| 2011 UCI World Tour, race 21 of 27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 20 August – 11 September | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,300 km (2,051 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 84h 59' 44" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2011 Vuelta a España was held from 20 August to 11 September. The bicycle race began inBenidorm with a team time trial and ended, as is traditional, inMadrid. The 2011 Vuelta was the 66th edition ofthe race and was the first Vuelta in 33 years that visited theBasque Country. The 33-year absence from the region was due to fear ofpolitical protests.[1]
Commentators claimed that it was a race well suited for climbers due to the short time trials and the large number of climbing kilometres. Nine of the twenty-one stages were ranked as Mountain stages, and six of them had a mountain-top finish (including the very steep uphill finish on theAlto de L'Angliru). Two other stages had steep uphill finishes, both of which were won byKatusha leaderJoaquim Rodríguez.[2]
This Vuelta saw the introduction of a combativity award, much like that in theTour de France. The most combative rider in each stage was awarded a red back number which he wore for the next stage.
The victory was originally awarded toJuan José Cobo who had a race-winning margin of just 13 seconds over BritonChris Froome.[3] Neither rider had been marked as a pre-race favourite, and both had gone to the Vuelta asdomestiques for their team leaders: Cobo forDenis Menchov, and Froome forBradley Wiggins; their team leaders originally finished 5th and 3rd respectively. The race was the first time that two Britons had stood on the podium of a Grand Tour, and Froome's second-place finish was, at the time, the best result in a Grand Tour by a British rider, until Wiggins won theTour de France the following year. Cobo also won the Combination Classification. The King of the Mountains competition was won for the fourth consecutive time by FrenchmanDavid Moncoutié.[4] The points classification was won by Dutch riderBauke Mollema who finished 4th overall.
On 13 June 2019, the sport's governing body, theUnion Cycliste International (UCI), announced that Cobo had been found guilty of an anti-doping violation, according to findings from hisbiological passport. As a result, the UCI penalised him with a three-year period of ineligibility. Cobo was officially stripped of the title on 18 June 2019.[5] On 17 July 2019, as the time for Cobo to appeal the decision expired with no application, the UCI announced it recognisedChris Froome as the 2011 champion, making him retroactively the first Briton to win a Grand Tour. Froome was also promoted to the winning position in the combination classification. Wiggins was promoted to runner-up, his second promotion on a Grand Tour podium due to doping, and Mollema was promoted to the podium in third.[6]
Froome, who had in the intervening time finally won the2017 Vuelta a España, 'on the road', officially received the 2011 winner's trophy at the start of the final stage of the 2020 edition on 8 November 2020.[7]
The 18 teams in theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI)Proteam category were obliged to enter the race. FourUCI Professional Continental teams were also invited.[8]
The full list of participating teams is:
†: Invited Pro-continental teams.
2010 winnerVincenzo Nibali came to defend his Vuelta title and was seen as the favourite due to the better time-trial skills than climbers asIgor Antón,Joaquim Rodríguez andMichele Scarponi. Anton was regarded as the strongest climber in the 2010 race[by whom?], but due to a crash he had to withdraw from the race.Ezequiel Mosquera did not start the race, the 2010 runner-up being suspended from racing by his teamVacansoleil–DCM due to an ongoing doping investigation.[9]
