Tour de France 2021: Stage 11, as it happened - Wout van Aert stars on double ascent of Mont Ventoux
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 07/07/2021 at 16:19 GMT
It's the big one, with the peloton tackling two ascents of Mont Ventoux on the same day. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) bids to strengthen his grip on yellow on Stage 11, while the day is all about survival for green jersey incumbent Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-QuickStep). Find out what happened in the unravelling thread below...
Stage 11 profile: Sorgues - Malaucène
Cavendish survives the time cut
The green jersey of Mark Cavendish came over the line in a large gruppetto around 40 minutes down so the Manxman beats the time cut by around seven minutes. Earlier, on the first ascent of Mont Ventoux, Cav showed his class by doffing his helmet towards the Tom Simpson memorial.
New top five on GC
1. Tadej Pogacar
2. Rigo Uran +5:18
3. Jonas Vingegaard +5:32
4. Richard Carapaz +5:33
5. Ben O'Connor +5:58
2. Rigo Uran +5:18
3. Jonas Vingegaard +5:32
4. Richard Carapaz +5:33
5. Ben O'Connor +5:58
So, at the end of the day, the Slovenian defending champion extended his lead over his nearest rival, which is now the Colombian Uran, who is a whopping five minutes back. O'Connor is the big loser of the day after he shipped four minutes - although David Gaudu lost more and drops out of the top 10.
Pogacar takes fourth place
In the end, Jonas Vingegaard's brave move came to nothing with regards to the yellow jersey: he was caught by the chasers, who were led home by Tadej Pogacar with Vingegaard on the back of the quartet behind Richard Carapaz and Rigoberto Uran. Around a minute later, and after Alexey Lutsenko and Wilco Kelderman, Enric Mas crosses the line. Pello Bilbao seems to be the next rider, ahead of Giullaume Martin.
And now the big wait back to the likes of David Gaudu and, further back, Mark Cavendish and the gruppetto in their bid to beat the time-cut... It's going to be tight...
Trek-Segafredo fill out the podium
Kenny Elissonde pips teammate Bauke Mollema as they finish with a fist pump around 1'15" down.
Wout van Aert wins Stage 11!
The Belgian national champion stands tall on the pedals as he celebrates the fourth Tour de France stage win of his career - and certainly the best: a triumph on the race's first ever double ascent of Mont Ventoux.
Final kilometre
Wout van Aert soaks up the atmosphere as he rides through Malaucene on his way to a historic stage win on the Tour de France.
3km to go: Gaps still holding steady
So, it's going to be a Jumbo-Visma sandwich with a gristly Trek-Segafredo filling over the line - although the Dane may yet be caught by the Pogacar trio who are only 12 seconds back. Van Aert, meanwhile, looks like he's starting to celebrate by waving to Belgian fans with flags on the side of the road...
10km to go: Stalemate on the descent
We're seeing no changes in the time gaps on this descent so it looks like Wout van Aert will indeed hold on. The big question is whether Vingegaard can make it a Jumbo-Visma one-two...
16km to go: Pogacar caught by Carapaz and Uran
The yellow jersey clearly went very deep on that last climb after Vingegaard attacked and he's knocked it off a bit, now riding with his two pursuers. They trail the young Dane by 35 seconds on this descent, with lone leader Van Aert 1'28" ahead of his teammate. The two Trek riders - Elissonde and Mollema - are 15 seconds ahead of Vingegaard.
In theory, none of this should change between now and the finish. Unless we see a crash or mechanical or serious lapse of judgement / crisis in confidence.
22km to go: Van Aert in polka dots?
Wout van Aert could soon swap his Belgian national champion's colours for the polka dot jersey even if he fails to win today's stage. He goes over the top to secure 40 KOM points while behind, Vingegaard almost catches the Trek duo of Mollema and Elissonde as he also passes the weather station at 1'25". Pogacar is around 2'00" down with Uran and Carapaz just another 10 seconds back. That puts WVA just 6pts shy of Nairo Quintana in the KOM standings...
