TDF STAGE 11 REPORT and RESULTS 2014 Tour De France

Stage 11 Report:

Stage 11 on the map

1100 miles and the first rest day behind the riders, the race is about half over (in distance)

187.5k from Besancon to Oyonnax (still in the Jura); rolling.

Weather: mostly clear and sunny; significantly warmer, 80 f.

DNS: Fabian Cancellara (said he wants to rest before training for the Worlds in Spain, which are in about nine and a half weeks).

If you are like me then you spent a significant amount of time last night reading all the news and tweets about Contador's broken bike. So, I won't beleaguer the point. Just to say, a not-so-simple chain of events took place wherein Berto crashed, and one of his bikes got smashed. The frame was broken on the top tube and on the down tube, with very little other damage or other marks. Team Tinkoff's final word is that Alberto was not riding the bike that broke. They say the broken bike was caused when the Tinkoff-Saxo car brushed past the Belkin Team car, and the bikes on the roof racks got tangled and snapped Alberto's spare bike frame. It was like "Bike-gate" on the social media sites, but I am perfectly content to believe the publicized story, and get on with the race. Bicycles certainly do overlap the top edges of the vehicles, so it is entirely plausible that bicycles on top of two parallel cars could get tangled up. My question is: Why haven't we seen more of that?

Unfortunately the race will go on without the explosive attacking of the Spanish 5-time grand tour champion, Alberto Contador. 179 riders took the start today for stage 11.

Here is a list, by stage, of all the riders who have abandoned the race so far:

TO CONTINUE, CLICK "Read more..." JUST BELOW 

Stage 11 Preview 2014 Tour De France

Stage 11 Preview 2014 Tour de France

187.5k from Besancon to Oyonnax; rolling.

Moving south, from the Vosges to the Jura...

*Fabian Cancellara has withdrawn from the race to get some rest before he gets on with training for the World Championships in September.

Stage 11 profile

 

A few small hills toward the back end of the stage on Wednesday may encourage some attacks, but many sprinters could be around to contest the finish if they choose to chase down the breaks. There is a 15-k descent to the finish in Oyonnax, so expect a fast and furious race at the end, with stage hunters trying to keep the sprinters' teams at bay. I expect to see Peter Sagan at the finish, ready to add more points to his lead in the green jersey competition. Arnaud Demare (FDJ) is another sprinter who could eat up that finish if he's got the legs.

The rolling 40k that precede the final 15k, could be ideal for riders like Rui Costa or Alejandro Valverde to try and get away from the other GC contenders and maybe gain some time, but it is more likely that the GC contenders will let the fast men duke this one out. The GC guys have the summit finishes on stages 13 and 14 to think about. Also, race leader Vincenzo Nibali would not be easy to drop on this parcours.

Assuming the sprint teams do not control the race on Wednesday, several talented and ambitious riders could have a go at the stage win:

Both Tom (Giant-Shimano) and Samuel Dumoulin (AG2R) could be eyeing this stage. I am also looking at JJ Rojas of Movistar, Greg Van Avermaet and Daniel Oss of BMC, Sylvain Chavanel of the pro-conti IAM team, and Lars Boom (who won already, on the demanding cobbled stage 5 course) and Sep Vanmarcke of the Dutch Belkin team.

Just for kicks, here is a list of other candidates, by team, whom I think could be eyeing this stage:

Katusha have options with Porsev and Paolini if Kristoff doesn't make it to contest the sprint finish;

Big, amiable Jens Voigt of the Trek team, is not a bad bet.  I'd like to see Jensie throw caution to the wind again, and have a try at tomorrow's course.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Daniele Bennati, Matteo Tosatto, or Michael Morkov try to get into the break for Tinkoff-Saxo. They will want to be looking for new race options now that their GC leader, Contador is gone.

The entire Orica GreenEdge Team is loaded with viable candidates for the next couple of stages. Simon Gerrans' fifth place finish on stage 7 is the best result that the Aussie team has put up so far in this race, so they need to get something done. Michael Albasini might be their best bet.

Terpstra (OPQ) and Chavanel (IAM) attacked on stage 8

Andrey Grivko (Astana) could likely get into the break if he's feeling good.

