00:18 84 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:00:29 85 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 2:01:20 86 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Leopard Trek 2:01:35 87 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:02:40 88 Adriano Malori (Ita) Lampre – ISD 2:04:26 89 Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2:05:32 90 Gianni Meersman (Bel) FDJ 2:08:00 91 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 2:09:24 92 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 2:12:23 93 Matteo Bono (Ita) Lampre – ISD 2:14:02 94 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 2:14:23 95 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:16:20 96 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team 2:16:46 97 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ 2:18:29 98 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:19:21 99 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 2:19:38 100 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 2:20:55 101 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 2:21:10 102 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling 2:21:20 103 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Pro Team Astana 2:22:02 104 Jesús Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 2:22:52 105 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD 2:24:13 106 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Leopard Trek 2:25:38 107 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Sky Procycling 2:25:58 108 Jonathan Hivert (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:26:02 109 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD 2:29:10 110 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:31:05 111 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ 2:31:27 112 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana 2:31:38 113 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto 2:31:40 114 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 2:33:51 115 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 2:34:33 116 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 2:34:45 117 Tristan Valentin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:36:18 118 Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar 2:39:08 119 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank Sungard 2:39:09 120 Laurent Mangel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:39:13 121 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:42:02 122 Brian Vandborg (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard 2:42:05 123 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek 2:42:38 124 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 2:42:44 125 Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad 2:43:19 126 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:43:48 127 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 2:44:05 128 Borut Bozic (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:44:15 129 Mickaël Delage (Fra) FDJ 2:44:35 130 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD 2:44:53 131 Jérémie Galland (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:45:16 132 Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team RadioShack 2:46:42 133 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling 2:47:42 134 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 2:48:25 135 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team 2:48:56 136 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:49:17 137 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:50:02 138 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto 2:50:52 139 Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Pro Team Astana 2:51:09 140 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:51:35 141 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) HTC-Highroad 2:53:33 142 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 2:54:37 143 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Pro Team Astana 2:56:17 144 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Cervelo 2:57:27 145 Addy Engels (Ned) Quickstep Cycling Team 2:57:41 146 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 2:58:06 147 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Quickstep Cycling Team 2:59:04 148 Arnaud Coyot (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 2:59:22 149 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD 2:59:28 150 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team 3:01:10 151 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:02:14 152 André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto 3:04:14 153 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 3:04:23 154 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) HTC-Highroad 3:04:34 155 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar 3:07:34 156 Tyler Farrar (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 3:07:37 157 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) HTC-Highroad 3:07:46 158 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 3:07:59 159 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3:08:39 160 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Team Garmin-Cervelo 3:08:54 161 Mark Renshaw (Aus) HTC-Highroad 3:12:23 162 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 3:12:47 163 Perrig Quemeneur (Fra) Team Europcar 3:13:13 164 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 3:13:48 165 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 3:16:50 166 Danny Pate (USA) HTC-Highroad 3:18:45 167 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 3:24:15 168 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 3:26:21

Popular on Velo

>", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/elisa-longo-borghini-drops-demi-vollering-to-win-brabantse-pijl/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "brabantse pijl: cosnefroy foils teuns, longo borghini drops vollering"}}'> brabantse pijl: cosnefroy foils teuns, longo borghini drops vollering, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/woman-who-threw-cap-at-mathieu-van-der-poels-wheel-says-she-had-an-afternoon-of-aperitifs/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "woman who threw cap at mathieu van der poel’s wheel says she had ‘an afternoon of aperitifs’"}}'> woman who threw cap at mathieu van der poel’s wheel says she had ‘an afternoon of aperitifs’, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/gravel/moriah-wilson-foundation-charity-events/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "here are two ways to support the moriah wilson foundation on may 11"}}'> here are two ways to support the moriah wilson foundation on may 11, >", "path": "https://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/rogue-attacks-to-force-majeure-can-anything-deny-tadej-pogacar-at-the-giro-ditalia/", "listing_type": "recirc", "location": "list", "title": "rogue attacks to ‘force majeure’: 5 things that might stop tadej pogačar at the giro d’italia"}}'> rogue attacks to ‘force majeure’: 5 things that might stop tadej pogačar at the giro d’italia.

• Tour de France
• Giro d'Italia
• La Vuelta ciclista a España
• World Championships
• Amstel Gold Race
• Milano-Sanremo
• Tirreno-Adriatico
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège
• Il Lombardia
• La Flèche Wallonne
• Paris - Nice
• Paris-Roubaix
• Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
• Critérium du Dauphiné
• Tour des Flandres
• Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields
• Clásica Ciclista San Sebastián
• INEOS Grenadiers
• Groupama - FDJ
• EF Education-EasyPost
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• BORA - hansgrohe
• Bahrain - Victorious
• Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Intermarché - Wanty
• Lidl - Trek
• Movistar Team
• Soudal - Quick Step
• Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Team Jayco AlUla
• Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• UAE Team Emirates
• Arkéa - B&B Hotels
• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Grand tours
• Countdown to 3 billion pageviews
• Favorite500
• Profile Score
• Stage winners
• All stage profiles
• Race palmares
• Complementary results
• Finish photo
• Contribute info
• Contribute results
• Contribute site(s)
• Results - Results
• Info - Info
• Live - Live
• Game - Game
• Stats - Stats
• More - More
•   »  

Sprint | Verzuolo (46 km)

Finishline points, mountain sprint | col agnel (106.7 km), mountain sprint | col d'izoard (145.9 km), mountain sprint | col du galibier (souvenir henri desgrange) (189 km), team day classification, race information.

• Date: 21 July 2011
• Start time: -
• Avg. speed winner: 30.821 km/h
• Race category: ME - Men Elite
• Distance: 189 km
• Points scale: GT.A.Stage
• Parcours type:
• ProfileScore: 329
• Vert. meters: 5268
• Departure: Pinerolo
• Arrival: Galibier Serre-Chevalier
• Race ranking: 0
• Startlist quality score: 1713
• Won how: 8 km solo
• Avg. temperature:

Race profile

Grand Tours

• Vuelta a España

Major Tours

• Volta a Catalunya
• Tour de Romandie
• Tour de Suisse
• Itzulia Basque Country
• Milano-SanRemo
• Ronde van Vlaanderen

Championships

• European championships

Top classics

• Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
• Strade Bianche
• Gent-Wevelgem
• Dwars door vlaanderen
• Eschborn-Frankfurt
• San Sebastian
• Bretagne Classic
• GP Montréal

Popular riders

• Tadej Pogačar
• Wout van Aert
• Remco Evenepoel
• Jonas Vingegaard
• Mathieu van der Poel
• Mads Pedersen
• Primoz Roglic
• Demi Vollering
• Lotte Kopecky
• Katarzyna Niewiadoma
• PCS ranking
• UCI World Ranking
• Points per age
• Latest injuries
• Youngest riders
• Grand tour statistics
• Monument classics
• Latest transfers
• Favorite 500
• Points scales
• Profile scores
• Reset password
• Cookie consent

About ProCyclingStats

• Cookie policy
• Contributions
• Pageload 0.0947s

2011 Tour de France

98th edition: july 2 - july 24, 2011, results, maps, stages with running gc, photos and startlist with backnumbers.

2010 Tour | 2012 Tour | Tour de France database | 2011 route summary | Teams | Startlist with backnumbers | Final Complete 2011 Tour GC

Results with photos, stage maps and profiles: Stages with results and running GC | Teams Presentation | Stage1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8 | Stage 9 | Rest Day 1 | Stage 10 | Stage 11 | Stage 12 | Stage 13 | Stage 14 | Stage 15 | Rest Day 2 | Stage 16 | Stage 17 | Stage 18 | Stage 19 | Stage 20 | Stage 21 |

Map of the 2011 Tour de Fance

David L. Stanley's book Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle is available as an audiobook read by the author here . For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

2011 Tour Quick Facts:

3,430 km raced at an average speed of 39.788 km/hr.

198 starters and 167 classified finishers.

The 2011 Tour de France was one of the most exciting editions in recent years. Alberto Contador was clearly tired after a winning a difficult Giro d'Italia.

Thomas Voeckler took the lead after a crash-marred stage 9 and held it with courage and tenacity until stage 19, which determined the Tour's outcome when Cadel Evans did the ride of his life to come within a minute of the lead at the top of L'Alpe d'Huez.

He erased that deficit in the stage 20 time trial and after two second places, Cadel Evans finally won the Tour.

