2011 Tour de France- Riding his first Tour de France, 26-year-old Vanendert took advantage of a battle of attrition between the race favourites to launch a shrewd solo attack on the final climb of the 168.5km stage, winning by 21 seconds ahead of Spain's Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel).
The result was a reversal of Thursday's first Pyrenean stage, which Sanchez won ahead of the Belgian. "Winning at Plateau de Beille is like a dream come true," said Vanendert, the new king of the mountains. "Two mountain top finishes: one time second, one time first... I've tried two times and luckily now I have two things: a prize jersey and a stage win, so I'm very glad."
A dig inside the final 500 metres won Andy Schleck (Leopard Trek) a couple of seconds over his GC rivals, the Luxembourg rider taking third place, 46 seconds behind Vanendert.
Cadel Evans (BMC) led a group of favourites over the line - including reigning champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) and the current maillot jaune Voeckler (Europcar) - 48 seconds off the pace.
"I gained two seconds at the finish and every second counts," said Schleck. "Probably the strongest (of my rivals) was Evans. Alberto (Contador) is strong too and in my opinion he will wait to the Alps to make his move."
Vanendert's victory is his team Omega Pharma-Lotto's third win of the Tour following successful rides from sprinters Philippe Gilbert and Andre Greipel - a remarkable turn of events following the abandonment of the team's leader Jurgen van den Broeck in the first week with a broken shoulder blade.
The gruelling climb to Plateau de Beille has historically decided the outcome of the Tour - the four previous winners all going on to secure the overall victory in Paris.
But this year, the arduous ascent was a more cagey affair as a series of small attacks from the younger Schleck brother were all countered by the main group of nine riders.
With seven kilometres left to ride, Vanendert exploited this stalemate to make his decisive move. More than 12 minutes down on surprise leader Voeckler in the GC, Vanendert was allowed to built up a gap as he chased down tiring lone leader Sandy Casar (FDJ), the last of a initial 24-man breakaway which formed early in the stage before the first of six climbs.
Sanchez, winner of stage 12 at Luz-Ardiden, managed to break clear of the chasing group but he was unable to eat into the Belgian's lead and had to settle for second place near his native Basque region. He also lost his polka dot jersey to Vanendert, who leads the mountains standings by two points.
Further down the hill, Italy's Ivan Basso (Liquigas) was a constant fixture on the front of the chasing group in which Contador cut an uncomfortable figure as attack followed attack.
"Ivan (Basso), my brother and myself tried to race. The others just looked at each other," Frank Schleck said at the finish.
Voeckler, supported by his team-mate Pierre Rolland, looked every bit a race favourite as he responded to every dig - and even put in a few of his own. Seven years on from his famous previous ride in yellow to Plateau de Beille - where the unfancied Frenchman limited his losses to Lance Armstrong to retain his maillot jaune for a memorable 10th day - Voeckler once again proved that his position at the race summit should not be taken for granted.
The former French road race champion leads Frank Schleck by 1:49 in the overall standings with Australian Evans in third, 2:06 down. Andy Schleck is fourth, 2:15 down, while Basso completes the top five at 3:16.
"I would lie if I said I expected to be with the best climbers today. I'm really surprised to be with them at the end," an ecstatic Voeckler said before stressing his intention to defend the jersey for as long as possible.
After clawing back some more precious seconds at the finish, Sanchez leap-frogs his compatriot Contador into sixth place, 3:44 down, while a stuttering yet nevertheless improving Contador is now seventh, exactly four minutes down on Voeckler.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre) faded in the last 5km of the final climb, coming across the finish 39 seconds slower than his rivals. The Italian drops two places to eighth position, one second behind Contador.
The Tour continues on Sunday with the flat 193km stage 15 from Limoux to Montpellier, which could give Britain's Mark Cavendish (HTC) a chance to win his fourth stage of the Tour.
After a tricky day in the saddle off the back of the peloton, the green jersey finished almost 27 minutes off the pace on Saturday but safely within the cut-off time limit.
Saturday, 16 July 2011
2011 Tour de France
15:29
C 777
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