Two other Grand Tour winners in the Vuelta peloton wereCarlos Sastre (winner of the2008 Tour de France) andDenis Menchov (two-time winner of the Vuelta and winner of the2009 Giro d'Italia). Both riders of theGeox–TMC team were looking for better results after disappointing Giro campaigns. Sastre finished in thirtieth place, while Menchov finished eighth. Menchov had allergies and physical problems at the Giro d'Italia and was looking for a third Vuelta win. The Russian could count on one of the best team supports in the mountains with climbers as Sastre,Juan José Cobo andFabio Duarte.[10]
Other favourites for the podium had had a disappointing Tour de France and were looking to improve in the Vuelta.Janez Brajkovič,Bradley Wiggins andJurgen van den Broeck crashed out of the Tour in the first week whileAndreas Klöden withdrew from the race a week later, also due to injuries of a crash. Wiggins showed good form before the Tour and was seen as a podium candidate for the Tour. His accomplished time-trialling, together with his improved climbing skills, made him a favourite for the Vuelta victory.[11]
Among the top ten contenders were several promising talents, includingDan Martin (winner of the2010 Tour de Pologne, runner up of the 2011 Tour de Pologne and third overall at the2011 Volta a Catalunya),Steven Kruijswijk (ninth in the2011 Giro, third overall and a mountain stage win at the2011 Tour de Suisse),Bauke Mollema (twelfth at the2010 Giro d'Italia and fifth overall at the2011 Tour de Suisse) andRein Taaramäe (twelfth at the2011 Tour de France, third overall at the 2011Critérium International and fourth overall at the 2011Paris–Nice. Other contenders for the top ten were Garmin's co-leaderChristophe Le Mével and Ag2R'sNicolas Roche.[12][13]
The full route for the 2011 Vuelta was unveiled in Benidorm on January 12, 2011. The climbers immediately liked the route of the race with six mountain stages with uphill finishes and another two flat stages with steep uphill finishes.[14] Among the uphill finishes were the infamousAlto de L'Angliru and the climb to theSierra Nevada. Two finishes were on climbs that have never been featured in the Vuelta before. These are to Estacion de Montaña Manzaneda in Galicia on stage 11 and La Farrapona in the Asturias region on stage 14. Olympic Road ChampionSamuel Sánchez pointed out that the lack of Time Trial kilometres make the race very interesting because there are not enough of them for GC riders with good time trialing ability to take advantage for the variety of mountain stages.
It was the first Vuelta since 33 years that visited theBasque Country. The 33-year absence of the region was due to fear ofpolitical protests. Separatists of the Basque Country were unhappy with the return of the Vuelta and calling the coming of the Vuelta 'A Waste of Money'.[15] Although the criticism of several Separatists on the route of this year, the organizers of the Vuelta announced on 8 September that the 2012 event will start in the Navarrese city ofPamplona.
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 August | Benidorm | 13.5 km (8.4 mi) |  | Team time trial | Leopard Trek | |
| 2 | 21 August | La Nucía to Playas deOrihuela | 175.5 km (109 mi) |  | Flat stage |  Christopher Sutton (AUS) | |
| 3 | 22 August | Petrer toTotana | 163 km (101 mi) | | Flat stage |  Pablo Lastras (ESP) | |
| 4 | 23 August | Baza toSierra Nevada | 170.2 km (105.8 mi) |  | Mountain stage | Daniel Moreno (ESP) | |
| 5 | 24 August | Sierra Nevada toValdepeñas de Jaén | 187 km (116 mi) |  | Medium mountain stage | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) | |
| 6 | 25 August | Úbeda toCórdoba | 196.8 km (122 mi) | | Medium mountain stage |  Peter Sagan (SVK) | |
| 7 | 26 August | Almadén toTalavera de la Reina | 187.6 km (116.6 mi) | | Flat stage |  Marcel Kittel (GER) | |
| 8 | 27 August | Talavera de la Reina toSan Lorenzo de El Escorial | 177.3 km (110.2 mi) | | Medium mountain stage | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) | |
| 9 | 28 August | Villacastín toSierra de BejarLa Covatilla | 183 km (114 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Dan Martin (IRL) | |
