On the eve of Cadel Evans’ first moment of truth in the 2011 Tour de France, Mark Cavendish made it a hat-trick of wins and goes into the Pyrenees finally wearing the green jersey.
In what has been a very eventful and sometimes dramatic first half of the tour, Stage 11, although wet, was pretty uneventful in comparison and pretty much went according to the script.
A breakaway group got away early in the stage, the peloton led by the work of Cavendish’s HTC Highroad team slowly reigned it in, with the last escapee, Rabobank’s Lars Boon, being caught with 2.2 km to go.
As the finish line approached, the teams with the strong sprinters organized themselves to fight out the finish.
The chase had taken its toll on the HTC team, but Cavendish, this time, had nothing to fear – entering the last kilometre of the sprint he still had his main lead out man, Matt Renshaw with him.
Renshaw piled on the pace, with 200 metres to go Cavendish came off his wheel, ignited the afterburners and scored a very comfortable victory.
Sprint rivals Andre Greipel and Tyler Farrar left in his wake and fought it out for the minor placings.
It was the Manxman’s 18th stage win. He was also presented with the green jersey as the tour’s sprint points leader. His goal will now be to survive the climbs, make it 20 wins and be the green jersey winner by tour’s end.
The general classification contenders stayed out of trouble and finished with peloton.
Which bring us tonight 211km stage from Cugnaux to the ski station at Luz Ardiden.
This is the stage all Australian Tour fans have been waiting for.
The stage has three big climbs. Including 2 massive all category climbs.
• Km 141.5 – Hourquette d’Ancizan (1538 m) – 9.9 km climb to 7.5 % – Category 1
• Km 175.5 – Col du Tourmalet (2115 m) – 17.1 km climb to 7.3 % – Category H
• Km 211.0 – Luz-Ardiden (1715 m) – 13 km climb to 7.4 % – Category H
The pressure will be on Alberto Contador to make up lost time on his rivals.
For Andy Schleck, he has to try and start making time on Cadel Evans as he needs at least a two minute gap on him before the penultimate and decisive time trial stage of the tour.
Cadel just knows that he just has to keep pace and cover the attacks on the climbs. It will be a damage limitation exercise. The less damage, the better his chances of finally wearing yellow entering Paris.
Expect to see some very good climbers break away to try and win the stage.
In the breakaway, expect riders from the main contender’s teams as they will provide invaluable assistance on the big slopes to their leaders.
It will make for a riveting nights viewing.
Stage 11 Results
Standing Rider Team Time Gaps
1. CAVENDISH Mark HTC – HIGHROAD 3h 46′ 07″
2. GREIPEL André OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
3. FARRAR Tyler TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
4. GALIMZYANOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
5. HAGEN Edvald Boasson SKY PROCYCLING 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
6. FEILLU Romain VACANSOLEIL-DCM 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
7. ROJAS Jose Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00
18. RENSHAW Mark HTC – HIGHROAD 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
29. SCHLECK Andy TEAM LEOPARD-TREK 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00
47. CONTADOR Alberto SAXO BANK SUNGARD 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
50. EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 3h 46′ 07″ + 00′ 00″
Overall Standings
Rider Team Time Gaps
1. VOECKLER Thomas TEAM EUROPCAR 42h 06′ 32″
2. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon RABOBANK CYCLING 42h 08′ 21″ + 01′ 49″
3. EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 42h 08′ 58″ + 02′ 26″
4. SCHLECK Frank TEAM LEOPARD-TREK 42h 09′ 01″ + 02′ 29″
5. SCHLECK Andy TEAM LEOPARD-TREK 42h 09′ 09″ + 02′ 37″
6. MARTIN Tony HTC – HIGHROAD 42h 09′ 10″ + 02′ 38″
16. CONTADOR Alberto SAXO BANK SUNGARD 42h 10′ 39″ + 04′ 07″
Green Jersey Standings
Standing Rider Team Points
1. CAVENDISH Mark HTC – HIGHROAD 251 pts
2. ROJAS Jose Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM 235 pts
3. GILBERT Philippe OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO 231 pts
4. GREIPEL André 33 OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO 164 pts
5. HUSHOVD Thor 51 TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO 163 pts
nordozzz
Roar Guru
'weed vapor' and pepsi max keeps me primed! :P
Andrew Sutherland
Roar Guru
No need for pints tonight Art. You'll be drunk on the action.
Elisha Pearce
Expert
Yes, Voekler, he's not a rubbish climber. If he's feeling it he may still be there come the pointy end. Or end's as there are 3 significant points in this stage.
GrecoRoman
Roar Guru
Have been passively following the Tour de France since losing interest in the early 90's. Since we had our discussion last week Art, I've become glued to the TV again to the point of not going to bed until just before the 'City webcam' views set to classical music are put on by SBS. Thanks Art, I'm at work and am completely buggered.
It will be an amazing effort if Tony Martin can figure in the climbs. He and his team have worked their butts off for Cavendish. But with some of the other leaders like Wiggins out the tour. It looks like he can certainly claim a high GC finish, depending on how well he does on the climbs.
buck
Guest
any thoughts on Tony Martin. I know he can TT but is his climbing any good? Go Cadel
jameswm
Guest
Let's see if Cadel hangs on to Contador's wheel to let him do the work. And how well will Voeckler hang on?
