TDF 2020 - Stage 11 Châtelaillon-Plage - Poitiers 167.5 km *Spoilers*

Stage 11 Châtelaillon-Plage - Poitiers 167.5 km

The Tour bids farewell to the ocean. La Grande Boucle enters the heart of France through the marshlands of Poitou. At 167 kilometres, the stage runs from Châtelaillon-Plage to Poitiers.



The riders set off from coastal town Châtelaillon-Plage to navigate the interior of western France, on flat to rolling roads
Fast finishers are likely to come to the fore in the race from Châtelaillon-Plage to Poitiers. The course is predominantly flat, so the scenario is obvious: breakaway opens up a gap of several minutes before being brought back in the last kilometres.



The finale in Poitiers is a flat and 1.5 kilometres long straight.





Fast finishers are expected to battle it out at the end of the 11th stage. They don't get much opportunities to show themselves this Tour de France, but this is definitely one of them.

Favourites 11th stage 2020 Tour de France

*** Sam Bennett, Caleb Ewan, Cees Bol
** Elia Viviani, Peter Sagan, Wout van Aert
* Alexander Kristoff, Bryan Coquard, Niccolò Bonifazio


Châtelaillon-Plage

No previous stage

Population: 6,000



Châtelaillon-Plage is the story of a seaside resort born at the end of the 19th century. The taste for sea bathing and the development of the railroad were the announcement of its evolution. Located in front of the archipelago of the islands of Oléron, Aix, Ré, Fort Boyard and in the immediate vicinity of La Rochelle, Châtelaillon-Plage and its 2.5km long stretch of sand attract many visitors throughout the year.
And yet this beach was built from scratch! After intense seaside activity at the beginning of the century, it had gradually disappeared under the onslaught of gusts of wind and tides. It was in 1989 that the town, under the impetus of its mayor at the time Jean-Louis Léonard, decided to re-sand the beach.



Specialties: oysters, mussels, shell, grillon (pâté), gigourit (lard sauce), milas charentais (cake)




Poitiers

Eight previous stages

Population: 90,340

Poitiers received the Tour de France peloton 8 times, but the last 6 race visits in the prefecture of Vienne were starts. The city has therefore not held any finishes since 1978 and the victory of Sean Kelly.



While not finishing in the town itself, the Tour still came to the nearby Futuroscope the year of its opening in 1986.
The amusement park often hosted time trials, like the 87.5 km one dominated by Stephen Roche in 1987 (photo) or the one won by David Millar in 2000. In 1990, the park also hosted the Grand Départ, allowing Thierry Marie to win another prologue while Steve Bauer put on the yellow jersey.

Poitevin Farci
Terrine traditionally prepared with green vegetables (cabbage, sorrel, chard, spinach), finely chopped and mixed with a stuffing based on bacon, moist bread, whole eggs. The whole, tightly tied inside the cabbage leaves and covered with butter muslin, is slowly cooked in a Dutch oven with thyme and bay-leaf flavoured water. After cooking, the farci is sliced and eaten hot or cold.






"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
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Comments

  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,348
    *Muses*

    They should put the total altitude gain on the stage profile images...

    /muses
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Wind not overly promising tomorrow. From the N or NNE and fairly light but gusts to around 30kph. A slight backing and strengthening could cause trouble for most of the day though.
  • Ok, so the weather forecast.


    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,099
    So, a moderate headwind all race?
    Team My Man 2022:

    Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    Yeah, that's likely to nullify the racing. I can't see too many people being keen to get in a break and find themselves slogging into the breeze all day in a small group.
  • A day to get out on the bike and watch the highlights perhaps !
  • 50x11
    50x11 Posts: 408

    A day to get out on the bike and watch the highlights perhaps !

    The way weather is up here, I think you could be right.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Bennett and Ewan equally tipped for this one. Same odds and Inrng etc giving them the same chances. So for PTP it comes down to whether you think Bennett will take strength and confidence from his first win... Either way, excepting crashes and mechanicals both should score.

    Those official ratings quoted in OP - what has Cees Bol done to deserve equal star ranking with the other two?? Or was it done before the race...


  • Those official ratings quoted in OP - what has Cees Bol done to deserve equal star ranking with the other two?? Or was it done before the race...

    He's beaten both of them in two out of the four sprints.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    Hmm OK. The Sunweb "train" wasn't very good yesterday.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    edited September 2020



    Those official ratings quoted in OP - what has Cees Bol done to deserve equal star ranking with the other two?? Or was it done before the race...

    Since the race hasn't been raced yet, it was done before the race. :D

    Allegedly he much prefers an uphill sprint and given Sunweb have been producing by far the best lead out, but not necessarily at the right time.....

    It would be nice if somebody posted their alternative list occasionally, if they have any particular thoughts.
    Especially in the stages to follow, which are much more open.
    I'm only guessing here.




    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Hmm OK. The Sunweb "train" wasn't very good yesterday.

    It was very good on stage 5, but unfortunately for them, WvA is just ridiculous.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,123
    edited September 2020
    I think it's a correct list of 3 * contenders - but if it is all fairly controlled and he hasn't been working all day, Van Aert probably wins.
  • Just adding that the whole preview is up for discussion. That's what they are for!

    Anyhow, Formolo DNS with fracture wrist.
    Pogacar now without both him and Aru, so he's down to Polanc and de la Cruz in the hills.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Crash on the roll out. Lutsenko and Zakarin involved.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Caused by Zakarin bunny-hopping onto a roundabout - folowing other riders - and smacking straight into an apparently unmarked post. The overhead shot of him being fired backwards into the bunch was kind of amusing.
  • Oh dear Ladagnous friendless for the break
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    Now there's an unenthusiastic breakaway
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,099
    edited September 2020

    Oh dear Ladagnous friendless for the break

    He's virtually free-wheeling and still gaining time.
    Team My Man 2022:

    Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786
    See you all back here in a couple of hours....
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091
    edited September 2020
    "Simon says 'touch your bidon'"

    "Simon says 'reset your power meter."

    "Attack!"

    "Ladagnous is out."
  • He's only staying off the front as he thinks everyone will tease him when he gets back.
  • Well, this is an interesting turn of events.
    Trying to get DQS and Lotto to work?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • This development isn't looking good for the winner of 2009's La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, is it?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    edited September 2020
    inseine said:

    Now there's an unenthusiastic breakaway

    That's the second obvious prediction I've got right this Tour.
  • I went away for a few minutes and the lead is 2 minutes now. What happened?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,207
    I suspect TA will be the more interesting watch today (no need to get excited and turn over to it yet though).
  • inseine
    inseine Posts: 5,786

    I went away for a few minutes and the lead is 2 minutes now. What happened?

    Nothing, that's the problem. Reluctant break away meets uninterested peloton
  • Was wondering why it came down from 5 minutes. I thought they'd let him hang out at about 10 minutes for a couple of hours.
  • DeadCalm
    DeadCalm Posts: 4,099

    Was wondering why it came down from 5 minutes. I thought they'd let him hang out at about 10 minutes for a couple of hours.

    From what I saw, four or five others wanted to join poor old Ladagnous but DQS,
    meanies that they are, insisted that Ladagnous soldier on alone.

    Team My Man 2022:

    Antwan Tolhoek, Sam Oomen, Tom Dumoulin, Thymen Arensman, Remco Evenepoel, Benoît Cosnefroy, Tom Pidcock, Mark Cavendish, Romain Bardet