The 2011 Volta a Catalunya was the 91st running of the Volta a Catalunya cycling stage race. It started on 21 March in Lloret de Mar and ended on 27 March in Barcelona, and consisted on seven stages. It was the fifth race of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.

The race was won by rider Alberto Contador, who claimed the leader's white with green-striped jersey with a stage win on stage three, maintaining his advantage until the end of the race. Contador's winning margin over runner-up Michele Scarponi () was 23 seconds, and 's Dan Martin completed the podium, 35 seconds down on Contador. Martin made the podium at the expense of rider Levi Leipheimer, who pulled out of the race before the final stage.

In the race's other classifications, 's Rubén Pérez took home the white jersey for amassing the highest number of points during stages at intermediate sprints, rider Nairo Quintana won the King of the Mountains classification, with finishing at the head of the teams classification.

Teams

24 teams were invited to the 2011 Volta a Catalunya. The teams were:

Route +Stage characteristics and winners Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner 1 21 March Lloret de Mar to Lloret de Mar 2 22 March Santa Coloma de Farners to Banyoles 3 23 March La Vall d'en Bas to Vallnord Mountain stage 4 24 March La Seu d'Urgell to El Vendrell 5 25 March El Vendrell to Tarragona 6 26 March Tarragona to Mollet del Vallès 7 27 March Parets del Vallès to Barcelona

Stages

Stage 1 21 March 2011 – Lloret de Mar to Lloret de Mar,

Stage 1 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 28" 3 + 28" 4 + 28" 5 + 28" 6 + 28" 7 + 28" 8 + 28" 9 + 28" 10 + 28"General Classification after Stage 1 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 28" 3 + 28" 4 + 28" 5 + 28" 6 + 28" 7 + 28" 8 + 28" 9 + 28" 10 + 28"

Stage 2 22 March 2011 – Santa Coloma de Farners to Banyoles,

Stage 2 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 Caja Rural 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 + 28" 3 + 28" 4 + 28" 5 + 28" 6 + 28" 7 + 28" 8 + 28" 9 + 28" 10 + 28"

Stage 3 23 March 2011 – La Vall d'en Bas to Vallnord,

Stage 3 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 35" 5 + 35" 6 + 35" 7 + 38" 8 + 38" 9 + 38" 10 + 50"General Classification after Stage 3 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 35" 5 + 35" 6 + 38" 7 + 38" 8 + 38" 9 + 50" 10 + 1' 12"

Stage 4 24 March 2011 – La Seu d'Urgell to El Vendrell,

Stage 4 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 Caja Rural s.t. 5 s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 4 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 35" 5 + 35" 6 + 38" 7 + 38" 8 + 38" 9 + 50" 10 + 1' 12"

Stage 5 25 March 2011 – El Vendrell to Tarragona,

Stage 5 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 Caja Rural s.t. 5 s.t. 6 Caja Rural s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 5 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 35" 5 + 35" 6 + 38" 7 + 38" 8 + 38" 9 + 50" 10 + 1' 12"

Stage 6 26 March 2011 – Tarragona to Mollet del Vallès,

Stage 6 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 Caja Rural s.t. 6 s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.General Classification after Stage 6 RiderTeamTime 1 2 + 23" 3 + 23" 4 + 35" 5 + 35" 6 + 38" 7 + 38" 8 + 38" 9 + 50" 10 + 1' 12"

Stage 7 27 March 2011 – Parets del Vallès to Barcelona,

Stage 7 Result RiderTeamTime 1 2 s.t. 3 s.t. 4 s.t. 5 s.t. 6 Caja Rural s.t. 7 s.t. 8 s.t. 9 s.t. 10 s.t.Final General Classification RiderTeamTime 1 29h 25' 05" 2 + 12" 3 + 12" 4 + 15" 5 + 15" 6 + 15" 7 + 27" 8 + 49" 9 + 49" 10 + 49"

Classification leadership In the 2011 Volta a Catalunya, three different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, the leader received a white jersey with green stripes on the sleeves, midsection, and collar. This classification was considered the most important of the Volta a Catalunya, and the winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the Volta a Catalunya.

Additionally, there was also a sprint classification, indicated with a white jersey. In the sprint classification, cyclists received points for being one of the first three in intermediate sprints, with three points awarded for first place, two for second, and one for third.

There was also a mountains classification, indicated with a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. All climbs were categorized, hors-, first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs.

Stage Winner General Classification Mountains Classification Sprint Classification Team Classification 1 Gatis Smukulis Gatis Smukulis Gatis Smukulis Ben Gastauer 2 Alessandro Petacchi Julián Sánchez Rubén Pérez 3 Michele Scarponi Levi Leipheimer Michele Scarponi José Vicente Toribio 4 Manuel Antonio Cardoso Rubén Pérez 5 Samuel Dumoulin Nairo Quintana 6 José Joaquín Rojas 7 Samuel Dumoulin Michele Scarponi Final Michele Scarponi Nairo Quintana Rubén Pérez

References

External links