• Cadel Evans (BMC) 86hr 12min 22sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 34sec
• Frank Scheck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 30sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 3min 20sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 3min 57sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 4min 55sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 6min 5sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 7min 23sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 8min 15sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 10min 11sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 10min 43sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 11min 29sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 16min 29sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 18min 36sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 21min 20sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 26min 23sec
• Chirstian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 27min 12sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 27min 14sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 28min 54sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 32min 41sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 33min 4sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 36min 54sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 42min 26sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 42min 48sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 43min 6sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 46min 23sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 50min 28sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 52min 25sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 53min 16sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 56min 46sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 1hr 0min 48sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 1hr 3min 58sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 1hr 5min 9sec
• Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 8min 28sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 1hr 12min 58sec
• David Arroyo (Movistar) @ 1hr 14min 40sec
• Chris Anker Sorrensen (Saxo) @ 1hr 14min 42sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-lotto) @ 1hr 14min 51sec
• Rémy Di Gregorio (Astana) @ 1hr 22min 4sec
• Julien El Fares (Cofidis) @ 1hr 24min 21sec
• David Moncoutié (Cofidis) @ 1hr 25min 25sec
• Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) @ 1hr 25min 37sec
• Cyril Gautier (Europcar) @ 1hr 27min 43sec
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 1hr 30min 56sec
• Andrey Zeits (Astana) @ 1hr 31min 48sec
• Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) @ 1hr 34min 6sec
• Yannick Talabardon (Saur-Sojasun) @ 1hr 34min 51sec
• Xabier Zandio (Sky) @ 1hr 35min 18sec
• Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 1hr 37min 57sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) @ 1hr 39min 58sec
• Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 1hr 43min 47sec
• Anthony Charteau (Europcar) @ 1hr 43min 49sec
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 1hr 44min 39sec
• Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) @ 1hr 44min 45sec
• Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) @ 1hr 44min 45sec
• George Hincapie (BMC) @ 1hr 45min 16sec
• Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) @ 1hr 46min 9sec
• Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 1hr 47min 2sec
• David Loosli (Lampre) @ 1hr 51min 8sec
• Linus Gerdemann (Leopard-Trek) @ 1hr 51min 19sec
• Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) @ 1hr 52min 21sec
• Daniel Navarro (Saxo) @ 1hr 53min 22sec
• Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) @ 1hr 54min 11sec
• Christian Knees (Sky) @ 1hr 56min 12sec
• Amaël Moinard (BMC) @ 1hr 58min 43sec
• Gorka Izagirre (Euskaltel) @ 1hr 59min 47sec
• Jens Voigt (Leopard-Trek) @ 1hr 59min 56sec
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 2hr 3min 15sec
• Maciej PAterski (Liquigas) @ 2hr 3min 56sec
• Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) @ 2min 6min 35sec
• Grischa Jan Niermann (Rabobank) @ 2hr 7min 26sec
• Richie Porte (Saxo) @ 2min 9min 24sec
• Egor Silin (Katusha) @ 2hr 10min 5sec
• Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) @ 2hr 11min 51sec
• Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 12min 28sec
• David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 2hr 14min 56sec
• Gianni Meersman (FDJ) @ 2hr 17min 27sec
• Stuart O'Grady (Leopard-Trek) @ 2hr 17min 58sec
• Tony Gallopin (Cofidis) @ 2hr 18min 19sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 2hr 22min 54sec
• Sergio Paulinho (Radio Shack) @ 2hr 24min 29sec
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) @ 2hr 25min 49sec
• Ivan Santaromita (BMC) @ 2hr 27min 12sec
• Markel Irizar (Radio Shack) @ 2hr 27min 13sec
• Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2hr 27min 28sec
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ) @ 2hr 28min 27sec
• Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) @ 2hr 29min 24sec
• Imanol Erviti (Movistar) @ 2hr 29min 47sec
• Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) @ 2hr 30min 9sec
• Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) @ 2hr 31min 24sec
• Adiano Malori (Lampre) @ 2hr 31min 47sec
• Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Saxo) @ 2hr 32min 0sec
• Matteo Bono (Lampre) @ 2hr 35min 45sec
• Alan Perez (Euskaltel) @ 2hr 36min 14sec
• Nicki Sorensen (Saxo) @ 2hr 36min 26sec
• Simon Gerrans (Sky) @hr 37min 25sec
• Jonathan Hivert (Saur Sojasun) @ 2hr 37min 37sec
• Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) @ 2hr 41min 4sec
• Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) @ 2hr 41min 4sec
• Daniel Oss (Liquigas) @ 2hr 47min 7sec
• Anthony Roux (FDJ) @ 2hr 47min 49sec
• José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) @ 2hr 49min 23sec
• Michael Schär (BMC) @ 2hr 49min 37sec
• Arthur Vichot (FDJ) @ 2hr 49min 49sec
• Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) @ 2hr 53min 50sec
• Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) @ 2hr 53min 59sec
• Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) @ 2hr 54min 20sec
• Joost Posthuma (Leopard-Trek) @ 2hr 55min 25sec
• Danilo Hondo (Lampre) @ 3hr 0min 0sec
• Sébastien Minard (Ag2r) @ 3hr 0min 4sec
• Sébastien Hinault (Ag2r) @ 3hr 0min 44sec
• Roman Kreuziger (Astana) @ 3hr 0min 59sec
• Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3hr 1min 51sec
• Brent Bookwalter (BMC) @ 3hr 3min 47sec
• Manuel Quinziato (BMC) @ 3hr 4min 47sec
• Benjamin Noval (Saxo) @ 3hr 6min 29sec
• Blel Kadri (Ag2r) @ 3min 7min 7sec
• Tristan Valentin (Cofidis) @ 3hr 7min 10sec
• Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) @ 3hr 7min 31sec
• Sébastien Turgot (Europcar) @ 3hr 8min 34sec
• Leonardo Duque (Cofidis) @ 3hr 8min 41sec
• Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3h 10min 19sec
• Matteo Tosatto (Saxo) @ 3hr 10min 36sec
• Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3hr 11min 47sec
• Brian Vandborg (Saxo) @ 3hr 13min 43sec
• Paolo Longo Borghini (Liquigas) @ 3hr 13min 44sec
• Grega Bole (Lampre) @ 3hr 14min 15sec
• Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Dmitriy Muravyev (Radio Shack) @ 3hr 14min 29sec
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 15min 5sec
• Michaël Buffaz (Cofidis) @ 3hr 15min 12sec
• Mickaël Delage (FDJ) @ 3hr 15min 39sec
• Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas) @ 3hr 16min 0sec
• Niki Terpstra (Quick Step) @ 3hr 16min 38sec
• Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3hr 16min 58sec
• Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) @ 3hr 17min 11sec
• Ben Swift (Sky) @ 3hr 18min 7sec
• Jeremie Galland (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3hr 19min 46sec
• Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) @ 3hr 20min 2sec
• Tomas Vaitkus (Astana) @ 3hr 20min 7sec
• Marcel Sieberg (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3hr 21min 39sec
• Matthew Harley Goss (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 22min 32sec
• Maciej Bodnar (Liquigas) @ 3hr 23min 30sec
• Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 3hr 26min 22sec
• Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3hr 28min 0sec
• Addy Engels (Quick Step) @ 3hr 29min 4sec
• Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) @ 3he 29min 7sec
• Arnaud Coyot (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3hr 29min 20sec
• Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel) @ 3hr 30min 17sec
• Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step) @ 3hr 30min 22sec
• Perrig Quemeneur (Europcar) @ 3hr 30min 55sec
• Romain Zingle (Cofidis) @ 3hr 31min 30sec
• Denys Kostyuk (Lampre) @ 3hr 31min 42sec
• Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 33min 25sec
• Vincent Jerome (Europcar) @ 3hr 34min 37sec
• André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3hr 35min 4sec
• Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3hr 36min 53sec
• Yohann Gene (Europcar) @ 3hr 38min 13sec
• Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3hr 38min 13sec
• Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3hr 38min 34sec
• Bernhard Eisel (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 39min 56sec
• Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) @ 3hr 43min 17sec
• Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 44min 0sec
• Marcus Burghardt (BMC) @ 3hr 44min 8sec
• Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) @ 3hr 45min 26sec
• Andrey Amador (Movistar) @ 3hr 54min 35sec
• Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas) @ 3hr 57min 43sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel): 108 points
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 98
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 74
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 58
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 56
• Alberto Contador (Saxo): 51
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 334 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 272
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 236
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 208
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 195
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 86hr 23min 5sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 46sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 7min 53sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 10min 37sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 21min 21sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 258hr 18min 49sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 11min 4sec
• Ag2r @ 11min 20sec
• Europcar @ 41min 53sec
• Euskaltel @ 52min

Content continues below the ads

Thursday, June 30: Teams presentation ceremony

Photos from the presentation

Stage 1, Saturday, July 2 : Passage du Gois La Barre de Monts - Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers, 191.5 km

• Km 191.5 - MONT DES ALOUETTES (LES HERBIERS), 2.2 km @ 4.7% gradient - Category 4

The Race: The day's break was caught with about 25 kilometers to go. After the peloton was less than 10 km from the line, a crash in the middle of the field left a number of contenders caught out. Among them: Contador, Wiggins, Andy Schleck, Ivan Basso and Tom Danielson. With their men on the right side of the crash, BMC and Radio Shack pounded off down the road, working to create the largest possible time gap. Philippe Gilbert, who is almost unbeatable in uphill finishes, swept by Fabian Cancellara for the stage win and the yellow jersey. Contador and the others now have a serious deficit after only the first stage. It's head and legs.

Photos from Stage 1

• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 4hr 41min 31sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 3sec
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 6sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) s.t.
• Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) s.t.
• Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) s.t.
• Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Linus Gerdemann (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) s.t.
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) s.t.
• David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
• Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
• Grega Bole (Lampre) @ 14sec
• Egor Silin (Katusha) @ 16sec
• Maciej Paterski (Liquigas) s.t.
• Tom Boonen (Quick Step) @ 19sec
• Gianni Meersman (FDJ) s.t.
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) s.t.
• Manuel Quinziato (BMC) s.t.
• William Bonnet (FDJ) s.t.
• Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) @ 1min 7sec
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Tony Gallopin (Cofidis) @ 1min 20sec
• José Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) s.t.
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) s.t.
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) s.t.
• Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) s.t.
• Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) s.t.
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Also at same time: Levi Leipheimer, Janez Brajkovic, Ivan Basso plus Bradley Wiggins (@ 1min 29sec), Stuart O'Grady (@ 1min 31sec), Tom Danielson (@ 1min 49sec), Ryder Hesjedal (@ 1min 55sec), Roman Kreuziger (@ 1min 55sec)
• Geraint Thomas (Sky)s.t.
• Grega Bole (Lampre) s.t.
• Egor Silin (Katusha) s.t.
• Tom Boonen (Quick Step) s.t.
• Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha) s.t.
• Tony Gallopin (Cofidis) s.t.
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 1 point
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 45 points
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 35
• Thos Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 30
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) 4hr 41min 37sec
• Omega Pharma-Lotto: 14hr 4min 45sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 6sec

Stage 1 route map

Stage 1 profile

Stage 2, Sunday, July 3 : Les Essarts - Les Essarts 23 km team time trial

Photos from stage 2

The Race: Garmin-Cervelo won its first-ever Tour de France stage, putting Thor Hushovd in Yellow. BMC and Leopard-Trek turned in good rides that kept Cadel Evans and the Schleck brothers high in the standings. Saxo, on the other hand, did an indifferent ride when they needed to be brilliant. Alberto Contador is now sitting 75th, 1 minute 42 seconds down.

