Le Tour - Stage 11

Well how do you like that my prediction that Robbie Hunter would take the stage turned out to be correct after all.

In something of a surprise the peloton seemed reluctant to let any break get away and kept the pace pretty high. Eventually a small break was able to make it off the front until the Astana boys revved it up so high that the peloton split. The big losers turned out to be Zabel, Hushovd, and Moreau who couldn't keep up and may have burned up too much energy today trying, unsuccessfully, to catch back onto the main group.

Meanwhile Quickstep helped keep the pace high to stop any attacks from the peloton (Vino tried his luck with 4k to go to no avail) in hopes of getting another stage from Boonen. Unfortunately my boy got caught up in a crash with less than 1km to go and ended up out of the points chase.

From there Hunter was able to hold off Cancellera for the stage win and more proof that Barloworld was worth the invite. The win also puts him ahead of Zabel into second place for the Green Jersey.

General Classification After Stage 11
1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 53.11.38
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 2.35
3 Iban Mayo Diez (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 2.39
4 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 2.41
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.08
6 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC 3.39
7 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 3.50
8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3.53
9 Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile Team 5.06
10 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 5.20


Points Classification
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quickstep - Innergetic 160 pts
2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Barloworld 149
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 144
4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 110
5 Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Française des Jeux 108