It was a day in the mountains, but Stage 11 got started off with another raid on the intermediate sprint by Peter Sagan (BORA-hansgrohe). The world champion was part of the initial five-man move off the front, duly collecting the full 20 points available, before drifting back to the peloton to finish the stage.
Sagan now leads the green jersey standings by 121 points from Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) who appears to have given up any attempt to challenge the five-time sprint classification winner in the race for the maillot vert.
Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) was again on the front foot, just a day after his solo victory into Le Grand Bornand. He claimed maximum points on the climb of Montée de Bisanne in front of Warren Barguil (Fortuneo-Samsic) and Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal).
He then ceded points to Barguil and Serge Pauwels (Dimension Data) over the Col du Pre and Cormet de Roselend after he dropped off the pace.
The results mean the battle for the polka dots is heating up, with Alaphilippe in the lead with 61 points, while Pauwels and Barguil are still well within striking distance of the Frenchman, on 49 and 40 points respectively.
There are a total of three hors categorie climbs coming up on Stage 12, with 20 points available at the top of each for the climbers.