Rhys
Guest
All aboard the HTC bullet train! Cav's a class act but without the benefit the HTC launchpad it's doubtful the 'Manx Missile' would have such an edge over the likes of Greipel and Farrar. I wouldn't mind Cav holding on for the green but I'm tipping Gilbert will claim it back before tour's end. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Schleck's try a one-two combination on Contador tonight, just to test his resolve. I still believe Andy would have won last year's tour had Frank not crashed out early. I'm a little worried about Cadel being isolated when the terrain gets really tough. Hopefully the likes of 'Big George', Santaromita, Morabito & Moinard can hang in long enough to lend support against the numbers from Leopard-Trek and Rabobank.
punter
Guest
Can Cadel stay with them Decs? I know your money says yes, but what are your thoughts. As Art Says I think Cadel has it on Andy& Frank in the TT.
Thanks for the all the great comments. I really appreciate it. Makes this gig all the more worthwhile. I agree with Decs. Tourmalet will just soften everyone up, but will be interesting to see who goes over first. I can see someone like David Moncoutie being allowed to get away as he's 15 minutes behind the big guns and will be going for the polka dot instead.
Shaun
Guest
Unfortunately, I don't think Cadel is going to be able to stop Andy Schlek! Especially the Schleks working in tandem. Whether Contador's foxing or not...we'll see. On form, Andy and Alberto are unstoppable in the mountains. If not for Andy's chain jump last year, it would have been much closer!
Decs
Guest
Firstly agree with all above, thanks for the write ups Art. Can't wait for tonight. I would have thought the fireworks will kick off on the last climb. Tourmalet (which I had the honour of cycling 3yrs ago on 3hrs sleep) will be a matter of holding on for the the top 3 GC contenders and just making sure a rider like Basso doesn't try and get away. I think tonight and Sat are the two key stages as Alpe d"huez is almost a bit too short (albeit they have Galibier beforehand as well) and with thoughts of the TT the next day, to really put the carnage down. BTW got Cadel at 26-1 so happy at this stage.
jameswm
Guest
I like these write-ups better than the AAP ones because they're done from our perspective. I enjoyed that stage. As you said Art, Cav's team-mates did a lot of hard work in the last 10km meaning that with 1-2km to go, they were left with just Renshaw to lead out Cav. The decissive moment was when Renshaw locked on to the wheel of the movistar (I think) rider from about 700-400 out, taking him to 2nd and clear of the others. Renshaw then pulled out about 400m out and went hard to the lead, and Cav pulled out with 200 to go and did the rest. I was worried about 800 out that Renshaw was stuck in traffic, but he rode a smart and patient race at the end - really did a great job for Cav. Picked his monet p3rfectly after looking for a wheel to lock on to. I enjoyed how excited Cav was to get the green. And so on to one of the big moments. They were saying on SBS the best tactic for Cadel is to follow Contador, because he will either be attacking himself or following a Schleck attack. The Schlecks might try the 1-2 on the others, but on which climb? Cadel can give them 20-30 seconds on the first one I reckon because he'll catch them on the downhill (he's great downhill), so maybe they'll save it up for the 2nd climb. And I agree there's so much to find out - - is Cadel as strong as he's been looking? - how long will his team help him out? - has Contador been foxing? - is he struggling like he seems to be? - will his team be any help to him? - how much does Andy Schleck have, considering Cadel's been all over him so far? - will someone arrive from nowhere? - will the Schlecks work in tandem?
nordozzz
Roar Guru
interested to hear Cadel talking up Peter Velits overnight... a bunch of GC guys are out, i was looking forward to seeing more of Brajkovic ... but there's still a few dark horses there like Basso as u say. Pretty sure he skipped the Giro this year so could be hiding some form in those legs.
boes
Roar Pro
I can only wonder what tomorrows write up will be Art. Does Contadors knee buckle - or was it merely a ploy to lower expectations? Do the Schleck bros surge ahead? Does Cadel's early form stay strong in the mountains - how good will his team support be? Or does a dark horse like Basso have a real crack and put a gap on the group? The least we can hope for is no car related accidents and some awesome bike racing.
punter
Guest
Those Celtic fans like a beer or 2. Very excited about tonight, Cadel looks very comfortable, so far, I hope & think he has improved his climbing ability. Those Schleck brothers will be interesting, I still recall a few years ago when they together with Sastre took it in turns to attack Evans before finally breaking him. Will be very interesting, the Yellow jersey race begins tonight, we find out who is in form.
Thanks for the great feedback guys and thanks to Eds for cleaning the piece up a little bit this morning after somewhat trying circumstances. Morale of the story - its impossible to have a few pints when attending a match with Celtic fans ;) Just checked the latest odd on a betting exchange. Contador is $2.30 Schleck $3.05 and Cadel is $6.00. Some clever people jumped on odds of over $30 for Cadel just before the tour started. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them.
Mark Young
Roar Guru
I concur Art. Great work. Can't wait to see how it goes tonight. Come on Cadel!!!
nordozzz
Roar Guru
i'm starting to warm to the 'dish ... though i was cheering on Greipel the night before! Shows he really ain't nuttin without Renshaw lol. super excited about tonight, Tourmalet especially being 2nd from last climb ... will be holding my breath on that descent. cheers for these write-ups too Art, great effort banging them out nice and early. A small (for now) but appreciative audience.