• Garmin: 24min 48sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 5sec
• HTC-Highroad s.t.
• Radio Shack @ 10sec
• Rabobank @ 12sec
• Saxo @ 28sec
• Astana @ 32sec
• Omega Pharma-Lotto @ 39sec
• FDJ @ 46sec
• Europcar @ 50sec
• Ag2r @ 53sec
• Quick Step @ 56sec
• Liquigas @ 57sec
• Saur-Sojasun @ 1min 2sec
• Lampre @ 1min 4sec
• Katusha s.t.
• Movistar @ 1min 9sec
• Vacansoleil @ 1min 15sec
• Cofidis @ 1min 20sec
• Euskaltel @ 1min 22sec
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 5hr 6min 25sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 4sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Bradley Wiggins (Sky) s.t.
• George Hincapie (BMC) s.t.
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 5sec
• Lars Bak (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Mathew Harley Goss (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack) @ 10sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Ben Swift (Sky) @ 11sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 12sec
• Yaroslav Popovych (Radio Shack) @ 23sec
• Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 32sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) s.t.
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 33sec

75. Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec

• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 1 points
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 30
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) 5hr 6min 29sec
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) @ 1sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 14hr 29min 39sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 4sec

Stage 2 route map

Stage 2 profile

Stage 3, Monday, July 4: Olonne sur Mer - Redon, 198 km

• Km 143.0, Côte du Pont de Saint-Nazaire, 1.1 km @ 4.9% gradient - Category 4

Photos from stage 3

The Race: The break of the day went early and was allowed to stay away until the stage's final 10 kilometers. HTC-Highroad and Garmin-Cervelo, both hoping for a stage win, did the work of riding tempo and catching the break. In the final kilometer HTC-Highroad's train had to cede control of the front to Garmin-Cervelo, which performed a faultless leadout for Tyler Farrar. They get to have their cake and eat it too with two stage wins in a row and the Yellow Jersey.

• Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) 4hr 40min 21sec
• Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Sébastien Hinault (Ag2r) s.t.
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Julian Dean (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
• Sébastien Turgot (Europcar) s.t.
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Roman Kreuziger (Astana) s.t.
• Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha) s.t.
• Egoi AMrtinez (Euakaltel) s.t.
• Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) s.t.
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) s.t.
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) s.t.
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) s.t.
• Jean-Christopher Peraud (Ag2r) s.t.
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 9hr 46min 46sec
• Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) @ 32sec
• Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 39sec

46. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 57sec

69. Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec

• Mickaël Delage (FDJ): 1
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 64 points
• Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo): 58
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 54
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 51
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 37
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) 9hr 46min 50sec
• Garmin-Cervelo 28hr 30min 42sec
• HTC-Highroad @ 5sec

Stage 3 route map

Stage 3 profile

Stage 4, Tuesday, July 5: Lorient - Mûr de Bretagne, 172.5 km

• Km 79.0, Côte de Laz, 1.6 km @ 5.9% gradient - Category 4
• Km 172.5, Mûr-de-Bretagne, 2.0 km @ 6.9% - Category 3

The Race: The day's break was caught with just three kilometers to go, BMC and Omega-Pharma doing the bulk of the chasing. Alberto Contador blasted away as the uphill to the finish started to bite, but he couldn't break free. Coming with him, among others, were Cadel Evans, Thor Hushovd, Ivan Basso, Frank Schleck and the day's predicted winner, Philippe Gilbert. Evans came by Contador for a narrow win. Since Evans couldn't shake Hushovd, the Norwegian stays in Yellow by a single second.

Photos from stage 4

• Cadel Evans (BMC) 4hr 11min 39sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) s.t.
• Bradley Wiggins (Sky) @ 6sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) s.t.
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 8sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) s.t.
• Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) s.t.
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Cyril Gautier (Europcar) s.t.
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Benat Intxausti (Movistar) s.t.
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 13hr 58min 26sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 4sec
• David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 8sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 12sec
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 13sec
• Christopher Horner (Radio Shack) @ 18sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 20sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 40sec
• Cyril Gautier (Europcar) @ 58sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 1min 3sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 1min 4sec
• Linus Gerdemann (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 6sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 12sec
• Nicholas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
• Egor Selin (Katusha) s.t.
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 1min 15saec

41. Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec

• Cadel Evans (BMC): 2 points
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 1
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 82 points
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 80
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 77
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 70
• Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo): 68
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) 13hr 58min 37sec
• Edvald Boasson hagen (Sky) s.t.
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad) @ 8sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 8sec
• Cyril Gautier (Europcar) @ 46sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 41hr 5min 55sec
• HTC-Highroad @ 13sec

Stage 4 route map

Stage 4 profile

Stage 5, Wednesday, July 6: Carhaix - Cap Fréhel, 164.5 km

• Km 45.5, Côte de Gurunhuel, 2.3 km @ 5.1% gradient - Category 4

The Race: This was a crash-strewn stage with Christophe Kern and Janez Brajkovic out of the race. Tom Boonen is questionable for tomorrow's start. The day's break wasn't captured until the final few kilometers. HTC's leadout train was in control this time and Mark Cavendish's burst of speed was irresistible. Today was Cavendish's 16th Tour stage win.

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 3hr 38min 32sec
• Daniel Oss (Liquigas) s.t.
• Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
• Stuart O'Grady (Leopard-Trek) s.t.
• Anthony Roux (FDJ) s.t.
• Jérôme Pineau (Quick step) s.t.
• Bjorn Leukemans (Vacan soleil) s.t.
• Julien El Fares (Cofidis) s.t.
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 17hr 36min 57sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 1min 12sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 1min 15sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 1min 18sec
• Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) @ 1min 21sec

39. Albert Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec

• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 120 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 112
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 90
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 84
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 82
• Geraint Thomas (Sky): 17hr 37min 9sec
• Egor Selin (Katusha) @ 1min
• Garmin-Cervelo: 52hr 1min 31sec

Stage 5 route map

Stage 5 profile

Stage 6, Thursday, July 7: Dinan - Lisieux, 226.5 km. Longest 2011 Tour stage

• Km 99.5, Côte de Saint-Michel de Montjoie, 2.4 km @ 5.9% gradient - Category 3
• Km 156.5, Côte du Bourg d'Ouilly, 2.7 km @ 5.6% - Category 3
• Km 197.0, Côte du Billot, 1.3 km @ 6.5% - Category 4

The Race: Another day, another break snuffed in time for the sprint. Vinokourov led out the sprint after the field caught a late flyer by Thomas Voeckler and Jelle Vanendert. Vino was no match the speedsters who came zooming by with Edvald Boasson Hagen taking his first Tour stage win.

Photos from Stage 6

• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) 5hr 13min 37sec
• Matthew Harley Goss (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Arthur Vichot (FDJ) s.t.
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-lotto) s.t.
• Gerald Ciolek (Quick Step) s.t.
• Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) s.t.
• Alexandrre Vinokourov (Astana) s.t.
• Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) s.t.
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) s.t.

91. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 1min 5sec

• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 22hr 50min 34sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 22sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 1min23sec

34. Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec

• Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil): 4 points
• Anthony Roux (FDJ): 3
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 2
• Mickaël Delage (FDJ):1
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 144 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 143
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 112
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 98
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 94
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) 22hr 50min 46sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 67hr 42min 22sec

Stage 6 route map

Stage 6 profile

Stage 7, Friday, July 8: Le Mans - Châteauroux, 218 km. The year's flattest road stage. There are no rated climbs in this stage.

The Race: After HTC-Highroad dominated the final kilometers, Mark Cavendish won stage seven with a flawless sprint. The bigger news was the crash that occurred with 30 km to go. Bradley Wiggins abandoned in an ambulance. He probably has a broken collarbone. Other important riders were badly delayed, including Levi Leipheimer, Chris Horner, Geraint Thomas, Ryder Hesjedal, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bauke Mollema and Roman Kreuziger.

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 5hr 38min 53sec
• Alessandro Pettachi (Lampre) s.t.
• Jérôme Pineau (FDJ) s.t.
• Mark Renshaw (HTC-Highroad) s.t.
• Michael Schär (BMC) s.t.
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin- Cervelo) s.t.
• Danilo Hondo (Lampre) s.t.
• Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) s.t.

128. Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 3min 6sec 157. Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) s.t.

• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 28hr 29min 27sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) @ 12sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 2 20sec
• Nicolas Rocje (Ag2r) @ 1min 12sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 1min 29sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 42sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 57sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 2min 13sec
• Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) @ 2min 15sec
• Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) @ 2min 19sec

50. Levi Leipehimer (Radio Shack) @ 4min 29sec 51. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) @ 4min 40sec

• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-lotto): 1
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 167 points
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 156
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 150
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 130
• Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil): 99
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 28hr 29min 47sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1min 53sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 2min 17sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 2min 32sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 2min 56sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 84hr 39min 1sec
• Radi0 Shack @ 10sec
• Quick Step @ 13sec

Stage 7 route map

Stage 7 profile

Stage 8, Saturday, July 9: Augurande - Super Besse Sancy, 189 km

• Km 65.5, Côte d'Évaux-les-Bains, 1.7 km @ 6.2% gradient - Category 4
• Km 119.5, Côte du Rocher des Trois Tourtes, 1.3 km climb @ 4.6% - Category 4
• Km 164.0, Col de la Croix Saint-Robert, 6.2 km @ 6.2% - Category 2
• Km 189.0, Super-Besse Sancy, 1.5 km @ 7.6% - Category 3

The Race: In the day's first kilometers, 9 riders rolled off the front. As the hills took their toll, they dropped off until Rui Alberto Faria da Costa was alone on the climb to the finish. He held on, surviving first a huge effort by Alexandre Vinokourov to take the stage and possibly the lead, and then the rushing group of GC men who zoomed by Vinokourov in the final meters. Thor Hushovd remains in yellow and Philippe Gilbert's second place was good enough to put him back in green.

Pictures from stage 8

• Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar) 4hr 36min 46sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 15sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) s.t.
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 26sec
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 33hr 6min 28sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) @ 12sec
• David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 19sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 30sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 1min 22sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 1mn 28sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 1min 29sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 2min 4sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min11sec
• Linus Gerdemann (Leopard-Trek)@ 2min 14sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 2min 25sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 2min 27sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 2min 35sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 36sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 2min 43sec
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad): 5 points
• Rui Alberto Faria (Movistar): 5
• Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil): 4
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 187
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 172
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 153
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 120
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 33hr 7min 56sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 59sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 1min 20sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 1min 42sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 1min 50sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 98hr 30min 4sec
• Radio Shack @ 35sec
• HTC-Highroad @ 2min 10sec
• Katusha @ 2min 56sec

Stage 8 route map

Stage 8 profile

Stage 9, Sunday, July 10: Issoire - Saint Flour, 208 km.

• Km 43.5, Côte de Massiac, 3.4 km @ 6.2% gradient - Category 3
• Km 99.5, Col du Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary) (1589 m), 7.7 km @ 6.2% - Category 2
• Km 116.0, Col du Perthus (1309m), 4.4 km @ 7.9% - Category 2
• Km 127.5, Col de Cère (1294 m), 2.9 km @ 6.3% - Category 3
• Km 139.5, Côte de la Chevade, 3.0 km @ 7.9% - Category 3
• Km 154.0, Col de Prat de Bouc (Plomb du Cantal) (1392 m), 8.0 km@ 6.1% - Category 2
• Km 193.0, Côte du Château d'Alleuze, 2.0 km @ 4.9% - Category 4
• Km 208.0, SAINT-FLOUR Montée des Orgues, 1.6 km @ 6.1% - Category 4

The Race: It was a dreadful, crash-filled day of racing. The day's winning break was initiated on the first climb by the always-canny Thomas Voeckler, who was joined by Johnny Hoogerland, Sandy Casar, Samuel Sanchez, Niki Terpstra and Juan Antonio Flecha. On the wet descent of the Col du Pas de Peyrol, Alexandre Vinokourov, David Zabriskie, Jurgen Van Den Broeck and Fredrik Willems crashed badly, all retired with broken bones. The pack slowed for a while after that crash, but Voeckler and his boys pressed on. But they were not immune from the day's hex. A French TV car tried to pass the break and hit Hoogerland and Flecha, sending them flying. Sanchez took the stage and Voeckler is now in yellow.

Photos from Stage 9

• Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) 5hr 27min 9sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 5sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 13sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 59sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 4min 7sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 4min 13sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 4min 20sec
• Dries Devenyns (Quick Step) @ 4min 26sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 4min 30sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 38hr 35min 11sec
• Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) @ 1min 49sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 2min 26sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 29sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 37sec
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 2min 38sec
• Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack) @ 2min 43sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2min 55sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) @ 3min 8sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 36sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 37sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 3min 45sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 3min 47sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 4min 1sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 4min 7sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 4min 22sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 4min 52sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 4min 53sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 5min 1sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 5min 4sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 5min 5sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 5min 7sec
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 13sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 5min 14sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 5min 21sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 5min 32sec
• David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 32sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 5min 39sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 5min 43sec
• Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil): 22 points
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar): 16
• Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad): 5
• Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Movistar): 5
• Sandy Casar (FDJ): 5
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 217 points
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 137
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 135
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 38hr 39min 12sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 51sec
• Europcar: 115hr 3min 31sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 32sec
• Radio Shack @ 1min 2sec
• Rabobank @ 1min 18sec
• Garmin-Cervelo @ @ 1min 50sec

Stage 9 route map

Stage 9 profile

Rest Day 1, Monday, July 11: Le Lioran Cantal

There are 180 riders still in this troubled Tour. Here is a list of withdrawals as of the end of stage 9:

Stage 4: Jurgen Van de Walle (Omega Pharma-Lotto)

Stage 5: Christophe Kern (Europcar), Janez Brajkovic (Radio Shack)

Stage 6: Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel), Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar)

Stage 7: Tom Boonen (Quicki Step), Rémi Pauriol, Bradley Wiggins

Stage 8: Beñat Intxausti (Movistar), Christopher Horner (Radio Shack)

Stage 9: Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil), Pavel Brutt (Katusha), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), David Zabriskie (Garmin-Cervelo), Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank), Frederik Willems (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel)

Stage 10, Tuesday, July 12: Aurillac - Carmaux, 158 km

• Km 62.5, Côte de Figeac, 2.3 km @ 6% gradient- Category 3
• Km 70.5, Côte de Loupiac, 2.5 km @ 4.1% - Category 4
• Km 99.5, Côte de Villefranche-de-Rouergue, 4.1 km @ 5.9% - Category 3
• Km 143.0, Côte de Mirandol-Bourgnounac, 3.9 km @ 4.1% - Category 4

The Race: A six-man break was doomed by Garmin-Cervelo's plan to keep the speed high in the final hilly kilometers of today's stage in order to disrupt Mark Cavendish's leadout train. It worked and Cavendish was forced to find his own way, opening the door for André Greipel to go head to head with the fastest man on two wheels. Cavendish started too soon, allowing Griepel to win his first Tour stage. Johnny Hoogerland, with 33 stitches, finished today's stage still in polka-dots. More bad news for Radio Shack: Yaroslav Popovych, sick with a fever, didn't start today.

• André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 3hr 31min 21sec
• Thomas Geraint (Sky) s.t.
• Tomas Vaitkus (Astana) s.t.
• Alan Perez Lezaun (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Nicloas Roche (Ag2r) s.t.
• Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) s.t.
• Rub Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 42hr 6min 32sec
• Daminao Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 37sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar): 17
• Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil): 5
• Rui Alberto Costa (Movistar): 5
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 226 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 209
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 197
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 163
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) 42hr 10min 33sec
• Europcar: 125hr 37min 34sec
• Garmin-Cervelo @ 1min 50sec

Stage 10 route map

Stage 10 profile

Stage 11, Wednesday, July 13: Blaye les Mines - Lavaur, 167.5 km

• Km 28.5, Côte de Tonnac, 3.6 km @ 4.9% gradient - Category 3
• Km 135.5, Côte de Puylaurens, 4.2 km @ 3.8% gradient - Category 4

The Race: The day's break was left to hang until just a couple of kilometers to go. HTC-Highroad made no mistakes and Mark Cavendish won his third stage this year, his 18th career Tour win and the green jersey. Thomas Voeckler remained in yellow. Tomorrow finishes with an HC climb to Luz Ardiden. Expect big changes to the GC.

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 3hr 46min 7sec
• Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) s.t.
• Francisco Ventoso (Movistar) s.t.
• Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
• Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Arnaud Coyot (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
• Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) s.t.
• Sebastian Lang (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 45hr 52min 39sec
• Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) 2 1min 49sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 4m in 52sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) s.t.
• Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Movistar): 5
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 251 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 235
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 231
• André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 164
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank): 45hr 56min 40sec
• Europcar: 136hr 55min 55sec
• Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 50sec

Stage 11 route map.

Stage 11 profile

Stage 12, Thursday, July 14: Cugnauz - Luz Ardiden, 211 km

• Km 141.5, Hourquette d'Ancizan (1538 m), 9.9 km @ 7.5% - Category 1
• Km 175.5,  Col du Tourmalet (2115 m), 17.1 km @ 7.3% - Category HC
• Km 211.0, Luz-Ardiden (1715 m), 11.3 km climb @ 7.4% - Category HC

The Race: What a day! Stage winner Samuel Sanchez and Jelle Vanendert got clear of the Yellow Jersey group as the Luz Ardiden ascent started to bite. In the chasing group, Thomas Voeckler had Pierre Rolland stay at the front as long as possible, holding the speed of the ascent down to a level Voeckler could handle. Ivan Basso, impatient with the speed, had Liquigas gregario Sylvester Szmyd rev things up. Szmyd's relentless climbing reduced the front group to about 15 riders. Near the top the Schlecks could tell Contador didn't have his usual suds. It only took a couple of attacks and Frank Schleck was free. Cadel Evans did the majority of the work keeping Frank from running away with the Tour. Voeckler turned himself inside out staying with the leaders until nearly the end. It was a terrific ride that will keep him Yellow for a while longer. Contador is now more than 2 minutes behind Schleck.

