2011 Tour de France, Stage 11

Today's 168km stage winds through the French country side, with only one Category 3 and one Category 4 climb.

A nice rainy day has greeted the riders again.This is the 6th day in a row.

Gadret was the 1st abandon today. He pulled out due to fatigue .

The six-man breakaway of the day are Moreno, Boom, Grivko, Delage, Valentin, and Engoulvent. The maximum gap that they had was 4'20" with less than 130km to go.

Boom was the 1st rider over the category 3 climb, so he gets the 2 points. Delage took the 1 lone KOM point over the category 4 climb.

Delage was 1st over the intermediate sprint for the breakaway and Cavendish brought the rest of the peloton over the line.

With 5km left and only a 15" gap left, Boom attacks the breakaway. By 3km left, the rest of the breakaway was overtaken by the peloton. With 2 km left, Boom sat up and let the peloton catch him, preparing for a sprint finish.

Cavendish wins the sprint at the end. His team gave him an amazing leadout. Because of his win, Cavendish also gets the prize of the Green Jersey today.

Stage 11 Results:1 Mark Cavendish
2 André Greipel
3 Tyler Farrar
4 Denis Galimzyanov
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen
6 Romain Feillu
7 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil
8 Sébastien Turgot
9 Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi
10 William Bonnet

Side Note:
Ever wonder what a barbed-wire fence can do to you? Here is what Hoogerland's leg look like three days after his crash:

2011 Tour de France, Stage 5

Stage 5 runs from Carhaix to Cap Frehel. It is 158 kilometers long with one category 4 climb, Cote de Gurunheul, which will be at 45.5km. It is a 2.3 km climb with a maxium gradient of 5.1 %. The day's intermediate sprint is at km 70.

The main breakaway of the day consisted of Gutierrez, Valentin, Turgot, and Delaplace. They had a maximum advantage of 6:00 at 101km remaining, but were caught at 46km  remaining. Toward the end, they were not working well together. Delaplace is not only the youngest rider in the break group, he is also the youngest rider in the Tour.  He is only 21 years old, with his next birthday coming up in September. The four man breakaway is pictured below.

At the top of the climb, Delaplace jumped out and claimed the one KOM point. For the intermediate sprint, Turgot got the points, ahead of Valentin and Gutierrez.

Today saw plenty of crashes with big names: First crash got Chavanel, Wiggins, and Leipheimer. All three continued on. Second crash got Brajkovic and Gesink. Gesink got back on the bike, but Brajkovic was taken by ambulance. Third crash got Contador, but he got back up. Fourth crash got N. Sorensen. He was hit by a race motorcycle. Fifth crash involved Boonen and Steegmans. Steegmans continued riding, but Boonen struggled with help from teammate Engels. It was unclear if he was going to make it to the finish, but he did with less than 4 minutes to spare before he got disqualified. (Picture below of Boonen being helped across the finish by his teammate.) Finally, the sixth crash involved a Euskaltel rider who wasn't named. Kern also had to abandon, although I am not sure if he was involved in a crash.

At 32km remaining, another attack formed. This time it was Voeckler and Roy. By 23km left, the riders had 1’05”. Roy was caught about 3km out, but Voeckler tries again. The lone attacker was caught less than a kilometer later.

As far as the finish, Cavendish was so close, but then got lost in the pack. However, he found his way back just in time and crossed the line ahead of Gilbert and Rojas. This was his 16th stage victory in the Tour de France.

Stage 5 Results:
1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) HTC-Highroad
2 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
2 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
3 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling
4 André Greipel (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto
5 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
6 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
4 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo