STAGE 21 – HTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish crowned his first ever points jersey win in the Tour de France with a third straight victory on the Champs Elysées. The Manxman took his fifth sprint win of the 2011 race at the end of a ninety-five kilometer stage from Creteil to Paris, blasting ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway and Germany’s Andre Greipel.
Cav makes history for Britain , first rider to win the Points jersey in the Tour de France — Photo: Credit John Pierce/PhotoSport International UK USA Asia
The first British rider ever to win the points jersey, Cavendish said afterwards there could not have been a better way to round off his battle for green than with the twentieth stage win of his career in the Tour de France. “I finally got it, but it didn’t come easy,” Cavendish said, “I really had to fight for it all the way to the last finish line and I’m very tired, but it was worth all that effort.”
“I had eight fantastic team-mates around me all the way, they kept working with me, I was close to getting it for the last two years and now it’s finally here.” “I’m so happy, it’s incredible. It’s a great way to finish the Tour and a super, super emotional day.” HTC-Highroad completed the 2011 Tour de France as the team with the most victories; five for Cavendish and one on Saturday for Germany’s Tony Martin.
The day however belonged to Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team who confirmed his place in Tour de France history Sunday by becoming the first Australian to win the world’s greatest bicycle race. After crossing the finish line in Paris, Evans was swamped by all eight of his teammates who completed the three-week, 3,430-kilometer race. Thirty years after fellow Australian Phil Anderson first wore the yellow jersey, Evans celebrated his first win in seven Tour de France appearances. “A few people always believed in me,” Evans said. “I believed in me. And those few people and my team and the few people around me and myself are what matter most. We did it. I also have to thank all our fans, especially those who stayed up late to watch in Australia.”
Cadel Evans meanwhile makes history by being the first Australian to win the Tour de France. Photo: Credit John Pierce/PhotoSport International UK USA Asia
Interview with Cadel: http://www.bmc-racing.com/fileadmin/files/media/team/audioline/2011/TdF2011Stage21EvansFinishLine.mp3
Time Trial Was The Highlight – Evans took the lead on the penultimate day by overcoming a 57-second deficit to Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) in the 42 km individual time trial in Grenoble. Schleck finished second overall, 1:34 behind Evans’s winning time of 86 hours, 12 minutes and 22 seconds. “For me personally, the real highlight of it all was the last three or four kilometers of the time trial,” Evans said. “The hardest part had been done until that point and coming into that finish I knew we were on the right track so that was just incredible. For once the last four km of a time trial wasn’t that hard.”
By winning three of five stage races he has started this season, Evans regained the UCI WorldTour No. 1 ranking he briefly held after winning Tirreno-Adriatico. He also won the Tour de Romandie and was runner-up at the Critérium du Dauphiné. His Tour win also elevates the BMC Racing Team to No. 2 (behind Leopard Trek) in the team classification of the UCI WorldTour rankings. Joining him on the Tour de France team were Brent Bookwalter (USA), Marcus Burghardt (GER), Hincapie (USA), Amaël Moinard (FRA), Steve Morabito (SUI), Manuel Quinziato (ITA), Ivan Santaromita (ITA) and Michael Schär (SUI). BMC Racing Team Directeur Sportif John Lelangue was assisted in the race by Assistant Director Fabio Baldato.
Team Sky meanwhile came away with two stages and a second for Boasson-Hagen in Paris. Edvald Boasson Hagen so nearly gave Team Sky the perfect finish to the Tour de France as he was narrowly denied victory on the final stage by Mark Cavendish.
Dave Brailsford, “I’m very happy with the performance. We had a major setback when Bradley (Wiggins) crashed out but the reaction of the team since that has been absolutely fantastic. Edvald’s obviously won two stages, was second again today and the team have been in nearly all the moves, they’ve been aggressive and I’m very, very proud of the way they regrouped and refocused. The nice thing about Team Sky at the moment is that there’s a group of young riders who are super-talented and get on well and it’s going to be fantastic watching them develop over the coming years.”
