2011 Tour of California
Encyclopedia
The 2011 Amgen Tour of California was the sixth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 15–22, and was rated as a 2.HC
event on the UCI America Tour
. Originally scheduled for eight stages, the race was due to begin in South Lake Tahoe
, but snow around the Lake Tahoe area led to stage 1 being delayed, shortened and ultimately cancelled. The race concluded in Thousand Oaks
as planned.
The race was won by rider Chris Horner
, who claimed the leader's yellow jersey with a victory on the event's fourth stage, and held his advantage to the end of the race. Horner's winning margin over teammate and runner-up Levi Leipheimer
was 38 seconds, and 's Tom Danielson
completed the podium, 2 minutes and 7 seconds behind Leipheimer and 2 minutes and 45 seconds behind Horner. The comfortable margin that Horner and Leipheimer had over the field was due in part from a 1–2 performance on the event's queen stage where they finished over 40 seconds clear of the next placed rider.
In the race's other classifications, rider Pat McCarty won the King of the Mountains classification, Peter Sagan
of won the green jersey for the sprints classification, 's Tejay van Garderen
won the young rider classification, with finishing at the head of the teams classification.
There were no blood doping tests during the race.
UCI ProTeams * * * * * * *
UCI Professional Continental Teams * * *
(* – participated in 2010)
UCI Continental Teams * * * *
The Movistar Continental Team, from Colombia
, later leaked that it had turned the invitation down because Tour organizers had refused to cover its airfare to attend, which the organizers do for ProTeams. In response, Tour organizer AEG Sports
noted that it was required under UCI rules only to cover lodging and meal costs for professional teams at the race and agreed to cover airfare costs for ProTeams only because "[t]heir attendance is vital to the success of the race."
For the second straight year, the race conflicted with the Giro d'Italia
, which caused a number of top cyclists to miss the race, while other Tour de France contenders continued to view California, along with either the Tour of Switzerland
or the Critérium du Dauphiné (both in June), as better preparation for the July race. Nevertheless, the starting field included almost all of the American stars, such as three-time champion Levi Leipheimer
of , his teammate Chris Horner
, three-time runner-up David Zabriskie
of , and his teammate Christian Vande Velde. Several rising American stars also started the event, such as Brent Bookwalter and Taylor Phinney
of – joining George Hincapie
in the team – and Tejay van Garderen
of .
International riders like Tour de France
runner-up Andy Schleck
also entered the event, with the new-for-2011 outfit. Leopard Trek's commitment to the race came despite the team's departure from the Giro d'Italia after the death of Wouter Weylandt
days before the Tour of California commenced. Other top international riders included 's Laurens ten Dam
, 's Ryder Hesjedal
, and Rory Sutherland
of .
to North Lake Tahoe
, 118.7 miles (191 km)
After last year
's opening stage which was suited to the out-and-out sprinters, the first stage of the 2011 Tour was expected to be a high-altitude road race stage in the Sierra Mountains around Lake Tahoe
, not dipping below 6200 feet (1,889.8 m) and peaking over 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) with the categorized climbs of Spooner Junction and Brockway Summit. Two climbs of Emerald Bay were also included in the route along with sprints in Tahoe City
and back at South Lake Tahoe after passing back into California from Nevada
; the first time that the Tour had ventured outside of its home state.
However, the weather ultimately decided the fate of the stage, after forecasts in the week running up to the stage called for a large snowstorm to hit Lake Tahoe on the day of the stage. The forecast came to fruition on race day, and with contingency plans in place, the stage was delayed and reduced from its original 118.7 miles (191 km) distance to 47.74 miles (76.8 km). Minutes prior to the stage start, it was cancelled due to the riders refusing to ride in poor weather conditions. 's Levi Leipheimer
stated that the riders did not feel comfortable riding in such conditions, citing the death of rider Wouter Weylandt
on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia as a factor in their decision.
to Sacramento
, 76.3 miles (122.8 km)
Stage 2 was scheduled to begin at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort
, go over the 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) peak of the Donner Pass
, and then descend to the California State Capitol
building in Sacramento on largely the same route as the opening stage of the 2010 Tour, which resulted in a sprint for victory, won by 's Mark Cavendish
. Just like last year, the expectation was for the race to finish in a sprint for the line. However, as a result of the continuing snowy conditions around Lake Tahoe
, the organizers moved the start of the stage to Nevada City
, where last year's Tour began. That reduced the length of the stage to 76.3 miles (122.8 km) from 133.2 miles (214.4 km), and moved the start back two hours, from 10:15 a.m. PDT
to 12:15 p.m. PDT. As well as the reduction of the overall stage length, two laps of the circuit in Sacramento were added to the one that was already scheduled. With the stage being revised, only the stage finish carried points towards the points classification as well as time bonuses towards the general classification.
Three riders established the early breakaway; Jamey Driscoll
of , Timon Seubert of and László Bodrogi
of were later joined by 's Ben Jacques-Maynes as they extended their margin to peloton to over five minutes at one point. However, their advantage was steadily cut after that, and the quartet were eventually caught as the field entered the outskirts of Sacramento, Jacques-Maynes the last to hold off the pack with around 8 miles (12.9 km) to the finish. and headed the field as they entered the short finishing circuit, but with rain starting to fall, came to the front to assume control for Ben Swift
. Swift was favored instead of the team's regular sprinter Greg Henderson
, who had not raced since the Scheldeprijs in early April, but Henderson was utilized as the leadout man for Swift, and released him to his fifth victory of 2011, securing the first yellow and green jerseys of the race. also pushed towards the front during the final circuit in a bid to push Peter Sagan
up the order for the run to the line, and Sagan ended the sprint second with Goss third for , after mistiming his sprint. Sagan took the white jersey as the best placed under-23 rider, while Driscoll was named the most courageous rider of the day.
to Modesto
, 121.9 miles (196.2 km)
With no King of the Mountains passes scheduled for the stage despite its slightly undulating nature – descending from 1400 feet (426.7 m) to just above sea level, via a few hills along the way – the expectation was for the sprinters to prevail on the day, as Francesco Chicchi
had done so in 2010
when the fourth stage ended in Modesto. Although believing that a sprint finish was the most likely occurrence, 's Chris Horner
stated that the stage could be the first opportunity for a breakaway to succeed in Modesto, and that cross winds could also factor into the day's conditions and could split the field.
As he had done the previous day, rider Jamey Driscoll
made the breakaway along with six other riders mainly representing American-registered teams, with the exception of Jan Bárta
of as they quickly formed an advantage within the first minutes of the stage. The breakaway claimed all the intermediate sprints as their advantage extended up to a maximum of 6' 40". With 13 miles (20.9 km), the cross winds that Horner had mentioned occurred, with pressure on the front , they broke the field into echelons for a time. The acceleration caught out many riders, including the likes of 's Thor Hushovd
and 's Andy Schleck
, but both rejoined when the wind turned to their advantage. Horner himself had trouble towards the end of the stage, after a coming together with sprinter Peter Sagan
, which formed him to complete the stage on his teammate Markel Irizar
's bike after a bike change, but finished with the main field.
As the race headed into Modesto, and took turns at the front in the hope of preventing a late-race attack, and to help with the eventually sprint for the line after two circuits. Once on the circuit, then upped their pace for their sprinter Keven Lacombe
, who had finished fourth in Sacramento. In the bunch, Jens Voigt
, Will Dugan and Andreas Schillinger fell but all remounted and completed the stage. and moved up to the front, with the latter gaining a similar team position as what had occurred the previous day. As the field moved inside the final kilometer, lost a man from the front after Baden Cooke
fell, with fellow Australians Michael Matthews
of and Matthew Goss
of also falling. At the front, Greg Henderson
led the sprint out, but Ben Swift
was not in a position to challenge for the sprint, so it was left to Henderson to bring home the laurels for Team Sky, winning the sprint by a bike length. 's Juan José Haedo
finished second ahead of Hushovd, Sagan and Goss' teammate Leigh Howard
. With their respective stage wins and time bonuses, Henderson and Swift were left tied on the same time, and with the same stage finishes – a win and an eleventh place – Henderson was given the yellow jersey on countback as the most recent stage winner. Sagan assumed the green jersey from Swift with his second top-five stage finish, to go with his white jersey, while Barta claimed the most courageous rider of the day honors.
to San Jose
, 81.8 miles (131.6 km)
After two sprinter-friendly stages, the fourth stage culminated in the Tour's first mountain-top finish. With five King of the Mountains passes packed into the stage's 81.8 miles (131.6 km) distance, the expectation for the stage was for the riders with strengths in the mountains as well as the general classification contenders to do battle for stage victory. Three of the climbs occurred on the San Antonio Valley Road, including the hors catégorie Mount Hamilton
, before the finish on the Sierra Road.
