2011 TOUR DE FRANCE FINAL RESULTS

By Debbie Bulloch



It has been almost a week since the end of the Tour de France and I have not yet posted the final race results. Like most bike racing fans, I am still suffering a bit of “Tour withdrawal” so it has taken me this long to finally admit to myself that the Tour is indeed over, at least until next year!

In unexpected fashion, Aussie Cadel Evans finally claimed the yellow jersey that had eluded him in past Tours. As the riders crossed the finish line for the last time at the 2011 Tour de France. Entering this year’s tour, Evans was a two-time runner-up; he was looking to take down two-time defending champion Alberto Contador. Evans raced a perfect, course-blistering, Time Trial (TT) to make up a 57 seconds deficit on Andy Schleck. Not since American Greg Lemond raced against Frenchman Laurent Fignon in the last stage of the 1986 Tour, has there been a more exciting TT.

Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, also took down the 21st stage, becoming the first rider to win three sprints on the Champs Elysées and the first British rider ever to win the Green Jersey. Cavendish is now on track to become the most prolific stage winner in Tour history.

While the best finish for an American was 9th place for Tom Danielson (Go Tommy D!) from Team Garmin-Cervelo, this was nevertheless a very good Tour for the English speaking countries. Aussie Evans took the yellow jersey while racing for an American team. Brit Cavendish took the green jersey while also riding for an American team (which, incidentally trains not far from my home). The winner of the team competition, Team Garmin-Cervelo, is an American team (that races on Canadian made bikes). So all in all, an outstanding Tour for the English-speakers.

This was also a great Tour for France and the legions of Francophiles. No Frenchman has won the Tour since Bernard Hinault won it in 1985. This year, however, a young Frenchman, Pierre Rolland of Team Europcar, won le maillot blanc (the white jersey). Le maillot blanc is awarded to the best young rider in the Tour. Past winners of le maillot blanc have included Andy Schleck (three-time second place winner) and Alberto Contador (three time first place winner). So Pierre is in very good company.

Speaking of Team Europcar, who can forget Thomas Voeckler’s heroic battle, through ten stages of the Tour, to keep and defend his maillot jaune. Voeckler finally lost the yellow on Stage 19 of the Tour. But for ten thrilling, electrifying days, the entire French nation and most of the world (except maybe for Luxemburg) turned its eye to le petit Frenchman as he battled fantastic odds to stay in yellow.

I hope that Rolland’s and Voeckler’s performances, along with the showing by several French cycling team that were not expected to do well this year, is a harbinger of good things to come for French cycling. After the huge doping scandal of 1998 (the Festina Affair ) France took the lead in fighting against the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Since 1998, France has adopted, and imposed, the world’s strictest doping controls. Many experts think, I believe rightly so, that France’s tough stand against drug use in cycling has hurt its ability to compete against competitors from other nations that may have more of a laissez-faire attitude towards drug use in sports.

This was one of the most exciting Tours in recent history. I hope that the 2011 Tour demonstrates, finally, that athletes, including cyclists, can be competitive AND clean.

Here are the results for each category at the 2011 Tour de France:

Yellow Jersey (Overall Winner): Cadel Evans, Australia
Green Jersey (Points Classification): Mark Cavendish, Great Britain
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains): Samuel Sanchez, Spain
White Jersey (Best Young Rider): Pierre Rolland, France

Here are the top five finishes for each competition category.

General Classification (maillot jaune):

1 Cadel Evans (Australia) BMC Racing Team 86:12:22
2 Andy Schleck (Luxemburg) Leopard Trek 0:01:34
3 Frank Schleck (Luxemburg) Leopard Trek 0:02:30
4 Thomas Voeckler (France) Team Europcar 0:03:20
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:03:57

Green jersey (points competition):

1. Mark Cavendish (UK) HTC-Highroad, with 334 points
2. Joaquin Rojas Jose (Spain) Movistar Team, with 272 points
3. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium), Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 236 points
4. Cadel Evans (Australia), BMC Racing Team, with 208 points
5. Thor Hushovd (Norway) Team Garmin-Cervélo, with 195 points

Best young rider:

1. Pierre Rolland (France) Team Europcar, 86h 23′ 05″
2. Rein Taaramae (Estonia) Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne, at 0:46
3. Jérôme Coppel (France) Saur-Sojasun, at 07:53
4. Arnold Jeannesson (France) FdJ, at 10:37
5. Rob Ruijgh (Netherlands), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 22:21

King of the Mountain (KOM – best climbers):

1. Samuel Sanchez (Spain), Euskaltel-Euskadi, with 108 points
2. Andy Schleck (Luxemburg), Team Leopard-Trek, with 98 points
3. Jelle Vanendert (Belgium), Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 74 points
4. Cadel Evans (Australia), BMC Racing Team, with 58 points
5. Frank Schleck (Luxemburg) Team Leopard-Trek, with 56 points

Team competition:

1. Team Garmin-Cervélo (USA) 258h 18′ 49″
2. Team Leopard-Trek (Luxemburg) at 11:04
3. Ag2r La Mondiale (France) at 11:20
4. Team Europcar (France) at 41:53
5. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain) at 52:00

Le Maillot Jaune 2011 Tour de France