Philippe Gilbert of the Omega Pharma-Lotto team won Stage One of the 2011 Tour de France after following an attack by Swiss champion Fabian Cancellara in the final 800 meters.
It is Gilbert’s first Tour stage win; it comes three days before his 29th birthday.
“I knew I had a good opportunity to win today and get the yellow jersey for the first time in my life,” Gilbert told letour.com. “I dedicate this victory to my team, my wife, my family—my wife is turning 22 today so it is a beautiful gift for her and for all my supporters.”
Stage One, 191.5 km from Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes, was mostly flat with a gradual incline of the last 50 kilometers and a Category 4 climb to the finish line. Too steep for the pure sprinters, this was a puncheur’s finish—a stage for riders who could punch out a sharp strong attack late in a race.
Gilbert, who has been on amazing winning streak—since April, he has won eight races, including the Belgian National Road Race championship—was picked by his team to win the stage from the start. Omega Pharma-Lotto pulled hard throughout the race to ride down the three-rider break which attacked at kilometer 0 and got Gilbert to the front in the final kilometer.
“We knew this morning that we were going to give it a good go,” Gilbert told Eurosport. “We prepared everything in the briefing today on the bus. We knew that we knew that we had a very good chance—especially when we saw the arrival [the approach to the finish line.]”
It is Gilbert’s first Tour stage win; it comes three days before his 29th birthday.
“I knew I had a good opportunity to win today and get the yellow jersey for the first time in my life,” Gilbert told letour.com. “I dedicate this victory to my team, my wife, my family—my wife is turning 22 today so it is a beautiful gift for her and for all my supporters.”
Stage One, 191.5 km from Passage du Gois to Mont des Alouettes, was mostly flat with a gradual incline of the last 50 kilometers and a Category 4 climb to the finish line. Too steep for the pure sprinters, this was a puncheur’s finish—a stage for riders who could punch out a sharp strong attack late in a race.
Gilbert, who has been on amazing winning streak—since April, he has won eight races, including the Belgian National Road Race championship—was picked by his team to win the stage from the start. Omega Pharma-Lotto pulled hard throughout the race to ride down the three-rider break which attacked at kilometer 0 and got Gilbert to the front in the final kilometer.
“We knew this morning that we were going to give it a good go,” Gilbert told Eurosport. “We prepared everything in the briefing today on the bus. We knew that we knew that we had a very good chance—especially when we saw the arrival [the approach to the finish line.]”
Alexandre Vinokourov of Astana made an abortive attack with a kilometer to go, followed by Thomas Voeckler and Gilbert. As soon as that was caught, Cancellara streaked down the left, looking to steal the stage. Only Gilbert noticed him.
The pair raced a few hundred meters, then Cancellara slowed, exhausted.
“When Cancellara attacked I knew it was the good one, and I had to go with him,” Gilbert explained. “He tired and when I got back on him, I attacked. I saw that he was tiring and was having a tough time and I knew that it was my turn, so I grabbed it and wrung its neck.”
When Cancellara slowed, Gilbert kicked, opening a gap just large enough to get him the win, as BMC rider Cadel Evans launched with a few hundred meters to go, finishing just three seconds behind Gilbert.
Evans said his final attack came a “little bit late. I had an opportunity to go, but I was being a little bit conservative, knowing there was a lot of people who could really take advantage of someone hitting out early with a K to go 900 [meters] to go.
“I saw Gilbert go just as I got close to him—I had to go again later. It’s a good, good start—happy to stay out of trouble, maybe get a few seconds on some of my competitors. That’s a really good start to the Tour.”
The pair raced a few hundred meters, then Cancellara slowed, exhausted.
“When Cancellara attacked I knew it was the good one, and I had to go with him,” Gilbert explained. “He tired and when I got back on him, I attacked. I saw that he was tiring and was having a tough time and I knew that it was my turn, so I grabbed it and wrung its neck.”
When Cancellara slowed, Gilbert kicked, opening a gap just large enough to get him the win, as BMC rider Cadel Evans launched with a few hundred meters to go, finishing just three seconds behind Gilbert.
Evans said his final attack came a “little bit late. I had an opportunity to go, but I was being a little bit conservative, knowing there was a lot of people who could really take advantage of someone hitting out early with a K to go 900 [meters] to go.
“I saw Gilbert go just as I got close to him—I had to go again later. It’s a good, good start—happy to stay out of trouble, maybe get a few seconds on some of my competitors. That’s a really good start to the Tour.”
Next: Crash Delays Contador
Crash Delays Contador
Alberto Contador of Saxo Bank Sungard is generally regarded as the most likely General Classification winner of the Tour this year. He could not have gotten off to a much worse start.
9.3 kilometers from the finish, a fan stepped onto the road surface with his back to the peloton to watch riders who had already passed. This spectator stepped right into the path of Astana’s Maxim Iglinskiy, knocking Iglinskiy into the rest of the peloton and toppling over a dozen riders.
Some of those riders were GC contenders including Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. Both riders lost about thirty seconds recovering from the crash. HTC-Highroad sprinter Mark Cavendish got past the crash but punctured his front wheel in doing so, setting him well back.
At least two-thirds of the peloton was either caught in the crash or held up waiting for the road to clear. When all the riders were remounted, a chase group of GC contenders drove the second half of the peloton to catch the leaders.
The leaders of the second group got caught in a second crash, about two kilometers from the finish. Alberto Contador got caught up in this crash, too, costing him more than 80 seconds on the stage. Considering that Contador’s winning margin last year was 36 seconds, this setback could be significant.
While Contador is surely capable of making up the lost time, the added pressure might force the Spanish rider to press harder in more stages where he might have been able to relax. This might then force his competitors to push also, to maintain their advantage.
The whole thing might end up with the top riders being tired out in the brutal—and probably decisive—final mountain stages, possibly opening the door for a wildcard winner.
Stage Two will be a 23-km Team Time Trial around the town of Le Essarts. In a team time trial, the entire nine-man team rides together; the team’s time is taken after the fifth rider crosses the line. This means a few riders can take extra-hard pulls late in the stage, and drop back, giving the remaining riders a longer rest and a higher speed. Tactics and teamwork are key to a good performance in this stage.
The yellow jersey will likely change hands after Stage Two. Omega Pharma-Lotto is probably tired after working so hard in Stage One, and several of the teams with GC contenders are going to want to perform well in this stage.
Leopard-Trek, HTC, perhaps Garmin-Cervelo (whose GC contenders lost a lot of time in the two crashes)—Rabobank, Liquigas, and particularly BMC might push hard here.
Most of these teams won’t particularly want the yellow jersey; it is too early in the Tour to spend energy defending the yellow jersey, with the devastating mountain stages of the Pyrenees and Alps still to come. At the same time, all of these teams will want to make sure they maintain their advantage of Contador and the Saxo Bank squad.
9.3 kilometers from the finish, a fan stepped onto the road surface with his back to the peloton to watch riders who had already passed. This spectator stepped right into the path of Astana’s Maxim Iglinskiy, knocking Iglinskiy into the rest of the peloton and toppling over a dozen riders.
Some of those riders were GC contenders including Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. Both riders lost about thirty seconds recovering from the crash. HTC-Highroad sprinter Mark Cavendish got past the crash but punctured his front wheel in doing so, setting him well back.
At least two-thirds of the peloton was either caught in the crash or held up waiting for the road to clear. When all the riders were remounted, a chase group of GC contenders drove the second half of the peloton to catch the leaders.
The leaders of the second group got caught in a second crash, about two kilometers from the finish. Alberto Contador got caught up in this crash, too, costing him more than 80 seconds on the stage. Considering that Contador’s winning margin last year was 36 seconds, this setback could be significant.
While Contador is surely capable of making up the lost time, the added pressure might force the Spanish rider to press harder in more stages where he might have been able to relax. This might then force his competitors to push also, to maintain their advantage.
The whole thing might end up with the top riders being tired out in the brutal—and probably decisive—final mountain stages, possibly opening the door for a wildcard winner.
Team Time Trial Next
Stage Two will be a 23-km Team Time Trial around the town of Le Essarts. In a team time trial, the entire nine-man team rides together; the team’s time is taken after the fifth rider crosses the line. This means a few riders can take extra-hard pulls late in the stage, and drop back, giving the remaining riders a longer rest and a higher speed. Tactics and teamwork are key to a good performance in this stage.
The yellow jersey will likely change hands after Stage Two. Omega Pharma-Lotto is probably tired after working so hard in Stage One, and several of the teams with GC contenders are going to want to perform well in this stage.
Leopard-Trek, HTC, perhaps Garmin-Cervelo (whose GC contenders lost a lot of time in the two crashes)—Rabobank, Liquigas, and particularly BMC might push hard here.
Most of these teams won’t particularly want the yellow jersey; it is too early in the Tour to spend energy defending the yellow jersey, with the devastating mountain stages of the Pyrenees and Alps still to come. At the same time, all of these teams will want to make sure they maintain their advantage of Contador and the Saxo Bank squad.