A ten-man breakaway formed as the race was leaving Livermore, again composed mainly of the domestic teams but three riders from the World Tour teams – Martin Pedersen
representing , Lars Boom
of and 's Thor Hushovd
– also made it into the breakaway, extending an advantage of three minutes before the first climb on Mines Road. Boom took maximum points on the climb, as the breakaway swamped up the points for Mines Road, as well as the next two prior to Mount Hamilton, when the breakaway dwindled with rider Patrick Vennell being the last of the escapees to be caught, midway up Mount Hamilton. 's Pat McCarty managed to best a quartet of riders to secure maximum points on the climb, before dropping back into the pack and it was left to Team RadioShack to pace it on the descent. On the descent, Hushovd's teammate Ryder Hesjedal
attacked and made headway from the group and was later joined by Rabobank's Paul Martens
as they put almost a minute on the pack before Martens overshot a corner and lost time to Hesjedal, who in turn waited for his return prior to the final climb up Sierra Road.
Hesjedal again attacked at the bottom of the climb and this time, Martens could not keep his pace and was swamped up by the group. duo Levi Leipheimer
and Chris Horner
upped their pace in the chasers, and soon went off in pursuit of Hesjedal, catching him with 2 miles (3.2 km) remaining on the climb, but Horner accelerated once again, leaving Leipheimer and Hesjedal behind. A four-man group – Tom Danielson
of , Andy Schleck
of , 's Tejay van Garderen
as well as 's Rory Sutherland
– then pulled up to the duo ahead and they would contest for the minor placings, with the exception of van Garderen, who was overhauled by five more riders in the closing stages. Horner soloed to his first Tour of California stage victory, and with previous jersey holder Greg Henderson
losing over fifteen minutes to Horner, the yellow jersey to go with it. Schleck bested Sutherland and Leipheimer for second place on the stage, with Danielson seven seconds in arrears in fifth. McCarty took the first red jersey for the mountains classification on countback from Leipheimer, Peter Sagan
remained the wearer of the green jersey as there were no sprint points on offer in the stage, Andrew Talansky took the young rider classification lead from Sagan, and Hesjedal was given the most courageous rider honors.
to Paso Robles
, 135.1 miles (217.4 km)
Late winter storms forced tour organizers to reroute the stage, and as such, the stage utilized the majority of the route used on the fourth stage of the 2008 Tour
. On that day, the race also began in Seaside before heading to the stage finish in San Luis Obispo
where the stage was won by Dominique Rollin
after soloing from 12.5 miles (20.1 km) out. A hilly stage with four categorized climbs and two intermediary sprints, expectations were for a breakaway to succeed or for a large group to contest a sprint for victory.
After an early break by four riders consisting of 's Óscar Freire
, 's Chris Froome
, Daniel Martin
of as well as the customary member of a domestic team, with rider Chris Baldwin being their representative in the early breakaway. Another seven riders later joined the group to create an 11-man move that eventually extended their advantage in excess of three minutes. Again, the King of the Mountains points were taken by the breakaway, with Pat McCarty of extending his lead prior to Saturday's stage on Mount Baldy as no points were on offer during the individual time trial in Solvang
. At the top of the final climb, Freire and 's Stefan Denifl
attacked from the break and managed to put a gap on them of around 30 seconds. The duo remained together until around 10 miles (16.1 km) to go, when Denifl punctured and crashed, and it was left to Freire to bid for victory on his own.
The remnants of the breakaway were caught 6.5 miles (10.5 km) outside Paso Robles, while Freire remained well over a minute clear of the pack. This gap steadily came down with many teams pushing the pace up to help advance their sprinters, including and for Peter Sagan
, Leigh Howard
and Matthew Goss
respectively. The high pace of the peloton meant that when Freire was caught with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to go, the field split into several groups. Freire was given most courageous rider of the day for his exploits. Bissell's Jeremy Vennell then attacked but was caught within the final kilometer. Team Sky then placed themselves on the front with Mathew Hayman
and Greg Henderson
looking to lead out Ben Swift
, but Howard gained an advantage on them before Sagan usurped them both to claim his third Tour win, after two in 2010
. Howard bested Swift for second place, as only 45 of the 133 riders that finished the stage were given Sagan's time for the stage. Chris Horner
retained the yellow jersey ahead of Solvang, Sagan remained in green, while Andrew Talansky dropped enough time during the stage to lose the white jersey lead to HTC-Highroad rider Tejay van Garderen
.
, 15 miles (24.1 km) (individual time trial
) (ITT)
The Solvang time trial returned to the Tour for its 2011 edition, after the trial was held in downtown Los Angeles
in 2010. Levi Leipheimer
was tipped by teammate Chris Horner
to be the favorite for the stage, having won in Solvang in each of the three occasions that it has featured on the Tour, en route to an overall victory each time. Another name mentioned by Horner as a rider who could challenge Leipheimer was 's David Zabriskie
, who won a time trial three weeks prior to the Tour, during the Tour de Romandie
.
The early pace was set by William Dickeson of , who went round the course in 32' 53", but was usurped by his teammate Bernard van Ulden by half a minute. 's Lars Boom
had been quicker than van Ulden at the intermediate split but lost time over the second half of the course. Ian Stannard
of was the next rider to top the timesheets, setting a time of 32' 07", as the team looked for their third win of the Tour. Stannard held his lead for over half an hour, as he fended off American national time trial champion Taylor Phinney
of , before losing his lead to a former national time trial champion, the New Zealand rider from , Jeremy Vennell. Vennell recorded a time of 31' 34", which was eventually good enough to remain inside the top ten. His lead was short-lived as took the lead with rider Maarten Tjallingii
, who set a time ten seconds quicker.
Tjallingii's time held to inside the last 40 riders, when Peter Velits
trimmed a solitary second off his time and moved into the top spot for the time being, but 's David Zabriskie
rewrote the Solvang record books, recording a time of 30' 35" which was good enough to give him the stage win. Youth classification leader Tejay van Garderen
, a former top-5 placer on two time trial stages at the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné
, got closest to Zabriskie for a time, but was still some 40 seconds in arrear of his fellow American. This performance was enough to give him the honors for the most courageous rider of the day. Stage favorite Leipheimer managed to record a quicker split time than Zabriskie, but like many other riders, fell away during the second part of the stage and fell 14 seconds down on him but was good enough for second on the stage. Horner maintained his general classification lead with a sixth place finish on the stage, losing around half of his lead, but still holding an advantage of 38 seconds.
to Mount Baldy
, 74.9 mi (120.5 km)
The queen stage of the 2011 Tour sees the riders presented with three climbs in excess of 3000 feet (914.4 m), as well as a intermediate sprint in Glendora
. The first climb of the day, the Glendora Ridge Road comes after 11.5 miles (18.5 km), having negotiated a climb of a mile in length. After the sprint in Glendora, the riders will then negotiate the Glendora Mountain Road climb, a distance of 8.5 miles (13.7 km) being used in full for the first time since 2004. After a gradual uphill climb, the riders hit the slopes of Mount Baldy. 3.5 miles (5.6 km) at a gradient of 8.9% could decide the general classification for one rider at the Tour's first high-mountain finish.
Early breakaways formed within the first 6 miles (9.7 km) of the stage, with up to nine riders advancing ahead of the main field at any one point, including former general classification leader Ben Swift
of and mountains leader Pat McCarty of . After Swift departed back from the break, brought one of their top-ten overall riders into the break, Ryder Hesjedal
to join Andrew Talansky in order to pressurize who were still in the main pack. McCarty took maximum points on both Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road, to mathematically ensure he would win the mountains classification by reaching the finish in Thousand Oaks, but was dropped by the break who had never been able to get far enough of the pack, the gap keeping around two minutes.
The pack itself had dwindled to around 20 riders prior to the hors catégorie climb of Mount Baldy, with Team RadioShack still on the front with Matthew Busche
and Ben King
pacing the field in the hopes of advancing Chris Horner
and Levi Leipheimer
up the climb and after the break. Andy Schleck
and Laurens ten Dam
followed closely in the wheels of their rivals, as the quintet looked to close down the gap to Talansky, 's Francesco Bellotti
and 's Alexander Efimkin
, which was now under a minute. With 2 miles (3.2 km) to go, Busche attacked and only Leipheimer and Horner could advance with him and when their leadout man pulled off, they set off after the leading trio and swamped them up inside the final 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Horner and Leipheimer rode together for the remainder of the climb and finished hand-in-hand with Horner giving Leipheimer the stage win; his first road stage victory in the Tour. Ten Dam was third, 43 seconds behind the American duo, as he moved into sixth in the general classification, while Garmin-Cervélo's Tom Danielson
moved into third place overall after a fourth place stage finish.
to Thousand Oaks
, 82.3 miles (132.4 km)
Rather than an out-and-out circuit race to finish the event as what occurred in 2010
, the final stage of the Tour saw a gradual descent from the start in Santa Clarita, before the final classified climb of the event at Balcom Canyon. Prior to the finishing circuit in Thousand Oaks, riders also had to navigate the Norwegian Grade climb, after the Moorpark sprint. Once in the finishing circuit, the riders completed five full laps of around 5 miles (8 km) in length. Expectations were for either the sprinters to take victory, or a breakaway to succeed but not to an extent to adjust the final overall classification.
Just like many of the other stages, the American domestic teams had a great presence within the early breakaways which resulted in four riders – Bradley White of , Jan Bárta
of , José Fernando Antogna of and Mike Friedman
of – heading clear after around 20 miles (32.2 km). The breakaway extended out to a maximum of three minutes, and took a clean sweep of the points at the Balcom Canyon climb and the two intermediate sprints in Moorpark and the first pass through the finish line prior to the completion of the five circuits to end the race. The gap to the four leaders slowly dwindled, and with 18 miles (29 km) to go, 's Maarten Tjallingii
and 's Martin Mortensen escaped from the field and set off in chase of the lead quartet, riding for almost 8 miles (12.9 km) until they caught the remnants of the breakaway; White had already slid back as would Antogna and Friedman, leaving Barta to partner Tjallingii and Mortensen. As the field completed the circuits, the lead that the trio out front had was diminishing by the kilometer, and with two laps to go, the gap stood at just 30 seconds. Within the next 6 miles (9.7 km), they were pulled back by the peloton's strong pace, mainly set by the sprinter teams again, consisting of , , and .
Once the breakaway was caught, took to the front in the hope of setting up Juan José Haedo
for a stage win that had eluded during the week and were joined by Team Sky, who were hoping to get their third stage win of the week, with Ben Swift
looking to bookend the stages having won the first-run stage – Stage 2 – of the week in Sacramento. Bernhard Eisel
made a mistake in the closing stages which compromised the run-in for HTC-Highroad, leaving the honors to Leigh Howard
to pace Matthew Goss
for the sprint. Points classification leader Peter Sagan
was also helped towards the front by Daniel Oss
, as he looked to secure the classification for the second successive year. However, Howard timed his run at the appropriate moment, and released Goss with 180 meters to go, and Goss fended off Sagan to take the team's only win of the week. Sagan's second place comfortably confirmed his green jersey for the sprints, while Greg Henderson
took third for Team Sky. In the pack, were untroubled during the day and Chris Horner
sealed the overall classification with a 65th place stage finish, ahead of teammate Levi Leipheimer
. Tejay van Garderen
and Pat McCarty completed the stage to claim the young riders classification and mountains classification respectively, while Barta earned his second "Most Courageous" award of the race.
Additionally, there was also a sprints classification, akin to what is called the points classification
in other races, which awarded a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. The winner received 15 points, second place 12, third 10, fourth 7, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for tenth. In addition, some points were able to be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized, either hors-, first-, second-, third-, or fourth-category, with more points available for the harder climbs.
There was also a youth classification. This classification was calculated in the same way as the general classification, but only young cyclists (under 23) were included. The leader of the young rider classification received a white jersey.
The fifth jersey was not awarded on the basis of a time or points-based classification. It was for each stage's "Most Courageous" rider, akin to the combativity award
in the Tour de France
. The rider who received this award was given a blue jersey on the podium, but wore his regular jersey (unless holding one of the above four) in the next stage, and could be recognized from his back number: marked with a white number on a red background instead of the usual black on white
. Unlike the Tour de France's combativity award, there was no overall award given.
There was also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage were added, and the team with the lowest time were classified as the leader of the classification.
UCI race classifications
The Union Cycliste Internationale , the world's governing body in the sport of bicycle racing, classifies races according to a rating scale....
event on the UCI America Tour
2010–2011 UCI America Tour
The 2010–2011 UCI America Tour was the seventh season for the UCI America Tour. Gregorio Ladino was the defending 2009–2010 UCI America Tour individual points champion...
. Originally scheduled for eight stages, the race was due to begin in South Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The population was 21,403 at the 2010 census, down from 23,609 at the 2000 census...
, but snow around the Lake Tahoe area led to stage 1 being delayed, shortened and ultimately cancelled. The race concluded in Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is a city in southeastern Ventura County, California, in the United States. It was named after the many oak trees that grace the area, and the city seal is adorned with an oak....
as planned.
The race was won by rider Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
, who claimed the leader's yellow jersey with a victory on the event's fourth stage, and held his advantage to the end of the race. Horner's winning margin over teammate and runner-up Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
was 38 seconds, and 's Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson is a professional road racing cyclist. Previously riding for the Saturn Team on the U.S. Pro Circuit, and for Fassa Bortolo in Europe, Danielson is currently a member of , but rode for the Discovery Channel team between 2005 and 2007.Danielson currently holds the record for the...
completed the podium, 2 minutes and 7 seconds behind Leipheimer and 2 minutes and 45 seconds behind Horner. The comfortable margin that Horner and Leipheimer had over the field was due in part from a 1–2 performance on the event's queen stage where they finished over 40 seconds clear of the next placed rider.
In the race's other classifications, rider Pat McCarty won the King of the Mountains classification, Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
of won the green jersey for the sprints classification, 's Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
won the young rider classification, with finishing at the head of the teams classification.
There were no blood doping tests during the race.
Participating teams
Nineteen teams were due to participate in the Tour of California, but the Movistar Continental Team declined the invitation from organizers, leaving 18 teams to start. These included nine UCI ProTeams, four UCI Professional Continental teams, and five UCI Continental teams. Fourteen of those teams had participated in the 2010 Tour of California. Each team was allowed to begin with 8 riders, and thus the race began with 144 riders. The teams were:UCI ProTeams * * * * * * *
UCI Professional Continental Teams * * *
(* – participated in 2010)
UCI Continental Teams * * * *
- Kenda-5-hour Energy
The Movistar Continental Team, from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, later leaked that it had turned the invitation down because Tour organizers had refused to cover its airfare to attend, which the organizers do for ProTeams. In response, Tour organizer AEG Sports
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...
noted that it was required under UCI rules only to cover lodging and meal costs for professional teams at the race and agreed to cover airfare costs for ProTeams only because "[t]heir attendance is vital to the success of the race."
For the second straight year, the race conflicted with the Giro d'Italia
2011 Giro d'Italia
The 2011 Giro d'Italia was the 94th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Giro started on 7 May with a team time trial in Turin to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, when the city served as the first capital of the single state.The route was...
, which caused a number of top cyclists to miss the race, while other Tour de France contenders continued to view California, along with either the Tour of Switzerland
2011 Tour de Suisse
The 2011 Tour de Suisse was the 75th running of the Tour de Suisse cycling stage race. It started on 11 June with an individual time trial in Lugano and ended with another individual time trial on 19 June, in Schaffhausen...
or the Critérium du Dauphiné (both in June), as better preparation for the July race. Nevertheless, the starting field included almost all of the American stars, such as three-time champion Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
of , his teammate Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
, three-time runner-up David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...
of , and his teammate Christian Vande Velde. Several rising American stars also started the event, such as Brent Bookwalter and Taylor Phinney
Taylor Phinney
Taylor Phinney is a world champion American racing cyclist, specialising on the track in individual pursuit. He is the son of former professional racing cyclist Davis Phinney and former Olympic gold medal racing cyclist and speed skater Connie Carpenter-Phinney...
of – joining George Hincapie
George Hincapie
George Hincapié Garcés is an American professional road bicycle racer currently riding for UCI ProTeam . Hincapie resides in Greenville, South Carolina...
in the team – and Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
of .
International riders like Tour de France
2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996...
runner-up Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
also entered the event, with the new-for-2011 outfit. Leopard Trek's commitment to the race came despite the team's departure from the Giro d'Italia after the death of Wouter Weylandt
Wouter Weylandt
Wouter Weylandt was a Belgian professional cyclist for UCI ProTeam and later for . His first major win was the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also won the 3rd stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia...
days before the Tour of California commenced. Other top international riders included 's Laurens ten Dam
Laurens ten Dam
Laurens ten Dam is a Dutch road racing cyclist with UCI ProTeam Rabobank.A native of the village of Zuidwolde in Groningen, Laurens ten Dam has been racing since 2002 and, by the end of 2005, has risen to world-class ranking among professional racing cyclists.- Palmarès :2006***...
, 's Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian professional racing cyclist for . He is a former mountain biker, winning a silver medal at the 2001 Under-23 world championship...
, and Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland is a professional road bicycle racer from Canberra, Australia, riding for UCI Professional Continental team UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis...
of .
Stage 1
May 15, 2011 — South Lake TahoeSouth Lake Tahoe, California
South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The population was 21,403 at the 2010 census, down from 23,609 at the 2000 census...
to North Lake Tahoe
Northstar at Tahoe
Northstar California is a year-round resort situated near the North Shore of Lake Tahoe in Placer County, California, approximately from the San Francisco Bay Area...
, 118.7 miles (191 km)
After last year
2010 Tour of California
The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour...
's opening stage which was suited to the out-and-out sprinters, the first stage of the 2011 Tour was expected to be a high-altitude road race stage in the Sierra Mountains around Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
, not dipping below 6200 feet (1,889.8 m) and peaking over 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) with the categorized climbs of Spooner Junction and Brockway Summit. Two climbs of Emerald Bay were also included in the route along with sprints in Tahoe City
Sunnyside-Tahoe City, California
Sunnyside-Tahoe City is a census-designated place in Placer County, California, located on the northwest shore of Lake Tahoe. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and back at South Lake Tahoe after passing back into California from Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
; the first time that the Tour had ventured outside of its home state.
However, the weather ultimately decided the fate of the stage, after forecasts in the week running up to the stage called for a large snowstorm to hit Lake Tahoe on the day of the stage. The forecast came to fruition on race day, and with contingency plans in place, the stage was delayed and reduced from its original 118.7 miles (191 km) distance to 47.74 miles (76.8 km). Minutes prior to the stage start, it was cancelled due to the riders refusing to ride in poor weather conditions. 's Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
stated that the riders did not feel comfortable riding in such conditions, citing the death of rider Wouter Weylandt
Wouter Weylandt
Wouter Weylandt was a Belgian professional cyclist for UCI ProTeam and later for . His first major win was the 17th stage of the 2008 Vuelta a España. He also won the 3rd stage of the 2010 Giro d'Italia...
on the third stage of the Giro d'Italia as a factor in their decision.
Stage 2
May 16, 2011 — Nevada CityNevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
to Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, 76.3 miles (122.8 km)
Stage 2 was scheduled to begin at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Squaw Valley Ski Resort
Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley, California, is one of the largest ski areas in the United States, and was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics. It is the second-largest ski area at Lake Tahoe , with 33 chairlifts, and has the only funitel lift in the U.S...
, go over the 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) peak of the Donner Pass
Donner Pass
Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, located above Donner Lake about nine miles west of Truckee, California. It has a steep approach from the east and a gradual approach from the west....
, and then descend to the California State Capitol
California State Capitol
The California State Capitol is home to the government of California. The building houses the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor....
building in Sacramento on largely the same route as the opening stage of the 2010 Tour, which resulted in a sprint for victory, won by 's Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish
Mark Cavendish MBE is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam until the end of this season when the team is dissolved. He will join Team Sky at the start of the 2012 season...
. Just like last year, the expectation was for the race to finish in a sprint for the line. However, as a result of the continuing snowy conditions around Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
, the organizers moved the start of the stage to Nevada City
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
, where last year's Tour began. That reduced the length of the stage to 76.3 miles (122.8 km) from 133.2 miles (214.4 km), and moved the start back two hours, from 10:15 a.m. PDT
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
to 12:15 p.m. PDT. As well as the reduction of the overall stage length, two laps of the circuit in Sacramento were added to the one that was already scheduled. With the stage being revised, only the stage finish carried points towards the points classification as well as time bonuses towards the general classification.
Three riders established the early breakaway; Jamey Driscoll
Jamey Driscoll
James "Jamey" Driscoll is professional American Cyclocross and road racing cyclist. Driscoll's career was thrust into prominence following an eye-opening performance at the 2008 US Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, where Driscoll bested many of the pre-race favorites en...
of , Timon Seubert of and László Bodrogi
László Bodrogi
László Bodrogi is a professional road bicycle racer from Hungary riding for , specializing in the individual time trial.- Biography :László was born in 1976 in Budapest, Hungary...
of were later joined by 's Ben Jacques-Maynes as they extended their margin to peloton to over five minutes at one point. However, their advantage was steadily cut after that, and the quartet were eventually caught as the field entered the outskirts of Sacramento, Jacques-Maynes the last to hold off the pack with around 8 miles (12.9 km) to the finish. and headed the field as they entered the short finishing circuit, but with rain starting to fall, came to the front to assume control for Ben Swift
Ben Swift
Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:...
. Swift was favored instead of the team's regular sprinter Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson
Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He...
, who had not raced since the Scheldeprijs in early April, but Henderson was utilized as the leadout man for Swift, and released him to his fifth victory of 2011, securing the first yellow and green jerseys of the race. also pushed towards the front during the final circuit in a bid to push Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
up the order for the run to the line, and Sagan ended the sprint second with Goss third for , after mistiming his sprint. Sagan took the white jersey as the best placed under-23 rider, while Driscoll was named the most courageous rider of the day.
Stage 2 Result
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General Classification after Stage 2
|
Stage 3
May 17, 2011 — AuburnAuburn, California
Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...
to Modesto
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
, 121.9 miles (196.2 km)
With no King of the Mountains passes scheduled for the stage despite its slightly undulating nature – descending from 1400 feet (426.7 m) to just above sea level, via a few hills along the way – the expectation was for the sprinters to prevail on the day, as Francesco Chicchi
Francesco Chicchi
Francesco Chicchi is an Italian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Pro Tour team .- Major results :200220052006...
had done so in 2010
2010 Tour of California
The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour...
when the fourth stage ended in Modesto. Although believing that a sprint finish was the most likely occurrence, 's Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
stated that the stage could be the first opportunity for a breakaway to succeed in Modesto, and that cross winds could also factor into the day's conditions and could split the field.
