The 2011 Tour de Suisse was the 75th running of the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

cycling stage race. It started on 11 June with an

individual time trial An individual time trial (ITT) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock (in French: ''contre la montre'' – literally "against the watch", in Italian: ''tappa a cronometro'' "stopwatch stage"). There are also track-b ...

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

and ended with another individual time trial on 19 June, in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the ...

. It was the 16th race of the

2011 UCI World Tour The 2011 UCI World Tour was the third edition of the ranking system launched by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 2009. The series started with the Tour Down Under's opening stage on 18 January, and consisted of 14 stage races and 13 one- ...

season. Just like the previous edition of the race won by

Fränk Schleck Fränk René Schleck (born 15 April 1980) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2016, for and . Schleck is the older brother of Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. Their father, ...

, the lead of the race changed hands in the final time trial stage. rider

Damiano Cunego Damiano Cunego (born 19 September 1981) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2002 and 2018 for the , and teams. Cunego's biggest wins were the 2004 Giro d'Italia, the 2008 Amstel Gold Race, a ...

, who had held the lead of the race since stage three, had an advantage of over 90 seconds to his nearest challenger

Steven Kruijswijk , birth_date = , birth_place = Nuenen, Netherlands , height = , weight = , currentteam = , discipline = Road , role = Rider , ridertype = Climber , proyears1 = 2006 , proteam1 = , proyears2 = 2007–2009 ...

of , but it was 's

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...

, who had been fourth prior to the final stage and almost two minutes in arrears of Cunego, that took the final overall honours. Leipheimer, who was only third on the stage behind

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began r ...

() and team-mate

Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden (born 22 June 1975) is a German former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2013. His major achievements include a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games and finishing second in the ge ...

, triumphed by four seconds over Cunego after of racing. Kruijswijk managed to hold on to third place in the overall classification, 62 seconds down on Leipheimer, but eight seconds ahead of another rider,

Jakob Fuglsang Jakob Diemer Fuglsang (born 22 March 1985) is a Danish professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Before turning professional for , he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale–Vredestein, winning the Under ...

. In the race's other classifications, rider

Andy Schleck Andy Raymond Schleck (; born 10 June 1985) is a Luxembourgish former professional road bicycle racer. He won the 2010 Tour de France, being awarded it retroactively in February 2012 after Alberto Contador's hearing at the Court of Arbitration f ...

won the King of the Mountains classification, 's

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-country race at the 2008 ...

won the points classification after placing five times in the top three of stage results,

Lloyd Mondory Lloyd Mondory (born 26 April 1982) is a French restaurateur and former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2015 for the team before he was suspended for four years for the use of erythropoietin (EPO). The b ...

of finished clear at the top of the sprints classification, with also finishing at the head of the teams classification.

Route

Stages

Stage 1

;11 June 2011 –

(ITT)

Stage 2

;12 June 2011 –

Airolo Airolo (''Airöö'' in Lombard, in rm, italic=yes, ) is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Airolo is located in Leventina valley and the Lepontine Alps, on the southern flank of th ...

Crans-Montana Crans-Montana is a municipality in the district of Sierre in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Montana and Randogne merged to form the new municipality of Crans-Montana. Cr ...

Stage 3

;13 June 2011 –

Brig-Glis Brig, officially Brig-Glis (french: Brigue-Glis; it, Briga-Glis), is a List of towns in Switzerland, historic town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Brig (district), Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. Th ...

Grindelwald Grindelwald is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Berne. In addition ...

Stage 4

;14 June 2011 – Grindelwald to

Huttwil Huttwil is a municipality in the Oberaargau administrative district in the Swiss canton of Bern. History Early history Huttwil is first mentioned in the 9th Century as ''Huttiwilare''. The Huttwil area was probably first settled in the 7th or ...

Stage 5

;15 June 2011 – Huttwil to

Tobel-Tägerschen Tobel-Tägerschen is a municipality in the district of Münchwilen in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The municipality was created in 1999 by a merger of Tägerschen and Tobel. History Tägerschen is first mentioned in 762 as ''Tegar ...

Stage 6

;16 June 2011 – Tobel-Tägerschen to

Triesenberg Triesenberg is a municipality in Liechtenstein with a population of 2,636. Its area of makes it the largest municipality in Liechtenstein. The center of the municipality rests at an elevation of . History Triesenberg is noted for its distinct di ...

(

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

Stage 7

;17 June 2011 –

Vaduz Vaduz ( or , High Alemannic pronunciation: [])Hans Stricker, Toni Banzer, Herbert Hilbe: ''Liechtensteiner Namenbuch. Die Orts- und Flurnamen des Fürstentums Liechtenstein.'' Band 2: ''Die Namen der Gemeinden Triesenberg, Vaduz, Schaan.'' Hrsg. ...

(Liechtenstein) to (

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Stage 8

;18 June 2011 –

Tübach Tübach is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. Geography Tübach has an area, , of . Of this area, 60.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 7.7% is forested. The res ...

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

Bauke Mollema , birth_date = , birth_place = Groningen, Netherlands , height = , weight = , currentteam = , discipline = Road , role = Rider , ridertype = All-rounder , amateuryears1 = 2004–2006 , amateurtea ...

, who was placed second overall at the time, punctured about 15 km from the finish. When the Leopard Trek team heard it, they led the chase, and Mollema was unable to get back to the group, and he finished 48 seconds behind. Rabobank assistant

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

Frans Maassen Franciscus ("Frans") Albertus Antonius Johannes Maassen (born 27 January 1965 in Haelen, Limburg) is a directeur sportif. He was a professional road racing cyclist between 1987 and 1995. He completed seven Tour de France stage races, including th ...

said that Mollema should have had a chance to win the stage.

Stage 9

;19 June 2011 – Schaffhausen,

(ITT)

Leadership classification

References

External links

* {{Tour de Suisse Tour de Suisse