2017 Tour de France Stage 11 Results & Recap
Stage 11 of the 2017 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Unbeatable! Kittel takes fifth sprint victory of 2017 Tour de France in Pau
by Evan Hartig
German sprinter Marcel Kittel (Quick Step Floors) took his fifth stage win of the 2017 Tour de France on Stage 11 in Pau. Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen (Lotto NL-Jumbo) was second after a late push, with Dimension Data’s Edvald Boasson Hagen in third. Breakaway remnant Macej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe) wasn’t reeled in until the final 400 meters after embarking on a bold solo move 25 kilometers out from the finish.
Kittel gave high praise to his unwavering team upon sprinting to the line again in first. “It’s incredible, sometimes when you are on your top level in sprint, it’s like playing Tetris, and in the last few games, I always got the right gaps, I never made a mistake,” he said. “I could jump from wheel to wheel. It’s incredible. I’m so happy. It’s so nice to give the team another victory. Today, Julien [Vermote] worked, [Philippe] Gilbert worked, Jack Bauer worked. They are all champions, and they’re all killing it here for me.”
The peloton once again lined up for a sprinter’s stage on Wednesday, embarking on a flat 203 kilometer jaunt from Eymet to Pau, “the Gateway to the Pyrenees.” The impending mountain stages meant Stage 11 would be another attempt at rest for the GC men, but it would be a difficult day for some despite the relatively unchallenging parcours. Yet despite the casual nature of the day there were multiple crashes.
Numerous GC contenders met the pavement. Dane Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), fifth on GC at 1:37 down, and French GC hope Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), third on GC at 51 seconds back, both went down in separate slow-speed incidents, as did Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), 12th on GC at 5:15.
“It was very nervous.” Bardet said post-stage. “I was twice caught in crashes. I’m happy to get away unhurt and to see the flat stages away. It’s never pleasant to crash twice. These are days when you need to be patient and wait for better days.”
Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) was twice caught up in cashes on Stage 11 from Eymet to Pau.
Critical Astana domestique Dario Cataldo abandoned the race after a crash in the feed zone at kilometer 107; Fabio Aru and Fuglsang will be sure to miss his presence going into the Pyrenees on Thursday. Fuglsang injured his wrist in the same crash, however x-rays showed no broken bones.
At 21 kilometers to go, as the final pursuit of Bodnar heated up, Contador went down in a small incident, but quickly rejoined the peloton after teammate Jarlinson Pantano aided him back.
Despite the headwind, the men of the breakaway again made an attempt at stage glory. Like Stages 3 and 6, Frederik Backaert of Wanty-Groupe Gobert was involved once again. Joining him was Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates) and Macej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe), and their gap rose immediately, edging close to five minutes before Quick-Step Floors’ unwavering diesel Julien Vermote once again took the front of the peloton to monitor the gap. Members of Lotto-Soudal and Katusha also aided the chase.
The intermediate sprint came at kilometer 142, with the members of the breakaway scooping up most of the points. Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) narrowly edged out Michael Matthews (Sunweb). Matthews still sits second in the green jersey competition, but after Kittel’s fifth stage win, the Australian is over 130 points behind.
The day’s breakaway, on Stage 11 from Eymet to Pau: Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Marco Marcato (UAE Team Emirates), and Macej Bodnar (Bora-Hansgrohe).
Forty kilometers to go saw the breakaway’s gap dip under 1:00 after a diligent chase at the front of the peloton. It looked to be an early end to their efforts, but they continued for ten more kilometers, the gap falling to just under 40 seconds.
Bodnar wasn’t ready for his day to conclude, however, attacking Marcato and Backaert 27 kilometers out. A multi-time Polish national time trial champion, Bodnar immediately assumed an aerodynamic tuck and distanced his fatigued breakaway partners, who were quickly absorbed by the peloton.
Bodnar’s gap rose to 50 seconds as he reached 15 kilometers to go. Behind, the peloton was uneasy, frantically chasing. World time trial champion Tony Martin aided in the pursuit for Katusha-Alpecin teammate Kristoff, as did former world road champion Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors)
A technical final five kilometers meant Bodnar had a chance. He railed through multiple corners with the peloton 20 seconds behind. His cadence had slowed, however, and his upper body began to rock after the effort of 200 kilometers out front. He passed under the flamme rouge with a narrow 10-second lead, the sprint beginning to heat up.
Bodnar rose from the saddle and attempted a sprint with 500 meters remaining, a feat considering the lactic acid accumulation from his daring effort. But behind, Fabio Sabatini, Kittel’s final leadout man, was charging. Bodnar was finally caught with just over 300 meters remaining.
“I felt I had really good legs today and jumped in the breakaway from the start,” Bodnar said. “The three of us collaborated and thanks to them we all worked together well. When the gap was down to about forty seconds, I decided to go alone and try my chances for a stage win. I was slowing down a little in the last 10km and the wind was a problem, but I still had a bit of a lead on the peloton. In the end it was so close – just a few hundred metres – but what can I do? I tried my best. With 2km to go, the bunch still hadn’t caught me, they were about 200m behind me, and I was starting to think I could do it, but the last 400m were really hard for me. The bunch was going really fast, so that was that – just ten seconds more and I’d have taken it.”
Sabatini pulled off, content with the catch, as Mark Renshaw took the front. His sprinter in the absence of Mark Cavendish, Boasson Hagen, was on his wheel, followed by Matthews and Continental Pro Dan McLay (Fortuneo-Oscaro).