| 10 | 29 August | Salamanca | 47 km (29.2 mi) | | Individual time trial | Tony Martin (GER) | |
| 30 August | Rest day | ||||||
| 11 | 31 August | Verín toEstación de Esquí Manzaneda | 167 km (104 mi) | | Mountain stage |  David Moncoutié (FRA) | |
| 12 | 1 September | Ponteareas toPontevedra | 167.3 km (104.0 mi) | | Flat stage | Peter Sagan (SVK) | |
| 13 | 2 September | Sarria toPonferrada | 158.2 km (98.3 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Michael Albasini (SUI) | |
| 14 | 3 September | Astorga toLa Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo | 172.8 km (107.4 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Rein Taaramäe (EST) | |
| 15 | 4 September | Avilés toAngliru | 142.2 km (88.4 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Wout Poels (NED)[16] | |
| 5 September | Rest day | ||||||
| 16 | 6 September | Villa Romana La Olmeda (Palencia) toHaro | 188.1 km (116.9 mi) | | Flat stage |  Juan José Haedo (ARG) | |
| 17 | 7 September | Faustino V (Oyón) toPeña Cabarga | 211 km (131 mi) | | Mountain stage |  Chris Froome (GBR) | |
| 18 | 8 September | Solares toNoja | 174.6 km (108.5 mi) | | Medium mountain stage |  Francesco Gavazzi (ITA) | |
| 19 | 9 September | Noja toBilbao | 158.5 km (98.5 mi) | | Medium mountain stage | Igor Antón (ESP) | |
| 20 | 10 September | Bilbao toVitoria-Gasteiz | 185 km (115.0 mi) | | Medium mountain stage | Daniele Bennati (ITA) | |
| 21 | 11 September | Circuito del Jarama toMadrid | 94.2 km (58.5 mi) | | Flat stage | Peter Sagan (SVK) | |
| Total | 3319.8 km (2062.8 mi) | ||||||
For details see2011 Vuelta a España, Stage 1 to Stage 11 and2011 Vuelta a España, Stage 12 to Stage 21
The Vuelta began with ateam time trial inBenidorm. TheLeopard Trek squad won this stage. Danish General Classification contenderJakob Fuglsang passed the finish line as first and was the first cyclist to wear the red leaders jersey.[17] Fuglsang lost the leaders jersey after just one day to team-mateDaniele Bennati in a sprinter's stage which was won byChristopher Sutton ofTeam Sky.[18]
Stage 3 saw the first victory out of a break-away. Out of this break-away it wasPablo Lastras (Movistar Team) who attacked on the last climb and held a small margin until the finish line inTotana. Runner-up of the stage,Sylvain Chavanel (Quick-Step), was the third cyclist who was awarded the red leaders jersey.[19]
No serious attacks were made by the GC contenders on the first mountain stage of the Vuelta. On the climb to theSierra Nevada it wasDaniel Moreno (Team Katusha) who attacked withChris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank–SunGard) and who beat the Danish climber in the sprint. Chavanel was the first rider who was awarded the leaders jersey two days in a row.[20]
Igor Antón (Euskaltel–Euskadi) won in the2009 Vuelta a España the stage on the steep ascend ofValdepeñas de Jaén. The Basque lost much time on stage 4 and showed no good form in the Vuelta.[21] He couldn't repeat his stage victory.Joaquim Rodríguez (Team Katusha), a specialist on very steep hills, won the stage before the surprisingly strong DutchmanWout Poels (Vacansoleil–DCM) and team-mate Daniel Moreno. Leader Chavanel lost several seconds but managed to keep the lead in the race.[22]
The Liquigas team ofVincenzo Nibali rode a strong descent in the final of stage 6 and managed to form a small break-away with four Liquigas riders and former stage winner Lastras. From the four Liquigas ridersPeter Sagan took his first Grand-Tour victory. Nibali failed to gain bonification seconds due to miscommunication within the team. The 2010 winner took sixteen seconds on his direct concurrents for the overall victory.[23] The next day Sagan sprinted again for the stage victory but couldn't beat German talentMarcel Kittel (Skil–Shimano) in a sprint which was characterized by a huge crash of American sprinterTyler Farrar (Garmin–Cervélo) in which he didn't suffer any serious injuries.[24]
