Stage 11 Summary

The 173km 11th stage from Couchevel to Briancon began at 12.21pm. There were 172 riders at the sign on. One of the names missing from today’s stage is Dario Frigo (FAS). The temperature at the start was 24 degrees Celsius in the air and 31 degrees at road level. _ The stage featured three categorized climbs including the first ‘Hors Category’ cols of the 92nd Tour. Mountain points were contested at the ‘HC’ Col de la Madeleine at the 55km mark, the cat-1 Col du Telegraphe (at 110km) and the ‘HC’ Col du Galibier (at 133km). There were also two intermediate sprints during the stage, one in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (at 97.5km) and one in Moulin-Baron (at 162km). _ _ Col de la Madeleine _ The first attack came from Hushovd (C.A) and Dumoulin (A2R) after 9km. After 15km, they were 55” ahead of the peloton. Boonen (QST) crashed at the 6km mark. At 26km the two escapees were 6’40” ahead of the peloton. This was the maximum advantage of the escape. Pereiro (PHO) attacked after 27km. He was joined in the lead by Caucchioli (C.A) soon afterwards. Hushovd dropped Dumoulin with 22km to climb. Seven riders caught Caucchioli and Pereiro at the 28km mark. They were: Vinokourov, Mancebo, Martinez, Arrieta, Botero, Horner, Heras. At the 41km mark Hushovd led Dumoulin by 1’30”, the 10 chasers by 3’05” and the peloton by 3’40”. Heras was the first to be dropped from the chase group, then Horner and Mancebo. Martinez was dropped 2km from the summit. The points were won by: 1. Botero 20pts; 2. Vinokourov 18pts; 3. Pereiro 16pts; 4. Martinez 14pts – at 25”; 5. Moreau 12pts – at 50”… then came the peloton. Rasmussen was 6th at the summit and all but ignored the attack by Moreau in the final 100m of the Col de la Madeleine. _ _ Early on the descent Pereiro went off the side of the road but he was unharmed. At the feedzone (75km) the peloton was 1’25” behind Pereiro, Botero, Martinez and Vinokourov. There were 42 riders in the yellow jersey’s peloton between the Madeleine and Telegraphe climbs. They were: Armstrong, Azevedo, Beltran, Hincapie, Popovych, Rubiero, Noval (DSC); Ullrich, Guerini, Kessler, Kloden (TMO); Basso, Julich, Sastre (CSC); Mancebo, Valverde, Zandio (IBA); Evans (DVL); Boogerd, Rasmussen (RAB); Landis (PHO); Horner, Piepoli (SDV); Contador, Jaksche (LSW); Moreau, Caucchioli, Hushovd, Joly, Kashechkin (C.A); Garzelli (LIQ); Rogers (QST); Mazzoleni (LAM); Totschnig, Leipheimer, Zberg (GST); Casar, Mourey (FDJ); Mayo, Zubeldia (EUS); Goubert, Turpin (A2R). At the 93km mark, this group was 1’50” behind Vinokourov’s quartet. The 1st sprint points were won by: 1. Vinokourov 6pts; 2. Martinez 4pts; 3. Pereiro 2pts. The peloton was behind by 2’00” at the 97.5km mark. _ _ Col du Telegraphe _ The peloton was 2’00” behind the four escapees at the start of the 2nd climb. The first rider dropped from the front group was Martinez, then Botero who lost contact with 10km to climb. At the 99km mark, ‘Vino’ and Pereiro led Botero by 12”, Martinez by 29” and the peloton by 2’00”. Martinez was caught with 3.5km to climb. The peloton was 2’45” behind the leading trio with 2km to climb. Botero surged ahead to claim 1st-place at the 2nd summit. The points were won by: 1. Botero 15pts; 2. Vinokourov 13pts; 3. Pereiro 11pts – at 5”; 4. Moreau 9pts – at 3’00”; 5. Rasmussen 8pts; 6. Rubiera 7pts; 7. Beltran 6pts; 8. Savoldelli 5pts. _ _ Col du Galibier _ At the start of the final climb, Vinokourov, Botero and Pereiro led the peloton by 3’30”. Pereiro was dropped with 15km to climb. The peloton was behind by 3’10” at the 117km mark. With 9.5km to climb Vinokourov dropped Botero. With 9km to climb, Vinokourov led Botero by 15”, Pereiro by 1’30” and the peloton by 3’10”. There were six Discovery riders at the head of the peloton. With 5km to climb, Vinokourov led the yellow jersey’s peloton by 2’55”. With 3km to climb to the Galibier summit, the riders in the yellow jersey’s group were: Armstrong, Azevedo, Hincapie, Popovych, Savoldelli (DSC); Ullrich (TMO); Basso, Julich, Sastre (CSC); Mancebo, Valverde (IBA); Rasmussen (RAB); Evans (DVL); Landis (PHO); Piepoli (SDV); Jaksche (LSW); Moreau (C.A); Mazzoleni (LAM); Leipheimer (GST). At the summit of the Col du Galibier the points were won by: 1. Vinokourov 40pts; 2. Botero 36pts - at 42"; 3. Rasmussen 32pts - at 2’25"; 4. Moreau 28pts - at 2’40"; 5. Azevedo 26pts; 6. Savoldelli 18pts; 7. Popovych 16pts; 8. Armstrong 14pts; 9. Jaksche 12pts; 10. Evans 10pts. _ _ Vinokourov Wins His Second Tour Stage! _ Botero caught Vinokourov early on the descent. With 25km to go, these two led the yellow jersey’s peloton by 2’30”. The points for the 2nd sprint were won by: 1. Botero 6pts; 2. Vinokourov 4pts; 3. Azevedo 2pts – at the head of the peloton at 1’52”. The two stage leaders cooperated right through until the final kilometre. Vinokourov then followed Botero until only 250m remained in the stage; then ‘Vino’ began his sprint. He easily raced into the lead and won by about 20 meters. It is Vinokourov’s second stage win in the Tour. _ _ Christophe Moreau led home the yellow jersey’s peloton 1’15” behind Vinokourov. Armstrong finished the stage in 6th place. The Texan will wear the yellow jersey in stage 12.