The 85th Tour of Belgium was a cycling stage race that took place from May 25 to 29, 2011. It was held in five stages over a distance of 727.3 kilometers and was part of the UCI Europe Tour 2011 in the 2nd HC category .
The race started with a 5.6 kilometer prologue time trial in Buggenhout near the town of Dendermonde .
The flat first section led over 162 kilometers from Lochristi to the Knokke-Heist on the coast . On the 188 kilometer long third day, the first hills were on the program. On the way to Ypres , a final lap that included three mountain ratings, including the Kemmelberg known from Gent – Wevelgem , had to be tackled twice.
The following fourth section was the longest of the tour with 202 kilometers. During the journey from Bertem to Eupen , the famous wall of Huy, the finish ascent of the one-day race Wallonia Arrow , as well as the Côte de Filot, Côte de Werbomont or the Col de Stockeu, all part of the classic Liège – Bastogne – Liège , had to be climbed . A total of ten mountain ratings were distributed over the route, and the home straight was also uphill.
The race ended with a flat day from Oreye to Putte .
The Dutchman Lieuwe Westra from Vacansoleil-DCM won the prologue just a second ahead of Philippe Gilbert and took over the black jersey of the leader. In the second section, the German André Greipel from the Belgian Omega Pharma-Lotto team celebrated his fourth win of the season in the mass sprint and took the overall lead thanks to the time bonus for the stage winner. The next day, however, he could not intervene in the fight for the day's victory, because the Lithuanian new professional Aidis Kruopis ( Landbouwkrediet ) could not be beaten. Greipel's team-mate Gilbert also took over the overall standings because he won time bonuses in the intermediate sprints.
On the queen stage Gilbert then prevailed in the sprint against van Avermaet and Leukemans and was able to extend his overall lead. In this order, the three drivers also occupied the places on the final podium, because on the last section there was another mass sprint that André Greipel was able to make victorious. With this, the German also secured the points classification.
Ratings in the course of the race
There were three intermediate sprints on each stage, which were decisive for the sprint ranking (blue jersey). The scoring was made up of the counters awarded at the finish of each stage.
The table shows the leader in the respective classification after the respective stage.
Belgium
Scoring
André Greipel
Sprint scoring
Young talent evaluation
Pim Ligthart
Aidis Kruopis
