La Vuelta a Espana: Stage 11 results, blog

Stage Report:

A torturous day in the Andorran Pyrenees concluded with Astana outshining their rivals to claim both the stage victory and Maillot Rojo. Unmatchable attacks from Mikel Landa, in the breakaway, and Fabio Aru secured the Khazak team first and second on the stage.

The stage was ridden at a fierce tempo early on as several riders attempted to form the breakaway.

During the chaos, while climbing the Collada de Beixalis, Team Sky’s Chris Froome collided with a wooden roadside barrier and he had to fight to make contact with his general classification rivals.

Eventually the Brit rejoined the other GC favourites in the peloton after a difficult chase. However, his GC challenge suffered a fatal blow, after he lost contact with his rivals over the hors categorie Collada de la Gallina, eventually finishing the stage over seven minutes adrift.

Sensing an opportunity to distance overall race leader Tom Dumoulin, both Movistar and Team Katusha attacked during the descent and put the Dutchman in danger. After a long chase effort, the group containing Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez and company were eventually caught by Dumoulin.

With just eight kilometres remaining, Aru attacked out of the group of favourites, with Katusha’s Daniel Moreno and Joaquim Rodriguez proving equal to the Italian’s acceleration.

The relentless nature of the climbs was beginning to take its toll, with Dumoulin, Nairo Quintana, Esteban Chaves, Valverde and Domenico Pozzovivo too fatigued to respond.

Going up yet another gear with just five kilometres remaining, Aru eventually distanced Moreno and Rodriguez as well. With no one able to match Aru’s energy, the other GC hopefuls were forced to try and limit their losses.

2015 Vuelta a Espana – Stage 11 results
01. Mikel Landa (Astana)… 4:34:54″
02. Fabio Aru (Astana)… +1:22″
03. Ian Boswell (Sky)… +1:40″
04. Daniel Moreno (Katusha)… +1:57″
05. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha)… +1:59″
06. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Saxo)… +2:10″
07. Mikel Nieve (Sky)… ST
08. Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE)… +2:59″
09. Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin)… ST
10. Diego Rosa (Astana)… +3:02″

2015 Vuelta a Espana – General classification after Stage 11
01. Fabio Aru (Astana)… 43:12:19″
02. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha)… +00:27″
03. Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin)… +00:30″
04. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff Saxo)… +01:28″
05. Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE)… +1:29″
06. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)… +01:52″
07. Daniel Moreno (Katusha)… +01:54″
08. Mikel Nieve (Sky)… +01:58″
09. Nairo Quintana (Movistar)… +03:07″
10. Louis Meintjes (MTN Qhubeka)… +04:15″

Stage Preview:

Stage 11 is arguably the toughest of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana, with the peloton tackling six climbs en route to today’s finish at Cortals d’Encamp. Join The Roar for live updates and commentary from 9:30pm (AEST).

While just 138 kilometres in length, the race organisation – assisted by Joaquim Rodriguez – have designed a hellish mountain stage through Andorra that will challenge even the very best climbers.

The summit finish tops out at over 2000 metres and features over 5000 metres of climbing all told.

Climbing from kilometre zero, the agony begins with the first category Collada de Beixalis (6.5 kilometres at 8.7 per cent).

Following the Collada de Beixalis the peloton tackle the first category Col d’Ordino (9.9 kilometres at seven per cent). The climb features a more regular slope compared to the climbs of the day thanks to its comparatively wide road.

Another first category climb then awaits after the peloton finish their descent, the Coll de la Rabassa. Measuring 13.8 kilometres, at an average gradient of 6.6 per cent, the climb begins steeply before dropping in difficulty closer to the summit.

Descending down to Sant Julie de Loria, the peloton pass through the feedzone at 85.5 kilometres, before commencing the hors categorie Collada de la Gallina.

The ascent is 11.7 kilometres in length at an average gradient of 8.5 per cent, featuring maximum gradients up to 20 per cent.

The second category Alto de la Comella follows, then the final climb of the day, the Alto de la Comella at 4.4 kilometres long and an average gradient of 7.8 per cent. Officially starting with just 8.6 kilometres of the stage remaining, the ascent unofficially begins much sooner than that.

Averaging over nine per cent in gradient, with a maximum gradient of over 12 per cent, the final climb will seem like torture after the five climbs that preceded it and likely decide today’s victor.

Each climb leads into the next, meaning there will be scant time to recover throughout the day, while remembering to eat and drink will be crucial.

With no less than 60 points up for grabs in the King of the Mountains competition, today will be an important day for both the general classification riders and those chasing the polka-dot jersey. Unless Caja Rural’s Omar Fraile gets in on the points scoring then the Spaniard could quickly find himself out of the jersey.

While many of the general classification riders are also some of the world’s best climbers it is difficult to say whether or not they will fight it out today for the stage victory due to the demanding nature of the stage.

GC teams may look to keep their powder dry for as long as possible before beginning the fireworks, so a breakaway could steal the limelight if they have a significant gap by the final climb.

Join us from 9:30pm (AEST) for live updates, commentary and chat as we follow Stage 11 of the 2015 Vuelta a Espana.