Tour De France 2011: Thor Hushovd Steals Victory from French Riders

World Champion Thor Hushovd took the stage victory with a perfectly timed attack to steal victory away from Frenchman Jeremy Roy.

It will be small consolation to Roy (FDJ) to claim the Polka Dot Jersey after a brave solo ride proved to be not enough to claim the first French victory in 2011.

After a large breakaway of nine men moved through the day, it was Hushovd (Garmin) who attacked first before the day’s big climb over Col d’Aubisque, but he was soon overtaken by Jeremy Roy who stormed up the 16 km climb to break free and take the mountain points and make a break for the finish line. 

Hushovd crossed the summit just over two minutes down on Roy, with Davide Moncoutie (Confidis) half-way between the two.  But after a spectacular descent from the Norwegian, it became clear the world champion was looking for the stage win.

With Moncoutie seemingly reluctant to assist in chasing down fellow Frenchman Roy, it was down to Hushovd to hunt down the leader and take the victory for himself. 

In the end Roy held right through to the final two kilometres, although it was clear for some time that Hushovd would take the win, using his superior sprinting ability and speed through the technical finish to win with a 10-second gap over second placed Moncoutie. 

That left a heartbroken Roy, who seemed almost apologetic as he crossed the line, to finish in third place leaving the French public still searching for the first stage win of this year's tour. 

The rest of the nine-man breakaway, which included Lars Bak (HTC), Edvald Boasson Hagan (Sky) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre), arrived five minutes later closely followed by Frenchman Thomas Voeckler, who retains the Yellow Jersey yet again. 

There was no real change in the overall standings as the Schleck brothers (Leapard-Trek), Cadel Evans (BMC), Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) and Ivan Basso (Liquigas) all crossed the line together with Voeckler as the Tour heads to the last day in the Pyranees. 

Stage 14 tomorrow will be a stern test for riders with five categorised climbs before a final Category H climb up to the finish at Plateau de Beille.

The day will no doubt be full of attacks and will provide potential winners of the general classification a chance to stake their claim on the yellow jersey, with every rider to have won on Plateau de Beille going on to win the Tour the same year.