23km to go: Vingegaard attacks!
Someone had to do it and it's the young Dane who takes the initiative - and only the yellow jersey can match the acceleration of the man in white: Kelderman and Lutsenko hit the wall while Uran and Carapaz lead the chase. What a day this could be for Jumbo-Visma - because Jonas Vinegaard has now distanced Tadej Pogacar! To think that it started so badly with Tony Martin crashing out of the race in a ditch. But now we have the prospect of a Van Aert win and the Danish debutant soaring further up the standings - perhaps into second place.
23.5km to go: Mas has no more
Enric Mas is the latest to be shed... and then Kwiatkowski - winking at the camera for some reason - almost comes to a complete standstill as he calls it a day after his pacing for Carapaz.
25km to go: Elissonde and Mollema join forces
The two Trek-Segafredo riders are now together after the Dutch veteran caught the fresh-faced Frenchman. They trail the lone leader Van Aert by 1'20" and will know that anything could happen on the descent - a crash, a mechanical, bad luck - and so they will push on together and hope for the best.
Back with the main pack, Riche Porte has peeled off to hand the baton over to Michal Kwiatkowski, the last man for Richard Carapaz. But Majka and Pogacar behind look like they're in no trouble. Guillaume Martin has been dropped, though, while further back, O'Connor has caught a sinking-like-a-stone Alaphilippe.
I spoke too soon: Majka has now been dropped, shortly after Michael Woods saw the elastic break. Just eight left in the yellow jersey group now.
28km to go: Van Aert passes Chalet Reynard
It looks increasingly like this Tour de France is going to deliver yet another zinger in the script-writing stakes with Wout van Aert now favourite to win today's stage. He's got six more kilometres to the summit but his gap over Elissonde is now one minute, with Mollema another 20 seconds back. Alaphilippe meanwhile has been caught and passed by the yellow jersey group of a dozen riders.
29km to go: O'Connor in world of pain
The Australian is shaking his head after being caught and passed by Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) and Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep). Cattaneo and Alaphilippe will be the only QuickStep riders not pushing green jersey Mark Cavendish to avoid the time cut today.
30km to go: Who's in the GC group?
Besides the Ineos trio of Carapaz, Kwiatkowski and Porte, plus the yellow jersey of Pogacar, there's another UAE rider, Rafal Majka, as well as Wilco Kelderman, Alexey Lutsenko, Jonas Vingegaard, Rigo Uran, Enric Mas, Michael Woods and Giullaume Martin. That makes it 12-strong. They trail the front of the race by 4'20".
31km to go: O'Connor dropped
Winner at Tignes on Sunday, Ben O'Connor has been dropped by the main pack, which this pace by Ineos has seen whittled down to just a dozen riders. The Australian moved up to second place on GC with his victory in Stage 9 and he has a buffer of 3:17 over third-place Rigoberto Uran, so all is not lost. But it will be damage limitation from here to the end for the isolated AG2R-Citroen leader.
33km to go: Van Aert goes clear
The Belgian champion puts in a surge to drop Elissonde and go clear on the front of this race. Meanwhile, behind Mollema has now dropped Alaphilippe. But there are no problems for Pogacar in yellow, who looks calm and serene despite Ineos trying to apply a little pressure.
34km to go: Ineos with four on the front
Kwiatkowski, Porte and Castroviejo pacing for Carapaz at the head of the pack but Pogacar is still keeping his cool in yellow while the gap has only come down around 20 seconds to 4'40". They have caught Perez and Bernard, but that's about the sum of their efforts for now - that and distancing the veteran Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and the Colombian Miguel Angel Lopez, as Movistar's horror show continues.