Besides Sagan, Cannondale have a couple of riders who are itching for an opportunity to try their luck: Elia Viviani--a very good sprinter himself--and Marco Marcato, who could be a good breakaway candidate.

Niki Terpstra or Michal Golas might find the legs for Omega Pharma tomorrow.

Romain Feillu of the wildcard Bretagne-Seche squad is a sprinter who would enjoy a shot at a stage win, particularly if the big sprinters' teams aren't around at the end. Another option for them could be Anthony Delaplace.

Garmin-Sharp have several potential options for stages 11 and 12. I wouldn't be surprised to see Jack Bauer try to make the break.

Normally, I would select Arthur Vichot for a stage like tomorrow's, but his form hasn't looked great to me lately. FDJ have other possibilities, like Jeremy Roy, who can try his luck on almost any terrain.

Green Jersey leader Peter Sagan

Lotto Belisol is chock-full-of options. Greipel will probably try to be there for the finish, but if not, then Jurgen Roelandts and Lars Bak are both well-versed in fast, technical finishes.

Maybe Kevin Reza of Europcar will get a chance to ride for himself tomorrow if Bryan Coquard isn't there at the end.

I don't think we have seen Julien Simon get into a break yet. The French Cofidis rider was fourth at the French National Championships a couple weeks ago.

For NetApp, Paul Voss is a good breakaway candidate; and Zak Dempster has a fast finish.

OK. So, who am I picking for stage 11?

Not going out on any limbs, I am sticking with the powerful Peter Sagan.

My "lonshot" pick is Danny Oss of BMC.

Stage 12 Preview 2013 Vuelta a España

Fabian Cancellara put the big gears to work in the TT

Before the Vuelta began Fabian Cancellara expressed little interest in today’s hilly 38.8k time trial course. His primary goal, he said, was to train for the upcoming World Championships. The Swiss TT master has been a big part of Horner’s success so far, driving the train on all kinds of terrain, setting strong paces in the peloton, and nabbing a couple of stage podium finishes for himself and his Radioshack-soon to be-Trek team in the process.

Because of Cancellara’s value on the road to his Radioshack team, today’s hilly parcours, and Tony Martin’s post-reconnaissance statement that it was a course for the climbers, I was not sure Spartacus would go full gas today—or if he did, that he could pull out a win. But I guess you can’t take the time trial out of the time trialer.   

Cancellara’s time proved to be the best on the road today. He says he is still deciding about which race

Stage 11 Time Trial Preview 2013 Vuelta a España

"The old man" Horner in red again

Stage 10 of the Vuelta a España featured a steep summit finish where Radioshack’s Chris Horner earned his second stage win of the race, and reclaimed the red jersey of overall race leader as a bonus. To the other top GC contenders the American’s relentless attack with about 4.5k to go must have seemed too early to stick. It was not until almost 2k to go that Vincenzo Nibali responded with a move of his own to chase down the plucky American.

Nibali finished 48 seconds behind Horner, and :14 ahead of Valverde, Basso, Rodriguez and Pinot, with Nicolas Roche another eight seconds back. Daniel Moreno struggled on the climb, lost the race lead, and dropped down to 6^th place.

Leopold Konig and Ivan Basso swapped places, Konig moved down from 7^th to 11^th place, and Basso up to 7^th from 11^th. The Italian Cannondale leader moving up as a result of the very good form he has been showing in the mountains.

You can see there was a lot more movement in the standings than after stage 9. Many riders made either significant advances or losses based on their performance on the final climb up the Alto de Hazallanas on Monday. Notably, beyond Horner moving into the lead, and the other “rearranging” of the top five, Thibaut Pinot of FDJ found the big climb to his liking, and he moved up ten spots to 8^th place overall. His higher aspirations may find trouble next weekend however, with stages 14 and 15, as more descending will be on the menu—Pinot’s big weakness.

Stage 11 Time Trial Report and Results 2013 Tor De France ITT

 

33k ITT, mostly flat

Weather: Sunny, 25c

Mont Saint-Michel hosts the stage 11 ITT finish

The course is 20.5 miles long, or 33k. The intermediate split points are at km 9.5 and km 22.

182 riders will take the start today.

Svein Tuft set an early fast time at the second intermediate checkpoint of 25:35.

Tuft finishes with the currently fastest time of 38:04.

Two-time World TT Champion, Tony Martin is on the course. He sets a new fastest time at the 2^nd INT of 24:42.

Jeremy Roy finishes at 38:12, currently second.

Thomas De Gendt comes in with a very good time of 37:30, and takes the lead from Tuft.

Stage 11 Profile

*Tony Martin comes in to the finish, and he has set the new best time at 36:29. That is an average speed of 54.271 kph. That will be the standard to beat for some time. Winds are picking up a bit, and may cause trouble for the later starters.

A report is in that spectators have thrown urine at Mark Cavendish on the course. That is shameful, despicable and dangerous. I hope they catch whoever had the tiny brain to conceive that assault. I know what their punishment should be, too.

Morons aside, let’s get back to the race:

The stage 11 ITT route

Jonathan Castroviejo is a rider I singled out for a good time today. He passes the first INT at km 9.5 with a time of 10:51. That is :30 slower than Martin’s time there.

Castroviejo is fifth at the 2^nd INT. He finishes 1:52 off the pace.

Edvald Boasson Hagen would be a good prospect for this course, but Team Sky have been told to save energy for Froome in the stages ahead. This is always a consideration. With the next high mountain stage not coming until Sunday, I thought Boasson Hagen would have been set loose today, but I guess not. EBH comes in almost four minutes off the pace.

The current leaders are:

1.    Tony Martin 36:29

2.    Thomas De Gendt +1:01

3.    Svein Tuft 1:35

4.    Jeremy Roy 1:43

5.    Jonathan Castroviejo 1:52

Tom Dumoulin of Argos Shimano is fifth fastest at the 2^nd INT.

Tejay Van Garderen seems to have rediscovered his strength. He is second fastest at the 1^st INT, just 18 seconds slower than Martin.

Stage 11 Individual Time Trial Preview 2013 Tour De France

Stage 11 on the map

The race of truth arrives to test the riders’ strength against the clock. The stage-11 time trial on the scenic island of Mont Saint-Michel is the first of two TT’s that measure just over 30k. The next one comes on stage 17 and contains two category-2 climbs. This 33k TT however, is relatively flat, and will favor a somewhat different class of favorites.

the majestic Mont Saint-Michel

We viewers get to enjoy another picturesque day as the Tour De France visits Mont Saint-Michel, but the riders will be too busy eating up the road to enjoy the scenery. Some rearranging of the General Classification will be on the menu.

Omega Pharma’s time trial master, Tony Martin, who endured a concussion, a bruised lung, and a battered body in a stage-1 crash, seems to be riding better and surely will give the TT his all. The GC favorites will be racing hard to limit their losses to—or gain time on—Chris Froome, who excels against the clock. But many very good time trial riders are here to contest this stage.

Stage 11 ITT profile

Besides Martin and Froome, strong performances can be expected from the likes of Michal Kwiatkowski, and Sylvain Chavanel. In fact Omega Pharma-Quickstep have several good TT cards to play on stage 11; Peter Velits and Niki Terpstra are also talented against the clock. I would expect a very high finish for Chavanel.

Several top GC riders like Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador and Tejay Van Garderen have all been excellent at the TT, but each one’s form has come into question. I think Contador and Evans can pull out good rides on Wednesday, but Tejay doesn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders. I would expect fast times by Jean-Christophe Peraud, Rui Costa, and Bauke Mollema, and probably Alejandro Valverde. All have shown great form lately.

 

The time trial route

Besides the GC guys, good time trial contenders include Lieuwe Westra, Tom Dumoulin, Lars Boom, Svein Tuft, Michael Rogers, Blel Kadri, and more. I have only named one Spaniard so far, but I like one of Movistar’s young talents as a possible spoiler for Tony Martin: 26-year old Jonathan Castroviejo. He has showed excellent results in time trials like these. I see him in the top five at least.

MY PICK: Tony Martin. I would not bet against him. 

My dark-horse pick would be Thomas Dumoulin of Argos-Shimano.