Tour de France Stage 11: A Day for Sprinters and a Horrible Air Conditioning Failure

The Tour de France had a sprint day on stage 11, maybe a chance for the riders in contention in the General Classification to recover. The race is an ordeal. This year, part of the ordeal was that two nights ago, several teams had to stay in substandard hotel rooms that were dirty and where the air conditioning failed. That was unfortunate, given the heat wave.

One of the most interesting things about this sprint stage was whether Tim Merleir was going to be able to get his third win, or har trick. It was a fairly flat stage, with it looking like there was a good chance the peloton was going to pull back the breakaway. What is the record for most wins for a rider in the Tour?

Tour de France Stage 11 Summary

The most interesting thing about the 11th stage of the Tour de France was that the riders rode near a record speed (at 29 miles per hour), despite the hot conditions. The riders benefited from a tailwind. This was a flat stage, and there was a sprint. The breakaway was caught. Here is how the stage played out.

There was a four-man breakaway on this stage. They held a nearly 1:10 advantage for most of the stage. The four riders in the breakaway were Julian Alaphillipe, Anthon Charmig, Nelson Oliveira, and Mathis Le Berr. They rode fast, but the teams of the sprinters were at the head of the Peloton, pushing it to catch the breakaway.

With 38.2 kilometers to go, Julian Alaphillipe dropped out of the breakaway, leaving three riders. They seemed to immediately pick up the pace without their most decorated member. The rest of the breakaway was caught with about 3.4 miles to go in the race. It is a little amazing to think that the peloton catches the breakaways on these flat stages with just a few moments left in the race.

Soren Wærenskjold won the stage with a furious sprint. He is a teammate of Torsten Traeen, who crashed and had to leave the race. He held off Olaf Kooij. Milan Fretin finished third. Jasper Philippson was third but was relegated. Huub Artz was fourth on the stage. Binian Grimay was fifth. Tim Merlier finished in fifteenth place. There were no changes in the overall classification with Tadej Pogacar remaing in first, and Jonas Vindegaard was second. Remco Evenepoel was third. Juan Ayuso was fourth, and Paul Sexias was fifth.

Air Conditioning Problems

There has been a massive heat wave in central France, and it has caused several problems with this tour, with power outages and air conditioning failures. The first problem is that the air conditioning failed on several team buses. The team buses are very spacious. The air conditioning features are essential for cooling and recovery. Team Visma’s bus air conditioning failed. The mechanics were separated from the backup bus, creating a fiasco. Riders, like Jonas Vindegaard, were forced to go to a local hotel to cool. They took a last-minute ride under a police escort to get to the start.

There were more problems. The Tour de France organizers, the ASO, allocate hotels randomly, and the hot conditions in the Massif Central overwhelmed the cooling systems at them and caused several problems, though some problems were not caused by the heat.

Team UAE-Emerates, and overall leader Tadej Pogacar, stayed in an older hotel where the power was overwhelmed by the heat. They were able to use special cooling mattresses that use circulating cold water to cool the sleeper to mitigate the problem.

The UNO-X and Alpecin-Premier Tech teams stayed in the La Lioran apartment, which had poor room conditions. This included bugs, cobwebs, and failing air conditioning. Some of their riders escaped to the balcony, and they slept under the stars.

Conclusion

This was a very fast stage with a furious sprint at the end. There was a near record speed in this stage. We will find out if it was the fastest tour stage ever tonight. Tomorrow, stage 12, is also another flat stage for the sprinters, from Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours to Chalon-sur-Saône. It is 171.9 kilometers long.