36km to go: Peloton onto the climb
UAE, Ineos and AG2R-Citroen are on the front as the main pack swings onto the final climb with a deficit of five minutes. Meanwhile, further up the road it's the Belgian national champion Van Aert who has ridden clear in pursuit of Elissonde, with Mollema and Alaphilippe behind. Durbridge, as expected, has folded. He's a big unit and it was always going to be a big ask.
35km to go: Van Aert catches Elissonde
We now have two leaders in this claustrophobic wooded section of the climb. Van Aert looks focussed and hungry as he sticks to his own tempo while Elissonde digs in to keep up. They have 30 seconds on the two chasers - and after Mollema attacks, Alaphilippe is forced to dig deep to dance back onto the back wheel of the Dutchman.
The latest rider to withdraw is Victor Campenaerts of Qhubeka-NextHash. The attrition rate today is telling: around 10 riders seem to have got off their bikes and called it quits now.
37.5km to go: Second ascent of Mont Ventoux
They hook a left at Saint-Esteve and here we are - it's the hellish and legendary full ascent of Mont Ventoux (15.6km at 8.7%). Straight away, Bernard peels off after his stint on the approach - and this tees up an early attack from Elissonde who goes clear to open up a small gap over the five chasers.
39km to go: Perez dropped in Bedoin
The first rider is dropped from the leading group which is now seven strong - it's Anthony Perez of Cofidis who bids au revoir at Bedoin just ahead of the climb. So, the leaders are: Julien Bernard, Bauke Mollema and Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Fenix) and Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange).
42km to go: Trek-Segafredo take control
Julien Bernard is burying himself on the front of this break to tee things up for his teammates Elissonde and Mollema ahead of this second - and harder - ascent of Mont Ventoux. Rolland, who came within 20 seconds near the summit, is now almost three minutes back while the Ineos-led peloton is still around 4'45" down. It's worth remembering that Eros Poli had a 25-minute lead going onto the climb in 1994 and just four minutes at the top... so we're not necessarily going to see a win for one of these eight leaders today.
52km to go: Alaphilippe hits 99kmph
We've got some stats coming in and Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe almost hit triple figures in his speed descent just now, which is fairly scary. The eight leaders have completed the descent and are on the rolling road that takes the riders back around to the town of Bedoin, from where the second ascent commences. They still have 1'30" over Rolland with 4'30" on the main pack and 6'15" on the Gaudu group. Some of the initial escapees have been caught, including Dan Martin, Pierre-Luc Perichon and Nils Politt.
60km to go: Ineos back on the front
It was a shame to see Ineos not do anything on that first ascent despite having the numbers and the presence on the front of the pack. They're pushing it now on the descent but Pogacar just needs to keep his cool and not do an Indurain... The Spaniard almost left the road while in yellow when the race came down this same descent in 1994 with Pantani up the road in pursuit of compatriot Poli...
65km to go: Trek with power in numbers
We have three Trek-Segafredo riders in this eight-man leading group: Bernard, Elissonde and Mollema. That said, the two dangermen are probably Van Aert and Alaphilippe while Perez could be the joker in the pack. Pierre Rolland, not renowned for his downhill riding, is now 1'20" back.
72km to go: UAE lead pack over the top
The gap is down to 4'45" as Tadej Pogacar's UAE team come to the front ahead of Ineos Grenadiers ahead of the descent towards Malaucene.
76km to go: Alaphilippe takes 10pts on summit
The world champion zips clear after the final hairpin below the weather station and it's Alaphilippe who takes the maximum 10pts over the top of this climb ahead of Anthony Perez and Bauke Mollema. Now it's time to descend this long, twisting and technical descent.
77km to go: Mollema joins the leaders
The Dutch veteran has joined the leaders around 1km from the summit but Pierre Rolland is still about 25 seconds back. So it will be seven riders who battle out for the KOM points over the top of this first passage of the summit, which is clad in mist, up in the clouds and suitably mythical.
Meanwhile, as we go past the Tom Simpson memorial, Bradley Wiggins gave his own tribute to a British trailblazer from the back of his motorbike...
Julien Bernard to channel his father's triumph?
The 29-year-old Frenchman has only one victory to his name - last year on Mont Faron during the Tour des Alpes Maritimes et du Var - but he has a splendid pedigree. The Trek-Segafredo rider is indeed the son of Jean-Francois Bernard, the former French star who won stages on all three Grand Tours and who was once seen as the heir to Bernard Hinault. Most notably, Bernard won here on Mont Ventoux in at time trial in 1987 to take the yellow jersey he would only keep for one day...
79km to go: Van Aert still there
At 27:17 in the GC, Wout van Aert is the best placed rider in this leading move which also includes Julien Bernard, Kenny Elissonde, Anthony Perez, Xandro Meurisse, Luke Durbridge and Julian Alaphilippe, the world champion, who is doing his best to rally his fellow escapees with a big pull on the front. They still have 37 seconds on two chasers in Mollema and Rolland.
80km to go: Thomas done for the day
The 2018 Tour champion peels off the front of the Ineos Grenadiers train to hand the baton over to Dylan van Baarle before being distanced from the main pack, which still trails the leaders by over five minutes with around 4km of this first ascent remaining.
82km to go: Alaphilippe takes it up at Chalet Reynard
As the leaders join the main road at Chalet Reynard they're greeted by a mass of spectators behind the barriers - and it's the world champion who feels inspired enough to get out of the saddle and put in an acceleration. Behind, Dan Martin has been dropped by the chasers as Rolland and Mollema go clear.
84km to go: In the head of Pogacar
It will be interesting to see if Richard Carapaz uses this Ineos lead-out as a launch-pad for an attack on this ascent of Ventoux - and, if so, if the yellow jersey goes with him. The Ecuadorian is a whopping five minutes down on GC and so no urgent threat - but should Pogacar let him back in then he could well become a big danger later in the race. What he does have going for him is that Carapaz's previous early attacks in this Tour have come to nothing.
The leaders meanwhile now have 50 seconds on the chasers with the peloton at five minutes, the Gaudu group at six minutes and the green jersey gruppetto at almost 12 minutes.
89km to go: Alaphilippe forces a split
He looked to be struggling at the back of the break but the world champion was just surveying the scene, it seems. He ups the tempo and causes a split - taking with him Van Aert, Bernard, Elissonde, Perez, Meurisse and Durbridge. There's 30 seconds between the two groups while the gap back to the peloton is now 4'30" as Geraint Thomas continues pulling for his teammate Carapaz.
91km to go: Gaudu and Quintana struggling
The Colombian in polka dots - after trying to attack early on - is off the back of the pack, as is David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ. The French team's disasterous race continues - they have already lost four riders, and now Gaudu looks like he's going to lose his place in the top 10. And to think that this is the 'easy' part of the western climb, which will pick up once they reach Chalet Reynard and join the other road to the top.
Meanwhile, the withdrawals are coming in thick and fast: Dan McLay and Tiesj Benoot are the latest. Benoot never produced his best form on this race...
Food for thought...
In 2015 we had the first double ascent of Alpe d'Huez and now we have the same here for Mont Ventoux. Climbing it once is hard enough; twice is just brutal.
100km to go: Ventoux #1 as quartet almost have company
Just 15 seconds for our four leaders as they start this first ascent of Mont Ventoux (Cat 1, 22.1km at 5%). And shortly after the feedzone the two groups come together and so we'll have a break of 16 with over five minutes to play with over an Ineos-led main pack behind.
105km to go: Rolland thought finish was on summit
Hardly a ringing endorsement for B&B Hotel's preparation: Pierre Rolland admitted on the rest day that he thought today's finish was on the summit of Ventoux and not back down in Malaucene. In what could well have been a poker bluff, the Frenchman said he would put off his efforts until the Pyrenees - but here we have Rolland in the leading quartet ahead of the first of those two ascents.
