Tour de France 2015: Stage 11 Results, General Classification and Highlights

Rafal Majka won Stage 11 of the 2015 Tour de France on Wednesday, with Chris Froome consolidating his spot atop the general classification after his heroics on Stage 10.

This stage, the second of three in succession in the Pyrenees, marked another day for strong climbers in the field to excel, with the main challenge facing the riders a daunting incline into Col du Tourmalet.

Team Sky's Froome maintained a tight grip on the overall lead, finishing alongside most of his rivals for the yellow jersey. The Brit was always going to find it tough to match his breathtaking surge to win the 10th stage, but he took another step toward glory in Paris with a solid display.

The Cycling Weekly official Twitter feed provided a graph of the arduous journey awaiting the riders at the start of the 11th stage:

Dan Martin made a significant move 64 kilometres from home, subsequently building a strong lead as part of a seven-rider group. But a drop in speed was inevitable in the latter stages, allowing Majka to reel the him in and take victory by a one-minute margin.

Here's the stage result:

Position	Rider	Time
1	Rafal Majka	5:02:01
2	Dan Martin	+1:00
3	Emanuel Buchmann	+1:23
4	Serge Pauwels	+2:08
5	Thomas Voeckler	+3:34
6	Julien Simon	+3:34
7	Bauke Mollema	+5:11
8	Alejandro Valverde	+5:19
9	Chris Froome	+5:21
10	Alberto Contador	+5:21

Standings

Here's what the general classification looks like after Stage 11:

Position	Rider	Time
1	Chris Froome	41:03:31
2	Tejay Van Garderen	+2:52
3	Nairo Qunitana	+3:09
4	Alejandro Valverde	+3:59
5	Geraint Thomas	+4:03
6	Alberto Contador	+4:04
7	Tony Gallopin	+4:33
8	Robert Gesink	+4:35
9	Warren Barguil	+6:44
10	Bauke Mollema	+7:05

This is what the points standings look like:

Position	Rider	Points
1	Peter Sagan	239
2	Andre Greipel	232
3	John Degenkolb	184
4	Mark Cavendish	172
5	Bryan Coquard	108
6	Chris Froome	88
7	Greg Van Avermaet	81
8	Zdenek Stybar	76
9	Tony Gallopin	70
10	Alejandro Valverde	61

Finally, here's what the Polka-Dot Jersey table looks like:

Position	Rider	Points
1	Chris Froome	57
2	Richie Porte	40
3	Rafal Majka	32
4	Nairo Quintana	32
5	Robert Gesink	28
6	Daniel Martin	27
7	Serge Pauwels	26
8	Alejandro Valverde	24
9	Thomas Voeckler	23
10	Geraint Thomas	22

Recap 

Wednesday was a day for consolidation in the leading pack of riders, so the peloton was largely able to take a steady and relatively serene approach to the early stages.

Knowing this was a day likely to have a more significant bearing on who was donning the polka-dot jersey, those competing in the peloton conserved energy. Rival riders kept a close eye on Froome but were content to let him continue fronting things near the top of the peloton during the difficult ascents.

But it was Froome's fellow Team Sky rider Luke Rowe who led the leading pack for most of this stage. Sky clearly took a collective approach to negotiating this calm-before-the-storm stage. They were perhaps guarded against a joint attack on Froome's positions from rival riders.

A six-strong lead group formed ahead of the peloton as the riders faced up to the Col D'Aspin, before Martin decided to counter-attack:

He was soon over and gearing up to take on the Tourmalet:

Once he had gotten away from the main group, Martin continued to lead the breakaway. Meanwhile, members of the peloton were hoping to make a move that would close ground on Froome in the overall standings, as the ascent at Tourmalet crept closer into view.

While the likes of Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador toiled in Sky's shadow, Martin continued to pace the breakaway. He was dominating his closest rivals, as the ITV cycling Twitter account detailed:

Cycling blogger Mikkel Conde detailed just how quickly Martin was covering the climb:

But even that stunning injection of pace didn't amount to an insurmountable advantage, as the leading group clung on at the front. Meanwhile, Rowe stayed in comfortable control at the head of the peloton:

However, it was team Astana who were making the most headway during the Tourmalet. Nibali was leading the charge with some determined riding that almost turned the clock back for 2014's winner:

Yet as the riders neared the summit, Tinkoff-Saxo's Majka created some daylight up front, leaving a clearly tiring Martin trailing. The Cannondale man was paying the price for the initial effort made to cross from the peloton and into the breakaway.

Majka won the mountain event at last year's tour, and that experience showed. The Pole timed his acceleration perfectly as the riders scaled Tourmalet, going solo at the front of the field with seven kilometres remaining.

Jerome Prevost/Associated Press

Further back, Astana looked to have seized control of the peloton, but as has been the case throughout this tour, Team Sky were able to extinguish any surges from those rivalling Froome for the general classification.

Indeed, Sky soon held sway again in the latter stages, but it wasn't Froome making the move this time:

Majka was well in control at the front and was the first to make the ascent after a near-60-minute slog to the top of the Tourmalet.

In doing so, Majka made a piece of his history for his country, according to CafeRoubaix:

"

Rafal Majka is the 1st Polish rider to get first over the top of the Col du Tourmalet.

— CafeRoubaix (@CafeRoubaix) July 15, 2015"

The climb over the top of the Tourmalet usually thins the pack. So it proved for the peloton, as the Sky Sports Cycling official Twitter feed described:

Further back, late drama was provided by Warren Barguil. The Giant-Alpecin rider had a mini war with nature amid a late surge to reach the peloton:

The winner of the 2014 polka-dot jersey seemed to be coasting to victory at the front. But there was some late pressure that came from MTN-Qhubeka's Serge Pauwels, per Peloton Watch:

Majka attempted to step up the pace over the final stretch, while the chasing pack tried to make things a little closer, per Cycling Weekly:

However, Pauwels' burst amounted to little and Martin did tremendously to make a successful late run for second. Ultimately though, nobody got near Majka once he made his move up the Tourmalet.

By winning this stage, he's firmly established himself as a natural over the mountains, as Sunday Times writer David Walsh detailed:

With more mountain-top stages to follow, Majka will target another win to add to his burgeoning reputation and boost the credibility of Tinkoff-Saxo.