As he had done the previous day, rider Jamey Driscoll
Jamey Driscoll
James "Jamey" Driscoll is professional American Cyclocross and road racing cyclist. Driscoll's career was thrust into prominence following an eye-opening performance at the 2008 US Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, where Driscoll bested many of the pre-race favorites en...
made the breakaway along with six other riders mainly representing American-registered teams, with the exception of Jan Bárta
Jan Bárta
Jan Bárta is a professional Czech road cyclist, currently riding for Team NetApp.-Palmarès:200320082009...
of as they quickly formed an advantage within the first minutes of the stage. The breakaway claimed all the intermediate sprints as their advantage extended up to a maximum of 6' 40". With 13 miles (20.9 km), the cross winds that Horner had mentioned occurred, with pressure on the front , they broke the field into echelons for a time. The acceleration caught out many riders, including the likes of 's Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
and 's Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
, but both rejoined when the wind turned to their advantage. Horner himself had trouble towards the end of the stage, after a coming together with sprinter Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
, which formed him to complete the stage on his teammate Markel Irizar
Markel Irizar
Markel Irizar Aranburu is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Like team founder Lance Armstrong, Irizar is a testicular cancer survivor.- Palmares :2002...
's bike after a bike change, but finished with the main field.
As the race headed into Modesto, and took turns at the front in the hope of preventing a late-race attack, and to help with the eventually sprint for the line after two circuits. Once on the circuit, then upped their pace for their sprinter Keven Lacombe
Keven Lacombe
Keven Lacombe is a Canadian professional racing cyclist. He was also an ice hockey player for Drummondville Voltigeurs of the QMJHL.-Career highlights:# 2003: Canadian junior time-trial champion...
, who had finished fourth in Sacramento. In the bunch, Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt
Jens Voigt is a German professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam . Voigt is known for his propensity to attack, and for his positive racing attitude. He is capable of repeated attacking, holding a high tempo, and breaking away from the peloton...
, Will Dugan and Andreas Schillinger fell but all remounted and completed the stage. and moved up to the front, with the latter gaining a similar team position as what had occurred the previous day. As the field moved inside the final kilometer, lost a man from the front after Baden Cooke
Baden Cooke
Baden Cooke is an Australian professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team .Cooke began competitive cycling at 11. He completed secondary school at Galen College in Wangaratta, Victoria....
fell, with fellow Australians Michael Matthews
Michael Matthews (cyclist)
Michael Matthews is an Australian track and road cyclist who rides for UCI ProTeam . In 2010 he became the Under 23 Road Race World Champion.- Results :2008...
of and Matthew Goss
Matthew Goss
Matthew Harley Goss is an Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI ProTour outfit .-Career:Goss started in the business with track cycling...
of also falling. At the front, Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson
Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He...
led the sprint out, but Ben Swift
Ben Swift
Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:...
was not in a position to challenge for the sprint, so it was left to Henderson to bring home the laurels for Team Sky, winning the sprint by a bike length. 's Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo is an Argentine professional road racing cyclist and former track cyclist on . He is the brother of Lucas Sebastian Haedo...
finished second ahead of Hushovd, Sagan and Goss' teammate Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard is an Australian professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team .-Biography:Born in Geelong, Victoria, Howard now resides in Waurn Ponds. He began cycling competitively at the age of 10 and first represented Australia in 2005 at the age of 16.Howard won the bronze medal in the...
. With their respective stage wins and time bonuses, Henderson and Swift were left tied on the same time, and with the same stage finishes – a win and an eleventh place – Henderson was given the yellow jersey on countback as the most recent stage winner. Sagan assumed the green jersey from Swift with his second top-five stage finish, to go with his white jersey, while Barta claimed the most courageous rider of the day honors.
Stage 3 Result
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General Classification after Stage 3
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Stage 4
May 18, 2011 — LivermoreLivermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
to San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, 81.8 miles (131.6 km)
After two sprinter-friendly stages, the fourth stage culminated in the Tour's first mountain-top finish. With five King of the Mountains passes packed into the stage's 81.8 miles (131.6 km) distance, the expectation for the stage was for the riders with strengths in the mountains as well as the general classification contenders to do battle for stage victory. Three of the climbs occurred on the San Antonio Valley Road, including the hors catégorie Mount Hamilton
Mount Hamilton (California)
Mount Hamilton is a mountain in California's Diablo Range, in Santa Clara County, California. Mount Hamilton, at is the tallest mountain overlooking Silicon Valley, and is the site of Lick Observatory, the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory. The various summits along its...
, before the finish on the Sierra Road.
A ten-man breakaway formed as the race was leaving Livermore, again composed mainly of the domestic teams but three riders from the World Tour teams – Martin Pedersen
Martin Pedersen (cyclist)
Martin Pedersen is a Danish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He rode with Team PH in 2004, and after a great 2005 season with many wins for the small, talent producing Team GLS, he signed his first professional contract with for the 2006 and 2007 seasons.- Wins...
representing , Lars Boom
Lars Boom
Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom is a professional cyclo-cross and road racing cyclist who was born in Vlijmen in the Netherlands. Boom rides for UCI ProTeam Rabobank cycling team, having previous ridden for the junior and continental teams. Boom won the cyclo-cross world championships in 2008...
of and 's Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd
Thor Hushovd is a Norwegian professional road bicycle racer riding . He has signed for from 2012 onwards. He is known for sprinting and time trialing and is the 2010 Norwegian and world road champion. He is the first Norwegian to lead the Tour de France, and first Scandinavian to win the road...
– also made it into the breakaway, extending an advantage of three minutes before the first climb on Mines Road. Boom took maximum points on the climb, as the breakaway swamped up the points for Mines Road, as well as the next two prior to Mount Hamilton, when the breakaway dwindled with rider Patrick Vennell being the last of the escapees to be caught, midway up Mount Hamilton. 's Pat McCarty managed to best a quartet of riders to secure maximum points on the climb, before dropping back into the pack and it was left to Team RadioShack to pace it on the descent. On the descent, Hushovd's teammate Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian professional racing cyclist for . He is a former mountain biker, winning a silver medal at the 2001 Under-23 world championship...
attacked and made headway from the group and was later joined by Rabobank's Paul Martens
Paul Martens
Paul Martens is a German professional road bicycle racer for .- Palmares :19992001200420052006Paul Martens is a German professional road bicycle racer for .- Palmares :1999...
as they put almost a minute on the pack before Martens overshot a corner and lost time to Hesjedal, who in turn waited for his return prior to the final climb up Sierra Road.
Hesjedal again attacked at the bottom of the climb and this time, Martens could not keep his pace and was swamped up by the group. duo Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
and Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
upped their pace in the chasers, and soon went off in pursuit of Hesjedal, catching him with 2 miles (3.2 km) remaining on the climb, but Horner accelerated once again, leaving Leipheimer and Hesjedal behind. A four-man group – Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson is a professional road racing cyclist. Previously riding for the Saturn Team on the U.S. Pro Circuit, and for Fassa Bortolo in Europe, Danielson is currently a member of , but rode for the Discovery Channel team between 2005 and 2007.Danielson currently holds the record for the...
of , Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
of , 's Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
as well as 's Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland is a professional road bicycle racer from Canberra, Australia, riding for UCI Professional Continental team UnitedHealthcare-Maxxis...
– then pulled up to the duo ahead and they would contest for the minor placings, with the exception of van Garderen, who was overhauled by five more riders in the closing stages. Horner soloed to his first Tour of California stage victory, and with previous jersey holder Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson
Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He...
losing over fifteen minutes to Horner, the yellow jersey to go with it. Schleck bested Sutherland and Leipheimer for second place on the stage, with Danielson seven seconds in arrears in fifth. McCarty took the first red jersey for the mountains classification on countback from Leipheimer, Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
remained the wearer of the green jersey as there were no sprint points on offer in the stage, Andrew Talansky took the young rider classification lead from Sagan, and Hesjedal was given the most courageous rider honors.
Stage 4 Result
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General Classification after Stage 4
|
Stage 5
May 19, 2011 — SeasideSeaside, California
Seaside is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, with a population of 33,025 as of the 2010 census. Seaside is located east-northeast of Monterey, at an elevation of 33 feet...
to Paso Robles
Paso Robles, California
Paso Robles is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Paso Robles is the fastest growing city in San Luis Obispo County: Its population at the 2000 census was 24,297; in 2010 it recorded some 29,793 residentsLocated on the Salinas River north of San Luis Obispo, California,...
