Tour of Catalonia 2011

Tour of Catalonia 2011
Host country	Spain
Competition period	March 21-27, 2011
Stages	7 stages
overall length	1,200 kilometers
Starting field	192 in 24 teams (of which 153 arrived at the finish)
winner
Overall rating	1. Alberto Contador 23:59:37 h 2. Michele Scarponi + 0:23 3. Daniel Martin + 0:35
Team evaluation	Team RadioShack 67:27:34 h
Scoring jerseys
Overall rating	Alberto Contador
Sprint scoring	Rubén Pérez
Mountain scoring	Nairo Quintana
Best Catalan driver	Xavier Tondo
course
← 2010	2012 →

The 91st Cycling Tour of Catalonia (officially: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya ) took place from March 21 to 27, 2011. The stage race is part of the UCI World Tour 2011 and within this the fifth race. The total distance of the race was approximately 1200 kilometers.

The participants

ProTeams Quickstep Omega Pharma Lotto Saxo Bank SunGard ag2r La Mondiale Lampre ISD Liquigas-Cannondale	Pro team Astana Leopard Trek Rabobank Vacansoleil DCM Katyusha Euskaltel-Euskadi	Movistar team Sky ProCycling BMC Racing Team Garmin-Cervélo HTC highroad Team RadioShack
Professional Continental Teams Caja Rural Andalucía Caja Granada Geox-TMC	Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne Colombia es Pasión-Café de Colombia CCC Polsat Polkowice

The 18 ProTeams and the five Professional Continental Teams Caja Rural , Andalucía Caja Granada and Geox-TMC from Spain as well as Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne , Colombia es Pasión-Café de Colombia and CCC Polsat Polkowice , who received a wildcard from the organizer, were entitled to start. Last year's winner Joaquim Rodríguez cannot start because of an injury . The three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador was the favorite to win . Cadel Evans , who had previously won Tirreno-Adriatico , Denis Menschow and Carlos Sastre from Geox-TMC and other Spaniards such as Haimar Zubeldia , Xavier Tondo and Igor Antón were classified as competitors for the overall victory . The Estonian Rein Taaramae from Cofidis and the Italian Michele Scarponi also had a chance of a top placement . Linus Gerdemann started the race as the most promising German .

The stages

There will be no time trial for the hundredth staging of the third oldest stage race in cycling. The tour begins with a hilly circuit in Lloret de Mar . The second stage comes up with a mountain of the first category, but the final is flat. The king's section of the “Volta” takes place on the third day, when five mountain classifications including the final ascent of the honor category up to Andorra are passed. The three following stages have an undulating to hilly profile before the tour of Catalonia ends with a circuit in Barcelona .

Stage overview

stage	Day	Start finish	km	Type	Stage winner	White-green jersey
1st stage	March 21st	Lloret de Mar - Lloret de Mar	167		Gatis Smukulis	Gatis Smukulis
2nd stage	March 22	Santa Coloma de Faners - Banyoles	169		Alessandro Petacchi
3rd stage	March 23	La Vall d'en Bas - Andorra	183		Alberto Contador	Alberto Contador
4th stage	March 24th	La Seu d'Urgell - El Vendrell	195		Manuel Cardoso
5th stage	25th March	El Vendrell - Tarragona	205		Samuel Dumoulin
6th stage	26th of March	Tarragona - Mollet del Vallès	184		José Joaquín Rojas
7th stage	27th of March	Parets del Vallès - Barcelona	124		Samuel Dumoulin

1st stage, Lloret de Mar

Result 1st stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Gatis Smukulis		HTC highroad	4:08:48 h
2.	Alessandro Petacchi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:28
3.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	+ 0:28
4th	Rigoberto Urán		Sky ProCycling	+ 0:28
5.	Jan Bakelants		Omega Pharma Lotto	+ 0:28

Overall ranking after the 1st stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Gatis Smukulis		HTC highroad	4:08:48 h
2.	Alessandro Petacchi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:28
3.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	+ 0:28
4th	Rigoberto Urán		Sky ProCycling	+ 0:28
5.	Jan Bakelants		Omega Pharma Lotto	+ 0:28

