An unstoppable Marcel Kittel took his fifth stage win of the Tour this year. Kittel’s 14th career Tour stage win came ahead of Dylan Groenewegen of LottoNL-Jumbo and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data).
Team Sky’s Froome crossed the line safely in the pack, keeping the three-time Tour winner 18 seconds clear of Italian national champion Fabio Aru in the general classification.
Some of his rivals did not have a quiet day, though. Three of the main contenders crashed as last year’s runner-up Romain Bardet, third overall, Jakob Fuglsang (fifth) and twice winner Alberto Contador (12th) hit the deck in separate incidents.
Fuglsang was involved in a crash at the feed zone and went to the medical car to have his wrist checked while his Astana team mate Dario Cataldo was forced to abandon because of a wrist injury after the Italian also fell.
“He was a key rider. He would have had an important role in the mountains,” said Astana sports director Dmitry Fofonov.
“We have to decide if he undergoes operation in France or in Italy. As for Fuglsang, he already broke the wrist that’s injured today. It hurts, he said.”
“I escaped unhurt but now I’m happy that the flat stages are over,” said Bardet, who is expected to attack in Thursday’s 12th stage, a 214.5-km trek featuring three major climbs and a summit finish in Peyragudes.
Tour de France 2017 – stage 11 results (Eymet – Pau):
| 1 | Marcel Kittel (Quick-Step Floors) | 4:34:27 |
| 2 | Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 3 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 4 | Michael Matthews (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 5 | Daniel Mclay (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 6 | Davide Cimolai (FDJ) | ,, |
| 7 | André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 8 | Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 9 | Ben Swift (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 10 | Danilo Wyss (BMC) | ,, |
| 11 | Pieter Vanspeybrouck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 12 | Alexander Kristoff (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 13 | Florian Vachon (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | ,, |
| 14 | Dion Smith (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 15 | Damiano Caruso (BMC) | ,, |
| 16 | Rüdiger Selig (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 17 | Andrea Pasqualon (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
| 18 | Thomas Boudat (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 19 | Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Energie) | ,, |
| 20 | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) | ,, |
General classification after stage 11:
| 1 | Christopher Froome (Team Sky) | 42:26:28 |
| 2 | Fabio Aru (Astana) | +18” |
| 3 | Romain Bardet (AG2R) | +51” |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran (Cannondale-Drapac) | +55” |
| 5 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +01’37” |
| 6 | Daniel Martin (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’44” |
| 7 | Simon Yates (Orica-Scott) | +02’02” |
| 8 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +02’13” |
| 9 | Mikel Landa (Team Sky) | +03’06” |
| 10 | George Bennett (LottoNl-Jumbo) | +03’53” |
| 11 | Louis Meintjes (UAE Team Emirates) | +05’00” |
| 12 | Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) | +05’15” |
| 13 | Pierre Latour (AG2R) | +05’30” |
| 14 | Mikel Nieve (Team Sky) | +06’18” |
| 15 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +06’55” |
| 16 | Damiano Caruso (BMC) | +06’58” |
| 17 | Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R) | +07’56” |
| 18 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +08’46” |
| 19 | Carlos Betancur (Movistar) | +10’34” |
| 20 | Brice Feillu (Fortuneo – Oscaro) | +11’43” |