Photos from Stage 12

• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) 6hr 1min 15sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 7sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 10sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 30sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 35sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 43sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 50sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) s.t.
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 3sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 1min 19sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 1min 25sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 1min 56sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 2min 2sec
• Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) @ 2min 10sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 2min 53sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3min 6sec
• Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo) s.t.
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 3min 8sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 19sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 3min 25sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 3min 38sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 3min 54sec
• David Moncoutie (Cofidis) @ 3min 55sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min 57sec
• Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3min 58sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 51hr 54min 44sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 49sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 2min 6sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 17sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 16sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 22sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 4min
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 4min 11sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 4min 35sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 4min 57sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 5min 7sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 5min 24sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 5min 50sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 6min 3sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 7min 17sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 7min 27sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 7min 51sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 7min 55sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 8min 20sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 8min 47sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 8min 51sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 9min 12sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 9min 20sec
• Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack) @ 10min 19sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 10min 21sec
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 10min 51sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 11min 3sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 11min 6sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) @ 12min 22sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 12min 28sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel): 40 points
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 32
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ): 24
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 24
• Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil): 22
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 260 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 242
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 234
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) 52hr 0min 34sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) 2 1min 37sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 2min 5sec
• Leopard-Trek: 155hr 9min 28sec
• Europcar @ 1min 5sec
• Ag2r @ 2min 21sec
• Radio Shack @ 4mn 8sec
• Katusha @ 5min 3sec

Stage 12 route map

Stage 12 profile

Stage 13, Friday, July 15: Pau - Lourdes, 152.5 km

• Km 43.5, Côte de Cuqueron, 1.5 km @ 8.1% - Category 3
• Km 65.0, Côte de Belair, 1.0 km @ 8.4 % - Category 4
• Km 110.0, Col d'Aubisque (1,709 m), 16.4 km @ 7.1% - Category HC

The Race: The GC men held their fire today and there was no change to the standings. But there was still a terrific day of racing. An early break broke up on the ascent of the Aubisque, but the riders were still more than six minutes ahead of the yellow jersey group. Jérémy Roy went over the Aubisque first, two minutes ahead of David Moncoutie and Thor Hushovd. Thor caught Moncoutie on the descent and then close to the end, dropped him and bridged to Roy, who was looking good for a solo win. After sitting on Roy's wheel for a few seconds, Hushovd blasted by and raced for the finish line and took a well-deserved victory. It wasn't all bad for Roy, he's in polka-dots. Voeckler remains in yellow.

More photos from stage 13

• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 3hr 47min 36sec. 40.2 km/hr average speed.
• David Moncoutie (Cofidis) @ 10sec
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ) @ 26sec
• Lars Ytting Bak (HTC-Highroad) @ 5min
• Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step) @ 5min 2sec
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 5min 3sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 5min 8sec
• Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) @ 5min 16sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 6min 48sec
• Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) @ 6min 51sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 7min 37sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) s.t.
• Matteo Bono (Lampre) s.t.
• Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 55hr 49min 57sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 4min 35sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Karusha) @ 8min 44sec
• Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek) @ 12min 37sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 12min 43sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12min 54sec
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ): 45 points
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel): 40
• Jelle Venendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 34
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 264 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 251
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 240
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 192
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) 55hr 55min 47sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1min 37sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 3min 1sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 3min 30sec
• Garmin Cervelo: 166hr 54min 52sec
• Europcar @ 1min 25sec
• Ag2r @ 2min 26sec
• Katusha @ 2min 39sec

Stage 13 route map

Stage 13 profile

Stage 14, Saturday, July 16: Saint Gaudens - Plateau de Beille, 168.5 km

• Km 26.5, Col de Portet-d'Aspet (1,069 m), 4.3 km @ 9.7% - Category 2
• Km 62.5, Col de la Core (1,395 m), 14.1 km @ 5.7% - Category 1
• Km 94.0, Col de Latrape (1,110 m), 5.6 km @ 7.2% - Category 2
• Km 109.0, Col d'Agnes (1,570 m), 10.0 km @ 8.2 % - Category 1
• Km 118.0, Port de Lers (1,517 m), 3.8 km @ 5.5% - Category 3
• Km 168.5, Plateau de Beille, 15.8 km @ 7.9% - Category HC

The Race: Predictions that the hilltop finish at Plateau de Beille would be decisive were wide of the mark. The Schlecks had their team scorch the pavement on the final climb, but, despite a few attacks, it looked like everyone was racing not to lose. Contador is clearly waiting for his knee to heal and to find his legs in the Alps. The Schlecks' tentative racing helped him along with that goal. With 6.5 kilometers to go Jelle Vanendert took off and with every pedal stroke extended his lead over the chasing group of favorites. That fact shows the contenders hadn't gone deep. Thomas Voeckler was fantastic and heroically defended his lead. Again, that Voeckler had not been dropped indicates a negative day in the Pyrenees. I rate the day a big turnip.

Photos from stage 14

• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) 5hr 13min 25sec. 32.3 km/hr
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 21sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 46sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 48sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 1min 27sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 59sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 2min 23sec
• Andrey Zeits (Astana) @ 2min 38sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Raio Shack) @ 3min 1sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 3min 39sec
• Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo) @ 3min 39sec
• Christophe Riblon (Ag2r) @ 3min 55sec
• Sanday Casar (FDJ) @ 3min 55sec
• David Moncoutie (Cofidis) @ 4min 16sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 4min 46sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 5min
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 5min 3sec
• Egor Selin (Katusha) @ 5min 26sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 37sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 61hr 4min 10sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 15sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 44sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 4min 1sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 46sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 6min 18sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 9min 2sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 9min 30sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 10min 1sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 10min 5sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 10min 56sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 11min 54sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 12min 6sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 12min 56sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 13min 3sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 15min 11sec
• Yuriy Trofimov (Katusha) @ 16min 43sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 16min 48sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 16min 54sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 19min 41sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 20min 50sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 21min 6sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 21min 40sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 74 points
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel): 72
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ): 45
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 28
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 26
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) 61hr 12min 5sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1min 7sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 1min 25sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 2min 10sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 5min 1sec
• Leopard Trek: 182hr 46min 31sec
• Europcar @ 6sec
• Ag2r @ 2min32sec
• Garmin-Cervelo @ 3min 43sec
• Katusha @ 8min 31sec

Stage 14 route map

Stage 14 profile

Stage 15, Sunday, July 17: Limoux - Montpellier, 192.5 km

Km 82.0, Côte de Villespassans, 2.2 km @ 4.6% - Category 4

The Race: The day's break was gobbled up until the stage had only about 3 kilometers to go. Then, just as it looked like the sprinters' teams would be in control, Philippe Gilbert blasted off. He was caught in time for HTC-Highroad to do another flawless leadout for Cavendish. The photo below doesn't do justice to how clearly Cavendish beat the others. It was his fourth Tour victory this year and his 19th career Tour win.

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 4hr 20min 24sec
• Ben Swift (Sky) s.t.
• Leonardo Duque (Cofidis)
• Fabio Sabatini (Liquigas) s.t.
• Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
• Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 65hr 23min 33sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 9min 50sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-lotto) @ 12min 6sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 16min 43sec
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 319 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 282
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 248
• André Greipel (Omega Pharma-lotto): 170
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) 65hr 32min 29sec
• Leopard-Trek: 195hr 47min 43sec
• Ag2r @ 2min 32sec

Stage 15 route map

Stage 15 profile

Rest Day 2, Monday, July 18: Département de la Drôme

Here are the withdrawals from the Tour since the first rest day after stage 9. There were 170 classified finishers at the end of stage 14.

Stage 10: Yaroslav Popovych (Radio Shack). Alexandr Kolobnev (Katusha)

Stage 11: John Gadret (Ag2r)

Stage 12: Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil), Denis Galimzyanov (Katusha)

Stage 13: Vladimir Isaichev (Katusha), Gert Steegmans (Quick Step), Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack), Lars Boom (Radio Shack)

Stage 14: William Bonnet (FDJ)

Stage 16, Tuesday, July 19: Saint Paul Trois Châteaux - Gap, 162.5 km

Km 151.0, Col de Manse, 9.5 km @ 5.2% - Category 2

The Race: No more Mr. Nice Guy. I thought the contenders would just phone this one in and wait for the coming Alpine hilltop finishes. Nope. Midway up the day's climb, the 2nd category Col de Manse, Alberto Contador delivered a shock to the system. He jumped hard, catching everyone asleep at the wheel. The move was covered, so near the top he lit the jets again and only Samuel Sanchez and Cadel Evans could go with him. They went over the top with more than a half minute lead. On the tricky, wet descent Evans got away and held a small gap to the finish. The Schlecks were no match for the Evans group on the technical descent and both lost time, Andy particularly. Voeckler finally saw an attack he couldn't handle, but he has retained the lead after a hard stage. Up ahead, Hushovd was the best of an early escape that broke up on the climb, overpowering Edvald Boasson Hagen with the aid of teammate Ryder Hesjedal. What a fabulous day of racing!

