Le Tour – Stage 11

Albertville to La Toussuire – Les Sybelles

Distance: 148 kilometers.

This is a brutal mountain stage with two Hors Catégorie [HC] climbs, a Cat 2, and then a Cat 1 crawl to the finish. This stage will probably break chains and sprockets, as well as people.

The menu: HC – Col de la Madeleine (2000 m), intermediate sprint, HC – Col de la Croix de Fer (2067 m), Category 2 – Col du Mollard (1638 m), Category 1 – La Toussuire (1705 m).

While Fabian Cancellara withdrew before the start to be with his wife who is having their second child, 5 riders had to withdraw during the race, and two more were outside the time limit.

It was a good stage for Pierre Rolland who was the first into La Toussuire and picked up the Red Numbers for being the most combative, and for Fredrik Kessiakoff who won back the Polka Dot jersey.

Cadel Evans attempted a breakaway, and ended up in trouble, falling to fourth place, 3 minutes and 19 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins.

[Note: the official site hasn’t updated everything for some reason, so the results are from Cycling News.]

Bradley Wiggins ( GB – SKY – 101 ) [Yellow]
Peter Sagan (Svk-LIQ-057) [Green] 232 points
Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) [Polka Dot] 66 points
Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) 7 [White]

Team: RadioShack-Nissan ( 011-019 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 )
Combative: Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) [Red numbers]

Top Ten:

1 Bradley Wiggins ( G B – SKY – 101 )
2 Christopher Froome ( G B – SKY – 105 ) + 02′ 05”
3 Vincenzo Nibali ( Ita – LIQ – 051 ) + 02′ 23”
4 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 001 ) + 03′ 19”
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – LTB – 111 ) + 04′ 48”
6 Haimar Zubeldia ( Esp – RNT – 019 ) + 06′ 15”
7 Tejay Van Garderen ( USA – BMC – 009 ) + 06′ 57”
8 Janez Brajkovic ( Slo – AST – 181 ) + 07′ 30”
9 Pierre Rolland ( Fra – EUC – 029 ) + 08′ 31”
10 Thibaut Pinot ( Fra – FDJ – 146 ) + 08′ 51”

The Rest of the Top 50:

11 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RNT – 015 ) + 09′ 29”
12 Frank Schleck ( Lux – RNT – 011 ) + 09′ 45”
13 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 079 ) + 10′ 49”
14 Jérôme Coppel ( Fra – SAU – 091 ) + 11′ 27”
15 Christopher Horner ( USA – RNT – 014 ) + 12′ 41”
16 Denis Menchov ( Rus – KAT – 131 ) + 16′ 20”
17 Maxime Monfort ( Bel – RNT – 016 ) + 17′ 41”
18 Alejandro Valverde ( Esp – MOV – 161 ) + 18′ 10”
19 Rui Alberto Costa ( Por – MOV – 163 ) + 19′ 02”
20 Chris Anker Sorensen ( Den – STB – 178 ) + 20′ 12”
21 Michele Scarponi ( Ita – LAM – 041 ) + 20′ 32”
22 Egoi Martinez ( Esp – EUS – 035 ) + 25′ 53”
23 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 052 ) + 27′ 04”
24 Peter Velits ( Svk – OPQ – 199 ) + 27′ 37”
25 Robert Kiserlovski ( Cro – AST – 188 ) + 28′ 43”
26 Jelle Vanendert ( Bel – LTB – 119 ) + 30′ 41”
27 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 141 ) + 30′ 46”
28 Rein Taaramae ( Est – COF – 081 ) + 30′ 47”
29 Laurens Ten Dam ( Ned – RAB – 157 ) + 31′ 18”
30 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – OPQ – 191 ) + 31′ 59”
31 Michael Rogers ( Aus – SKY – 108 ) + 32′ 57”
32 Eduard Vorganov ( Rus – KAT – 139 ) + 33′ 59”
33 Rafael Valls Ferri ( Esp – VCD – 128 ) + 37′ 48”
34 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo ( Esp – MOV – 162 ) + 40′ 36”
35 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 189 ) + 41′ 49”
36 Steven Kruijswijk ( Ned – RAB – 152 ) + 45′ 20”
37 Richie Porte ( Aus – SKY – 107 ) + 47′ 17”
38 Thomas Voeckler ( Fra – EUC – 021 ) + 50′ 04”
39 Jean-Christophe Peraud ( Fra – ALM – 071 ) + 50′ 36”
40 George Hincapie ( USA – BMC – 005 ) + 51′ 24”
41 Dominik Nerz ( Ger – LIQ – 055 ) + 56′ 23”
42 Sylvain Chavanel ( Fra – OPQ – 192 ) + 56′ 30”
43 Fabrice Jeandesboz ( Fra – SAU – 095 ) + 56′ 52”
44 Gianpaolo Caruso ( Ita – KAT – 132 ) + 56′ 58”
45 Yury Trofimov ( Rus – KAT – 138 ) + 59′ 02”
46 Sylvester Szmyd ( Pol – LIQ – 058 ) + 59′ 32”
47 Michael Schär ( Sui – BMC – 008 ) + 59′ 39”
48 Davide Malacarne ( Ita – EUC – 028 ) + 59′ 49”
49 Fredrik Kessiakoff ( Swe – AST – 187 ) + 01h 00′ 23”
50 Marco Marcato ( Ita – VCD – 125 ) + 01h 00′ 49”

Out of the race:

DNS Fabian Cancellara ( Sui – RNT – 012 )
HD Yuriy Krivtsov ( Ukr – LAM – 044 )
HD Alessandro Petacchi ( Ita – LAM – 047 )
DNF Lieuwe Westra ( Ned – VCD – 121 )
DNF Gustav Larsson ( Swe – VCD – 124 )
DNF Rob Ruijgh ( Ned – VCD – 127 )
DNF Bauke Mollema ( Ned – RAB – 153 )
DNF Mark Renshaw ( Aus – RAB – 154 )

Note: Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally makes you look for an elevator or Sherpas.

Go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Le Tour” for all of the posts related to the race on this site.