The 9th stage of the Tour de France 2011 on July 10th led over 208 kilometers from Issoire to Saint-Flour . On the stage in the Massif Central there was a sprint classification and eight mountain classifications : three each in the 2nd and 3rd category and two in the 4th category. 187 of the 198 registered drivers started.
Lieuwe Westra and Pavel Brutt continued the first attack, which was followed by others. However, they were recaptured. Only one kilometer before the first mountain classification did a successful breakaway attempt, started by Thomas Voeckler , succeed . Voeckler was also the first to reach the summit, ahead of Johnny Hoogerland , while the field was being torn apart. Juan Antonio Flecha and Laurens ten Dam tried to catch up with Voeckler, but the latter fell back, while Hoogerland was able to catch up with the leaders. Luis León Sánchez , Sandy Casar and Niki Terpstra later caught up with the three front runners, after which their lead grew to over four minutes at times.
In the meantime, there were falls in the field, which resulted in Amets Txurruka and Pawel Brutt being abandoned , while Alberto Contador was able to continue the race. On the climb to the second peak, Terpstra lost touch with the top, while Voeckler won the mountain classification again before Hoogerland. In the descent there was a major fall, which led to the abandonment of Alexander Winokurow , Jurgen Van Den Broeck , Frederik Willems and David Zabriskie , as a result of which the outliers were able to pull away further and the lead increased to over seven minutes. In the next four mountain classifications, Hoogerland won ahead of Voeckler. Omega Pharma-Lotto and Leopard Trek then brought the field closer again.
After the sixth mountain classification, Flecha and Hoogerland were hit by an escort vehicle, whereupon Hoogerland was swept off the road, landed on a barbed wire fence and suffered deep cuts. But both were able to continue the race and were later voted among the most combative drivers. The tip, reduced to three drivers in this way, made up the intermediate sprint, with Casar being the first to cross the line. Behind Flecha, Philippe Gilbert took the next points. Voeckler then won the seventh mountain classification, while Sánchez won the day's victory and the eighth mountain classification.
Voeckler, who was best placed by the top group in the overall standings, secured the yellow jersey with the extended lead ahead of Sánchez and Cadel Evans , who finished with the next group, which also included Andy Schleck and Contador. Gilbert led this group to the finish line just under four minutes behind and finished fourth.
Mountain ratings
Côte de Massiac Category 3 after 43.5 km at 753 m 3.4 km at 6.2%
After the 9th stage, the prize for the most combative rider was given to two riders - Juan Antonio Flecha (SKY) and Johnny Hoogerland (VCD). They had been brought down by an escort vehicle in the leading group and reached the stage finish with injuries and a long way behind the eventual winner of the day, Sánchez.
^ Diary of the stage. (No longer available online.) July 10, 2011, archived from the original on July 13, 2011 ; Retrieved July 11, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.letour.fr
Alexander Vinokurov ( ATS ): task during the stage
Pawel Brutt ( KAT ): Task during the stage