Photos from Stage 16

• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) 3hr 31min 38sec. 46.1 km/hr
• Edvald Boassan Hagen (Sky) s.t.
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 2sec
• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) @ 38sec
• Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) @ 52sec
• Alan Perez (Euskaltel) @ 1min 25sec
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ) s.t.
• Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil) @ 1min 55sec
• Andriy Grivko (Astana) @ 1min 58sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 4min 23sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 4min 26sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) @ 4min 44sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-lotto) s.t.
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) s.t.
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 2sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 5min 17sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) s.t.
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 5min 32sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 69hr 0min 56sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1min 45sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 3min 3sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 3min 26sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 3min 42sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 3min 49sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 6min 4sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 9min
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 9min 53sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 10min 38sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 14min 36sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 14min 59sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 17min 39sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 17min 42sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 19min 20sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 20min 12sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 20min 14sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) 2 20min 36sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-lotto) @ 20min 50sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 21min 39sec
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 285
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-lotto): 250
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 235
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) 69hr 8min 51sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 1min 58sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 206hr 31min 24sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 7min 1sec
• Europcar @ 8min 14sec
• Ag2r @ 10min 4sec
• Katusha @ 13min 5sec

Stage 16 route map

Stage 16 profile

Stage 17, Wednesday, July 20: Gap - Pinerolo, 179 km

• Km 71.5, Côte de Sainte-Marguerite, 2.8 km @ 7.4% - Category 3
• Km 85.5, La Chaussée (montée de Briançon), 1.4 km @ 8.3% - Category 3
• Km 96.5, Col de Montgenèvre (1,860 m), 7.9 km @ 6.1% - Category 2
• Km 117.0, Sestrières (2,035 m), 11.1 km @ 6.3 % - Category 1
• Km 171.0, Côte de Pramartino, 6.7 km @ 6 %, Category 2

The Race: Edvald Boasson Hagen attacked out of an early break on the day's final climb, the Pramartino. He then skillfully raced down the extremely difficult descent for his second stage win this year. Further back, Alberto Contador attacked twice on the Pramartino, but the Schlecks covered him both times. On the descent he escaped with Samuel Sanchez, only to be caught by the Schleck group just before the finish. Thomas Voeckler overcooked corners twice and was gapped on the descent, costing him 27 seconds, not enough to lose the lead.

Pictures from Stage 17

• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) 4hr 18min 0sec. 41.6 km/hr
• Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) @ 40sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 50sec
• Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) s.t.
• Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) @ 1min 10sec
• Dmitriy Moravyev (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Jonathan Hivert (Saur-Sojasun) @ 1min 15sec
• Borut Bozic (Vacansoleil) @ 2min 20sec
• Andrey Amador (Movistar) @ 2mi 20sec
• Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 37sec
• Bjorn Leukemans (Vacansoleil) @ 3min 35sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 4min
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 4min 26sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 4min 34sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 4min 53sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) s.t.
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 5min 3sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 73hr 23min 49sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1min 18sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 22sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 36sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 2min 59sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 3min 15sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 34sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 7min 36sec
• Jean-Chirstophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 7min 53sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 8min 7sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 8min 35sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 10min 3sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 10min 33sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 10min 52sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 11min 39sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 12min 6sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 12min 44sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 14min 6sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 15min 1sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 18min 42sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 18min 45sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 21min 14sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 21min 17sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervel) @ 21min 49sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 22min 9sec
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 22min 23sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 23min 31sec
• Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step): 38
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 29
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 320 points
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 250
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky): 173
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) 73hr 31min 25sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 2min 27sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 3min 16sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 5min 8sec
• Garmin Cervelo: 219hr 41min 46sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 5min 27sec
• Ag2r @ 8min 4sec
• Europcar @ 14min 24sec
• Euskaltel @ 14min 53sec

Stage 17 route map

Stage 17 profile

Stage 18, Thursday, July 21: Pinerolo - Galibier Serre Chevalier, 200.5 km

• Km 107.0, Col Agnel (2,744 m), 23.7 km @ 6.5% - Category HC
• Km 145.5, Col d'Izoard (2,360 m), 14.1 km @ 7.3% - Category HC
• Km 200.5, Col du Galibier (2,645 m), 22.8 km @ 4.9% - Category HC

The Race: Andy Schleck did a courageous and impressive ride today. On the slopes of the Izoard (where 3-time Tour winner Louison Bobet said great riders made their reputations), Andy Schleck rode away from the field. At one point on the windy Galibier he had more than 4 minutes on the yellow jersey group. The domestiques of the other contenders were unable to reel in Schleck and on the Galibier Cadel Evans took the responsibility of containing the growing threat. With Basso, Voeckler, Contador, and Cunego sitting on his wheel, Evans stayed at the front and hammered away. Contador, having another jour sans , was dropped near the finish, losing nearly 4 minutes. Schleck soloed in for a fabulous victory after being off the front for 60 kilometers. Chapeau! Voeckler killed himself holding Evans' wheel, making it clear the whole chase that he would not put his nose in the wind. He reward was another day in yellow.

Stage 18 photos

• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) 6hr 7min 57sec. 32.7 km/hr
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 7sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 2min 15sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 2min 18sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 2min 21sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 2min 33sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 3min 22sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min 25sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min 31sec
• Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana) @ 3min 35sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min 38sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 3min 44sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 3min 50sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 3min 50sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 3min 55sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 4min 7sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 4min 42sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 4min 58sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 5min 7sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 5min 35sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 6min 53sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 7min 1sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 7min 25sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 7min 31sec
• Egor Silin (Katusha) @ 7min 44sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 9min 17sec
• David Arroyo (Movistar) s.t.
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) 79hr 34min 6sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 15sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 8sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 1min 12sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 46sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 4min 44sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 5min 20sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 7min 8sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 9min 27sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 9min 36sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 10min 9sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 11min 21sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 12min 1sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 12min 46sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 13min 8sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 15min 30sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 15min 32sec
• Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) @ 16min 43sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 20min 5sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 23min 6sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 23min 19sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 25min 38sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 25min 59sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 28min 10sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 31min 52sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 33min 56sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 35min 16sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 43min 52sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 48min 53sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-lotto): 74 points
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 70
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 50

Adjusted after officials docked several sprinters 20 points for finishing outside the time limit.

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 300 points
• Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto): 230
• Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo): 215
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 185
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) 79hr 43min 42sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 33sec
• Rigoberto Uran (Sky) @ 3min 10sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 5min 54sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 5min 56sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 238hr 16min 8sec
• Ag2r @ 10min 30sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 11min 6sec
• Katusha @ 28min 42sec
• Europcar @ 29min 21sec

Stage 18 route map

Stage 18 profile

Stage 19, Friday, July 22: Modane Valfréjus - Alpe d'Huez , 109.5 km

• Km 26.5, Col du Télégraphe (1,566 m), 11.9 km @ 7.1% - Category 1
• Km 48.5, Col du Galibier (2,556m), 16.7 km @ 6.8% - Category HC
• Km 109.5, Alpe d'Huez (1,850 m), 13.8 km @ 7.9% - Category HC

The Race: After suffering mechanical troubles that left him chasing up and over the Télégraphe and the Galibier, Cadel Evans made contact with Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck on the flat run-in to L'Alpe d'Huez. Even Thomas Voeckler, who cracked badly on the Télégraphe, was in the main group at the base of the Alpe. Pierre Rolland took off. When the ascent started to bite, Evans put in a huge dig, but was brought back. From then to the top the favorites marked each other with the Schlecks riding fast tempo at the front. Contador and Samuel Sanchez went off seeking a stage victory and caught Rolland. But Rolland was not to be denied. A couple of kilometers from the top he dropped the two Spaniards and took France's first stage victory this year as well as the white jersey. Andy Schleck is in yellow.

Stage 19 photos

• Pierre Roland (Europcar) 3hr 13min 25sec. 34.0 km/hr
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 14sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 23sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 57sec
• Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil) s.t.
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 1min 15sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 1min 27sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 2min 6sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 2min 31sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 2min 46sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min 22sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 3min 34sec
• Blel Kadri (Ag2r) @ 3min 47sec
• Rémy Di Gregorio (Astana) @ 4min 26sec
• Jesus Hernandez (Saxo) @ 4min 52sec
• Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) @ 5min 19sec
• Christian Knees (Sky) s.t.
• Sébastien Minard (Ag2r) s.t.
• David Loosli (Lampre) @ 5min 41sec
• Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) 82hr 48min 43sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 53sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 57sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 2min 10sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 31sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 3min 55sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 4min 22sec
• Ivan Basso (Liquigas) @ 4min 40sec
• Tom Danielson @ 7min 11sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 8min 57sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 9min 42sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 10min 30sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 12min 55sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 16min 49sec
• Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 17min 42sec
• Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 23min 17sec
• Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 23min 22sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 25min 16sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 27min 55sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 28min 2sec
• Rob Ruijgh (Vacansoleil) @ 29min 25sec
• Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 32min 46sec
• Vladimir Gusev (Katusha) @ 37min 44sec
• Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel) @ 39min 44sec
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 48min 29sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 51min 44sec
• Yury Trofimov (Katusha) @ 52min 20sec
• Geraint Thomas (Sky) @ 57min 28sec
• Levi Leipheimer (Radio Shack) @ 59min 24sec
• Robert Gesink (Rabobank) @ 1hr 2min 12sec
• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad): 280 points
• José Joaquin Rojas (Movistar): 265
• Cadel Evans (BMC): 191
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 82hr 57min 40sec
• Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) @ 1min 33sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 7min 52sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 248hr 2min 15sec
• Ag2r @ 11min 58sec
• Leopard-Trek @ 12min 57sec
• Europcar @ 40min 46sec
• Euskaltel @ 49min 50sec

Stage 19 route map

Stage 19 profile

Stage 20, Saturday, July 23: Grenoble 42.5 km Individual Time Trial

No rated climbs this stage

The race: Cadel Evans looked good coming out of the start house and quickly found his rhythm. With every pedal stroke, the most complete rider in the race got closer to the yellow jersey. At no point was either Schleck brother riding fast enough to present a threat to Evans.