, 135.1 miles (217.4 km)
Late winter storms forced tour organizers to reroute the stage, and as such, the stage utilized the majority of the route used on the fourth stage of the 2008 Tour
2008 Tour of California
The 2008 Tour of California was the third edition of an eight-day, 650-mile stage race, which began in Palo Alto , then raced through the California redwoods, wine country and the Pacific Coast and finished in Pasadena. The road bicycle racing event was held February 17–24...
. On that day, the race also began in Seaside before heading to the stage finish in San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
where the stage was won by Dominique Rollin
Dominique Rollin
Dominique Rollin, is a professional cyclist, riding for UCI Professional Continental team .Born in Boucherville, Canada, he began his professional career in 2001 with the team Sympatico High Speed-Jet Fuel Coffee and again the following year, 2002 with Sympatico Edition Haute Vitese...
after soloing from 12.5 miles (20.1 km) out. A hilly stage with four categorized climbs and two intermediary sprints, expectations were for a breakaway to succeed or for a large group to contest a sprint for victory.
After an early break by four riders consisting of 's Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire
Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He is one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship a three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx...
, 's Chris Froome
Chris Froome
Chris Froome is a professional road racing cyclist who rides for UCI ProTour team .Born in Kenya, Froome moved with his family to South Africa as a teenager, and although he began his career registered with the Kenyan cycling federation, since spring 2008 has ridden under a British licence on the...
, Daniel Martin
Daniel Martin (cyclist)
Daniel Martin is an Irish racing cyclist who currently rides for .-Early Life:Born in Birmingham, Martin became British National Junior Road Race Champion in 2004, before deciding to ride for Ireland. His brother Tom will ride for the UC Aubenas squad in 2009...
of as well as the customary member of a domestic team, with rider Chris Baldwin being their representative in the early breakaway. Another seven riders later joined the group to create an 11-man move that eventually extended their advantage in excess of three minutes. Again, the King of the Mountains points were taken by the breakaway, with Pat McCarty of extending his lead prior to Saturday's stage on Mount Baldy as no points were on offer during the individual time trial in Solvang
Solvang, California
Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 5,245 at the 2010 census, down from 5,332 at the 2000 census...
. At the top of the final climb, Freire and 's Stefan Denifl
Stefan Denifl
Stefan Denifl is a professional cyclist who is riding for the UCI ProTour team, .Denifl began the cycling in 2001 in the "Team Bike Denifl" as Mountain Biker. In 2003, he moved to the street in the "Team ÖAMTC Recheis Lattella". From 2004 he focused on road cycling...
attacked from the break and managed to put a gap on them of around 30 seconds. The duo remained together until around 10 miles (16.1 km) to go, when Denifl punctured and crashed, and it was left to Freire to bid for victory on his own.
The remnants of the breakaway were caught 6.5 miles (10.5 km) outside Paso Robles, while Freire remained well over a minute clear of the pack. This gap steadily came down with many teams pushing the pace up to help advance their sprinters, including and for Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
, Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard is an Australian professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team .-Biography:Born in Geelong, Victoria, Howard now resides in Waurn Ponds. He began cycling competitively at the age of 10 and first represented Australia in 2005 at the age of 16.Howard won the bronze medal in the...
and Matthew Goss
Matthew Goss
Matthew Harley Goss is an Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI ProTour outfit .-Career:Goss started in the business with track cycling...
respectively. The high pace of the peloton meant that when Freire was caught with 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to go, the field split into several groups. Freire was given most courageous rider of the day for his exploits. Bissell's Jeremy Vennell then attacked but was caught within the final kilometer. Team Sky then placed themselves on the front with Mathew Hayman
Mathew Hayman
Mathew Hayman is an Australian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Hayman is an experienced and respected domestique, as he typically takes on a supporting role within his team.-Palmares:1996...
and Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson
Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He...
looking to lead out Ben Swift
Ben Swift
Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:...
, but Howard gained an advantage on them before Sagan usurped them both to claim his third Tour win, after two in 2010
2010 Tour of California
The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour...
. Howard bested Swift for second place, as only 45 of the 133 riders that finished the stage were given Sagan's time for the stage. Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
retained the yellow jersey ahead of Solvang, Sagan remained in green, while Andrew Talansky dropped enough time during the stage to lose the white jersey lead to HTC-Highroad rider Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
.
Stage 5 Result
|
General Classification after Stage 5
|
Stage 6
May 20, 2011 — SolvangSolvang, California
Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is one of the communities that make up the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 5,245 at the 2010 census, down from 5,332 at the 2000 census...
, 15 miles (24.1 km) (individual time trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...
) (ITT)
The Solvang time trial returned to the Tour for its 2011 edition, after the trial was held in downtown Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 2010. Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
was tipped by teammate Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
to be the favorite for the stage, having won in Solvang in each of the three occasions that it has featured on the Tour, en route to an overall victory each time. Another name mentioned by Horner as a rider who could challenge Leipheimer was 's David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...
, who won a time trial three weeks prior to the Tour, during the Tour de Romandie
2011 Tour de Romandie
The 2011 Tour de Romandie, was the 65th running of the Tour de Romandie cycling stage race. It started on 26 April in Martigny and ended on 1 May in Geneva and consisted of six stages, including a race-commencing prologue stage and also a penultimate day individual time trial...
.
The early pace was set by William Dickeson of , who went round the course in 32' 53", but was usurped by his teammate Bernard van Ulden by half a minute. 's Lars Boom
Lars Boom
Lars Anthonius Johannes Boom is a professional cyclo-cross and road racing cyclist who was born in Vlijmen in the Netherlands. Boom rides for UCI ProTeam Rabobank cycling team, having previous ridden for the junior and continental teams. Boom won the cyclo-cross world championships in 2008...
had been quicker than van Ulden at the intermediate split but lost time over the second half of the course. Ian Stannard
Ian Stannard
Ian Stannard is an English track and road racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team . He made his professional road debut in August 2007 joining as a trainee. He rode for Landbouwkrediet-Tönissteiner in 2008 and came third overall in the 2008 Tour of Britain riding for the Great Britain team...
of was the next rider to top the timesheets, setting a time of 32' 07", as the team looked for their third win of the Tour. Stannard held his lead for over half an hour, as he fended off American national time trial champion Taylor Phinney
Taylor Phinney
Taylor Phinney is a world champion American racing cyclist, specialising on the track in individual pursuit. He is the son of former professional racing cyclist Davis Phinney and former Olympic gold medal racing cyclist and speed skater Connie Carpenter-Phinney...
of , before losing his lead to a former national time trial champion, the New Zealand rider from , Jeremy Vennell. Vennell recorded a time of 31' 34", which was eventually good enough to remain inside the top ten. His lead was short-lived as took the lead with rider Maarten Tjallingii
Maarten Tjallingii
Maarten Tjallingii is a Dutch professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Rabobank. His biggest win was the 2006 Tour of Belgium.-Palmares:2001...
, who set a time ten seconds quicker.
Tjallingii's time held to inside the last 40 riders, when Peter Velits
Peter Velits
Peter Velits is a Slovak professional road racing cyclist for . His career highlights include winning the 2007 UCI Road World Championships - Men's Under-23 Road Race. His twin brother, Martin Velits rides on as well. In 2012 Martin and Peter will be riding for Quick-Step .- Palmares:2003...
trimmed a solitary second off his time and moved into the top spot for the time being, but 's David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times...
rewrote the Solvang record books, recording a time of 30' 35" which was good enough to give him the stage win. Youth classification leader Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
, a former top-5 placer on two time trial stages at the 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné
2010 Critérium du Dauphiné
The 2010 Critérium du Dauphiné was the 62nd edition of the Critérium du Dauphiné stage race, and the first since it was renamed. It took place from 6–13 June, and was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and World Calendar...
, got closest to Zabriskie for a time, but was still some 40 seconds in arrear of his fellow American. This performance was enough to give him the honors for the most courageous rider of the day. Stage favorite Leipheimer managed to record a quicker split time than Zabriskie, but like many other riders, fell away during the second part of the stage and fell 14 seconds down on him but was good enough for second on the stage. Horner maintained his general classification lead with a sixth place finish on the stage, losing around half of his lead, but still holding an advantage of 38 seconds.
Stage 6 Result
|
General Classification after Stage 6
|
Stage 7
May 21, 2011 — ClaremontClaremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
to Mount Baldy
Mount San Antonio
Mount San Antonio, commonly known as Old Baldy or Mt Baldy, at , is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains, and the highest point in Los Angeles County...
, 74.9 mi (120.5 km)
The queen stage of the 2011 Tour sees the riders presented with three climbs in excess of 3000 feet (914.4 m), as well as a intermediate sprint in Glendora
Glendora, California
Glendora is a municipality in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, the population of Glendora was 50,073....
. The first climb of the day, the Glendora Ridge Road comes after 11.5 miles (18.5 km), having negotiated a climb of a mile in length. After the sprint in Glendora, the riders will then negotiate the Glendora Mountain Road climb, a distance of 8.5 miles (13.7 km) being used in full for the first time since 2004. After a gradual uphill climb, the riders hit the slopes of Mount Baldy. 3.5 miles (5.6 km) at a gradient of 8.9% could decide the general classification for one rider at the Tour's first high-mountain finish.
Early breakaways formed within the first 6 miles (9.7 km) of the stage, with up to nine riders advancing ahead of the main field at any one point, including former general classification leader Ben Swift
Ben Swift
Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:...
of and mountains leader Pat McCarty of . After Swift departed back from the break, brought one of their top-ten overall riders into the break, Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal
Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian professional racing cyclist for . He is a former mountain biker, winning a silver medal at the 2001 Under-23 world championship...
to join Andrew Talansky in order to pressurize who were still in the main pack. McCarty took maximum points on both Glendora Ridge Road and Glendora Mountain Road, to mathematically ensure he would win the mountains classification by reaching the finish in Thousand Oaks, but was dropped by the break who had never been able to get far enough of the pack, the gap keeping around two minutes.
The pack itself had dwindled to around 20 riders prior to the hors catégorie climb of Mount Baldy, with Team RadioShack still on the front with Matthew Busche
Matthew Busche
Matthew Busche is an American professional cyclist for Team RadioShack. In 2009, he gained notoriety for his rapid rise from a Wisconsin-based amateur team to Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack within the course of one season...
and Ben King
Ben King (cyclist)
Ben King is an American racing cyclist who rides for Team RadioShack. In 2010 he won the Elite United States National Road Race Championships. After Ben King won the Elite United States National Road Race Championships it was announced that he would be riding for Team RadioShack for 2011.-Career...
pacing the field in the hopes of advancing Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
and Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
up the climb and after the break. Andy Schleck
Andy Schleck
Andy Raymond Schleck is a Luxembourgish professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . He is the younger brother of Fränk Schleck, who also rides for . Their father Johny Schleck rode the Tour de France and Vuelta a España between 1965 and 1974...
and Laurens ten Dam
Laurens ten Dam
Laurens ten Dam is a Dutch road racing cyclist with UCI ProTeam Rabobank.A native of the village of Zuidwolde in Groningen, Laurens ten Dam has been racing since 2002 and, by the end of 2005, has risen to world-class ranking among professional racing cyclists.- Palmarès :2006***...
followed closely in the wheels of their rivals, as the quintet looked to close down the gap to Talansky, 's Francesco Bellotti
Francesco Bellotti
Francesco Bellotti is an Italian professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team .- Palmares :20042005- External links :...
and 's Alexander Efimkin
Alexander Efimkin
Alexander Alexandrovich Efimkin is a Russian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team . His twin brother is Vladimir Efimkin. Alexander Efimkin burst on to the professional cycling scene in 2005 with a 2nd place overall at the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, a highly...
, which was now under a minute. With 2 miles (3.2 km) to go, Busche attacked and only Leipheimer and Horner could advance with him and when their leadout man pulled off, they set off after the leading trio and swamped them up inside the final 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Horner and Leipheimer rode together for the remainder of the climb and finished hand-in-hand with Horner giving Leipheimer the stage win; his first road stage victory in the Tour. Ten Dam was third, 43 seconds behind the American duo, as he moved into sixth in the general classification, while Garmin-Cervélo's Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson is a professional road racing cyclist. Previously riding for the Saturn Team on the U.S. Pro Circuit, and for Fassa Bortolo in Europe, Danielson is currently a member of , but rode for the Discovery Channel team between 2005 and 2007.Danielson currently holds the record for the...
moved into third place overall after a fourth place stage finish.
Stage 7 Result
|
General Classification after Stage 7
|
Stage 8
May 22, 2011 — Santa ClaritaSanta Clarita, California
Santa Clarita is the fourth largest city in Los Angeles County, California, United States and the twenty-fourth largest city in the state of California. The 2010 US Census reported the city's population grew 16.7% from the year 2000 to 176,320 residents. It is located about northwest of downtown...
to Thousand Oaks
Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is a city in southeastern Ventura County, California, in the United States. It was named after the many oak trees that grace the area, and the city seal is adorned with an oak....
, 82.3 miles (132.4 km)
Rather than an out-and-out circuit race to finish the event as what occurred in 2010
2010 Tour of California
The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour...
, the final stage of the Tour saw a gradual descent from the start in Santa Clarita, before the final classified climb of the event at Balcom Canyon. Prior to the finishing circuit in Thousand Oaks, riders also had to navigate the Norwegian Grade climb, after the Moorpark sprint. Once in the finishing circuit, the riders completed five full laps of around 5 miles (8 km) in length. Expectations were for either the sprinters to take victory, or a breakaway to succeed but not to an extent to adjust the final overall classification.
Just like many of the other stages, the American domestic teams had a great presence within the early breakaways which resulted in four riders – Bradley White of , Jan Bárta
Jan Bárta
Jan Bárta is a professional Czech road cyclist, currently riding for Team NetApp.-Palmarès:200320082009...
of , José Fernando Antogna of and Mike Friedman
Mike Friedman
Michael Friedman is an American professional racing cyclist for .-Career highlights:# 2005: 1º in National Championship, Track, Team Pursuit, Elite, United States of America, Los Angeles...
of – heading clear after around 20 miles (32.2 km). The breakaway extended out to a maximum of three minutes, and took a clean sweep of the points at the Balcom Canyon climb and the two intermediate sprints in Moorpark and the first pass through the finish line prior to the completion of the five circuits to end the race. The gap to the four leaders slowly dwindled, and with 18 miles (29 km) to go, 's Maarten Tjallingii
Maarten Tjallingii
Maarten Tjallingii is a Dutch professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Rabobank. His biggest win was the 2006 Tour of Belgium.-Palmares:2001...
and 's Martin Mortensen escaped from the field and set off in chase of the lead quartet, riding for almost 8 miles (12.9 km) until they caught the remnants of the breakaway; White had already slid back as would Antogna and Friedman, leaving Barta to partner Tjallingii and Mortensen. As the field completed the circuits, the lead that the trio out front had was diminishing by the kilometer, and with two laps to go, the gap stood at just 30 seconds. Within the next 6 miles (9.7 km), they were pulled back by the peloton's strong pace, mainly set by the sprinter teams again, consisting of , , and .
Once the breakaway was caught, took to the front in the hope of setting up Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo
Juan José Haedo is an Argentine professional road racing cyclist and former track cyclist on . He is the brother of Lucas Sebastian Haedo...
for a stage win that had eluded during the week and were joined by Team Sky, who were hoping to get their third stage win of the week, with Ben Swift
Ben Swift
Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:...
looking to bookend the stages having won the first-run stage – Stage 2 – of the week in Sacramento. Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel
Bernhard Eisel is an Austrian professional road bicycling racer who currently rides for . He will join Team Sky for the 2012 season.-Career:...
made a mistake in the closing stages which compromised the run-in for HTC-Highroad, leaving the honors to Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard
Leigh Howard is an Australian professional racing cyclist for UCI ProTour team .-Biography:Born in Geelong, Victoria, Howard now resides in Waurn Ponds. He began cycling competitively at the age of 10 and first represented Australia in 2005 at the age of 16.Howard won the bronze medal in the...
to pace Matthew Goss
Matthew Goss
Matthew Harley Goss is an Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI ProTour outfit .-Career:Goss started in the business with track cycling...
for the sprint. Points classification leader Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan
Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing....
was also helped towards the front by Daniel Oss
Daniel Oss
Daniel Oss is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with Italian cycling team on the UCI ProTour.-Biography:...
