2011 Tour of Belgium
| 2010–2011 UCI Europe Tour | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates | 25—29 May | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 4+Prologue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 727.3 km (451.9 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Winner |
 Philippe Gilbert (BEL)
|
(Omega Pharma–Lotto) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second |
Greg Van Avermaet (BEL)
|
(BMC Racing Team) | |
| Third |
Björn Leukemans (BEL)
|
(Vacansoleil–DCM) | |
|
|
|||
 |
Points |
 André Greipel (GER)
|
(Omega Pharma–Lotto) |
 |
Youth |
 Pim Ligthart (NED)
|
(Vacansoleil–DCM) |
 |
Sprints |
Marcus Burghardt (GER)
|
(BMC Racing Team) |
| Team | Vacansoleil–DCM | ||
The 2011 Tour of Belgium is the 81st edition of the Tour of Belgium cycling stage race. It takes place from 25 May to 29 May 2011 in Belgium. The race is part of the UCI Europe Tour. It begins with a short prologue in Buggenhout, followed by four longer stages, ultimately finishing in Putte.
Twenty-one teams have been invited to the 2011 Tour of Belgium: 7 teams are from the UCI ProTeams, 7 are UCI Professional Continental Teams and 7 are UCI Continental Teams.
25 May 2011 – Buggenhout (Belgium), 5.6 km (3.5 mi)
With only 7 turns in the course, the short prologue in Buggenhout was not technical and favored more powerful riders. One of these riders is André Greipel, who set the first strong mark at 6' 45" as one of the first riders. Surprisingly, the first rider to beat his time was his young teammate Jens Debusschere, who stayed in the lead for quite a long time. Eventually Sebastian Langeveld beat the time of Debusschere and from that point on, with the winds turning, a few more riders managed to come close to the time of Langeveld. Eventually Langevelds compatriot Lieuwe Westra beat his time by a mere four seconds to take the stage win and the first black jersey. The Belgian spectators were delighted to see Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert riding good times, both finishing in the top 10 after a period of absence following the spring classics.
26 May 2011 – Lochristi (Belgium) to Knokke-Heist (Belgium), 162.5 km (101.0 mi)
The stage started with one minute of silence in remembrance of Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt, a former stage winner during the Tour of Belgium who died two weeks earlier as a result of a crash during the 2011 Giro d'Italia.
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Wikipedia