Photos from stage 20

• Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) 55min 33sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 7sec
• Alberto Contador (Saxo) @ 1min 6sec
• Thomas de Gendt (Vacansoleil) @ 1min 29sec
• Richie Porte (Saxo) @ 1min 30sec
• Jean-Christophe Peraud (Ag2r) @ 1min 33sec
• Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) @ 1min 37sec
• Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) @ 1min 42sec
• Peter Velits (HTC-Highroad) @ 2min 3sec
• Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 2min 8sec
• Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) @ 2min 10sec
• Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) @ 2min 14sec
• Maxime Monfort (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 36sec
• Kristjan Koren (Liquigas) @ 2min 36sec
• Adriano Malori (Lampre) @ 2min 38sec
• Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil) @ 2min 39sec
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) @ 2min 41sec
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 2min 50sec
• Jérôme Coppel (Saur-Sojasun) @ 2min 51sec
• Jurgen Roelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 2min 57sec
• Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) @ 2min 58sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 3min
• Sandy Casar (FDJ) @ 3min 3sec
• Jérémy Roy (FDJ) @ 3min 23sec
• Sylvain Chavanel (Quick step) @ 3min 28sec
• Danny Pate (HTC-Highroad) @ 3min 30sec
• Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) @ 3min 36sec
• Damiano Cunego (Lampre) @ 3min 38sec
• Cadel Evans (BMC)
• Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) 2min 30sec
• Kevin De Weert (Quick Step) @ 16min @ 16min 29sec
• Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Cervelo) @ 27min 12sec
• Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) @ 31min 42sec
• Maxime Monfort (leopard-Trek) @ 53min 16sec
• Cadel EVans (BMC): 58
• Fran Schleck (Leopard-Trek): 56
• Pierre Rolland (Europcar) 83hr 56min 3sec
• Garmin-Cervelo: 250hr 57min 43sec
• Europcar @ 41min 53sc

Stage 20 route map

Stage 20 profile

Stage 21: Sunday, July 24, Créteil - Paris (Champs Élysées), 95 km

No rated climbs

The Race: It was the usual promenade to Paris but as soon as the peloton got near the Champs circuit, it turned red hot with a 6-man group escaping and holding a 30-secind lead for much of the remainder of the race. It fell apart near the end with Lars Ytting Bak the last remaining escapee, and he was caught with about 3 km to go. From then on it was an HTC-Highroad show with Mark Cavendish getting his third consecutive Champs Elysées stage finish. Cadel Evans finished safely to become the first Tour winner from the southern hemisphere.

Stage 21 photos

• Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) 2hr 27min 2sec. 38.8 km/hr
• Borut Bozic (Vacaneoleil) s.t.
• Thomas Vaitkus (Astana) s.t.
• Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) s.t.
• Mikhail Ignatiev (Katusha) s.t.
• Alan Perez (Euskaltel) s.t.
• Fabio Sabatini (Luigas) s.t.

Complete Final 2011 Tour de France General Classification

• Cadel Evans (BMC) 86hr 12min 22sec. 3430 km raced, 39.788 km/hr

Stage 21 route map

Stage 21 profile

Route summary:

Running from Saturday July 2rd to Sunday July 24th 2011, the 98th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,471 kilometres.

These stages have the following profiles:

• · 1 prologue,
• 10 flat stages,
• 6 mountain stages and 4 summit finishes,
• · 4 medium mountain stages,
• 1 individual time-trial stage (41 km).
• 1 team time-trial stage (23 km).

Distinctive aspects of the 2011 Tour de France

• le Galibier climbed twice,
• 2 rest days,
• 23 level 2, 1 or highest level mountain passes or summit finishes,
• No time bonuses

Here's how the Tour organization describes the 2011 edition:

After the Grand Start, hosted by the Vendée for the fifth time it its history, the pack will spend time in Brittany, before heading to the Cantal for a first battle between the climbers at Super Besse. The race’s baptism with the high mountain roads will take place in the Pyrenees, with three tough gradient stages. On completion of this series, all eyes will be on the winner at the Plateau de Beille: to date every rider who has won there has also been triumphant at the end of Le Tour.

For the exploration of the Alps, the organisers insisted on the collaboration of their Italian neighbours who in 2011 will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of Italian unification and who have also given pride of place to the mountains throughout the long history of the Giro. On the return of the pack to France, there will be another anniversary to celebrate: during the 18th stage, the riders will head towards the Galibier pass which Le Tour discovered one hundred years ago, in 1911. This time, the finishing line will be the highest in history, at an altitude of 2,645 metres. However, the following day’s stage will probably be more decisive, with a relentless 109-km battle, taking the riders up the Galibier pass for a second time before climbing up the Alpe d’Huez. Forty-eight hours from the final finishing line, the struggle for the Yellow Jersey could still see some surprises on the sole individual time trial on Le Tour in 2011, in a loop around Grenoble.

Startlist with backnumbers

SAXO BANK SUNGARD (SBS) Director Sportif: Bradley McGee  1 CONTADOR Alberto  2 HERNANDEZ BLAZQUEZ Jesus  3 NAVARRO Daniel  4 NOVAL GONZALEZ Benjamin  5 PORTE Richie  6 SORENSEN Chris Anker  7 SORENSEN Nicki  8 TOSATTO Matteo  9 VANDBORG Brian

TEAM LEOPARD-TREK (LEO)  Director Sportif: Kim Andersen 11 SCHLECK Andy  12 CANCELLARA Fabian  13 FUGLSANG Jakob  14 GERDEMANN Linus  15 MONFORT Maxime  16 O’GRADY Stuart  17 POSTHUMA Joost  18 SCHLECK Frank  19 VOIGT Jens

EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI (EUS)  Director Sportif: Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano 21 SANCHEZ Samuel  22 IZAGIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka  23 MARTINEZ Egoi  24 PEREZ LEZAUN Alan  25 PEREZ MORENO Ruben  26 TXURRUKA Amets  27 URTASUN PEREZ Pablo  28 VELASCO Ivan  29 VERDUGO Gorka

OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO (OLO)  Director Sportif: Herman Frison 31 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen  32 GILBERT Philippe  33 GREIPEL André  34 LANG Sebastian  35 ROELANDTS Jurgen  36 SIEBERG Marcel  37 VAN DE WALLE Jurgen  38 VANENDERT Jelle  39 WILLEMS Frederik

RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (RAB)  Director Sportif: Adri Van Houwelingen 41 GESINK Robert  42 BARREDO Carlos  43 BOOM Lars  44 GARATE Juan Manuel  45 MOLLEMA Bauke  46 NIERMANN Grischa Jan  47 SANCHEZ Luis-Leon  48 TEN DAM Laurens  49 TJALLINGII Maarten

TEAM GARMIN - CERVELO (GRM)  Director Sportif: Jonathan Vaughters 51 HUSHOVD Thor  52 DANIELSON Tom  53 DEAN Julian  54 FARRAR Tyler  55 HESJEDAL Ryder  56 MILLAR David  57 NAVARDAUSKAS Ramunas  58 VANDE VELDE Christian  59 ZABRISKIE David

PRO TEAM ASTANA (AST)  Director Sportif: Alexandr Shefer 61 VINOKOUROV Alexandre  62 DI GREGORIO Rémy  63 FOFONOV Dmitriy  64 GRIVKO Andriy  65 IGLINSKIY Maxim  66 KREUZIGER Roman  67 TIRALONGO Paolo  68 VAITKUS Tomas  69 ZEITS Andrey

TEAM RADIOSHACK (RSH)  Director Sportif: Johan Bruyneel 71 BRAJKOVIC Janez  72 HORNER Christopher  73 IRIZAR Markel  74 KLÖDEN Andréas  75 LEIPHEIMER Levi  76 MURAVYEV Dmitriy  77 PAULINHO Sergio  78 POPOVYCH Yaroslav  79 ZUBELDIA Haimar

MOVISTAR TEAM (MOV)  Director Sportif: Yvon Ladanois 81 ARROYO David  82 AMADOR Andrey  83 FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto  84 ERVITI Imanol  85 GUTIERREZ José Ivan  86 INTXAUSTI Benat  87 KIRYIENKA Vasil  88 ROJAS Jose Joaquin  89 VENTOSO Francisco

LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (LIQ)  Director Sportif: Stefano Zanatta 91 BASSO Ivan  92 BODNAR Maciej  93 KOREN Kristjan  94 LONGO BORGHINI Paolo  95 OSS Daniel  96 PATERSKI Maciej  97 SABATINI Fabio  98 SZMYD Sylvester  99 VANOTTI Alessandro

AG2R LA MONDIALE (ALM)  Director Sportif: Vincent Lavenu 101 ROCHE Nicolas  102 BOUET Maxime  103 DUPONT Hubert  104 GADRET John  105 HINAULT Sébastien  106 KADRI Blel  107 MINARD Sébastien  108 PERAUD Jean-Christophe  109 RIBLON Christophe

SKY PROCYCLING (SKY)  Director Sportif: Sean Yates 111 WIGGINS Bradley  112 FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio  113 GERRANS Simon  114 HAGEN Edvald Boasson  115 KNEES Christian  116 SWIFT Ben  117 THOMAS Geraint  118 URAN Rigoberto  119 ZANDIO Xabier