Kittel appeared to be too far back, but as the sprint was launched and gaps began opening, he turned on the afterburners, moved around the outside of the scrum with Groenewegen in tow, and overcame everyone for the win. Boasson Hagen, passed with 10 meters remaining, punched his bars frustratingly, as Kittel raised his right hand, five fingers outstretched.
Race leader Chris Froome finished safely in the bunch, and will spend Thursday — an uphill finish after a brutal day in the Pyrenees — again in yellow.
“It was a bit more nervous today, there was always the threat of crosswinds, and that was enough to shake the race up,” Froome said. “It was a day where you have to stay concentrated, you have to stay up front. My teammates were brilliant, they kept me in great position, so I have to say thanks to them.
“We have two uphill finishes left, and tomorrow is one of them,” Froome added. “I think it’s going to help shape the GC further. We don’t want to let any people come back on GC, so we will want to control things, and not allow GC guys who have lost time to come back into the game. I don’t need to attack, but let’s see what happens out on the road.”
Link: https://cyclingtips.com/2017/07/unbeatable-kittel-takes-fifth-sprint-victory-2017-tour-de-france-pau/
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Froome rates Tour de France rivals as yellow jersey battle enters second week
by Shane Stokes
As the race heads towards the Pyrenees, race leader Chris Froome has said that it is vital that he keeps close tabs on all of his main rivals, recognising that he is facing multiple threats to his yellow jersey.
Closest after 10 stages is Fabio Aru of Astana, who is just 18 seconds behind the Briton. Aru attacked on stage five and soloed to victory, underlining that he is a major danger to Froome. The latter has suggested that his tactical awareness is Aru’s biggest asset and, for Froome, a big threat.
“His biggest strength was on the Planche de Belles Filles, where I think tactically he made a very good move at the right moment,” he said in the post-stage press conference on Tuesday. “He was able to get that time back, given also there was a flat part in the last few kilometres before the final. The main GC guys at that point did ease up a little bit and start looking at each other.
“No-one wanted to pull on that flat part, so he attacked before then, which is tactically very clever. He was able to go on and win that stage.
“I would have to say that tactically it seems that he reads the race very well. That is something I am going to have to be attentive of going forward.”
Froome was asked about a rider who didn’t appear on many people’s radars before the race, but who won Sunday’s stage and jumped up to fourth overall. His performance then underlined him as one to watch, and Froome is taking him seriously.
“I think Rigoberto Uran has done a great race up until now,” he confirmed. “I certainly would consider him as a threat to the yellow jersey. If he moves, I will go straight after him. I won’t give him any space to get any closer.
“Anyone that close at this stage I would have to consider as a threat. Romain Bardet of course as well, just over 50 seconds.”
Richie Porte and Nairo Quintana were two of the biggest rivals entering the race. However Porte crashed out on Sunday, while Quintana appeared off from and is back in eighth, two minutes and 13 seconds back. He rode the Giro d’Italia, finishing second overall and, like others who aimed for success in the Italian race before him, is below his normal level in the Tour.
Alberto Contador is also not at his best. He lost time on stage 5 and also had a tough time on Sunday. As a result he is five minutes and 15 seconds back, Froome isn’t willing to completely dismiss his chances. He’s not the biggest threat, but he remains dangerous.
“i think he has had a tough race up until now,” he said. “Even though he has lost more than five minutes … he is not someone that I would have to react to straight away if he did move, but at the same time I think we have seen with Alberto’s style of racing than he is never shy to attack from far out.
“I think with a stage like we have on Friday, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him attacking on the very first climb of the day. If that was the case, he might be able to come back a little more on the game. But I think we will be ready for that. I think at this point we are not going to allow anyone come back on GC.”
Froome’s caution is due to races such as last year’s Vuelta a España; Contador fired off an early move which dragged a break clear, including Quintana. The latter then built a decisive buffer over Froome, something which kept him in the red jersey right until the end of the race and consigned the Briton to the runner-up slot.
That was difficult to take and Froome is determined it won’t happen again.
“I think lessons have been learned, most notably from the Vuelta last year,” he said. “The short stage that came after the Queen stage.
“We have got a very different team here in the Tour de France and I find it very hard to see that kind of scenario happening again. Certainly when we are at the start line on Friday, that will be at the forefront of my mind. I can’t see it happening again, but then again this is the Tour de France and anything can happen. We have to be ready for it.”
He is aware that the danger is that three riders are less than a minute back, while two others – Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Dan Martin (QuickStep Floors) are less than two minutes behind.
“Compared to other rivals, I think everyone has got their [strengths],” he said. “Contador, you can expect to be going from very far out. Romain Bardet, as he did last year, he made his move on Sunday’s stage on a wet descent, a tricky descent, close to the final.
“We still have a couple of downhill finishes coming up, so we can expect him to be moving as well.
“I basically just have to go off the general classification at this point and whoever is closest, I have to watch more closely.”
Froome’s ultimate aim is to take a fourth Tour win in five years. He believes he is on course to do that, although there still is plenty of racing left. Still, each passing day brings him past the riders who have come before.
On Tuesday he picked up what was a milestone achievement, taking his 50th yellow jersey. He was asked if that result is satisfying in itself, or if he was focussed completely on winning the race overall.
“It would certainly be sweeter if I was am able to keep this all the way until Paris,” he said, referring to the Maillot Jaune. “I was just told that actually once I crossed the finish line today, that this is my 50th day in yellow and equal with Anquetil, if I stand corrected. That’s a huge, huge honour.”
Link: https://cyclingtips.com/2017/07/froome-rates-tour-de-france-rivals-yellow-jersey-battle-enters-second-week/
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