2011 Le Tour De France - Follow all the Highs & Lows here.

Running from Saturday July 2nd to Sunday July 24th 2011, the 98th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,430.5 kilometres.

These stages have the following profiles:
•10 flat stages,
•6 mountain stages and 4 summit finishes,
•3 medium mountain stages,
•1 individual time-trial stage (42.5 km).
•1 team time-trial stage (23 km).


Stage 21: Créteil - Paris Champs-Élysées 95 km

I hope Cadel Evans get his wish... and the sun is out today on the Champs-Élysées.


Current Overall Standings:

01: 141/Cadel EVANS/BMC/83h45'20''/0'00''

02: 011/Andy SCHLECK/LEO/83h46'54''/1'34''

03: 018/Frank SCHLECK/LEO/83h47'50''/2'30''

04: 181/Thomas VOECKLER/EUC/83h48'40''/3'20''

05: 001/Alberto CONTADOR/SBS/83h49'17''/3'57''

06: 021/Samuel SANCHEZ/EUS/83h50'15''/4'55''

07: 161/Damiano CUNEGO/LAM/83h51'25''/6'05''

08: 091/Ivan BASSO/LIQ/83h52'43''/7'23''

09: 052/Tom DANIELSON/GRM/83h53'35''/8'15''

10: 108/Jean-Christophe PERAUD/ALM/83h55'31''/10'11''

Bienvenue Le Tour!

I'll update the Stage description and Overall Standings each day.

Please feel free to leave a comment about the race as it unfolds over the next few weeks.

Will Alberto Contador take control of the race during the mountain stages and win for the second year running or is there someone else who will have a say?

One of the Schleck brothers perhaps, Andy or Frank...or maybe a gritty Italian like Ivan Basso?

Then there's Samuel Sanchez, Robert Gensink, Cadel Evans, Ryder Hesjedal and Phillipe Gilbert to name a few possible contenders.

There seems to be a lot of press about Geraint Thomas at the moment and none for David Millar even though he is second. Is he not expected to stay near the top and isn't having as much coverage as Thomas?

I watch bits of the TDF and always have loads of questions about various things and noone to ask, but now I have - prepare to be annoyed!

david millar is a time triallist essentially which means during mountain stages he's going to fall some way behind.

Probably will start to sort things out once they reach the medium mountains of Massif Central after the weekend and Pyrenees next week.

So far, the likes of Gilbert, Millar have done well but some big guns lurking in the shadows.

personally i think 1 of the schleck brothers will it overall.

It would be nice for either one of them after last year, Fernando.

I'm quietly hoping it's Cadel - he's been in the mix a few times but simply outclassed by superior climbers at crucial stages.

The weather forecast looks a bit dodgy. 15-18 degs, with drizzle and rain easing at the start but the winds will pick up as they approach the finish (30-40 km/h).

I hope Andy Shleck wins it this year, as I can't see Wiggins lasting through the mountains really to stay in contention.

And I reckon Geraint Thomas is getting so much media attention because he's in the white jersey right now. I remember last year he started really well, but fell away in the mountains, I'm interesting to see if he can improve on that this year

i just think it's weird everyone's worried about going up the mountain in rain surely it would be coming down?

I'd be most worried about going downhill around corners...

with the rain, it probably is more risky going downhill but I would just avoid the paint on the road at all costs if I was a cyclist! That gets so slippery and dangrous when it's wet, have seen so many crashes happen because of it.

rugbydreamer
Geraint Thomas is quite a similar type of rider to David Millar - can do a good TT and hold his own in lumpy stages (there aren't any cobbles this year, where he is becoming very good), but he'll fade in the high mountains.

Wiggins is the best hope of a Brit shining in the overall - recently won the Dauphine (the one week stage race that most TdF contenders use to tune up their form before the big event), by having a good time trial and holding on to the major climbers in the high mountains. Admitedly doing this for 3 days is different to doing it most says for 2 weeks against the likes of Contador and And Schleck when they are going absolutely full bore, but Wiggins has to have a shot at the top 10 and maybe even top 5 as a couple of years ago (although the lack of TT kilometers may count against him).

Cavendish hasn't shone yet, and today's finale is probably a bit too tough for him. Could be another day for Gilbert or perhaps Chavanel, Voeckler (even maybe Frank Schleck if he isn't focussing on the overall).

Just noticed Cavendish is ahead of Contador in the GC :L

that would be because contador either fell or got caught up behind a big accident the other day.

Contador had a bit of a mare on stage 1 - was caught up in the crash about 10km from the end, and then when their group was holding at about 40s, they gos delayed by the second crash inside the final 3km (that wiped out Cav and Wiggins). The oddity is that the riders caught out in the 2nd crash didn't lose time (they are automatically creditted with the same time as the group they were in because the incident was within the last 3km, so +6s on Gilbert), but those who were already off the back lost more time and ended up losing about another minute.

The classification for Day 1 looks very strange, with Cav coming in about 120th but being registered at 0.06 behind the stage winner, while the guy a couple ahead of him was registered as 2.10 down (i.e the actual time gap).

Dummy - yeah I know GT isn't really suited to the mountains, I just hope he can improve on how he dealt with them last year, although I know his main focus and that of the rest of the team is doing enough to give Wiggins a chance. I'll be very interested to see how it pans out

GT is still a broom wagon guy when it comes to the big mountains.

I remember this discussion from last year. He's riding very well, but he'll end up literally hours behind because that's the type of rider he is at the moment. He could improve in the future, but just not yet.

It showed today that he struggled when it got really steep, the finish on stage one was less steep and more for the power climbers.

Can I just say how impressive was Hushovd in the finale yesterday!

2km of a climb steep enough that there was an elite group of about 10 off the front of the peloton including Contador, Frank Schleck, Cadel, Sanchez and Gilbert, and the beast that is Thor Hushovd managed to hold with them and held on to the jersey.

Dummy - completely and utterly agree with you! caught the highlights on ITV4 yesterday, and couldn't believe he managed to stick with them, especially with Contador attacking off the front all the time, just amazing by him.

Yes, that was a fine finish yesterday with Thor Hushovd managing to keep in that bunch of riders.

I was pleased to see Cadel Evans pip Alberto Contador on the line too.
A few more near misses like that for AC and we're in for some exciting Stage finshes until we get to the mountains...I hope there is a big enough time gap by then.

A couple of falls, Jani Brajkovic looks a bit dazed & confused on the side of the road and may not get back on again.

Contador down too but is back up and on the road again now.

Nasty crash from Tom Boonen too. Popovic as well. It's all happening.

Peleton catches up with the breakway now with 45km to go. Should be an interesting finish. Maybe Cav, Tyler Farrar or Gilbert again?

the man on the motorbike who knocked sorenson off his bike has been fired via radio. alot of nasty crashes today.

10k to go 30 secs infront of peleton

Yeah fernando, this stage is jinxed.

Great finish coming up!

Cav, Gilbert, Rojas...Hushovd not far behind.

honestly thought when he bolted the sky man would of won but cavendish turned up out of nowhere for the win

Amazing power from Cavendish...perfect timing and a great line down the right hand side.

"Proper hard finish that...."

Looking forward to tomorrow already.

We did the Dinan - Lisieux route (well, almost...we had a diversion to Mont St Michel & Caen) in a trusty little 'Europcar' a few years back. Lovely countryside through that part of Normandy - and the scene of so much history.

I recommend the apple, brandy, walnuts & cinnamon crepes in the main (triangular) square in Dinan. They even set them alight for you!

Cav still whining like a little girl even after he's won the stage.

Great finish that, just watched the highlights. Didn't think Cav would be anywhere near finishing first he just came out of nowhere. Very exiting I like that, very much looking forward to tomorrow's stages now! Hope there are less crashes though.

Not so much drama today...so far.

The gap is 2 mins and closing with around 30km to go.

Another good sprint finish today.
Edvald Boasson Hagen crosses the line 1st,
Matt Goss 2nd,
Thor Hushovd 3rd.

Tom Boonen from Quick-Step withdraws now...added to the list with Van de Walle, Brajkovic, Kern, and Kiryienka (outside time limit)

Apart from that a relatively uneventful stage so far.

Disaster for Team Sky! ITV4 didn't catch the crash but Bradley Wiggins is out, suspected broken collar bone, gutted

The pelaton was ripped apart by the crash too, so 12Km out and there are still a few groups astray from the main bunch I think. Geraint Thomas' group is about 1min 40secs down.

Phew. Cav wins.

One positive is that it's the last we'll see of that whiny little b1tch for a week or so.

that was an awesome lead out by HTC Highroad, and so glad Cav managed to win the stage! Makes up a bit for the unfortunate withdrawal of Wiggins.

Is it shocking that their leadout is good in that their whole team is there to do exactly that?

They even use riders like Tejay and Martin to kill themselves for Cav when most cycling fans would love to see young talents that good being able to express themselves in a more productive manner.

I cringe every time Tony Martin does a huge turn with the toothy one a bit behind waiting to jump out with 100 metres to go. They should just use powerful but slightly past it (or never did any different) guys like Eisel, Bak or Grabsch for that job.

I guess it depends on what the teams aims are overall. If it is to get Cav into the best position as possible, then I can't really see what they're doing wrong.

rugbydreamer wrote:I guess it depends on what the teams aims are overall. If it is to get Cav into the best position as possible, then I can't really see what they're doing wrong.

Exactly, why can't people just appreciate a good stage win, and by a Brit? Pity about Brad Wiggins though, not having a lot of luck and a real shame when he's in good form.

yeah I'm really gutted about Wiggins. Have only been hearing good things about him in recent weeks and was looking forward to seeing how he goes in the mountains. Even worse for his team though was that so many of them waited for him when it was decided whether he could continue or not, they were all in the 2nd pelaton. They've lost so much time, hard to see them really getting that back. Upset that Geraint Thomas isn't going to be in the white jersey anymore

He only misses out on one day in white to be fair.

I appreciate the stage win. I also appreciate the fact that Tejay and Martin are absolutely wasted slogging their guts out pulling back breaks and riding full pelt at the front for 5km at the end when they're capable of a top 10 GC finish.

Tough finish coming up in the wet. Vinokourov in a good position but can someone in the main group have a say?

Costa, Gilbert, Evans...Thor Hushovd still overall leader.

Hushovd is a legend. Proper badass.

He sure is. Riding the perfect race so far.

Gotta love those ladies in the polka dot dresses on the presentation podium. It's like the 60s gone wrong.

Getting quite amusing - ITV 4 predicting a change in the yellow jersey every day and Thor H spoiling the prediction; an amazing performance by him today!

I noticed that too - maybe it will happen during the next stage but Thor is looking pretty comfortable so far.

Think it will happen tomorrow, although all the hills are a long way from the end.

Could be a day for the breakaway tommorrow. (it was today, but maybe a few minutes)

I'm hoping for a bit of Crazy Tommy action but he seems a bit flat at the moment.