Stage 11 Results

General Classification after Stage 11:

Full Results (click on "Stage Standing") — letour.fr
Cavendish makes it four! Equals British Tour win record, back in green — cyclingnews
  Last 2 Km (02:34 dutch) — nos
high-res finish
Photos — afp/yahoo
The uphill finish was not supposed to suit Cavendish — velonews
Stage ten time gap decision reversed — cyclingweekly.co.uk
  Mark Cavendish Post-Stage Interview — ITV/Sporza
  Stage 11 Highlights (02:00) — eurosport
  Last Km (01:00 no commentary) — eurosport
  Mark Renshaw talks about the leadout (01:58) — eurosport
  Versus 11 video clips (more to come) — versus
  Stage 11 Recap/Highlights (03:12) — letour.fr/aso
Graham Watson Stage 11 Photos — grahamwatson
  ITV stage 11 podcast with Matt Rendell, Ned Boulting and Chris Boardman — ITV
9 Big Photos from Stage 11 — sirotti

Post Stage Analysis

Cavendish Makes It Four
Columbia-HTC sprinter continues to dominate, Rinaldo Nocentini remains in Yellow

Mark Cavendish took his fourth stage victory of this year’s Tour de France today in Saint-Fargeau. The slightly uphill finish offer the possibility of breaking his hold on the sprint stages, but with the help of his tightly coordinated team, Cavendish proved equal to the challenge. With his win today, the British sprinter retakes the lead in the points classification by a slim margin. Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Slipstream finished second after taking the long way around, Yauheni Hutarovich of Français des Jeux finished third. Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R-La Mondiale passed another uneventful day in the Yellow Jersey, and the general classification remains unchanged after today’s jaunt through the French countryside.

The Story

Two riders set out for a long day in the wind, Marcin Sapa of Lampre-Ngc and Johan van Summeren of Silence-Lotto. By kilometer 32, they had built up an advantage of almost two minutes. The main field kept Sapa and Van Summeren close, and their advantage never stretched much beyond 3:30. The sprinters teams shared the work, with riders from Garmin, Columbia, and Rabobank making tempo on the front of the main field. A few crashes interrupted the tranquility. Vladimir Efimkin, Jérôme Pineau, Charly Wegelius, Christian Vandevelde, and Ryder Hesjdahl were among the victims, though they all continued the stage.

Sapa and Van Summeren split the mountain points on the two climbs. Van Summeren led over the Côte d’Allogny, while Sapa took the maximum points on the Côte de Perreuse. Behind, Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi and Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas-Doimo scooted out of the main field to take a point each on the climbs and signaled their seriousness in chasing the Polka Dot jersey.

As the kilometers counted down, Garmin and Columbia upped the pace on the front and the gap to the break fell steadily. Dave Zabriskie appeared frequently on the front for Garmin, who hoped to deliver their sprinter Tyler Farrar to his first stage victory. Some pundits wondered, meanwhile, if the slight uphill at the finish might break the rhythm of Cavendish sufficiently to open the way for one of the other sprinters.

With 5 kilometers to go, the bunch reabsorbed the break. Columbia lined up at the front with Cervélo and Garmin-Slipstream tucked in behind them. Just inside 2 kilometers to go, Milram moved up in the hope of setting up their sprinter Gerald Ciolek, but they soon faded, and Columbia again took over. Under the red kite, Rogers had the bunch strung out. There was no longer any possibility of moving up in the field.

At 500 meters to go, Renshaw started his lead-out. Hushovd tried to anticipate the sprint, but hit the wind too early. He looked to have picked a slightly too large gear, also. Cavendish began his sprint late this time, and hit it inside the 200 meter mark. From behind, Tyler Farrar took the long way around the quickly fading Hushovd. Farrar came within a bike length of taking the win, but again, it was all Cavendish at the line. Yauheni Hutarovich of Français des Jeux finished third, Oscar Freire fourth, and Thor Hushovd fifth.

With today’s win, Cavendish equaled his stage victory count of four from last year’s Tour. He called today’s finish a hard one, because it was uphill. “We knew we had to lead out and keep it late. I didn’t go until 150 meters,” he explained. As is his custom, the British sprinter also praised the cohesion of his Columbia-HTC team saying, “they cooperate and adapt to different conditions.” Cavendish also confided that he has his sights set on the Champs Élysées sprint.

General Classification Update

Here is the current top ten:
Rinaldo Nocentini AG2R-La Mondiale
Alberto Contador Astana :06
Lance Armstrong Astana :08
Levi Leipheimer Astana :39
Bradley Wiggins Garmin-Slipstream :46
Andreas Klöden Astana :54
Tony Martin Columbia-HTC 1:00
Christian Vandevelde Garmin-Slipstream 1:24
Andy Schleck Saxo Bank 1:49
Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas-Doimo 1:54

The race organizers have decided to nullify the 15 second gap on yesterday’s stage. As a result, Bradley Wiggins and Levi Leipheimer both return to their original spots in the general classification and do not lose 15 seconds. The race organizers have the option to apply a 3 km rule, which neutralizes the general classification times at 3 km, if there is a crash or mechanical incident. With the crash of Trussov in the final corner, it seems likely that they have applied the rule in this case. Otherwise, the general classification remains unchanged after today’s stage.

Other general classification riders: 13) Fränk Schleck of Saxo Bank @ 2:25, 14) Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas-Doimo @ 2:40 15) Carlos Sastre of Cervélo TestTeam @ 2:52, 18) Cadel Evans of Silence-Lotto @ 3:07, 23) Vladimir Karpets of Katusha @ 3:49, 24) Denis Menchov of Rabobank @ 5:02.

