2015 Tour de France results and standings, Stage 11: Rafal Majka completes breakaway

Rafal Majka won the first stage of the Tour de France that was prime for a breakaway. The Polish climber won a couple mountain stages last year, and showed the same facility yet again, crossing the Col du Tourmalet first, descending fast and topping the Category 3 climb to the finish with aplomb. After a somewhat disappointing Tour thus far for Alberto Contador, Majka gave Tinkoff-Saxo reason to celebrate.

Dan Martin made two great surges on the day -- one to bridge a nearly four-minute gap to a breakaway and summit Col d’Aspin in first place, and another to catch Serge Pauwels’ break and come in second place by just under a minute on the final climb. Pauwels wilted late on a hot day, finishing in fourth after being nipped by Emanuel Buchmann.

When Majka went over Tourmalet, he was five and a half minutes ahead of a chase group that contained all of the pre-Tour favorites -- Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali and Tejay Van Garderen. After a brutal and decisive Stage 10, it appeared the heavy-hitters were content with a steady ride until the final five kilometers.

Bauke Mollema was the first to break ranks up the final climb, surging in a bid to creep into the top 10 of the general classification. The chase driven by Sky picked up its pace and cracked Nibali for a second straight day. Mollema’s move resulted in a seventh-place finish on the stage. He was followed by Alejandro Vaverde, who made a last-second advance that beat Froome by two seconds to the line.

There were few surprises on the day, overall. Many of the top riders admitted after the race that they were saving their energy for what should be a grueling Stage 12. The only thing we really learned is that Nibali is done -- like DONE done. For a moment it appeared that his legs were back. He and Astana did most of the work up Tourmalet. But as has happened three times in the last four stages, Nibali’s form couldn’t match his ambition.

The top of the general classification won’t change at all. Chris Froome will hold on to the yellow jersey, potentially all the way to Paris. Mollema snuck into the top 10, moving Nibali out of the way. Peter Sagan, unsurprisingly, is back in the green jersey over the climb-averse Andre Greipel. Despite Majka’s ride, he is still behind Froome and Richie Porte in the King of the Mountains competition. Porte will wear the polka dot jersey while Froome wears yellow.