Robbie Hunter scored the first-ever Tour de France win for a South African cyclist in Stage 11 on Thursday, as Frenchman Christophe Moreau dropped out of the Top 10.
Denmark's Michael Rasmussen retained the yellow jersey in the 113-mile mostly flat stage from Marseille to Montpellier in southern France that saw the peloton essentially split in two.
US sprinter Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto) found himself in the leading group, but crashed into barriers as he and others were accelerating toward the finish line. He did not get up immediately to finish the race, but did cross the line nearly 5 minutes later (See also: Zabriskie out; Rodriguez angry; US riders' standings).
In the overall battle for the yellow jersey, AG2R's Moreau ended up as the big loser on Thursday. He suffered a minor fall early in the stage and was caught at the rear of the peloton when Astana put down the hammer with about 45 miles left in the race.
Astana's move and windy conditions across the route prevented Moreau and his AG2R teammates from catching the front group. Beginning the day in 6th overall, Moreau lost 3 minutes 20 seconds at the finish line and dropped out of the Top 10. Meanwhile, Astana's Andreas Kloden moved up one place to 7th.
VeloNews says it might been payback time for Astana. Moreau pushed the pace in the Alps, which dropped Astana's Alexander Vinokourov, who was hurting from a serious accident. (How about Vino's attack in Montpellier. It certainly got everyone's attention.)
As expected, there were a couple of breakaways on Stage 11. The one that got away about halfway into the race looked like it might have a chance, but it was pulled in by that front group of the peloton.
As the finish neared, Barloworld, QuickStep and Liquigas took their turns at the front of the 50-50 split to drive the pace. Because the peloton was split, however, none of the sprinters' teams could set up a train because some members were caught behind.
As the sprinters passed through the winding course at the end, Rodriguez, Julian Dean and some others took a turn too wide and crashed into the barriers. Belgian sprinter Tom Boonen delayed in that mess.
The win by Hunter, who finished just ahead of double-stage winner Fabian Cancellera, marked the second for his Barloworld team in this year's Tour, following Mauricio Soler's win on Tuesday.
Thirty-year-old Hunter has been around the block as a pro cyclist. He won stages in the Vuelta a España in 1999 and 2001 as a rider for Lampre. He's also ridden with Mapei, Rabobank and Phonak.
The only change in the Top 10 was created by Moreau's (14th at 6:38 behind) bad showing:
1. Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) — 2:35
3. Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) — 2:39
4. Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) — 2:41
5. Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) — 3:08
6. Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) — 3:39
7. Andreas Klöden (Astana) — 3:50
8. Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) — 3:53
9. Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) — 5:06
10. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) — 5:20
Hunter moved up to second in the green jersey competition, behind Tom Boonen, and Discovery's Alberto Contador remained as top-ranked in the Best Young Rider competition.
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