The 46th long-distance bike ride Tirreno – Adriatico took place from March 9th to 15th, 2011. It was part of the UCI World Tour 2011 and within this the third race after the Tour Down Under and the long-distance Paris – Nice trip , which overlapped with Tirreno – Adriatico. The total distance of the race was 1075 kilometers.
The route was presented to the public on February 9, 2011.
For the first time, a 16.8 kilometer team time trial took place at the “Race between the Seas” , which opened the race. The following two stages were completed in largely flat terrain. On the fourth and fifth stages, which at 240 kilometers were also the longest of the race, hilly sections were also passed, on the fifth section including the Sasso Tetto . The overall ranking was finally decided on the last day with an individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto . But also the penultimate part of the day awaited with an incline towards the goal.
After the somewhat surprising victory of the Rabobank team in the team time trial, the American Tyler Farrar showed his sprint strength and won the blue jersey with a stage win and a second place. Foreman was his world champion Thor Hushovd . When it went to Abruzzo, Gesink took the lead, but due to a small weakness on the fifth stage, Evans took over the overall lead and consolidated it with his victory of the day. Last year's runner-up Michele Scarponi and Damiano Cunego from Lampre-ISD showed themselves to be strong on the climbs . Because of her time trial weakness, that was not enough to beat the strong Evans. Last year's winner Stefano Garzelli , who was not at the forefront either in the uphill terrain or in the time trial, played no role . It was also surprising that Ivan Basso lost time and places in the short final time trial. In the time trial, on the other hand, not only winner Fabian Cancellara showed his class, but also Robert Gesink , who had already won the time trial of the Tour of Oman in 2011 . The blue jersey was won by the Australian Evans, who, as in the previous year, showed good early form as third in the race.