Frenchman Pierre Rolland claimed an epic 11th stage victory on the Tour de France Thursday as race leader Bradley Wiggins of Britain took another step towards overall victory.
Rolland soloed over the finish line after an epic day of racing to claim his second victory in the race a year after his maiden win at Alpe d’Huez to hand Europcar their second win in as many days.
The yellow jersey group of Wiggins came over the finish line of the 148 km stage from Albertville 57sec later. It included Italian contender Vincenzo Nibali and Belgian Jurgen van den Broeck.
Wiggins came under attack several times on the final 18km climb to La Toussuire – notably by Nibali and Van den Broeck.
But thanks to the help of Sky teammate Chris Froome the Englishman was ultimately able to reel them in and then drop defending champion Cadel Evans of Australia.
Evans, the 2011 champion, ran out of steam in the final kilometres of the climb to finish over a minute behind Wiggins and see his bid for a successful defence severely compromised.
Evans started the day in second place with a deficit of 1min 53sec to Wiggins but dropped to fourth overall at 3:19.
Wiggins now leads teammate Froome by 2:05, with Nibali third but still at 2:23 and Van den Broeck fifth at 4:48.
“It was another great day for the team,” said Wiggins. “It certainly lived up to its reputation as the hardest stage. Once Cadel had got dropped and we were in that little group the sense of relief was overwhelming really.
“Taking more time off Cadel, I don’t think we really expected that this morning.”
Although Evans’ chances of closing his gap to Wiggins now look slim as there are few mountain stages remaining in the race, his BMC teammate Tejay van Garderen — who looked stronger than his team leader — was defiant.
“He wasn’t on his best day... normally he would be ripping the legs off of me,” said the American, who defended his lead in the white jersey classification for the best placed riders aged 25 and under.
“All it would have taken was for Cadel to have the legs for that last push, but he didn’t have it.
“But he’ll shake it off and come back fighting. Nothing changes. We’ll all stand behind our leader.”
Baby duties
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara pulled out of the Tour de France before the 11th stage yesterday to be with his expectant wife, his RadioShack team announced.
Cancellara wore the yellow jersey for a week after winning the opening prologue on June 30, but with his wife expecting to give birth in the coming days the Swiss decided to end his campaign early.
“The decision to go back home is harder than you might expect,” said Cancellara in a team statement.
“I am not only a bike rider,” added the Swiss, a former four-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion in the time trial.
“I am also a husband and father with another baby on the way.
“It is my personal wish to be present when my wife Stefanie gives birth to our second child.”