110km to go: Ineos lead peloton over the top
The peloton trails this leading quartet by five minutes as they come over the summit - with Mark Cavendish's green jersey gruppetto currently 7'30" down. The chase group, however, is only 40 seconds down on the leaders although they have lost a rider or two on that last climb. The race now runs along a rolling plateau to the town of Sault where the western ascent of Mont Ventoux starts.
115km to go: Dan Martin takes KOM points
Ireland's Dan Martin kicks clear to take the 10pts over the summit of the Liguiere ahead of Rolland and Alaphilippe. It will be interesting to see if the Irishman will go on to target the polka dot jersey of it this is if merely to protect teammate Michael Woods' lead - the Canadian is currently second on the standings on 42 points with Nairo Quintana leading with 50 points.
None of the other riders in the polka dot frame - Wout Poels, Ben O'Connor, Sergio Higuita, Guillaume Martin - are in any of the breaks today and so we could see a change. While the first ascent of Ventoux is only first-category (10pts) the second is a HC climb and also has double points up for grabs (80pts) and so whoever goes over the top in first place will be in polka dots tonight.
118km to go: Van der Sande abandons
The Belgian Tosh Van der Sande, who was in yesterday's two-man break alongside Hugo Houle, has called it a day. That's the second Lotto Soudal withdrawal after Caleb Ewan crashed out in the opening week. The Belgian team are having a rotten race and - to make matters worse - they're losing their co-sponsor Soudal to rivals Deceuninck-QuickStep next season!
122km to go: Four minutes for quartet
We're onto the uphill grind that is the Cat.2 Col de la Liguiere (9.3km at 6.7%) and out four leaders now have just over four minutes on the peloton, which is still being controlled by Ineos Grenadiers. They will be hoping their Ecuadorian livewire Richard Carapaz can deliver the goods today. The Van Aert chase group is 1'10" down on the Alaphilippe leading group, while we're hearing that the last man on the road - Miles Scotson of Groupama-FDJ - is over eight minutes down already.
Cavendish, the green jersey, has four QuickStep teammates with him in a small group off the back that also includes Sonny Colbrelli, the Italian champion, and two DSM riders.
When man mountain Eros Poli conquered Mont Ventoux
The day after Italy lost the World Cup final to Brazil in 1994, when Roberto Baggio ballooned his spot-kick in the penalty shootout, a weary Eros Poli creaked out of bed after a fitful night’s sleep feeling sorry for himself. But on the painful walk downstairs (the hotel lift was broken) a song came into the head of the 6ft 4ins rouleur: James Brown’s I Feel Good. And it set the tone for his spell-binding solo performance in Stage 15 of the Tour from Montpellier to Carpentras - the last time the race went up and then down the back of Ventoux.
Italy's Poli was famous for being the tallest rider in the peloton and for finishing last in the Giro d’Italia while piloting Mario Cipollini to multiple stage wins. Then, on a sweltering day at the Tour de France, he went on the attack en route to Mont Ventoux. Felix Lowe explains how some quick thinking, a spot of James Brown and a hot can of Fanta fuelled a giant up and over the Giant of Provence.
130km to go: Pogacar off the back!
Talk about reeling you in with a slightly misleading header... The man in yellow has a rear wheel puncture and needs a change. The defending champion has a couple of UAE teammates with him now as he rides off the back of the peloton, no doubt causing the road-side spectators a bit of confusion. The temperature is 27 degrees Celsius as the race comes within 5km of the next climb - the last one ahead of today's double ascent of Mont Ventoux.
135km to go: Chasers combine
The two chasing groups have joined forces and we now have all their names: Vegard Stake Laengen (UAE Team Emirates), Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Julien Bernard, Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema (all Trek-Segafredo), Nils Politt (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Cofidis), Zandro Meurisse and Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Fenix), Benoit Cosnefroy and Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Luke Durbridge (Team BikeExchange) and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels p/b KTM).
