Tour de France 2021: stage 11 takes in double ascent of Mont Ventoux – live!

11.40am EDT 11:40

The cut-off: It’s likely to be around 47 minutes, which means that barring an accident, Mark Cavendish will be absolutely fine.

11.36am EDT 11:36

Minor placings: Vingagaard has been caught by Pogacar on the descent and the Maillot Jaune overtakes his rival just before the line. Rigoberto Uran and Richard Carapaz finish in the same group.

11.35am EDT 11:35

In second and third: It’s close but no cigar for Kenny Elissonde and Bauke Mollema.

11.34am EDT 11:34

The 26-year-old Belgian makes history by winning the first ever stage of the Tour de France to take in two ascents of Mont Ventoux. That’s a big, big win. He’s in tears as he crosses the line, standing up on his pedals and raising his arms to he heavens.

11.32am EDT 11:32

3km to go: It’s onwards and downwards for Wout van Aert, who turns to the motorbike cameraman and does a little fist-pump.

11.29am EDT 11:29

5km to go: Having lost Tony Martin to a crash earlier today, things have picked up for Team Jumbo-Visma. Wout van Aert is on the verge of winning the stage, while Jonas Vingegaard has pulled off the impressive feat of making Tadej Pogacar look human. He may not take much, if any, time out of the race leader but he’s scored a mini mental victory and will probably move up to third on GC.

11.21am EDT 11:21

15km to go: The descent continues, with Van Aert 1min 16sec clear of Mollema and Elissonde. They’re 16 seconds clear of Vingegaard.

11.19am EDT 11:19

17km to go: Vingegaard is burning rubber down the descent at a speed approaching 90km per hour.

11.18am EDT 11:18

19km to go: Wout van Aert begins his desent to the finish, with Bauke Mollema and Kenny Ellisonde a minute behind them. Jonas Vingegaard is breathing down their necks. Tadej Pogacar, Richard Carapaz and Rigoberto Uran are also on the descent.

11.16am EDT 11:16

22km to go: Wout van Aert crests the summit of Mont Ventoux. Behind him, the Green Jersey group still have nine kilometres of climbing to do.

11.14am EDT 11:14

22km to go: Jonas Vingegaard powers clear of Pogacar. He’s fourth on GC, 4min 32sec behind the race leader and currently wearing the best young rider’s jersey on behalf of Pogacar.

11.12am EDT 11:12

23km to go: Kwiatkowski rides himself to a near standstill and drops off the front of the yellowjersey group. Vingegaard attacks, Pogacar immediately jumps on his wheel and they leave the others behind.

11.09am EDT 11:09

23km to go: Apart from Dan O’Connor, who has been dropped, all the main GC contenders are in an eight or nine-strong Yellow Jersey group. Looking at how relaxed Tadej Pogacar seems, there’s really only one GC contender. Leading them up the mountain, the face of Ineos Grenadiers’ Michał Kwiatkowski is a mask of pain.

11.06am EDT 11:06

25km to go: Bauke Mollema and Kenny Ellisonde are riding together, 1min 20sec behind Wout van Aert. The gap from Van Aert to the Yellow Jersey group is 3min 53 seconds. On Eurosport, they are speculating that the cut-off point for Mark Cavendish and the other stragglers will be around 41 minutes. They’re 28 minutes off the pace at the moment.

11.02am EDT 11:02

25km to go: Ben O’Connor has lost a minute on the yellow jersey group. If he loses another minute he’ll start sliding down the GC.

11.01am EDT 11:01

26km to go: Crowds are lining both sides of the road on the way towards the summit but they’re giving the riders plenty of room, perhaps under pain of arrest after what happened with that cardboard sign-wielding woman who caused the mass pile-up earlier in the Tour.

10.59am EDT 10:59

27km to go: Wout Van Aert passes the sign telling him he’s five kilometres from the summit of Mont Ventoux. He looks home and hosed today barring an accident and there are few better descenders in the peloton than him.

10.57am EDT 10:57

27km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is caught by the yellow jersey group and spat out the back. That’s showbusiness.

10.52am EDT 10:52

29km to go: Wout van Aert has 7.4kmn to go to the summit of Ventoux and is about 40 seconds clear of Kenny Elissonde, who is staying in touch. In third place, Bauke Molleman is pedalling squares and looks in serious discomfort.

10.48am EDT 10:48

30km to go: In second place on GC, the Australian Ben O’Connor has cracked on the second ascent of Mont Ventoux and is being dropped by the Yellow Jersey group. He has a little under three minutes worth of a buffer to Rigobert Uran in third place on GC so no need to panic yet. Unfortunately, he has no teammates around him to provide assistance.

10.45am EDT 10:45

31km to go: Wout van Aert has forged clear on his own. He’s 30 seconds clear of Kenny Elissonde, 56 seconds clear of Bauke Mollema and two minutes clear of Julian Alaphilippe. The Yellow Jersey group is 4min 26sec behind.

10.34am EDT 10:34

34km to go: The gap from Elissonde and Van Aert at the front of the race to the Yellow Jersey group is 4min 42sec.