Geraint Thomas “We’ve been aggressive, we’ve attacked and we’ve got in the breaks. “Eddie got two wins and we’ve kept good morale the whole way through and really enjoyed it. I’m on my knees now though, it’s been two days too many for me! But there’s nothing better than coming here to Paris and finishing the race, it’s a massive buzz. It’s almost like winning a race when you do the laps around here and the support we’ve had has been amazing.”
appens tomorrow.â€
Previous Stages
STAGE 1 | STAGE 2 | STAGE 3 | STAGE 4 |Â Â STAGE 5 | STAGE 6 | STAGE 7 | STAGE 8 | STAGE 9 | STAGE 10 |
| STAGE 11 | STAGE 12 | STAGE 13 | STAGE 14 | STAGE 15 | STAGE 16 | STAGE 17 | STAGE 18 | STAGE 19 | STAGE 20 |
Results Stage 20 – 42 km Time Trial
RESULTS – STAGE 21
1    Mark Cavendish HTC-Highroad    2:27:02
2 Â Â Â Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling
3    André Greipel Omega Pharma-Lotto
4    Tyler Farrar Team Garmin-Cervelo
5    Fabian Cancellara Leopard Trek
6    Daniel Oss Liquigas-Cannondale
7    Borut Bozic Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
8    Tomas Vaitkus Pro Team Astana
9    Gerald Ciolek Quickstep Cycling Team
10    Jimmy Engoulvent Saur – Sojasun
56    Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team
63    Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling
146    Ben Swift Sky Procycling
158    David Millar Team Garmin-Cervelo
Sprint 1 – Paris, 59.5km
1    Kristijan Koren Liquigas-Cannondale    20     pts
6    Ben Swift Sky Procycling    10
7    Mark Cavendish HTC-Highroad    9
FINAL OVERALL
1    Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team    86:12:22
2    Andy Schleck Leopard Trek    0:01:34
3    Fränk Schleck  Leopard Trek    0:02:30
4    Thomas Voeckler  Team Europcar    0:03:20
5    Alberto Contador Saxo Bank Sungard    0:03:57
6    Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel-Euskadi    0:04:55
7    Damiano Cunego Lampre – ISD    0:06:05
8    Ivan Basso Liquigas-Cannondale    0:07:23
9    Thomas Danielson Team Garmin-Cervelo    0:08:15
10    Jean-Christophe Peraud ( AG2R La Mondiale    0:10:11
Other key riders
26    Nicolas Roche AG2R La Mondiale    0:46:23
31    Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling    1:00:48
44    Tony Martin HTC-Highroad    1:30:56
53    Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling    1:44:39
68    Thor Hushovd Team Garmin-Cervelo    2:03:15
74    Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team    2:11:51
76    David Millar Team Garmin-Cervelo    2:14:56
119    Fabian Cancellara Leopard Trek    3:07:31
130    Mark Cavendish HTC-Highroad    3:15:05
137    Ben Swift Sky Procycling    3:18:07
Points classification
1    Mark Cavendish HTC-Highroad    334     pts
2    Jose Joaquin Rojas Movistar Team    272
3    Philippe Gilbert Omega Pharma-Lotto    236
4    Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team    208
5    Thor Hushovd Team Garmin-Cervelo    195
6    Edvald Boasson Hagen Sky Procycling    192
Mountains classification
1    Samuel Sanchez Euskaltel-Euskadi    108     pts
2    Andy Schleck Leopard Trek    98
3    Jelle Vanendert Omega Pharma-Lotto    74
4    Cadel Evans BMC Racing Team    58
10    Johnny Hoogerland Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team    40
Best young rider classification
1    Pierre Rolland Team Europcar    86:23:05
7    Geraint Thomas Sky Procycling    0:50:05
30    Ben Swift Sky Procycling    3:07:24
Teams classification
1    Team Garmin – Cervelo    258:18:49
6    Sky Procycling    0:58:24
