Hunter Wins While Astana Claims Its Prey...

The 182.5km 11th stage from Marseille to Montpellier began at 1.12pm. There were 171 riders at the sign on with no overnight retirements. The transitional stage was contested in hot conditions with temperatures in the high 30s. There was just one small climb – the cat-4 cote de Calissanne (at 38km). The two intermediate sprints were in La-Fare-les-Oliveirs (at 31.5km) and Arles (at 96.5km). _ _ Trying & Failing To Establish An Escape _ Bichot of the Agritubel team attacked immediately and was caught after 2km. At 6km a group of 20 escaped; 11 were caught after one kilometre. The men in the escape were: Arroyo (GCE), Voigt (CSC), Bennati (LAM), Haussler (GST), Fedrigo (BTL), Chavanel and Nuyens (COF), Vaugrenard (FDJ) and Siutsou (BAR). By 25km, the advantage had grown to 1’00”. At the first climb the peloton was at 1’40”. _ Rabobank was joined at the front of the pack by Milram, Predictor-Lotto and Euskaltel and the maximum gain of the escape was 1’55” at the 25km mark. Moreau (A2R) was involved in a crash at the 31km mark. The average speed for the first hour was 50.8km/h. Six of the escapees dropped back at 64km and only Chavanel, Vaugrenard and Bennati remained in the lead. They were chased by several others but the peloton insisted on reeling in every move. Chavanel was the last of the escapees to be caught and that happened at 83km. Vinokourov and another Astana rider came to the front of the pack to try and quell the action. _ _ Wegmann Institages The Break _ Wegmann (GST) was intent on escaping and he nudged ahead at the 85km mark and was soon joined by Gilbert (FDJ), Fofonov (C.A) and Florencio. Millar (SDV) also wanted to be part of the move. He attacked at 87km. At the 93km mark, Millar was 30” behind the leading four which was 3’00” ahead of the peloton. Boonen (QSI) also came to the head of the bunch and seemed to hint that the escape should be allowed to succeed. Florencio led the quartet over the line in Arles (at 96.5km) and Millar caught up at the 97km mark. When the bunch reached the second sprint, it was 4’50” behind. The average speed of the 2nd hour was 48.0km/h. _ _ Astana Split Peloton _ At the 115km mark, the escapees reached their maximum gain of 7’30” and then Astana came to the front and split the peloton into three groups. Most of the leaders of the general classification were in the first group but Moreau was stranded in the second lot. At 125km, the advantage of the Astana-led peloton over Moreau’s was 1’00”. With the leading quintet’s advantage down to 2’20” (at the 129km mark) ‘Vino’ signalled surrender and his Astana colleagues quit their effort. Caisse d’Epargne then swapped off at the front before Barloworld also joined in with attacking antics. _ _ Five Caught With 38km To Go _ Wegmann, Florencio, Gilbert, Millar and Fofonov were caught 38km from the finish. The lead group contained most of the leaders of the general classification except for Moreau (6th at the start of the day). The second group that contained Moreau, Boogerd and about 15 other riders was caught by a larger group that included both Zabel (MRM) and Hushovd (C.A) with about 30km to go. At the 25km to go mark, the second peloton was 1’55” behind the yellow jersey’s group. The teams responsible for pushing the pace of the lead pack were Astana, Quickstep and, to a lesser extent, Barloworld. _ _ Hunter: Into The Record Books _ The speed in the final 30km was so fast that only the boldest of the bold would attempt to attack. The lead peloton remained together until the 6km to go mark when Rinero (SDV) jumped ahead but it lasted a matter of seconds. With 4km to go, it was Mr Vinokourov who demonstrated that he is not yet finished with. The Astana team leader hovered ahead for one kilometre and was then swallowed up by the Quickstep, Liquigas, Barloworld and Credit Agricole teams. The bunch sprint was interrupted by a crash with 900m to go involving Dean (C.A) and several others. It also halted the progress of Boonen. But it was Robert Hunter (BAR) who, as he’d done in the opening week, started the sprint early. He led out of the final turn and held off Cancellara (CSC) to claim the first stage victory for a South African at the Tour de France. _ Moreau’s group finished 3’20” behind Hunter and the French champion slipped from sixth overall to 12th. Rasmussen (RAB) was 46th at the same time of Hunter and will wear the yellow jersey in stage 12.