2nd stage, Santa Coloma de Faners - Banyoles

Result 2nd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alessandro Petacchi		Lampre ISD	4:11:08 h
2.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	same time
3.	Manuel Cardoso		Team RadioShack	same time
4th	Samuel Dumoulin		Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne	same time
5.	Aitor Galdós		Caja Rural	same time

Overall ranking after the 2nd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Gatis Smukulis		HTC highroad	4:08:48 h
2.	Alessandro Petacchi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:28
3.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	+ 0:28
4th	Jan Bakelants		Omega Pharma Lotto	+ 0:28
5.	Thomas Peterson		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:28

3rd stage, La Vall d'en Bas - Andorra (Vallnord)

Result 3rd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	4:45:31 h
2.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
3.	Levi Leipheimer		Team RadioShack	+ 0:23
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
5.	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	+ 0:35

Overall ranking after the 3rd stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	4:45:31 h
2.	Levi Leipheimer		Team RadioShack	+ 0:23
3.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
5.	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	+ 0:35

4th stage, La Seu d'Urgell - El Vendrell

Result 4th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Manuel Cardoso		Team RadioShack	4:33:02 h
2.	Giacomo Nizzolo		Leopard Trek	same time
3.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	same time
4th	Aitor Galdós		Caja Rural	same time
5.	František Raboň		HTC highroad	same time

Overall ranking after the 4th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	4:45:31 h
2.	Levi Leipheimer		Team RadioShack	+ 0:23
3.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
5.	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	+ 0:35

5th stage, El Vendrell - Tarragona

Result 5th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Samuel Dumoulin		Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne	4:49:00 h
2.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	same time
3.	Rubén Pérez		Euskaltel-Euskadi	same time
4th	Aitor Galdós		Caja Rural	same time
5.	Michał Gołaś		Vacansoleil DCM	same time

Overall ranking after the 5th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	4:45:31 h
2.	Levi Leipheimer		Team RadioShack	+ 0:23
3.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
5.	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	+ 0:35

6th stage, Tarragona - Mollet del Vallès

Result 6th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	04:22:19 h
2.	Manuel Cardoso		Team RadioShack	same time
3.	Samuel Dumoulin		Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne	same time
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	same time
5.	Diego Milán		Caja Rural	same time

Overall ranking after the 6th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	4:45:31 h
2.	Levi Leipheimer		Team RadioShack	+ 0:23
3.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
4th	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
5.	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	+ 0:35

7th stage, Parets del Vallès - Barcelona

Result 7th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Samuel Dumoulin		Cofidis, le Crédit en Ligne	02:33:55 h
2.	Rigoberto Urán		Sky ProCycling	same time
3.	Kenny Dehaes		Omega Pharma Lotto	same time
4th	José Joaquín Rojas Gil		Movistar team	same time
5.	Manuel Cardoso		Team RadioShack	same time

Overall ranking after the 7th stage

	driver	nation	team	time
1.	Alberto Contador		Saxo Bank SunGard	23:59:37 h
2.	Michele Scarponi		Lampre ISD	+ 0:23
3.	Daniel Martin		Team Garmin-Cervélo	+ 0:35
4th	Christopher Horner		Team RadioShack	same time
5.	Rigoberto Urán		Sky ProCycling	+ 0:38

Ratings in the course of the tour

The table shows the leader in the respective classification after the respective stage.

stage	Overall rating	Sprint scoring	Mountain scoring	Evaluation of the Catalan drivers	Team evaluation
1	Gatis Smukulis	Ben Gastauer	Gatis Smukulis	Josep Jufré	HTC highroad
2		Rubén Pérez	Julián Sánchez
3	Alberto Contador		Alberto Contador	Xavier Tondo	Team RadioShack
4th
5			Nairo Quintana
6th
7th

Final score

Alberto Contador was able to win his second tour in 2011 after the Murcia tour , but was subsequently disqualified for doping . On the royal stage to Andorra , the green and white jersey of the overall leader secured himself, which he no longer surrendered. The other stages were decided by sprints of a large group, here Samuel Dumoulin was successful with two daily victories. Also José Joaquín Rojas drove consistently out front stage ranks.

See also

• Catalonia

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Press release International Sports Court : Alberto Contador found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): suspension of two years ( memento dated November 2 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English, PDF; 187 kB). tas-cas.org, February 6, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.