, as he looked to secure the classification for the second successive year. However, Howard timed his run at the appropriate moment, and released Goss with 180 meters to go, and Goss fended off Sagan to take the team's only win of the week. Sagan's second place comfortably confirmed his green jersey for the sprints, while Greg Henderson
Greg Henderson
Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He...
took third for Team Sky. In the pack, were untroubled during the day and Chris Horner
Chris Horner
Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig...
sealed the overall classification with a 65th place stage finish, ahead of teammate Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a...
. Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen
Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:...
and Pat McCarty completed the stage to claim the young riders classification and mountains classification respectively, while Barta earned his second "Most Courageous" award of the race.
Stage 8 Result
|
Final General Classification
|
Classification leadership
In the 2011 Tour of California, five different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Tour of California, and the winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the Tour of California.Additionally, there was also a sprints classification, akin to what is called the points classification
Points classification
The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning intermediate sprints. The points classification is the top prize for many cycling sprinters and therefore is often known as the Sprint Classification;...
in other races, which awarded a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. The winner received 15 points, second place 12, third 10, fourth 7, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for tenth. In addition, some points were able to be won in intermediate sprints.
There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized, either hors-, first-, second-, third-, or fourth-category, with more points available for the harder climbs.
There was also a youth classification. This classification was calculated in the same way as the general classification, but only young cyclists (under 23) were included. The leader of the young rider classification received a white jersey.
The fifth jersey was not awarded on the basis of a time or points-based classification. It was for each stage's "Most Courageous" rider, akin to the combativity award
Combativity award
The combativity award, , is a prize given in the Tour de France. It favours constant attackers and since 1981 the winner of the award has not won the whole Tour.- History :...
in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
. The rider who received this award was given a blue jersey on the podium, but wore his regular jersey (unless holding one of the above four) in the next stage, and could be recognized from his back number: marked with a white number on a red background instead of the usual black on white
Light-on-dark color scheme
A light-on-dark color scheme is a color scheme that uses light-colored text on a dark background and is often discussed in terms of computer user interface design....
. Unlike the Tour de France's combativity award, there was no overall award given.
There was also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage were added, and the team with the lowest time were classified as the leader of the classification.
| Stage | Winner | General Classification |
Youth Classification |
Mountains Classification |
Sprint Classification |
Most Courageous |
Team Classification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | stage cancelled | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2 | Ben Swift Ben Swift Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:... |
Ben Swift Ben Swift Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:... |
Peter Sagan Peter Sagan Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.... |
not awarded | Ben Swift Ben Swift Benjamin Swift is an English professional track and road racing cyclist who currently rides for Team Sky.-Biography:... |
Jamey Driscoll Jamey Driscoll James "Jamey" Driscoll is professional American Cyclocross and road racing cyclist. Driscoll's career was thrust into prominence following an eye-opening performance at the 2008 US Cyclocross National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, where Driscoll bested many of the pre-race favorites en... |
|
| 3 | Greg Henderson Greg Henderson Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He... |
Greg Henderson Greg Henderson Gregory Henderson is a professional track and road racing cyclist who rides for , but who will ride for Lotto in 2012. His career includes winning the 15 km scratch race at the 2004 world championships and, in road cycling, winning the points competition at the 2005 Tour de Georgia. He... |
Peter Sagan Peter Sagan Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.... |
Jan Bárta Jan Bárta Jan Bárta is a professional Czech road cyclist, currently riding for Team NetApp.-Palmarès:200320082009... |
|||
| 4 | Chris Horner Chris Horner Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig... |
Chris Horner Chris Horner Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig... |
Andrew Talansky Andrew Talansky Andrew Talansky is an American racing cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam .-Palmarès:2010* U23 US National Time Trial Champion* 1st, Stage 1, Tour des pays de Savoie* 2nd Overall, Tour de l'Avenir* 3rd Overall, Tour de l'Isard2011* Tour de Romandie... |
Pat McCarty | Ryder Hesjedal Ryder Hesjedal Ryder Hesjedal is a Canadian professional racing cyclist for . He is a former mountain biker, winning a silver medal at the 2001 Under-23 world championship... |
||
| 5 | Peter Sagan Peter Sagan Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.... |
Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:... |
Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer, riding for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. He is one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship a three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx... |
||||
| 6 | David Zabriskie David Zabriskie David Zabriskie is a professional road bicycle racer from the United States who rides for . His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage wins in all three Grand Tour stage races and winning the US National Time Trial Championship six times... |
Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:... |
|||||
| 7 | Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . His major results are winning the 2007–2009 editions of the Tour of California, the 2006 Dauphiné Libéré and the 2005 Deutschland Tour, coming in second in the 2008 Vuelta a España, third in the 2001 Vuelta a... |
Alexander Efimkin Alexander Efimkin Alexander Alexandrovich Efimkin is a Russian professional road bicycle racer for UCI Professional Continental team . His twin brother is Vladimir Efimkin. Alexander Efimkin burst on to the professional cycling scene in 2005 with a 2nd place overall at the Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, a highly... |
|||||
| 8 | Matthew Goss Matthew Goss Matthew Harley Goss is an Australian professional road and track racing cyclist, currently riding for the UCI ProTour outfit .-Career:Goss started in the business with track cycling... |
Jan Bárta Jan Bárta Jan Bárta is a professional Czech road cyclist, currently riding for Team NetApp.-Palmarès:200320082009... |
|||||
| Final | Chris Horner Chris Horner Christopher Horner is an American professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . A native and current resident of Bend, Oregon, Horner dominated the American road racing scene by winning the points standings in the 2002, 2003 and 2004 USA Cycling National Racing Calendar.-PAA-NutraFig... |
Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen Tejay van Garderen is an American professional cyclist for . He lives in Lucca, Tuscany, during the season.-Early life:... |
Pat McCarty | Peter Sagan Peter Sagan Peter Sagan is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer for UCI ProTour team . Sagan had a successful junior mountain bike racing career, winning the Junior World Championship in 2008, before moving to road racing.... |
n/a | ||
General Classification
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' |
||
| 2 | + 38" | ||
| 3 | + 2' 45" | ||
| 4 | + 3' 18" | ||
| 5 | |
+ 3' 23" | |
| 6 | + 3' 26" | ||
| 7 | + 4' 12" | ||
| 8 | + 4' 33" | ||
| 9 | + 4' 50" | ||
| 10 | + 6' 16" | ||
Teams Classification
| # | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||
| 2 | + 1' 41" | |
| 3 | + 13' 03" | |
| 4 | + 13' 34" | |
| 5 | + 14' 27" | |
| 6 | + 15' 32" | |
| 7 | + 16' 14" | |
| 8 | + 17' 16" | |
| 9 | + 27' 14" | |
| 10 | + 31' 24" |
King of the Mountains Classification
| # | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' |
39 | |
| 2 | 24 | ||
| 3 | |
20 | |
| 4 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 12 | ||
| 6 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 11 | ||
| 8 | 11 | ||
| 9 | 10 | ||
| 10 | 10 | ||
Sprint Classification
| # | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' |
46 | |
| 2 | 25 | ||
| 3 | 25 | ||
| 4 | 25 | ||
| 5 | 19 | ||
| 6 | 18 | ||
| 7 | 18 | ||
| 8 | 14 | ||
| 9 | 14 | ||
| 10 | 10 |
Young Rider Classification
| # | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ' |
||
| 2 | + 5' 58" | ||
| 3 | + 14' 20" | ||
| 4 | |
+ 16' 46" | |
| 5 | + 25' 29" | ||
| 6 | + 31' 52" | ||
| 7 | + 37' 48" | ||
| 8 | + 39' 33" | ||
| 9 | + 54' 27" | ||
| 10 | + 56' 01" |