In cycling, Cadel Evans  becomes the first Australian to win the Tour de France. The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th Tour de France. It started on 2 July 2011 with a 180-kilometre (110 mi) first stage at the Passage du Gois, and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July 2011.

The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th Tour de France. It started on 2 July 2011 with a 180-kilometre (110 mi) first stage at the Passage du Gois, and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July 2011. The complete route of the 2011 Tour de France was announced in October 2010. The route entered Italy for part of two stages, including an overnight stop.

The emphasis was on the Alps in 2011, as it was on the Pyrenees in 2010, commemorating the 100th anniversary of those peaks first being visited in the Tour.^[1] The Col du Galibier was visited twice during the race and the 18th stage was the first time the peloton finished on the 2645 metre pass.^[2] It was the highest summit finish in tour history, beating the finish of the Col du Granon (2413 m) during 1986 Tour de France. For only the second time since 1967 the 2011 Tour started with a mass start stage instead of a prologue, the last occasion being in 2008.^[3]

Australian Cadel Evans won the race, having gained the lead in a time-trial on the penultimate day. He became the first Australian to win the race, and at 34, the oldest post-war winner. Andy Schleck of Luxembourg was second for the third successive year, and his brother Frank Schleck third. Mark Cavendish was the first British winner of the points classification, and Samuel Sánchez of Spain won the mountains category.

Partial extract Ref # http://en.wikipedia.org

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