On 13 June 2019, the UCI announced that Cobo'sbiological passport had indicated the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the period between 2009 and 2011. He was therefore considered ineligible for results. Cobo had one month to lodge an appeal against the decision.[25] On 17 July 2019, as the time for Cobo to appeal the decision expired with no application, the UCI announced that it recognisedChris Froome as the 2011 champion.Bradley Wiggins was promoted to second place, andBauke Mollema promoted to third.[6]
| Rider | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juan José Cobo (ESP) | 84:59:31 | ||
| 1 | Chris Froome (GBR)  | Team Sky | 84:59:44 |
| 2 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | Team Sky | + 1' 26" |
| 3 | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Rabobank | + 1' 50" |
| 4 |  Denis Menchov (RUS) | Geox–TMC | + 3' 35" |
| 5 |  Maxime Monfort (BEL) | Leopard Trek | + 4' 00" |
| 6 | Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 4' 18" |
| 7 | Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL) | Omega Pharma–Lotto | + 4' 32" |
| 8 | Daniel Moreno (ESP) | Team Katusha | + 5' 07" |
| 9 | Mikel Nieve (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 5' 20" |
| Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Rabobank | 122 |
| 2 | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) | Team Katusha | 115 |
| 3 | Daniele Bennati (ITA) | Leopard Trek | 101 |
| 4 | Peter Sagan (SVK) | Liquigas–Cannondale | 100 |
| DSQ | Juan José Cobo (ESP) | ||
| 5 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Team Sky | 88 |
| 6 | Daniel Moreno (ESP) | Team Katusha | 83 |
| 7 | Wout Poels (NED) | Vacansoleil–DCM | 71 |
| 8 | Dan Martin (IRL) | Garmin–Cervélo | 70 |
| 9 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | Team Sky | 69 |
| Rider | Team | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Moncoutié (FRA) | Cofidis | 63 |
| 2 | Matteo Montaguti (ITA) | Ag2r–La Mondiale | 56 |
| DSQ | Juan José Cobo (ESP) | ||
| 3 | Dan Martin (IRL) | Garmin–Cervélo | 33 |
| 4 | Daniel Moreno (ESP) | Team Katusha | 32 |
| 5 | David de la Fuente (ESP) | Geox–TMC | 24 |
| 6 | Nico Sijmens (BEL) | Cofidis | 22 |
| 7 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Team Sky | 21 |
| 8 |  Chris Anker Sørensen (DEN) | Saxo Bank–SunGard | 20 |
| 9 | Koen de Kort (NED) | Skil–Shimano | 19 |
| Rider | Team | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSQ | Juan José Cobo (ESP) | ||
| 1 | Chris Froome (GBR) | Team Sky | 16 |
| 2 | Bauke Mollema (NED) | Rabobank | 17 |
| 3 | Daniel Moreno (ESP) | Team Katusha | 21 |
| 4 | Dan Martin (IRL) | Garmin–Cervélo | 26 |
| 5 | Wout Poels (NED) | Vacansoleil–DCM | 38 |
| 6 | Bradley Wiggins (GBR) | Team Sky | 39 |
| 7 | Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) | Team Katusha | 48 |
| 8 | Chris Anker Sørensen (DEN) | Saxo Bank–SunGard | 51 |
| 9 | Denis Menchov (RUS) | Geox–TMC | 52 |
| Pos. | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Geox–TMC | 254h 32′ 28" |
| 2 |  Leopard Trek | + 10′ 19" |
| 3 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 16′ 44" |
| 4 | Team Katusha | + 43' 18" |
| 5 | Ag2r–La Mondiale | + 43′ 27″ |
| 6 | Rabobank | + 54′ 32″ |
| 7 |  Astana | + 58′ 56″ |
| 8 | Liquigas–Cannondale | + 1h 01′ 51" |
| 9 | Movistar Team | + 1h 05′ 11″ |
| 10 | Team Sky | + 1h 09′ 45″ |
The UCI disqualified Juan José Cobo andCarlos Barredo from the race. If you ignore them in the daily results, Geox–TMC would drop to 3rd place, Rabobank would end up 13th, and Team RadioShack would be 10th.
The Vuelta was one of 27 events throughout the season that contributed points towards the2011 UCI World Tour. Points were awarded to the top 20 finishers overall, and to the top five finishers in each stage. Only riders on UCI ProTour teams were eligible to receive rankings points, so winner Juan Cobo was not rewarded in this table.[26]
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