The 2011 Paris–Nice was the 69th running of the Paris–Nice cycling stage race, often known as the Race to the Sun. It started on 6 March in Houdan and ended on 13 March in Nice and consisted of eight stages, including a time trial. It was the second race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.

The race was won by rider Tony Martin, after holding onto the leader's yellow jersey which came from a time trial stage win on stage six. Martin's winning margin over runner-up and fellow German Andreas Klöden () – winner of the fifth stage of the race – was 36 seconds, with 's Bradley Wiggins completing the podium, 41 seconds down on Martin.

In the race's other classifications, Rein Taaramäe of won the white jersey for the highest placed rider under the age of 25, and 's Heinrich Haussler took home the green jersey for amassing the highest number of points during stages at intermediate sprints and stage finishes. rider Rémi Pauriol won the King of the Mountains classification, with finishing at the head of the teams classification.

Teams

22 teams were invited to the 2011 Paris–Nice. The teams were:

Route +Stage characteristics and winners Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1 6 March Houdan to Houdan Flat stage 2 7 March Montfort-l'Amaury to Amilly Flat stage 3 8 March Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire to Nuits-Saint-Georges Hilly stage 4 9 March Crêches-sur-Saône to Belleville Hilly stage 5 10 March Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Vernoux-en-Vivarais Medium mountain stage 6 11 March Rognes to Aix-en-Provence Individual time trial 7 12 March Brignoles to Biot Medium mountain stage 8 13 March Nice to Nice Medium mountain stage

Stages

Stage 1 6 March 2011 – Houdan to Houdan, Stage 1 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 1 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 6" 3 + 9" 4 + 10" 5 + 11" 6 + 12" 7 + 13" 8 + 13" 9 + 13" 10 + 13"

Stage 2 7 March 2011 – Montfort-l'Amaury to Amilly,

Stage 2 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 2 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 4" 3 + 7" 4 + 8" 5 + 8" 6 + 10" 7 + 10" 8 + 12" 9 + 13" 10 + 14"

Stage 3 8 March 2011 – Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire to Nuits-Saint-Georges,

Stage 3 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 3 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 2" 3 + 6" 4 + 6" 5 + 8" 6 + 9" 7 + 10" 8 + 11" 9 + 11" 10 + 14"

Stage 4 9 March 2011 – Crêches-sur-Saône to Belleville,

Stage 4 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 + 13" 6 + 13" 7 + 13" 8 + 13" 9 + 13" 10 + 13"General Classification after Stage 4 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 10" 3 + 16" 4 + 21" 5 + 24" 6 + 27" 7 + 30" 8 + 31" 9 + 32" 10 + 35"

Stage 5 10 March 2011 – Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise to Vernoux-en-Vivarais,

Stage 5 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 + 18" 10 + 19"General Classification after Stage 5 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 4" 3 + 6" 4 + 10" 5 + 10" 6 + 10" 7 + 10" 8 + 10" 9 + 28" 10 + 29"

Stage 6 11 March 2011 – Rognes to Aix-en-Provence, , (ITT)

Stage 6 Result RiderTeamTime 1 33' 24" 2 + 20" 3 + 29" 4 + 46" 5 + 55" 6 + 57" 7 + 1' 05" 8 + 1' 10" 9 + 1' 10" 10 + 1' 29"General Classification after Stage 6 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 36" 3 + 39" 4 + 1' 10" 5 + 1' 14" 6 + 1' 29" 7 + 1' 32" 8 + 1' 37" 9 + 1' 51" 10 + 1' 57"

Stage 7 12 March 2011 – Brignoles to Biot,

Stage 7 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 5" 3 + 5" 4 + 7" 5 + 7" 6 + 7" 7 + 9" 8 + 9" 9 + 9" 10 + 11"General Classification after Stage 7 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 36" 3 + 41" 4 + 1' 10" 5 + 1' 21" 6 + 1' 29" 7 + 1' 34" 8 + 1' 36" 9 + 1' 53" 10 + 2' 04"

Stage 8 13 March 2011 – Nice to Nice,

Stage 8 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 1' 06" 4 + 1' 06" 5 + 1' 06" 6 + 1' 08" 7 + 1' 12" 8 + 1' 22" 9 + 1' 22" 10 + 1' 22"Final General Classification RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 36" 3 + 41" 4 + 1' 10" 5 + 1' 13" 6 + 1' 24" 7 + 1' 34" 8 + 1' 36" 9 + 2' 04" 10 + 2' 26"

Classification leadership progress Stage Winner General Classification Points Classification Mountains Classification Young Rider Classification Team Classification 1 Thomas De Gendt Thomas De Gendt Thomas De Gendt Damien Gaudin Thomas De Gendt 2 Greg Henderson Greg Henderson 3 Matthew Goss Matthew Goss Heinrich Haussler Jussi Veikkanen Matthew Goss 4 Thomas Voeckler Thomas De Gendt Rémi Pauriol Thomas De Gendt 5 Andreas Klöden Andreas Klöden Robert Kišerlovski 6 Tony Martin Tony Martin Rein Taaramäe 7 Rémy Di Gregorio 8 Thomas Voeckler Final Tony Martin Heinrich Haussler Rémi Pauriol Rein Taaramäe

References

Further reading

External links