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Tour de France Stage 11: Caleb Ewan wins in Poitiers, Peter Sagan relegated for dangerous sprinting (+ highlights)

Sam Bennett extends points lead after Slovakian rider was adjudged to have pushed Wout van Aert out of the way in hard-fought finish in Poitiers

Caleb Ewan of Lotto-Soudal, second to Deceuninck-Quick Step's Sam Bennett yesterday, came off the Irishman's wheel with perfect timing to win Stage 11 of the Tour de France in Poitiers today. Bora-Hansgrohe's Peter Sagan, who beat Bennett to second place by a hair's breadth, was subsequently relegated to last place in the group for dangerous sprinting.

In a hard-fought finish into a headwind on a 1.5km home straight at the end of the 167.5km stage from Chatelaillon-Plage, Sagan came up fast on the right-hand barriers, but nudged Jumbo-Visma's Wout Van Aert to make room to get past.

As a result, the Belgian was pushed to the left, which also resulted in Bennett, to his left, having to adjust his line slightly.

Earlier, the latter had picked up the maximum points remaining at the day's intermediate sprint after lone escapee Matthieu Ladagnous of Groupama-FDJ, the sole candidate for the day's combativity award, had passed at the head of the race.

Bennett had enjoyed a 21-point lead in the points competition this morning over Sagan, who is seeking a record eighth green jersey, and has now extended that to 68 points after the Slovak rider's relegation.

Jumbo-Visma's Primoz Roglic remains in the race leader's yellow jersey ahead of tomorrow's tricky-looking stage from Chauvigny to Sarran.

Reaction

Caleb Ewan on his second stage win of the race

It was such a crazy finish. I was in the front with 1.5km to go and dropped back because of the head wind. After my first stage win I knew I had to keep calm and wait for the right time and the gap to open. That happened quite late to the finish. I did a big throw on the line and didn’t know if I won. I had a real desire to win today. After yesterday I was disappointed and I am so happy to repay my teammates with the win.

I am super happy with my two stage wins. One just takes the pressure off. Then after the first one you always want a second. And now I for sure want a third victory, especially in Paris with the Champs-Élysées. So I hope to get through the mountains and get another chance in Paris.

With Lotto Soudal we are down to five guys. That means we only have four guys to do the work for me in the sprint stages. After the hard work during the stage I had to manage with two guys in the final 10km. The other teams put us under a lot of pressure with the attacks. But my two guys rode like ten guys. They did such a terrific job.”

My closest opponent Sam Bennett is one of my best friends. It is always business when it comes down to sprinting. But we are happy for each other when we win. I was very happy for him yesterday getting his first win. You saw how much it meant for him and I know how hard he worked for it.

Sam Bennett, leader of the points classification

The guys did a fantastic job looking after me and I got to enjoy another beautiful day in this nice jersey and get a lot of support and applause from the roadside fans.

The sprint was really nervous and I found myself in the front too early, so I drifted back a bit, but it was too late. Despite that, I tried to limit my losses and get the most out of it, get the best result I could.

Would have been nice to add another win, but second is still a strong result in these conditions, especially as it helps me increase my lead in the points standings.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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geomannie 531 | 3 years ago
5 likes

For goodness sake, please stop giving TDF results as headlines. Believe it or not, there are folk like me that want to watch the evening highlights without knowing the result. By all means report the results, but not as headlines where I can't avoid them.

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Hirsute replied to geomannie 531 | 3 years ago
11 likes

Here's a mad idea, don't come to the site before you have seen the highlights.
What exactly do you want a cycling site to report on?

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Gd29 replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
2 likes

I agree with both above comments.

I hate how road.cc puts results in headlines when they could convey an equally exciting headline encouraging click throughs without spelling out the results.

And yes I avoid looking at road.cc as much during races I care about...

I hope road.cc can change things so people can stop avoiding the site...

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Awavey replied to Gd29 | 3 years ago
4 likes

dont worry, just follow the Giro Rosa that starts this Friday instead, there wont be any headlines or stage results published about it

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geomannie 531 replied to Hirsute | 3 years ago
0 likes

I could, but it would be really simple for Road.cc to have a headline just sayin TDF latest. It's the in your face headline I object to.

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Kadinkski replied to geomannie 531 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Here we go. Every year there is at least one self-obsessed person that expects the news to be reported differently so as to fit around the way they happen to watch tv.

Here's a better idea....if you don't want to know what happened in a cycle race, don't visit a cycling news website. Simples.

 

 

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lesterama | 3 years ago
2 likes

Sagan's sprint was yet another example of why I'm no fan of his.

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AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
0 likes

Izagirre's crash looked bad, seemed to be a massive gash across his chest. 

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Zebulebu replied to AlsoSomniloquism | 3 years ago
1 like

Just waiting for the oH mY gOd DiSc BrAkEs ShUd Be BaNnEd brigade...

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Zebulebu | 3 years ago
1 like

Road sign wasn't it?

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