The 2011 Critérium International was the 80th edition of the Critérium International cycling stage race. It started on 26 March in

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; or ; , , or (South)) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the marshy and alluvial east ...

and ended on 27 March in Porto-Vecchio and consisted of 3 stages, including 2 stages on the same day; a flat stage and an individual time trial, held as the second and third stages. The race was won by Leopard-Trek rider

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 Schleck, Andy, winner of the 2010 Tour de France. ...

, who claimed the leader's yellow jersey after a strong finish in the first stage, and maintained his advantage to the end of the race. Schleck's winning margin over runner-up Vasil Kiryienka of Team Movistar was 13 seconds, and

Cofidis Cofidis (from the French: mpagnie nancière de tribution) is a French multinational consumer credit company owned by Crédit Mutuel. It was founded in 1982 by 3 Suisses, a company jointly owned by the Otto and Mulliez families, to provid ...

Rein Taaramäe Rein Taaramäe (born 24 April 1987) is an Estonian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI Continental team . Career Cofidis (2008–14) Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 20 ...

completed the podium, 17 seconds down on Kiryienka. In the race's other classifications, Kiryienka won the green jersey for the points classification, the

King of the Mountains The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing, Queen of the Mountains (QoM) is used. While the title may be given to the rider who achieves the highest ...

classification was won by Pim Ligthart of

Vacansoleil–DCM Vacansoleil–DCM Pro Cycling Team was a Dutch professional road bicycle racing, road race cycling team. They were a UCI ProTeam and competed in the 2013 UCI World Tour, UCI World Tour. The team was established in 2005, as the successor of P3 Tran ...

, Taaramäe won the young rider classification, and Movistar finished at the head of the teams classification.

Pre-race favourites

The winner of the 2010 Critérium International, Pierrick Fédrigo, was looking to defend the previous year's victory, while other pre-race favourites included 2 time runner-up in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

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 fo ...

and

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

5th place,

, as well as Alexander Vinokourov.

Teams

The following teams participated in the 2011 edition of the Critérium International: ;

UCI ProTour The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle racing, road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI (International Cycling Union). Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, i ...

Teams * * * * * * * * * ;

UCI Professional Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

Teams * * * * * * ;

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

Teams *

Stages

Stage 1

;26 March 2011 –

to Col de l'Ospedale, 198 km

Stage 2

;27 March 2011 –

75 km

Stage 3

;27 March 2011 –

7 km

Classification leadership

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20111011151515/http://www.letour.fr/us/homepage_courseCRI.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Criterium International, 2011

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2011 UCI Europe Tour March 2011 sports events in France