Tour de France 2014, stage 11: as it happened - Telegraph.co.uk
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'Thanks to the team who trusted me. This is an amazing win. The yellow jersey and now a stage. I never imagined this. It's incredible.'
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) retained his overall lead after there were no changes in the top 10.
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TONY GALLOPIN WINS STAGE 11 AT THE TOUR
16.17 / 500m to go: Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) just has to stay upright.
16.16 / 1.5km to go: Peter Sagan has sat up! Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) is going to take the stage.
16.15 / 2.5km to go: Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) has gone for a second time. The Frenchman is looking strong.
16.11 / 7km to go: Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) is hammering it out on the front. The riders behind him (8sec) are taking a few risks on the corners - hope they stay upright.
16.09 / 10km to go: Peter Sagan (Cannondale) is leading the chase on Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol) who is 10sec up the road. The Slovakian is low down on his handlebars tucked into an aero position. He's not pedalling so saving vital energy.
16.05 Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol), the Frenchman who wore the maillotjaune on Bastille Day, attacked near the summit of that final climb. Peter Sagan has just one Cannondale team-mate left and they're in pursuit of Gallopin. Guess you could say they're galloping after him.
16.03 Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) still on the front of the bunch, presumably he's trying to help Michal Kwiatkowski put some time into his general classification rivals.
16.00 Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) has moved to the front and is leading a very fast charge down the Côte d'Échallon. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) are on the German's wheel. Team Sky's Richie Porte has lost contact. The Aussie could lose more time to the maiilot jaune if he doesn't act quickly.
15.55 The remnants of the breakaway are being scooped up by the peloton. Michele Scarponi (Astana) just hit the deck after appearing to clip wheels in the middle of the bunch.
Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) still leads the stage by 17sec.
15.50 Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) just put in a mini-attack but was soon caught. As the pace increased in the five-man group Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) popped and has gone.
15.45 Simon Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) just did a short turn on the front of the bunch before Cannondale returned to their usual position. They're just 20sec behind the five-man group of leaders now. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) a further 21min back.
15.40 Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo), Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step), Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling), Cyril Gautier (Europcar) and Jesús Herrada (Movistar) have seen their lead reduce to 20sec and I think they can sense this move is futile. Cannondale are back on the front of the chasing bunch ahead of the final categorised climb, the 3km Côte d'Échallon with an anerage gradient of 6.6 per cent. Aftre that there's a steep climb where an attack could be launched.
15.35 Cyril Gautier (Europcar) and Jesús Herrada (Movistar) have caught the leading trio whose advantage on the maillot jaune's group is sticking at 30sec. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) just seen gesturing to suggest he's like to see an increase in tempo.
15.30 The trio at the head of the race lead the peloton by 33sec. Cannondale remain on the front of the bunchand they've done an aful lot of work today. Just 36km from the finish line, but there's going to be lots of action before we know who takes the stage. One man who will not win today is Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) who now trails Roche et al by 17min 45sec.
Charly Wegelius, one of the Garmin-Sharp directeur sportifs, has been talking to French television about the struggling Andrew Talansky: 'Andrew came to the Tour with a lot of ambitions. It's a big disillusion for him. He fights and shows his courage. He doesn't want to stop. We hope that he reaches the finishing line. If he's got the legs, he'll come across to the laughing group.'
15.10 Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) is now out front all alaone after the Swiss champion dropped Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits). Tom-Jelte Slagter (Garmin-Sharp), Jan Bakelants (Omega Pharma-Quick-Step) and Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) have gone off the front of the peloton and picked up Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) along the way.
15.06 The rider nicknamed 'Pitbull' has got back on his bike. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp), who was many people's favourite for a top-three finish, is now in tears as he rides on.
15.03 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) has got off his bike and is talking to directeur sportif Robbie Hunter who is, I'm guessing, advising him to quit the race.
15.00 The peloton's on the Côte de Rogna and Garmin-Sharp's Sebastian Langeveld is on the front. Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) has been dropped by Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) and Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling).
The leading pair will be caught soon I think.
14.57 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) is pedalling in squares now and trails the leaders by 8min 22sec and the maillot jaune by 6min 41sec.
14.40 Back on the front of the peloton Cannondale are increasing the pace wahich has caused the bunch to stretch out in a long single line of riders. The break's lead has dropped to below three minutes.
Jens Voigt (Trek Factory Racing) punctured, but has picked up a new wheel and should be ok.
14.35 Looking increasingly bad for the Critérium du Dauphiné winners who is losing more and more time. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) now trails the peloton by 1min 30, is in pain, has no team-mates and still has to 74km to go. Will the American survive the day?
14.28 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) has had to drop back to his team car, now has his left arm bandaged up and has lost a minute to the maillot jaune's group.
14.22 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) is struggling and has been dropped. The American trails the maillot jaune by 40sec and has no team-mates alongside him. Sounds like the winner of the recent Critérium du Dauphiné has punctured.
14.20 The three-man breakaway is now heading up the uncategorised Les Crosets climb. Once crested there's a descent of around 20km before the category three or four Côte de Rogna, Côte de Choux, Côte de Désertin and Côte d'Échallon ascents are tackled. Strangely, there's a final climb that is not categorised but has sections that ramp up to over 10 per cent in gradient.
14.15 Here are the full details from the intermediate sprint ...
13.50 It's a case of calm before the storm out on the road as they approach today's intermediate sprint. The break's lead has dropped to 4min 3sec.
