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

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse () 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, which is on the calend ...

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 trac ...

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

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

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. 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 2011 Tour Down Under, Tour Down Under's opening stage on 18 January, and consisted of 14 ...

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

, 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 and ...

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

Steven Kruijswijk Steven Kruijswijk (; born 7 June 1987) is a Dutch road bicycle racer, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Kruijswijk is best known for his strong ability in the mountains where he has taken his greatest success; he has taken two professional victories ...

of , but it was 's

Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, 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. ...

, 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 people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

() 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 gene ...

, 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 rides for UCI ProSeries, UCI ProTeam . Before turning professional for , he was a mountain biker racing for Team Cannondale–Vredestein, winning the Und ...

. 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 fo ...

won the King of the Mountains classification, 's

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak former professional cyclist who competed in road bicycle racing and mountain bicycle racing. Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-c ...

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. He competed from 2004 to 2015 for the team, before he was suspended for four years for the use of erythropoietin (EPO). His major career ach ...

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 ) 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 the St. Gotthard ...

Crans-Montana Crans-Montana is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sierre (district), Sierre in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Valais, Switzerland. On 1 January 2017 the former municipalities of Chermignon, Mollens, Valais, ...

Stage 3

;13 June 2011 –

Brig-Glis Brig, officially Brig-Glis (; ), is a historic town and municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig (city), Brigerbad and Glis.

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 additio ...

Stage 4

;14 June 2011 – Grindelwald to

Huttwil Huttwil is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau administrative district in the Switzerland, Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern. History Early history Huttw ...

Stage 5

;15 June 2011 – Huttwil to

Tobel-Tägerschen Tobel-Tägerschen is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Münchwilen (district), Münchwilen in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. The municipality was created in 1999 by a merger of Tägers ...

Stage 6

;16 June 2011 – Tobel-Tägerschen to

Triesenberg Triesenberg () is a Municipalities of Liechtenstein, 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 Tri ...

(

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

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.'' ...

(Liechtenstein) to (

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Stage 8

;18 June 2011 –

Tübach Tübach is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of Rorschach (Wahlkreis), Rorschach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of St. Gallen (canton), St. Gallen in Switzerland. Geography Tübach has an are ...

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 Bauke Mollema (; born 26 November 1986) is a Dutch professional cycle sport, cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He has finished in the top 10 in all three Grand Tours, with stage wins in the 2021 Tour de France, 2017 Tour de France, and the 2 ...

, 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'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

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 the ...

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