The 2011 Paris–Tours was the 105th edition of this single day road bicycle racing event. Greg Van Avermaet outsprinted Marco Marcato in the final meters to stay out of the grip of the chasing group and peloton. Van Avermaet thereby won the biggest race of his career so far.
Course
The course saw the introduction of a new finale; the construction of a tram line on the Avenue de Grammont in central Tours led to the organisers shortening the finishing straight by 2.4 km.[1] The new finish led to suggestions that the traditional sprint finish could be hampered, as there would be less time for the peloton to chase down any breakaways after the final climb.[2]
Pre-race favourites
Given the race's status as the "Sprinters' Classic", several sprinters were named among the favourites.[3] Among them, Mark Cavendish, fresh off his world road race title in Copenhagen, reigning champion Óscar Freire, 2007 winner Alessandro Petacchi and Romain Feillu were considered favourites.[1] 2008 and 2009 champion Philippe Gilbert was enjoying a successful season, being ranked first in the UCI World Tour rankings[4] and looking to claim his 19th victory of the season.[5][6] Despite not being a sprinter, the changes to the route were suggested as being to his advantage[1] – the final climb of the Côte de l’Epan seven kilometres from the end, followed by a winding descent from the climb and a shorter run-in on the Avenue de Grammont were mentioned as various factors which could prevent the traditional sprint finish.[2] Other candidates for a breakaway victory were Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler and Frédéric Guesdon.[1]
The first move from the leaders came from Gérard, 14 kilometres out, and he stayed away on his own for a time. Van Avermaet and Marcato made a joint move in the final ten kilometres; working together they caught and passed the Frenchman on the final climb of the Côte de l'Epan.[8][9] The two pulled away from the rest of their breakaway companions, despite Delage's efforts to bring teammate Gérard back into contact with them. Klostergaard attacked the remainder of the breakaway with two kilometres to go and created a gap, but was unable to catch up with the two leaders. With one kilometre left the group of two held an advantage of 20 seconds, and were left to sprint against each other for the victory.[9] Marcato began his sprint first, with Van Avermaet on his wheel, but quickly slowed after his leg cramped up. Van Avermaet sprinted past him to take the victory, his 4th of the season.[7] Marcato finished two seconds back, with Klostergaard holding off Stannard and Bodrogi for third. The rest of the top ten was rounded out by other members of the telling 14-man breakaway,[9] while the peloton came home over a minute down.[10]