13.40 Today's intermediate sprint will come in around 10km in the town of Charcier. With a lead of 4min 33sec the breakaway will take 20, 17 and 15 points with the leading 12 riders in the peloton picking up the remainder of 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points on offer. Peter Sagan (Cannondale) will be hoping to reach the 300-point mark very soon.
13.20 Breakaway down to 'just' a shade over five minutes now.
13.15 Andrew Benton, I think, is reading way too much into the reported sighting of Sir Bradley Wiggins earlier.
Great idea Andrew, butit looks like the source of that rumour is back-tracking ...
13.00 By the way, today is Miguel Indurain's 50th birthday so I'm off to raise a cuppa to the five-time winner of the Tour de France while this breakaway continues to increase its lead on the peloton ...
12.55 That gap at the head of the race is getting bigger and bigger. The trio now lead by 6min 10sec.
12.42 Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits) and Anthony Delaplace (Bretagne-Séché Environnement)are now leading by 2min 30sec so I'd say that's the breakaway settled in for the day. Or for the next couple of hours at least.
'I am very much looking forward to the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix,' said Vos. 'I haven't been back to London since 2012 so I'm really looking forward to getting back out there and racing on the roads of London. It's also a good showcase for women's cycling, especially with the coverage on the BBC. It's a stage to show women's cycling to all of the people in the UK.'
Joining her will be Boels-Dolmans rider Armitstead, whose silver behind Vos at London 2012 was Team GB's first medal of the Games.
'I'm really looking forward to taking part in this year's Prudential RideLondon and am particularly excited about racing on The Mall again for the first time since 2012,' said Armitstead. 'It's always going to have special memories for me after winning my Olympic silver there in 2012 and the crowds in London are always special.
'This year we've got so many great races, like the Women's Tour and La Course, and now with live television coverage for the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix it shows that women's cycling is only going to get bigger and bigger.'
The leading trio's advantage has increased to almost two minutes.
12.18 The bunch is going at at fair old lick today - 50.5km/h - and as a result the peloton is fairly strung out. Early days in the stage but once they hit the first lumpy bits in around 30km nobody will want to get shelled out the back.
12.14 All back as one again after Peter Sagan's (Cannondale) move is thwarted.
12.11 Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) was reeled back in before Peter Sagan (Cannondale) attacks off the front. The Slovakian is out on the front all alone but the peloton is in hot pursuit.
12.10 Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol) is the next rider to give it a go off the front, but the peloton chased him down before Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) puts in a little dig.
12.00 An early attack from a Garmin-Sharp rider was brought to an abrupt end as the peloton responded. Next a three-man group - Jérémy Roy (FDJ), Grégory Rast (Trek Factory Racing) and JérômePineau (IAM Cycling) - went off the front only to be joined by Dries Devenyns (Giant-Shimano). After building a small lead of 10sec the quartet are reeled back in by the peloton.
11.40 Today's stage starts in around 10 minutes and I can confirm that it is, finally, sunny at the Tour nde France - it's sunny 27° at the start in Besançon.
11.30 Before we get stuck in to today's stage we should probably remind ourselves who's wearing what in our jersey watch: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) will wear the maillot jaune (leader's yellow jersey) for the eighth day at this year's race following his superb stage win on the summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles on Monday.
France, meanwhile, now have four riders in the top 10 - Romain Bardet (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Belisol), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) and Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r-La Mondiale). Should disaster befall Nibali, Porte or Valverde, I'm sure France will be ready to pounce.
Peter Sagan (Cannondale) will wear the maillot vert (green jersey) as leader in the points classification by a whopping margin of 131pts. Bardet will wear the maillot blanc (white jersey) as leader in the young riders competition and Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) leads the mountains classification competition and will be in the maillot à pois (polka dot jersey) after rediscovering his legs in Sunday and Monday's lumpy stages.
11.15 Morning everybody and welcome to our live rolling blog from satge 11 of the 101st edition of the Tour de France, the 187.5-kilometre run from Besançon to Oyonnax.
Following Monday's brutal stage that saw two-time winner Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) crash out while two others - Ted King (Cannondale) and Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) - also withdrew, Tuesday's rest day saw Fabian Cancellara became the third Trek Factory Racing rider to pull out.
The Swiss had hoped to do better on the cobbled fifth stage and with just one time trial at this year's race has decided to switch his focus to the Worlds.
'It's not a secret that I'd like to be in my best shape there, so it's important that I take some rest,' said Cancellara in a statement on Tuesday.
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Recap from Monday's stage 10 ...
Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) regained the maillot jaune, the leader's yellow jersey, following yet another thrilling day at the Tour de France.
The Italian champion won his second stage at this year's race after he attacked on closing stages on the steep slopes of La Planche des Belles Filles before overhauling Joaquim Rodríguez (Katusha) to take the win.
The day, a tough mountain stage with seven categorised climbs, was overshadowed by Alberto Contador's (Tinkoff-Saxo) withdrawal after the two-time champion crashed on the descent of Petit Ballon, the second climb of the day.
A statement, relaesed by Tinkoff-Saxo, later said: 'Tinkoff-Saxo's team captain Alberto Contador has abandoned Tour de France following a hard crash on stage 10. Contador crashed on the descent of Petit Ballon and injured his knee. After receiving medical treatment and a new bike, Alberto was determined to get back on the bike and quickly continued in an attempt to close the gap to the peloton.
'Tinkoff-Saxo's attempt to bring Alberto back in the peloton was made difficult by the mountainous terrain and the high speed up front. After 20 kilometres of chasing Alberto was not able to pedal and abandoned the race due to his knee injury.'
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