Eymet / Pau

Stage 11 - Wednesday, July 12th - 203.5 km

< Stage 10 - Stage 12 >

The Stage

One last chance for the sprinters before the Pyrenees. Full steam ahead!

With so many teams having brought sprinters it will be very hard for any breakaway to make it to the finish even though the terrain is a bit more hilly. Maybe some unexpected weather might help?

Who will it be today: Bou, Cav, Dém, Grei, Groe, Kitt, Kris, Matt, Sag?

Trivia: Dutch cycling journalists like to call Pau a Dutch city cause we've had five wins here. It's been quite a while since the last one though and considering how many times Pau has been the end point for a stage, five isn't even that many.

Winner: Marcel Kittel

Tour Touristique

The chapel of Notre-Dame des Cyclistes is all that remains of a 12th-century fortress of the Knights Templar. The Château de Géou was razed by the Black Prince in 1355. On 22 August 1958, Father Joseph Massie was inspired by the chapel of Madonna del Ghisallo in Italy to make a similar chapel for cyclists. On 18 May 1959, Pope John XXIII agreed to make the old chapel a National Sanctuary of Cycling and Cyclists under the protection of the Virgin: Our Lady of cyclists (Notre-Dame des cyclistes).

On July 9, 1989, the start of a Tour de France stage was given in front of the Notre-Dame des cyclistes chapel after a mass attended by Raymond Poulidor, Jean Stablinski, Henry Anglade, André Darrigade and Luis Ocana. The chaplain then blessed the peloton, led by Yellow Jersey holder Greg LeMond.

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