QUICK STEP CYCLING TEAM (QST)  Director Sportif: Wilfried Peeters 121 CHAVANEL Sylvain  122 BOONEN Tom  123 CIOLEK Gerald  124 DE WEERT Kevin  125 DEVENYNS Dries  126 ENGELS Addy  127 PINEAU Jérôme  128 STEEGMANS Gert  129 TERPSTRA Niki

FDJ (FDJ)  Director Sportif: Thierry Bricaud 131 CASAR Sandy  132 BONNET William  133 DELAGE Mickaël  134 JEANNESSON Arnold  135 MEERSMAN Gianni  136 PAURIOL Rémi  137 ROUX Anthony  138 ROY Jérémy  139 VICHOT Arthur

BMC RACING TEAM (BMC)  Director Sportif: John Lelangue 141 EVANS Cadel  142 BOOKWALTER Brent  143 BURGHARDT Marcus  144 HINCAPIE George  145 MOINARD Amaël  146 MORABITO Steve  147 QUINZIATO Manuel  148 SANTAROMITA Ivan  149 SCHÄR Michael

COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE (COF)  Director Sportif: Didier Rous 151 TAARAMAE Rein 152 BUFFAZ Mickaël  153 DUMOULIN Samuel  154 DUQUE Leonardo  155 EL FARES Julien  156 GALLOPIN Tony  157 MONCOUTIE David  158 VALENTIN Tristan  159 ZINGLE Romain

LAMPRE - ISD (LAM)  Director Sportif: Orlando Maini 161 CUNEGO Damiano  162 BERTAGNOLLI Leonardo  163 BOLE Grega  164 BONO Matteo  165 HONDO Danilo  166 KOSTYUK Denys  167 LOOSLI David  168 MALORI Adriano  169 PETACCHI Alessandro

HTC - HIGHROAD (THR)  Director Sportif: Brian Holm 171 CAVENDISH Mark  172 BAK Lars  173 EISEL Bernhard  174 GOSS Matthew Harley  175 MARTIN Tony  176 PATE Danny  177 RENSHAW Mark  178 VAN GARDEREN Tejay  179 VELITS Peter

TEAM EUROPCAR (EUC)  Director Sportif: Dominique Arnould 181 VOECKLER Thomas  182 CHARTEAU Anthony  183 GAUTIER Cyril  184 GENE Yohann  185 JEROME Vincent  186 KERN Christophe  187 QUEMENEUR Perrig  188 ROLLAND Pierre  189 TURGOT Sébastien

KATUSHA TEAM (KAT)  Director Sportif: Dmitry Konyshev 191 KARPETS Vladimir  192 BRUTT Pavel  193 GALIMZYANOV Denis  194 GUSEV Vladimir  195 IGNATYEV Mikhail  196 ISAICHEV Vladimir  197 KOLOBNEV Alexandr  198 SILIN Egor  199 TROFIMOV Yury

VACANSOLEIL-DCM (VCD)  Director Sportif: Hilaire Van Der Schueren 201 FEILLU Romain  202 BOZIC Borut  203 DE GENDT Thomas  204 HOOGERLAND Johnny  205 LEUKEMANS Bjorn  206 MARCATO Marco  207 POELS Wouter  208 RUIJGH Rob  209 WESTRA Lieuwe

SAUR-SOJASUN (SAU)  Director Sportif: Stéphane Heulot 211 COPPEL Jérôme  212 COYOT Arnaud  213 DELAPLACE Anthony  214 ENGOULVENT Jimmy  215 GALLAND Jeremie  216 HIVERT Jonathan  217 JEANDESBOZ Fabrice  218 MANGEL Laurent  219 TALABARDON Yannick 

Teams invited to the 2011 Tour de France:

Automatic entrees based upon UCI rules:

OMEGA PHARMA-LOTTO  (BEL)

QUICKSTEP CYCLING TEAM  (BEL)

SAXO BANK SUNGARD (DAN)

EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI (ESP)

MOVISTAR TEAM (ESP)

AG2R LA MONDIALE (FRA)

SKY PROCYCLING (GBR)

LAMPRE - ISD (ITA)

LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE (ITA)

PRO TEAM ASTANA (KAZ)

TEAM LEOPARD - TREK (LUX)

RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM (HOL)

VACANSOLEIL-DCM PRO CYCLING TEAM (HOL)

KATUSHA TEAM (RUS)

BMC RACING TEAM (USA)

HTC-HIGHROAD (USA)

TEAM GARMIN-CERVELO (USA)

TEAM RADIOSHACK (USA)

Plus 4 Wild cards, all French:

COFIDIS, LE CREDIT EN LIGNE (FRA)

SAUR - SOJASUN (FRA)

TEAM EUROPCAR (FRA)

© McGann Publishing

Two Etapes in 2011: the long and short of it

• Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

The publication of next year's Tour de France route route sheds further light on the nature of the 2011 Etape du Tour.

Or should we say Etapes ?

Although dates have yet to be confirmed, Cycling Weekly understands there will be two Etapes next year - allowing more average Joes a taste of riding the Tour de France.

One will celebrate a century of the Alps in the Tour de France by tracing the route of stage 19 from Mondane to Alpe d'Huez.

This tackles the legendary ascents of the Télégraphe, Galibier and, of course, the Alpe - all locations of many great battles in the Tour.

Although the route includes over 4,000 vertical metres of climbing, the stage is short at a mere 109km.

And while the compact route should make for an explosive day on the actual race, the shorter distance should help reduce the high rates of non-finishers (up to 30%) of recent Etapes.

Get The Leadout Newsletter

The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!

The last time the Etape ascended the 21 hairpin bends of Alpe d'Huez was in 2006.

At 208km, the other version of the 2011 Etape is almost twice as long as the Alpine edition and not necessarily any easier.

This will take place between Issoire and Saint Flour in the Massif Central, replicating the ninth stage of next year's Tour de France.

At 1,589m above sea level, the Col du Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary) is the highest point on the route - almost a kilometre lower than the Galibier's 2556m summit.

However, what the Saint Flour Etape lacks in monster climbs, it makes up for in frequency.

A long ascent up on to the central plateau precedes the Puy Mary, while five distinct climbs quickly follow it.

Even when the spikes on the route profile subside in the final 50km, it's worth remembering that the roads around this area are notoriously heavy and undulating.

It's not the first time the Etape du Tour has come this way. In 2004 it traced a 239km route between Limoges and St Flour, also going over the Puy Mary.

The fastest rider that day -former pro Jean-Christophe Currit- described it as "a real slog of a stage".

Related links

The mountains of the 2011 Tour de France

Cavendish challenging for eight stages at the 2011 Tour

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

We tested the gen three BMC Roadmachine on smooth tarmac and techy trails, as the Swiss bike company reboots its endurance platform for 2024

By Simon Fellows Published 9 April 24

Gravel bikes, aero bikes, double wrapped tape or no gloves at all - the weekend's racing certainly showed us that there's no one way to ride the Hell of the North

By Joe Baker Published 9 April 24

Useful links

• Tour de France
• Giro d'Italia
• Vuelta a España

Buyer's Guides

• Best road bikes
• Best gravel bikes
• Best smart turbo trainers
• Best cycling computers
• Editor's Choice
• Bike Reviews
• Component Reviews
• Clothing Reviews
• Contact Future's experts
• Terms and conditions
• Privacy policy
• Cookies policy
• Advertise with us

Cycling Weekly is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site . © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

2011 Tour de France, Stage 18 (Q2117042)

Identifiers, wikipedia (6 entries).

• cawiki 18a etapa del Tour de França de 2011
• dawiki 18. etape af Tour de France 2011
• dewiki Tour de France 2011/18. Etappe
• frwiki 18e étape du Tour de France 2011
• nlwiki Ronde van Frankrijk 2011/Achttiende etappe
• nowiki 18. etappe av Tour de France 2011

Wikibooks (0 entries)

Wikinews (0 entries), wikiquote (0 entries), wikisource (0 entries), wikiversity (0 entries), wikivoyage (0 entries), wiktionary (0 entries), multilingual sites (1 entry).

• commonswiki Category:Etape 18 du Tour de France 2011

Navigation menu

Tour de France

• Stages - Results
• Previous winners
• Football Home
• Fixtures - Results
• Premier League
• Champions League
• Europa League
• All Competitions
• All leagues
• Snooker Home
• World Championship
• UK Championship
• Major events
• Tennis Home
• Calendar - Results
• Australian Open
• Roland-Garros
• Mountain Bike Home
• UCI Track CL Home
• Men's standings
• Women's standings
• Cycling Home
• Race calendar
• Vuelta a España
• Giro d'Italia
• Dare to Dream
• Alpine Skiing Home
• Athletics Home
• Diamond League
• World Championships
• World Athletics Indoor Championships
• Biathlon Home
• Cross-Country Skiing Home
• Cycling - Track
• Equestrian Home
• Figure Skating Home
• Formula E Home
• Calendar - results
• DP World Tour
• MotoGP Home
• Motorsports Home
• Speedway GP
• Clips and Highlights
• Olympics Home
• Olympic Channel
• Rugby World Cup predictor
• Premiership
• Champions Cup
• Challenge Cup
• All Leagues
• Ski Jumping Home
• Speedway GP Home
• Superbikes Home
• The Ocean Race Home
• Triathlon Home
• Hours of Le Mans
• Winter Sports Home