Other classifications: With his stage win today, Mark Cavendish takes over the lead in the Points classification. The race remains tight, though, and Cavendish leads Thor Hushovd, who placed fifth today, by 7 points. José Joaquín Rojas of Caisse d’Épargne and Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Slipstream are now tied at 110 points.

In the mountains classification, Egoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi still leads Christophe Kern of Cofidis. Franco Pellizotti is third. Both Martinez and Pellizotti sprinted for mountains points today and each added 1 point to their total. Clearly both riders are serious about chasing the Polka Dot jersey with the Alps still to come.

Tony Martin, meanwhile, continues to lead the Young Riders classification by 49 seconds over Andy Schleck and 54 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Nibali.

Johan van Summeren of Silence-Lotto wins today’s prize for most combative rider, after his long day out in the break.

Looking Ahead

Tomorrow’s stage runs from Tonnerre to Vittel through bumpy terrain. The stage includes six categorized climbs, though none of them is especially difficult. The up and down terrain should favor the breakaway riders, and an escape could hold on to the finish tomorrow. The stage finishes with a gradual climb to a flat run-in. Look for the smaller teams to have a go tomorrow in pursuit of stage victory, while the general classification favorites conserve their legs for the mountainous third week of this Tour.

For more details on tomorrow’s stage, please turn the page.

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Previa Etapa 11: Vatan – Saint-Fargeau 

Tipo de terreno: Jornada para sprinters

Importancia para la general: Inexistente

Cotas
Cota d'Allogny 1.5 km, pend. media 4.5 %, Categoría 4
Cota de Perreuse 2.0 km, pend. media 4.6 %, Categoría 4

En esta segunda semana de carrera, el Tour atraviesa el corazón de Francia con el objetivo de llegar al este, a la frontera alemana. Esta undécima etapa empieza en Vatan y acaba en Saint-Fargeau, al noreste. Dos subidas puntuables animan el trámite, pero no parece que vayan a resultar decisivas: la etapa terminará al sprint. El último kilómetro tiene una cierta forma de cuenco, con un pequeño descenso y luego un falso llano ascendente hasta la línea de meta. Si hubiera viento, escoger el momento adecuado para lanzar el sprint resultaría decisivo. De cualquier forma, es un final para los hombres rápidos, y una gran oportunidad para reunir puntos en la lucha por el maillot verde.

Tanto Vatan como Saint-Fargeau son vírgenes en el Tour de Francia, ninguna de ellas había albergado inicio o final de etapa en ediciones previas. Vatan se encuentre en la Champagne Berrichone, un amplio espacio de llanuras en la Francia central. También conocida como Septaine, esta región es atravesada por los ríos Cher e Indre, y salpicada de pequeños pueblos, el mismo Vatan es hogar de no más de 2000 personas.

Saint Fargeau es más o menos igual de pequeña, aunque presume de un castillo del siglo X. El Chateau de Saint-Fargeau alberga todos los años festivales que rememoran acontecimientos ocurridos en su larga historia, desde los caballeros medievales hasta los blindados americanos de la liberación. Saint-Fargeau también es conocido por sus deportes acuáticos que se llevan a cabo en el cercano lago Bourdon.

Detalles del perfil

El terreno en esta zona del centro de Francia es irregular, sin tener ninguna subida particularmente difícil. La etapa nace en Vatan por carreteras bastante llanas, por lo que debería empezar a gran velocidad, con los equipos pequeños intentando coger la escapada del día. El primer sprint intermedio viene a los 26,5 kilómetros de carrera, en la ciudad de Quincy.

Después de 40 kilómetros los corredores afrontarán la subida de 4ª categoría cota d’Allogny. Son 1,5 km de subida  a una pendiente media del 4,5%. No hay que preocuparse, esto no le dolerá. Desde su cima se desciende brevemente a un tramo llano y se pasa por Menetou-Salon. Encontramos el segundo sprint bonificado del día en el kilómetro 73,5, en Saint Céols. Si la batalla por el maillot verde de la regularidad sigue abierta, los equipos de los velocistas podrían echar abajo la escapada para ganar los puntos en juego en este tipo de sprints. Todo dependerá de cómo se hayan dividido el premio en las etapas llanas del principio de la carrera.

La tercera meta volante está situada en el kilómetro 114,5, en Suilly-la-Tour. Algunas colinas rompen la tónica llana de esta parte de la carrera, pero no supondrán ninguna dificultad. En los siguientes 35,5 kilómetros que siguen a este último sprint intermedio la carrera se mantiene plana, hasta la última cota puntuable que se sitúa a las afueras de Yonne. La cota de Perreuse dura 2 km y tiene una pendiente media del 4,6%. Tras coronarla quedarán 42 kilómetros de carrera.

La etapa sigue un camino descendente, pasando por Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye y Mézilles. Luego desciende levemente hacia un final llano en Saint-Fargeau. Hay una curva cerrada a la derecha (casi 90º) ya en kilómetro final, al pasar de la autovía D965 al camino a Saint-Fargeau. La línea de meta se encuentra en la Place du Maréchal de Lattre de Latigny.

Corredores a seguir

¡Es la fiesta de los sprinters! Una etapa diseñada para velocistas con sólo 2 cotas puntuables. Una escapada temprana con dos o tres corredores de los equipos más débiles hará el trabajo sucio de rodar con viento de cara, pero sus esfuerzos probablemente no acabarán en victoria. En esta etapa debería continuar la rivalidad entre los hombres rápidos del Tour de Francia: Mark Cavendish, Daniele Bennati, Oscar Freire, y Tyler Farrar deberían estar delante en los últimos metros. Sólo uno de ellos, no obstante, acabará en día con besos en el podio. — Gavia, translated by Juan Bonilla