This 13-man group trails the leading quartet of Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep), Anthony Perez (Cofidis) and Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) by 50 seconds with the peloton around two minutes back. Order has been restored on the pack with Ineos Grenadiers on the front and Welshman Geraint Thomas - who was feeling the pinch earlier - among them.
140km to go: Over a minute for the leaders
Alaphilippe, Martin, Perez and Rolland have 47 seconds on Bernard, Politt, Meurisse and Sbaragli, with the Van Aert group at 1'07" and the peloton (with the yellow jersey of Tadej Pogacar) at 1'22".
145km to go: Russo abandons
Clement Russo has now abandoned. As reported earlier, he was way back after a hellish opening hour. He's not the first - Tony Martin crashed out earlier today - and he won't be the last - many will throw in the towel today, and you'd expect some riders to finish outside the time limit, too.
We're onto some rolling roads ahead of the next categorised climb and we have four riders - Julien Bernard, Nils Politt, Xandro Meurisse and Kristan Sbaragli - trying to bridge over to the four leaders, who are currently riding alongside a sumptuous field of lavender. Wout van Aert, the Belgian champion, is also in a group of a handful of riders trying to go clear of the pack.
Wiggo backs Quintana for the win
Sir Bradley Wiggins speaking for Eurosport and GCN ahead of today’s double ascent of the infamous Mont Ventoux:
“She’s a beautiful climb. The landscape is like no other, it’s like being on the moon when you’re up there and of course it’s steeped in history with the death of Tommy Simpson. Tom is the reason why a lot of us are here – Geraint Thomas, Chris Froome, Simon Yates. He set the ball rolling for us and died doing something we’ve all tried to do. I always spare a thought for Tom when we go up here.”
On predictions for today’s surprise packages, Wiggins said:
“It’s been such a unique Tour up to this point, I can’t remember a Tour like it. It’s like a junior race. I don’t see one team that is strong enough to control it. The days of Team Sky and Ineos – they don’t have the firepower they used to have. UAE have done a great job until this point but Pogacar as a solo rider seems to be head and shoulders above everyone. There are some old names to look out for – Nairo Quintana could really surprise today, he could do something. It’s a summit around 2,000 metres which could suit the Colombians and we could expect fireworks today.”
150km to go: Four clear after Alaphilippe takes KOM point
It's Julian Alaphilippe who again takes the solitary point over the Cote des Gordes. He dropped Dan Martin and Anthony Perez just ahead of the summit, with Frenchman Pierre Rolland - who was in the chase group - joining the other two. They're the four riders who survived the latest reshuffling so we now have a quartet out ahead with 40 seconds to play with, as Mark Cavendish and some of the others who were tailed off battle to rejoin the pack.
Poor Clement Russo, though. The Frenchman from Arkea-Samsic must be ill or on a very bad day because he's only just rolled though the intermediate sprint on his own some five or six minutes down. He will stuggle to beat the broom wagon today.
156km to go: Thomas already in trouble
The Welshman is already clinging on the back of the pack and with the sprinters as they hit the start of the second climb, the Cat.4 Cote de Gordes (2.6km at 5.1%). The peloton is all strung out and that leading group of six riders only has a handful of seconds over the five chasers who in turn only have a few seconds on the front of the pack. Cavendish, meanwhile, rides off the back and with his leadout man Michael Morkov. It's going to be a long day of survival for the green jersey - and he will hope that the pace slows and a breakaway gets a gap soon.
158km to go: Alaphilippe wins sprint, waits for chasers
Julian Alaphilippe soloes through the intermeiate sprint at Les Imberts to pick up maximum points. It looks like he's sitting up for a chase group of five: Dan Martin, Anthony Perez, Neilson Powless, Elie Gesbert and Jakob Fuglsang. They cross with around 20 seconds of a deficit and ahead of another group of around five riders just ahead of the peloton - so it's good news for Alaphilippe's teammate Mark Cavendish, who did not look like he conceded any points to his green jersey rivals there.