10.33am EDT 10:33

34km to go: Mollema attacks Alaphilippe, angering the Frenchman who had been working with him. Alaphilippe immediately stands on his pedals and gets back on Mollema’s wheel.

10.32am EDT 10:32

35km to go: Wout van Aert catches Elissonde, who latches on to his wheel. Behind them, Mollema gives Alaphilippe an apologetic wave after veering across the narrow road in front of him. These guys are exhausted but Van Aert looks the strongest. It’s 13 kilometres to the summit.

10.29am EDT 10:29

35km to go: Wout van Aert sets off in pursuit of Elissonde, leaving Bauke Mollema and Julian Alaphilippe a few seconds behind. Alaphilippe is glued to the back wheel of Mollema but looks to be in a bit of bother.

Updated at 10.30am EDT

10.27am EDT 10:27

36km to go: Back in the Yellow Jersey group, the wearer of said garment, Tadej Pogacar, takes an ice-back proferred from his team car and stuffs it down the back of his shirt.

10.26am EDT 10:26

38km to go: Or are they? Hmmmm. Trek-Segafredo’s Kevin Elissonde attacks off the front of the lead group with a little under 15 kilometres to go to the summit. Alpecin-Fenix rider Xandro Meurisse is being dropped by the lead group.

10.21am EDT 10:21

39km to go: Our group of leaders are back at the foot of Ventoux beginning their second ascent, with two Trek-Segafredo riders on the front trying to set things up for Bauke Mollema. Julian Alaphilippe is tucked in behind them, with Mollema on his wheel.

10.07am EDT 10:07

49km to go: “I’ve just realised that tail-enders could get lapped today,” writes Andrew Benton. “Surely a first for a mountain stage on the Tour….or not?”

As amusing and confusiong as it would be, it’s extremely unlikely today. They’re taking a different route up Ventoux second time around but travelling down the same descent. There is no chance whatsoever that even the tailenders will still be doing their first descent when the leaders begin their second as the green jersey gruppetto is halfway down already.

10.01am EDT 10:01

51km to go: Julian Alaphilippe averaged 24.9km per hour on the ascent of Ventoux and 68.9km per hour on the descent. His maximum speed on the descent was an eyewatering 99km per hour. Wow.

10.00am EDT 10:00

An email: “What is the expected cut-off time for Cavendish and his teammates to finish today’s stage?” asks Tony Cunningham.

It’s difficult to say at the moment but I suspect they’ll be fine. They’re 18 minutes off the pace at the moment and at a guess I’d say they’ll probably have around 40 minutes to play with. They’ll be able to make up time on the two descents and in the valley between the two big climbs.

9.54am EDT 09:54

56km to go: The lead group are freewheeling down at 60km per hour. Behind them, Ineos Grenadiers are leading the charge, with Jonathan Castroviejo making the pace following Geraint Thomas’s decision to drop back.

9.52am EDT 09:52

60km to go: Team Ineos are leading the Yellow Jersey group down the mountain. They’ll have a fairly flat ride through the valkley before they tackle the climb again from a different approach… then it’s downhill all the way to the finish.

9.50am EDT 09:50

63km to go: With the exception of the Green Jersey group, the field is descending Ventoux at a rate of knots. The gap from the leading seven riders to the Yellow Jersey group is still around five minutes.

9.38am EDT 09:38

76km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is followed over the summ it of Ventoux by Anthony Perez and Bauke Mollema. The gap to the tightly bunched yellow jersey group is 4min 56sec.

9.30am EDT 09:30

77km to go: Bauke Mollema is trying to bridge the gap back to the group of leaders before they hit the summit. He leaves a forlorn Pierre Rolland, who he had been riding alongside, behind.

9.26am EDT 09:26

79km to go: With three kilometres to go to the summit of Ventoux, the riders have entered that flora and fauna-free stretch of landscape that makes it look like they’re riding on the moon. Back in the Yellow Jersey group, which is 5min 22sec behind, Geraint Thomas has dropped off the front.

9.24am EDT 09:24

79km to go: The lead group has been reduced to seven: Van Aert, Alaphilippe, Elissandre, Meurisse, Bernard, Perez and Durbridge.

9.21am EDT 09:21

82km to go: The first ascent of Ventoux is on in earnest and Dan Martin has been dropped by the lead group. The lead group is shedding riders at quite a rate with five kilometres to go to the top. Therer are seven leaders working together.

9.04am EDT 09:04

90km to go: British Arkéa–Samsic rider Dan McLay has abandoned. He’s the second member of his team to quit today, following Clement Russo.

9.03am EDT 09:03

90km to go: Tenth on General Classification, Groupama FDJ rider David Gadau has just been shelled out the back of the peloton and is going backwards.

8.58am EDT 08:58

92km to go: While today marks the first double-ascent of Ventoux in Tour history, it’s interesting and perhaps a little disappointing that the finish of today’s stage is at the bottom of the second descent.

8.53am EDT 08:53

95km to go: The gap from the lead bunch to the yellow jersey group is 5min 10sec and the feeling among the Eurosport commentary team is that Ineos Grenadiers are plotting something at the front of the bunch, a possible assault by Richard Carapaz in an attempt to but a dent in Tadej Pogacar’s overall lead. They have 17km to go to the summit of Ventoux.