Vichot and Howard, 96km in the lead
192 riders started stage 11 at Carcassonne. French champion Arthur Vichot (FDJ) was the first rider in action at km 3. Leigh Howard (IAM Cycling) accompanied him as they managed to go away at km 6. It was a roller coaster beginning of a stage for the French team as polka dot jersey holder Thibaut Pinot crashed at km 25 but with no consequence. Wilco Kelderman and George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jurgen Vandenbroeck (Katusha), Sébastien Reichenbach (FDJ) were among the riders forced to chase to make it back to the pack. The strong favourable side wind made the peloton very nervous. GC teams like Team Sky, Tinkoff, Katusha and BMC stayed up front. The advantage of Vichot and Howard went up to 4.53 at km 62 but echelons shortened their adventure. Successively, Tinkoff, Astana and Trek-Segafredo put the hammer down and created echelons. Vichot and Howard were reeled in with 60km to go.
Pinot forced to chase twice
Pinot was caught in an echelon but his team-mates Anthony Roux and Jérémy Roy brought his 81-man strong group back to the pack. Pinot's direct rival for the polka dot jersey Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) also crashed. After a fierce battle in the crosswinds, it looked like a standard bunch sprint coming up until Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) attacked with 12km to go. His team-mate Maciej Bodnar went with him, as well as Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas (Sky)! Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) had a mechanical with 8km to go. The advantage of the leading quartet went up to 22 seconds. They maintained a six seconds advantage over the peloton and Froome gained another six seconds in time bonus as he crossed the line in second position behind Sagan. What an unexpected show!