164km to go: Quintana caught
The Colombian's brief foray off the front has come to an end as the likes of Dylan Teuns, Patrick Konrad and Dries Devenyns all try their luck. It's a yo-yoing gap of around 15 seconds currently for Alaphilippe, who is throwing himself into these corners and pushing things big time on the descent.
167km to go: Alaphilippe takes KOM point
The Frenchman drops Quintana shortly after the start of the Cat.4 Cote de Fontaine-de-Vaucluse (1.9km at 6%) which he goes on to crest in pole position to take up his first KOM point of the race. They had about 25 seconds going on to the climb. Meanwhile, behind Quintana there's a select group forming with the likes of Van Aert, Trek duo Nibali and Mollema, and Guerreiro of EF Education-Nippo all involved.
170km to go: Martin abandons
The German veteran is loaded into an ambulance and that is his race over. Jumbo-Visma are down to five following the earlier departures of Primoz Roglic and Robert Gesink. Not ideal for Jonas Vingegaard in his GC push.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2021/07/07/3168981-64935068-2560-1440.jpg)
Stage 11 Crash sees bloodied Tony Martin abandon Tour de France
173km to go: Crash for Tony Martin
The bad luck continues for the German veteran and his Jumbo-Visma team. Cameras picked him out slumped on the side of a road-side ditch with blood pouring from his mouth and nasty gashes to his right elbow and thigh. Martin has been in the wars this Tour and this could be one fall too many for the 36-year-old, whose 13th Tour may have come to a premature end.
174km to go: Alaphilippe and Quintana attack!
A couple of Alpecin-Fenix riders try their luck and it's followed by a surge off the front with Jakob Fuglsang right to the fore for Astana-PremierTech. Then the world champion says enough is enough and puts in a huge dig. Only the polka dot jersey of Nairo Quintana both spots it - and the Colombian is quick to jump on the Frenchman's wheel. This devastating duo open up a convincing gap - and this could be the moment.
178km to go: Gruppo compatto
It's all back together and there's an apparent truce following the next flurry of attacks which followed the reeling in of Rickaert and Ballerini. The likes of Cavendish and Gilbert are still very much to the fore, as is Marco Haller of Bahrain-Victorious. Alex Aranburo of Astana isn't: the Spaniard has a flat tyre and will need to fight back on. Relentless stuff here.
185km to go: Two clear, others following
Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Fenix) zipped clear on his own and was then joined by Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-QuickStep). They combine to open up a gap of around 10 seconds on the peloton, from which a handful - and then a dozen - riders manage to extricate themselves. Interestingly, Wout van Aert is one of those trying to bridge over.
190km to go: Geschke's dig comes to nothing
Simon Geschke, the bearded German who has been rather quiet in this Tour so far (indeed, I only saw him on that long stage to Le Creusot when he crossed the line alongside Primoz Roglic some nine minutes down on the winner that day, Mathieu van der Poel) but he's entering the kind of terrain which suit his strengths. The Cofidis rider opens up a small gap but he's joined by no one and is eventually reeled in.
195km to go: Feisty start
Julian Alaphilippe and Philippe Gilbert are among the riders who look very keen to get away today. We've also seen Peter Sagan pushing the pace and Mark Cavendish - presumably with the early intermediate sprint in mind - keeping alert to developments. Nothing has stuck yet, but today is the kind of historic stage that attracts a certain type of rider - the De Gendts, the Nibalis, the Alaphilippes, the Mollemas, the Gilberts, the Geschkes...
199km to go: Stage 11 under way!
Christian Prudhomme, masked up in the sunroof of his trusty red Skoda, waves his flag at Kilometre Zero and this stage has started. There's no response for a few hundred metres with the peloton riding along in a block... but then the torch paper is lit and the attacks come a gogo.
