CAUTERETS, France – A brief look at the 11th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday:
Stage: A 117-mile from Pau to Cauterets, the second of three days in the Pyrenees mountains.
Winner: Rafal Majka. On the bumpiest day of riding in the Pyrenees, the 25-year-old won with a daring solo effort, riding away on the day’s toughest climb and clinging on to his lead to the finish, for his third stage win in two Tours.
Yellow jersey: Chris Froome. The 2013 champion, with a big helping hand from his team, stayed out of trouble and didn’t lose time to key rivals.
How did the “Fab Four” perform?: Nairo Quintana of Colombia, Alberto Contador of Spain and Froome all finished in the same time. But 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali slipped further behind and is now 7:47 adrift of Froome.
Quote of the day: “I’ve gone and cried on TV and I’m likely to never go on a date again.” Zakkari Dempster of the Bora-Argon 18 team after he rode in too slowly on the stage to be allowed to continue.
Stat of the day: 170. The number of beats per minute that Froome says his heart does when he’s riding to the limit.
Next stage: Stage 12 is the toughest of the three Pyrenees stages with a climb to Plateau de Beille at the end of a 121 mile run from Lannemezan.
Associated Press
