2011 Tour de France

2011 Tour de France

2011 UCI World Tour, race 17 of 27
Route of the 2011 Tour de France
Race details
Dates	2–24 July 2011
Stages	21
Distance	3,430 km (2,131 mi)
Winning time	86h 12′ 22″
Results
Winner  Cadel Evans (AUS) (BMC Racing Team)   Second  Andy Schleck (LUX) (Leopard Trek)   Third  Fränk Schleck (LUX) (Leopard Trek) Points  Mark Cavendish (GBR) (HTC–Highroad) Mountains  Samuel Sánchez (ESP) (Euskaltel–Euskadi) Youth  Pierre Rolland (FRA) (Team Europcar) Combativity  Jérémy Roy (FRA) (FDJ) Team Garmin–Cervélo
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The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of 3,430.5 kilometres (2,131.6 mi).^[1] The route entered Italy for part of two stages. The emphasis of the route was on the Alps, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the mountain range first being visited in the Tour. Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team won the overall general classification. Andy Schleck of Leopard Trek was second, with his brother and teammate Fränk third.

The general classification leader's yellow jersey was worn first by Philippe Gilbert of Omega Pharma–Lotto, who won the opening stage. In the following stage, Garmin–Cervélo's victory in the team time trial put their rider Thor Hushovd into the overall lead. He held the yellow jersey until the end of the ninth stage when it was taken by Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar), who went on to hold it throughout the stages in the Pyrenees and up until the end of the final Alpine stage. Andy Schleck, who had won the previous stage (the 18th), held it for the following individual time trial; Evans took enough time in this stage to take the yellow jersey. He then held the lead into the finish in Paris.

The race saw Yohann Gène become the first black rider in the history of the Tour.^[2] Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour, and the second non-European to have officially done so. At 34, he was also the oldest post-World War II winner being almost a year older than Joop Zoetemelk was when he won the 1980 edition. HTC–Highroad's Mark Cavendish was the first British winner of the points classification, Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel–Euskadi) won the mountains classification and Pierre Rolland of Team Europcar won the young rider classification. The team classification was won by Garmin–Cervélo and the overall super-combativity award was given to Jérémy Roy (FDJ).