Perfect conditions as riders approach the official start
The peloton is making its way through a long 8km neutral zone ahead of the official start today. The sun is out and there's a slight breeze but it's a good temperature and pretty much ideal conditions for what could be the queen stage of this race. Nairo Quintana, the polka dot jersey, had to drop back for a bike change after a mechanical, but he appears to be back now. His compatriot Sergio Henao or Qhubeka-NestHash also needs a new bike after an apparent puncture. Also, we're seeing lots of Israel Start-Up Nation riders near the front so perhaps Michael Woods is going to try something today... or Chris Froome?!?
Bonjour le Tour! It's time for Mont Vent-two...
Yes, it's the moment we've all been waiting for... the first ever double ascent of Mont Ventoux in Tour de France history. It's the climax to a captivating 199km stage that includes two fourth-category leg-stretchers and the Cat.1 Col de la Liguiere ahead of the first ascent of Ventoux from the western approach via Sault, followed by the descent to Malaucene, then around and up again via the traditional Bedoin approach, ahead of a second descent to the finish in Malaucene.
Here's what it looks like in a bit-sized visual snippet... and you have to feel for the likes of Mark Cavendish and the gruppetto.
'Different gravy' – Cavendish could win seven stages at this Tour, claims Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins has backed Mark Cavendish to win seven stages at this year’s Tour de France after the Manx Missile made it a three-peat in 2021.
Deceuninck-QuickStep nailed the finale on Stage 10 to catapult Cavendish to victory and strengthen their grip on the green jersey.
The 36-year-old is now within one stage of Eddy Merckx’s all-time record (34) and looks a strong bet to eclipse the Belgian legend with four sprint opportunities still on the menu.
However, he must first survive an ominous double ascent of Mont Ventoux on Wednesday, with the reward immediately coming with two flat stages. Cavendish on Sunday’s brutal Stage 9.
When asked if Cavendish could win seven stages at this year’s Tour, Wiggins replied: “He could, he very much could.
“He’s reclaimed his number one spot [in the world]. You can only beat who’s there and Cav’s done a sterling job, he’s different gravy.”
Re-Cycle: When man mountain Eros Poli conquered Mont Ventoux
When the cat’s away, the mice will play. It’s a mantra that often rings true in cycling – usually when a favourite crashes out of a big race and their rivals, or the teammates usually employed entirely in their service, grab the opportunity with both hands. When Lion King Mario Cipollini was ruled out of the Tour de France in 1994, his not-so-rodent-like sprint pilot Eros Poli proved himself to be the mightiest mouse in the business.
After two failed long-distance breakaways – in the stifling Aquitaine region of France, and in the Pyrenees – the Italian colossus soloed clear of the peloton on the oppressively hot Stage 15 from Montpellier to Carpentras.
The profile of the 231km ride through Provence was wholly unremarkable save for the almighty spike towards the end: the deathly climb up Mont Ventoux and the descent down to the finish. If you’re not familiar with the legend of Ventoux, here’s a passage from the introduction to Jeremy Whittle’s memoir to the mythical mountain:
“Visible from the Alps, from the Pyrenees and from 35,000ft, Mont Ventoux is a mountain so singular, so identifiable, that pilots flying south towards Italy and the Cote d’Azur use its bleached summit as a reference point. The vast, unmistakable bulk of the ‘Giant of Provence’ dominates the rolling landscape of the Drôme and Vaucluse regions of the south of France. The gruelling ascent has become one of the most feared and revered climbs in cycling.”
To Whittle, the “inspirational and intimidating” Ventoux is not merely one of the sport’s most renowned ascents, it is the climb with the richest history and one “that most embodies both the grandeur and the darkness of professional racing”.
- - -
You can watch the Tour de France live and ad-free on the Eurosport app and Eurosport.co.uk. Download the Eurosport app for iOS and Android now. You can also watch the most comprehensive live & ad-free racing on GCN+. Go deeper and get interactive with live polls & quizzes, plus rider profiles, race updates, results & more – plus stream exclusive cycling documentaries.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement