2011 European Rally Championship
As in the previous year, Italian driver Luca Rossetti won the European championship, driving an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 car. He won the European championship category in 5 rallies. Second place in the final standings was claimed by Luca Betti (Italy), who won 2 events. Polish driver Michał Sołowow was the ERC winner in 3 events, but did not compete in enough rallies to be classified in the final standings.


2011 European Rally Championship, Calendar
The original calendar for the 2011 season featured 12 rallies, the 11 rallies from the previous season plus Rally Bulgaria which returned after one year with the WRC. However, the first event, the ELPA Rally in Greece, was cancelled, leaving 11 rallies, 9 of them on tarmac. Two events were shared with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge: Ypres and Zlín.


2011 European Rally Championship, Results and standings, Results and statistics
Note: the results and statistics only consider drivers starting in the ERC.


2011 European Rally Championship, Results and standings, Drivers' championship
For the final classification in a rally, the winner got 25 points, the runner-up 18 and the third placed driver 15. Drivers ranked 4 to 10 got 12–10–8–6–4–2–1 point(s). Additionally, the top five of every leg got 7–5–3–2–1 point(s). The season was divided into two parts (first 5 and last 6 rallies). From each part, only the 4 best results for each driver counted towards the championship. To qualify for the final standings, a driver had to participate in at least 5 events and in at least 1 in each part of the season.


2011 European Rally Championship, Results and standings, 2WD drivers' championship
Any driver participating in a 2WD car automatically also scored points for the 2WD championship.


2011 European Rallycross Championship
The 2011 European Rallycross Championship was the thirty fifth season of the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers. The season consisted of ten rounds and started on 24 April with the British round at Lydden Hill Race Circuit. The season ended on 2 October, at Czech Republic at Sosnová.


2011 European Road Championships
The 2011 European Road Championships were held in Offida, Italy, between 14 and 17 July 2011. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men and women under 23 and juniors. The championships were regulated by the European Cycling Union.


2011 European Rowing Championships
The 2011 European Rowing Championships were the fifth edition of the European Rowing Championships, since they were reinstated by decision of FISA in 2006. The event was held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, between 16 and 18 September 2011. A total of 389 rowers (254 men and 135 women), representing 28 national federations, took part in 14 events – eight events less than those contested in the previous edition.


2011 European Senior Tour
The 2011 European Senior Tour was the 20th season of the European Senior Tour, the professional golf tour for men aged 50 and above operated by the PGA European Tour. Peter Fowler won two events and the Order of Merit title.


2011 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
The season started with three events in late 2010. The numbers in brackets after the winners' names show the number of career wins they had on the European Senior Tour up to and including that event. This is only shown for players who are members of the tour.


2011 European Senior Tour, Tournament results
For the tour schedule on the European Senior Tour's website, including links to full results, click .


2011 European Senior Tour, Leading money winners
There is a complete list on the official site .


2011 European Shield
The competition reverted to a three-team format in 2011, with most of the nations from the 2010 competition taking part in qualifying for the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. Two new teams, Malta and Norway were promoted to the competition having contested the European Bowl in 2010. Germany claimed their first Shield triumph by virtue of points difference after all teams recorded one win.


2011 European Shooting Championships
The 2011 European Shooting Championships were held in Belgrade, Serbia.


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships were held in Szczecin, Poland, from December 8 to 11, 2011. The event featured competition in a short course (25m) pool.


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The event was held over four days with heats, semifinals and a final for the 50 m and 100 m events and heats and a final for all other events with the exception of the women's 800 m and men's 1500 m freestyle which were heat-declared winners. Heats were held in the morning, with semifinals, finals and the fastest heat of the distance freestyle events in the evening.


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships
Each nation was permitted to enter four swimmers into each individual event, however only the fastest two were allowed to progress to the semifinal and/or final.


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Participating nations
543 swimmers (302 males, 241 females) from 44 countries swam at the 2011 Short Course European Championships. Teams (and team size) were from:


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Results, Men's events
Legend: WR - World record; WBT - World best time; ER - European record; CR - Championship record; NR - National record


2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships, Results, Women's events
Legend: WR - World record; WBT - World best time; ER - European record; CR - Championship record; NR - National record


2011 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The 2011 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships took place between 14 and 16 January 2011 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.


2011 European Short Track Speed Skating Championships
The original winner in men's competition was Thibaut Fauconnet of France but he was later disqualified for doping offence.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship
The 2011 European Show Jumping Championship was held between September 13 and September 18, 2011 in Madrid in Spain.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship
It was the 31st edition of the European Show Jumping Championships, only in the 19th time team medals were awarded.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Organization, Before the event
In April 2009 the FEI chose the Spanish capital Madrid to host the 2011 European Show Jumping Championship. Madrid was in the last years alternately with Gijón location of the annual Spanish Nations Cup horse show in Show Jumping.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Organization, Before the event
It was the second time in European Show Jumping Championship history – after 1993 in Gijón – that Spain held this sports event.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Organization, Event and location
The European Show Jumping Championship was opened in afternoon on Tuesday, September 13. The sport at the Championship had started on Wednesday. Parallel to the European Championships, a CSI 3*-Show jumping horse show is held. The Event will end on Sunday after the prize giving ceremony.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Organization, Event and location
The event is held at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Competitions, General
The team competition and the individual competition is held from Wednesday to Friday at the same competitions. The individual competition will end after a final competition on Sunday.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Competitions, Timetable
The first competition was a speed and handiness competition. Here the jumping faults are converted to seconds and added to the time in seconds. After this competition the calculated seconds are converted into point for the European Championship individual ranking.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Competitions, Timetable
The second competition was a show jumping competition with two rounds. It is held on Thursday and Friday. On Friday only the best ten nations and the best 50 riders are allowed to start in the second round (all team riders of the ten teams are allowed to start). The results of three riders per team counts for the team result. After the Friday competition the team medals will be awarded. The best 25 riders start on Sunday in one more show jumping competition with two rounds. After this competition the individual medals are awarded.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after first day
After the first day of the competitions the French team was in the lead. The teams of German, Sweden, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Belgium follow with a distance of less than eight points.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after first day
In the individual ranking with Olivier Guillon also a French rider was in the lead. 27 riders follow with a distance of less than four points.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after second day
The show jumping course was very difficult, much riders had more than one fault. Winning team of the day was the Netherlands. With three round with no faults the team is now in the lead. The French team lost his lead because of faults, distributed to all team riders.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after second day
In individual ranking the second placed rider from the first day, Stefan Eder, had 16 penalty points – now he is 37th. Also the former leader, Olivier Guillon, had a jumping fault (now 9th). In the lead is now German team rider Carsten-Otto Nagel.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after third day
At the third day, the riders had to ride the same show jumping course as Thursday. The winning team of Thursday, the Netherlands, had some faults. Germany and France benefit this, both teams had three rounds with zero faults at this day.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after third day
The German team had won the team gold medal already after the third rider (with in total four point on Thursday). The last rider of the team, Ludger Beerbaum, could improve the result with a round without faults. France had won the silver medal, Great Britain team won bronze. The teams of the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland were in the places four to six, in qualification for the 2012 Summer Olympics.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Provisional result after third day
In the not final individual ranking the German Carsten-Otto Nagel with Corradina are again in the lead. Billy Twomey (Thursday second placed) and Gregory Wathelet (Thursday fourth placed) had both 16 penalty points.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Final results, Individual result
At the last day of the event the riders had to ride a show jumping competition with two different rounds. Only 22 of 25 qualified rider start in this competition.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Final results, Individual result
In round one of this competition first placed Carsten-Otto Nagel and second placed Nick Skelton had both one jumping fault. So the Dutch rider Gerco Schröder, who had no faults in this round, was in the lead. Three riders of the 22 did not start in round two because they had no chance more to get a real good position in the final ranking.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Final results, Individual result
Also the second round brought further changes in the individual ranking. After the rides of Nagel and Skelton (bouth had again four penalty points) the Swedish rider Rolf-Göran Bengtsson was in the lead. The last rider, Gerco Schröder, had a lead of more than five point before round two – but he had one fault in the mid of the course and again one fault on the last fence. So he lost his gold medal (like two days before in the team competition) and finished fourth. so the new European Champion was Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with the 16-year-old gelding Ninja.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, Results, Final results, Individual result
The only riders who were clear in both rounds was Jeroen Dubbeldam with Simon und Henrik von Eckermann with Coupe de Coeur.


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, More informations
The collection and data communication of the result was performed, as already at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, by Dutch company Sport Computer Graphics (SCG).


2011 European Show Jumping Championship, More informations
The main competition of the CSI 3*-horse show is the traditional Kings Cup (Gran Premio – Copa S.M. El Rey). It was held on Saturday (September 17, 2011) at 4:45 pm. It was a show jumping competition with one round and one jump-off.


2011 European Speed Skating Championships
The 2011 European Speed Skating Championships were held in Collalbo, Italy, from 7 to 9 January 2011.


2011 European Speed Skating Championships, Men's championships, Allround results
NQ = Not qualified for the 10000 m (only the best 12 are qualified)DNS = Did not start


2011 European Speed Skating Championships, Women's championships, Allround results
NQ = Not qualified for the 5000 m (only the best 12 are qualified)DNS = Did not start


2011 European Speed Skating Championships, Rules
All participating skaters were allowed to skate the first three distances; 12 skaters may taken part on the fourth distance. These 12 skaters were determined by taking the standings on the longest of the first three distances, as well as the samalog standings after three distances, and comparing these lists as follows:


2011 European Table Tennis Championships
The 2011 European Table Tennis Championships was held in Gdańsk–Sopot, Poland from 8–16 October 2011. Venue for the competition was Ergo Arena.


2011 European Team Championships
The third European Team Championships| took place on 18 and 19 June 2011. The Competition was divided between four divisions, with results determining promotion and relegation between them. The Super League event was held in Stockholm, at the Stockholm Olympic Stadium. The Super League was won by the Russian team ahead of Germany and Ukraine.


2011 European Team Championships, Super League
The men's pole vault competition was moved indoor to Sätrahallen because of bad weather conditions.


2011 European Team Championships, Score table, Final standings
Note: After the results of several athletes banned for doping were retroactively voided, points had to be reallocated. This resulted in the originally relegated Czech Republic being one place higher than Belarus.


2011 European Team Championships, Third League, Participating countries
Athletic Association of Small States of Europe( Gibraltar,  Liechtenstein,  Monaco,  San Marino) Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Bosnia and Herzegovina Cyprus


2011 European Team Championships Super League
The 2011 European Team Championships Super League was the Super League of the 3rd edition of the European Team Championships (European Athletics Team Championships from 2013 edition), the 2011 European Team Championships, which took place on 18 and 19 June 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden. As with the previous championships there were a couple of rules applying specifically to this competition, such as the limit of three attempts in the throwing events, long jump and triple jump (only the top four were allowed the fourth attempt) and the limit of four misses total in the high jump and pole vault.


2011 European Team Championships Super League, Final standings, Original standings
Note: After the results of several athletes banned for doping were retroactively voided, points had to be reallocated. This resulted in the originally relegated Czech Republic being one place higher than Belarus.


2011 European Tour
The 2011 European Tour was the third edition of the Race to Dubai and the 40th season of golf tournaments since the European Tour officially began in 1972.


2011 European Tour
The Race to Dubai was won by Englishman Luke Donald, who also collected the Golfer of the Year award having also headed the PGA Tour money list and ascended to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking during 2011. Compatriot Tom Lewis was Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.


2011 European Tour, Schedule
The table below shows the 2011 European Tour schedule. The season began in December 2010 with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa, and culminated with the Dubai World Championship the following December. The full schedule included the four major championships and four World Golf Championships.


2011 European Tour, Race to Dubai
Since 2009, the European Tour's money list has been known as the "Race to Dubai". It is based on money earned during the season and is calculated in euro, with earnings from tournaments that award prize money in other currencies being converted at the exchange rate available the week of the event. The following table shows the final top 10 in the 2011 standings and includes the bonus pool.


2011 European Tour, Awards, Golfer of the Month
The winners of the European Tour Golfer of the Month Award were as follows:


2011 European Tour Qualifying School graduates
This is a list of the 37 players who earned their 2012 European Tour card through Q School in 2011.


2011 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2012 Results
* European Tour rookie in 2012T = Tied      The player retained his European Tour card for 2013 (finished inside the top 118). The player did not retain his European Tour Tour card for 2013, but retained conditional status (finished between 119-155). The player did not retain his European Tour card for 2013 (finished outside the top 155).


2011 European Tour Qualifying School graduates, 2012 Results
Sullivan, Orr, Lagergren, Nixon, Lundberg, and Southgate regained their cards for 2013 through Q School.


2011 European Touring Car Cup
The 2011 FIA European Touring Car Cup was the seventh running of the FIA European Touring Car Cup. It was contested over a single event at the Salzburgring on the weekend of 23–24 July, unlike in 2010 where it was a three-event series. The event consisted of two races run over a distance of approximately 50 kilometres each. Three FIA cups were awarded at the conclusion of the event, one per each of the eligible categories: Super 2000, Super 1600 and Super Production.


2011 European Track Championships (under-23 & junior)
The 2011 European Track Championships were the European Championships for track cycling. The junior and under 23 riders events took place at the Velódromo Nacional de Sangalhos in Anadia, Portugal from 26 to 31 July 2011.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's keirin
The men's keirin was held on 23 October 2011, with 23 riders participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Qualifying
The first two riders in each heat qualified for the second round, remainder to first round repechage. Races were held at 11:10.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, First round repechage
The first rider in each heat qualified for the second round. Races were held at 12:50.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Second round
The first three riders in each heat qualified for the final 1–6 and the others to final 7–12. Races were held at 15:30.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's keirin, Results, Finals
The 7–12 place final was held at 17:29, with the final being held at 17:33.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's madison
The Men's madison at the 2011 European Track Championships was held on 23 October 2011 with 20 teams participating. Two heats were held to determine the final participants.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's madison, Results, Qualifying
The top 8 teams of each heat advanced to the final. The races were held at 10:00.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's omnium
The Men's omnium was held on 22–23 October 2011. 18 riders participated over six competitions.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's points race
The Men's points race was held on 21 October 2011. 28 riders participated, the distance was 40 km (160 laps) with a sprint every 10 laps for extra points. A lap would have gotten 20 points. Two heats were held over 20 km to determine the final riders.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's points race, Results, Heats
The races were held at 16:20. The top 10 riders of each heat advanced to the final.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's sprint
The men's sprint was held on 22 October 2011, with 24 riders participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, Qualifying
The fastest 24 riders advanced to the 1/16 finals, the qualifying was held at 11:30.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/16 finals
The winner of each heat qualified to the 1/8 finals, the races were held at 12:40.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/8 finals
The winner of each heat qualified to the 1/4 finals, losers went to the repechage. The races were held at 13:52.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's sprint, Results, 1/8 finals repechage
The losers of the 1/8 finals raced, winners advanced to the quarterfinals. Races were held at 14:28.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's team pursuit
The Men's team pursuit was held on 21 October 2011 with 13 teams participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's team pursuit, Results, Qualifying
Fastest 2 teams race for gold and 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze. It was held at 14:10.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's team sprint
The men's team sprint was held on 21 October 2011, with 10 teams participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Men's team sprint, Results, Qualifying
The fastest two teams race for gold and 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze. It was held at 16:00.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's keirin
The Women's keirin was held on 23 October 2011 with 21 riders participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's keirin, Results, Qualifying
First 2 riders in each heat qualified for the second round, remainder to first round repechage. Races were held at 11:30.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's keirin, Results, First Round Repechage
First two riders in each heat qualified for the second round. Races were held at 13:10.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's keirin, Results, Second round
First 3 riders in each heat qualified for the final 1–6 and the others to final 7–12. Races were held at 15:38.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's keirin, Results, Finals
The 7–12 place final was held at 17:21, with the final being held at 17:25.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's omnium
The Women's omnium was held on 22–23 October 2011. 18 riders participated over six competitions.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's points race
The Women's points race was held on 21 October 2011. 24 riders participated, the distance was 25 km (100 laps) with a sprint every 10 laps for extra points. A lap would have gotten 20 points.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's sprint
The Women's sprint was held on 22 October 2011 with 23 riders participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's sprint, Results, Qualifying
Fastest 24 riders advanced to 1/16 finals, the qualifying was held at 12:05.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's sprint, Results, 1/16 Finals
Winner of each heat qualified to 1/8 Finals, the races were held at 13:16.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's sprint, Results, 1/8 Finals
Winner of each heat qualified to 1/4 Finals, losers went to the repêchage. The races were held at 14:10.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's sprint, Results, 1/8 Finals Repechage
The loser of the 1/8 Finals raced, winners advanced to the Quarterfinals. Races were held at 14:34.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's team pursuit
The Women's team pursuit was held on 21 October 2011 with 12 teams participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's team pursuit, Results, Qualifying
Fastest 2 teams race for gold and 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze. It was held at 13:00.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's team sprint
The Women's team sprint was held on 21 October 2011 with 11 teams participating.


2011 European Track Championships – Women's team sprint, Results, Qualifying
Fastest 2 teams race for gold and 3rd and 4th teams race for bronze. It was held at 15:35.


2011 European Trophy
The 2011 European Trophy was the second European Trophy, a European ice hockey tournament held annually. It was also the sixth tournament since its predecessor, the Nordic Trophy, was launched in 2006. The regulation round began on 11 August 2011 and ended on 6 September 2011. The playoffs, which took place in Austria, were played between 16–18 December 2011 in the Eisarena Salzburg in Salzburg, and the Albert Schultz Eishalle in Vienna, at the same time as the 2011 Channel One Cup. The playoff hosts, Red Bull Salzburg, won the playoffs and captured their first championship title in the European Trophy tournament, having lost in the quarterfinals last year.


2011 European Trophy
A significant difference in this year's tournament was that the number of participating teams was increased from 18 to 24. To compensate this, the teams were divided into four divisions this year, instead of just two in the previous year's tournament. Another difference was that the playoffs, known as the Red Bulls Salute, were not played at the same time as the regulation round—the regulation round was played between August–September 2011, while the playoffs were played in December, three months later. Further, the junior edition was disbanded prior to this year's tournament.


2011 European Trophy, Tournament format
The 24 teams in the tournament were, based on geographical location, divided into four divisions: the West Division, the North Division, the South Division, and the East Division. Each division consisted of 6 teams who played a round-robin in their division, and another three games against teams from the other three divisions (see the Division vs. Division games section), giving a total of 8 games per team.


2011 European Trophy, Tournament format
The top two teams of each division qualified for the playoffs, but as Red Bull Salzburg qualified for the playoffs as hosts (i.e. failed to reach one of the top two spots of the East Division), they replaced the worst second ranked team out of all four divisions, which was Eisbären Berlin.


2011 European Trophy, Tournament format
Had at least two teams in the same division ended up tied in points, the following tie-breaker format was used:


2011 European Trophy, Tournament format
As Red Bull Salzburg, who were automatically qualified for the playoffs, failed to reach one of the top two spots of the East Division, the same tie-breaker format was used to determine which second ranked team they would replace, which was Eisbären Berlin.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, West Division
All times for the games played in Finland are UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, North Division
All times for the games played in Finland are UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, East Division
All times for the games played in Finland are UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, Division vs. Division games, West Division vs. North Division
All times for the games played in Finland are UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, Division vs. Division games, West Division vs. South Division
Time for the game played in Finland is UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, Division vs. Division games, West Division vs. East Division
Time for the game played in Finland is UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, Division vs. Division games, North Division vs. East Division
All times for the games played in Finland are UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Regulation round, Division vs. Division games, South Division vs. East Division
Time for the game played in Finland is UTC+3, while all times for the other games are UTC+2.


2011 European Trophy, Playoffs
The playoffs are played as the Red Bulls Salute and take place in Salzburg and Vienna between 16–18 December 2011. The teams that lose the quarterfinals play in the classification games. The classification games decide which teams play in the respective games for 7th place and 5th place.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals. If the list exceeds 10 skaters because of a tie in points, all of the tied skaters are shown.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties In Minutes; POS = Position  positions: F = Forward; D = Defenceman


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Scoring leaders
Sources:  and  Updated as of the end of the tournament.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Only the top five goaltenders, based on save percentage, who have played 40% of their team's minutes, are included in this list.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
TOI = Time On Ice (minutes:seconds); SA = Shots Against; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO = Shutouts


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, Leading goaltenders
Sources:  and  Updated as of the end of the tournament.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, European Star Award leaders
The European Star Award is a three stars award given to the three best players in each game. The first star gets three points, the second gets two points, and the third gets one point. List shows the top ten players based on the number of European Star Award points.


2011 European Trophy, Ranking and statistics, European Star Award leaders
GP = Games played; Pts = Points; POS = Position  positions: G = Goaltender; F = Forward; D = Defenceman


2011 European Truck Racing Championship
The 2011 FIA European Truck Racing Championship was a multi-event motor racing championship for production based trucks held across Europe. The championship features a mix of professional motor racing teams and privately funded amateur drivers competing in highly modified versions of two-axle tractor units which conform to the technical regulations for the championship. It was the 27th European Truck Racing Championship season and began at Donington Park on April 22, with the finale at Le Mans on October 9 after ten events. The championship was won by Jochen Hahn, taking his first title.


2011 European Truck Racing Championship, Teams and drivers
Late entries in italics. Only trucks that were entered before Round 6 were eligible for points.


2011 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship standings, Drivers' Championship
Points were awarded on a 20, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers in races 1 & 3 of each meeting; and on a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 basis to the top 10 finishers in races 2 & 4 of each meeting. All scores counted towards the championship.


2011 European Truck Racing Championship, Championship standings, Teams' Championship
Points were awarded on the same scale as the Drivers' Championship, with non-registered teams being ignored.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
The 2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was the eighth annual international rugby union competition for Under 18 national rugby union teams in Europe. The event was organised by rugby's European governing body, the FIRA – Association of European Rugby (FIRA-AER). The competition was contested by 28 men's junior national teams and will be held in April 2011. It was hosted by the French region of Armagnac and Bigorre. The tournament was won by the under-18 team of Ireland, who took out the title for the first time, beating England in the final. For the first time, France did not reach the championship game and finished in fourth place only.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
The tournament's defending champion was France, who had won five European championships and the last four in a row. The 2011 edition of the competition saw the introduction of an elite division, above division one, made up of four teams, France, England, Wales and Ireland. The divisions below remained unchanged. It marked the first time that all countries participating in the Six Nations Championship send a team to the European championship.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship
It was sponsored by French company Justin Bridou and therefore officially called the 2011 Justin Bridou European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, History
The European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship was first held in 2004, in Treviso, Italy. It replaced the previously held European Under-18 Emergent Nations Championship, which had first been held in 2000. The first championship in 2004 was won by France.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, History
The following two championships, held in Lille, France in 2005 and again in Treviso in 2006, were won by England. Alternating between France and Italy, the next four championships were held in Biarritz, Treviso again, Toulon and once more in Treviso in 2010. All four were won by France, but of Europe's top rugby playing nations, England, Wales and Scotland did not take part in the 2010 edition.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, Format
The 2011 edition saw the introduction of an Elite division, consisting of four teams, two of which, England and Wales, had not taken part in the 2010 competition or, in the case of Wales, never taken part in the European championship.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, Format
Below the elite level, the championship was organised in First, Second and Third Divisions, with First being the highest and Third the lowest. Each division consisted of eight teams and each team played three competition games, with a quarter-final, semi-final and final/placing game. The quarter-finals were played according to a seeding list, with the winners moving on to the first to fourth place semi-finals while the losers would enter the fifth to eighth place semi-finals.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, Format
The winner of the Elite division, Ireland, was crowned European champions while the fourth placed team was to be relegated to the First division. Similarly, the winner of the Second and Third divisions would move up a division for 2012 while the last placed teams would be relegated.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, Format
To determine the four teams playing in the Elite Division, a qualifying tournament was held between the Six Nations U-18 sides in late February and early March, with the teams drawn into two groups of three teams each. France and England won their groups, with Wales and Ireland finishing second, qualifying all four teams for the Elite Division. Italy and Scotland finished third, placing them in the First Division. For Italy, this was still a bonus as it obtained the second seed for the division, behind Scotland. After an unsuccessful 2010 tournament, where the team had finished only fifth, it would have been entitled to only the fifth seed otherwise. Scotland made a return to the European championship for the first time since 2006.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, Venues
The games of the 2011 championship were played at venues in Armagnac and Bigorre, two regions in southern France. The first round of games in all divisions except the elite one was played on 16 April 2011. The elite division played their first games in Auch the following day. The second round was played on 19 April while the finals for all divisions were held on 22 and 23 April, with Division two and three playing on the 22 and the Elite and First Division on the 23.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Overview, D Division
The D division forms the fourth level, below the Third division, of European Under-18 rugby. In 2011, only three teams compete at this level, at a separate tournament. It consists of the teams of Israel, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. The tournament was held independently of the other divisions on 14 April at Sinj, Croatia and won by the home nation.


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, Teams and standings
The participating teams and their divisions are in order of their ranking after the tournament:


2011 European Under-18 Rugby Union Championship, European Championship final
The European Championship final was held on 23 April at 18:30 at Tarbes and was broadcast live on Eurosport 2. The final was played in wet conditions and a well organised Ireland side went up 11-3 by half time. England's head coach, John Fletcher, conceded that it was a well-deserved Irish victory but that the game was an important lesson to learn and would help his players in their future development. For Ireland, which was, for the first time, represented by a schools team rather than a Club XV, captain Luke McGrath was the most influential figure on the field, scoring twelve points.


2011 European Union bank stress test
A European Union-wide banking stress test has been conducted by the Committee of European Banking Supervisors every year since 2009. The second instance (2010 European Union banking stress test exercise) was performed in July 2010. This third round was carried out with results published in July 2011. The Council of the European Union (in its economic and financial – ECOFIN – configuration) mandated that Committee so to do, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis which started in 2007.


2011 European Union bank stress test, 2011 stress test results
The results for the 2011 exercises were published on 15 July. Eight out of 90 banks failed the test—five in Spain, two in Greece and one in Austria. Spain also is one of the leading countries in the list of approved banks (20), because it put up almost all of its financial sector (95 percent, against an average of about 60 percent).


2011 European Union bank stress test, 2011 stress test results
The test is controversial, because Spain and Germany have complained the stress tests excluded dynamic provisions recognised by local regulators. In fact, a German bank didn't pass the test but they refused to publish its data and therefore it is not included in the official list


2011 European Union census
2011 EU census, or EU population and housing census 2011 was an EU-wide census in 2011 in all EU member states.


2011 European Weightlifting Championships
The 2011 European Weightlifting Championships was held in Kazan, Russia from 11 April to 17 April 2011. It was the 90th edition of the event, which was first staged in 1896.


2011 European Weightlifting Championships, Medals tables
Ranking by all medals: "Big" (Total result) and "Small" (Snatch and Clean&Jerk)


2011 European Women Sevens Championship
The 2011 European Women Sevens Championship – the ninth edition of the European Women's Sevens Championship.


2011 European Women Sevens Championship, F-EN League
Venue/Date: 19 May 2011, Wiener Sport Club Stadium, ViennaAll results not available


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship
The 2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship was the tenth edition of the European Women's U-17 Handball Championship. It took place in the Czech Republic, in two host cities, Brno and Zlin, from June 23 to July 3. Sixteen teams participated on the tournament, including the fifteen qualifying winners and the host nation. Denmark was the defending champion and reached the final this time as well, but fell short against Russia by a single goal.


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship
The tournament also served as the qualification for the forthcoming Youth World Championship. Top seven ranked countries have won the right to represent Europe on the event next year, joined by host nation Montenegro.


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship, Venues
Two cities have been selected to host the European championship, Brno and Zlin.


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship, Draw
The draw for the final tournament was held on 8 April 2011 in the EHF headquarters in Vienna, Austria. The teams were allocated to four pots of four, with the eight qualifying group winners put in the first two pots, followed by the host country Czech Republic and the second placed teams in the other two pots.


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship, Preliminary round
The sixteen teams were divided into four groups of 4. Top two teams from each group advanced to the Main round to compete for the 1–8 places, while third and fourth placed teams continued the tournament in the Intermediate round, fighting for the 9–16 places.


2011 European Women's U-17 Handball Championship, Rankings and awardees, Final ranking
Teams that are advanced to the 2012 World Women's Youth Handball Championship are highlighted with green.


2011 European Wrestling Championships
The 2011 FILA European Wrestling Championships were held in Dortmund, Germany, from 29 March to 3 April 2011.


2011 European Youth Baseball Championship
The 2011 European Youth Baseball Championship will be an under-16 international baseball competition held in Brno and Třebíč, Czech Republic from July 19 to 23, 2011. It will feature teams from Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Russia and Sweden.


2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival
The 2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival was held in Liberec, Czech Republic, between 13 and 18 February 2011.


2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Participant nations
Azerbaijan, Israel, Malta, Portugal and San Marino (the remaining nations of the European Olympic Committees) did not compete.


2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Mascots
The mascot for this edition of European Youth Olympic Winter Festival is Rampich the icicle.


2011 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival, Venues
Venues used in this European Youth Olympic Winter Festival are:


2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival
The 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Trabzon, Turkey, between 23 and 29 July 2011.


2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, Sports
There were nine sports at the 2011 Festival, two branches, table tennis and water polo, less than compared with the 2007 Youth Olympic Festival's programme. Medals were awarded in a total of 109 events.


2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival, Venues
For the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival's eight events except cycling, eleven sports venues were needed in and around Trabzon. Existing sport halls were renovated and new arenas were built for this purpose with a total investment cost mounting up to TL 350 million (approx. US$210 million), inclusive the construction of additional accommodation facilities at a cost of TL 90 million (approx. US$54 million) for the Olympic Village within the campus of the Black Sea Technical University. The noteworthy new structures are Hayri Gür Arena, Söğütlü Athletics Stadium, Mehmet Akif Ersoy Indoor Swimming Pool and Beşirli Tennis Courts. Cycling events were held on the Trabzon-Rize section of the Black Sea Coastal Highway.


2011 European floods
The 2011 floods in Europe, caused by low-pressure area Meeno, occurred in late October–early November in France, Italy and Ireland. In Italy the river Po rose 4 m (13 feet) in Turin and a number of people (including two children) died in Genoa. A state of emergency in the Italian regions of Liguria and Tuscany was declared after floods killed 10 people on 27 October, causing mudslides. In Ireland, a state of emergency was declared in Dublin three days before.


2011 European floods
The same low-pressure area also induced heavy rain and flooding in parts of North Africa.


2011 European floods, Ireland
Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed during sudden flash floods around the country. Dublin City Council declared a major emergency. Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin, one of Europe's biggest shopping centres, was evacuated shortly before 8 pm on 24 October 2011 after floodwaters surged through the doors, destroying most stores. The owner of a Mexican restaurant in the complex said five-feet of water had rushed down steps towards his business, causing thousands of euro worth of damage. Roads around County Dublin and County Wicklow remained shut the following day.


2011 European floods, Ireland
Two deaths were reported in the country during October. Cecilia De Jesus, a 58-year-old Filipino care worker who had recently become an Irish citizen, drowned in her basement flat on Parnell Road, Harold's Cross, Dublin. She had only recently moved into the flat. Her body was discovered after emergency services pumped the water out. The other death was Ciaran Jones, a member of the Garda Síochána who was swept into the River Liffey at Ballysmuttan Bridge in Manor Kilbride, County Wicklow. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore paid tribute to the dead.


2011 European floods, Ireland
Monaghan town centre was reported to be "impassable". Houses in Ballybay, County Monaghan, were evacuated due to a collapse.


2011 European floods, Ireland
Roads in Carlow, Cavan, Louth and Kilkenny were impassable. The Sally Gap and the Wicklow Gap were badly hit. The Slea Head Road in County Kerry was shut down after it flooded. Motorists abandoned their vehicles and fled from the floods.


2011 European floods, Ireland
In Northern Ireland, 18 people, including two children, were rescued by boat in Beragh, County Tyrone, with a new £1 million GAA centre sustaining damage. Newry, Omagh and Strabane were also badly hit.


2011 European floods, Ireland
According to Met Éireann, a rainfall of up to 85mm (3.3 inches), equal to an average month's norm, fell across the Dublin area within three hours. There was record rainfall at Casement Aerodrome.


2011 European floods, Italy
The city of Genoa sustained flash floods that erupted when 356 millimetres of rain fell in six hours on 4 November. About six people died. The receding waters in that city revealed heaps of overturned cars, furniture and mud dispersed across the streets. Several people were reported missing in the city. According to Genoa mayor Marta Vicenzi, the floods constituted "a completely unexpected tragedy". Near Pozzuoli, a tree fell on a car, killing the driver. A bridge across the Pellice stream in the countryside collapsed due to rushing waters with no reported injuries. Flooding also occurred in Venice. The muddy water reached Cinque Terre, while the ports of Vernazza and Monterosso were swamped by hundreds of tonnes of debris and mud.


2011 European floods, Italy
The Serie A matches between Napoli and Juventus, as well as between Genoa and Inter Milan, were postponed. An investigation was opened in the country into whether floods were the fault of official negligence and illegal building.


2011 European floods, France
Five people have been confirmed dead and one person was swept away in the river Var. About 750 people were evacuated from flooded areas in Fréjus, Roquebrune and Tourves. The preliminary damage from floods in the south of France throughout one week has been estimated at between €550 million and €800 million. About 7,500 homes in the departments of Var and Alpes-Maritimes lost internet or phone service on 6–7 November.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season
The 2011 season for Euskaltel–Euskadi began in January at the Tour Down Under and ended in October at the Giro di Lombardia. It was the team's eighteenth season as a professional cycling team, and its eleventh with UCI ProTeam – Trade Team 1 between 2001 and 2004 – status. As a UCI ProTeam, they were automatically invited and obligated to send a squad to every event on the UCI World Tour calendar. For the second year in a row, the traditionally all-Basque team added a French rider. This year, it was second-year professional Pierre Cazaux, who rode for FDJ in 2010.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season
The team achieved ten victories in 2011, down from a tally of seventeen the previous season, but among the ten were some of the most difficult days of racing in the entire season. These included back-to-back stages with summit finishes at the Giro d'Italia, with Igor Antón winning at the summit of the Monte Zoncolan, and Mikel Nieve, who won by over 90 seconds the following day at the Val di Fassa.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season
The squad's captain at the Tour de France, Samuel Sánchez won the first high-mountain finish of the race, up to Luz Ardiden; he eventually finished the race in fifth place overall, and won the King of the Mountains sub-classification. Though he failed to figure as an overall contender at the Vuelta a España, Antón won the first Vuelta stage ending in the Basque Country in 33 years, a stage with clear importance for the team.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races
Prior to the spring season and the races known as classics, the team was active at the Vuelta a Mallorca series of single-day races. They took high placings at the unofficial Trofeo Palma de Mallorca (Fernández in eighth) and at the Trofeo Inca (Izagirre in 9th).


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Spring classics
Team captain Sánchez took the team's first race win of the season at the GP Miguel Indurain. The team effectively controlled the front of the race all day, keeping the peloton at a high pace and reeling in breakaways, including one from Movistar Team's Vasil Kiryienka in the final kilometers that Sánchez later described as "strong." Atop the Basilica del Puy, Sánchez outsprinted second placed Alexandr Kolobnev so convincingly that he opened a time gap of 2 seconds. Sánchez also turned in a good ride at La Flèche Wallonne. The Asturian rode with the race's top favorites all day, and came third behind Philippe Gilbert and Joaquim Rodríguez atop the Mur de Huy at the finish. Sánchez also finished near to the front of the race at the last of the Ardennes classics, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, with tenth on the day.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Spring classics
The team's presence at other single-day races in the spring season was paltry. Only two other races featured top-ten finishes from the team. Txurruka took seventh at the Klasika Primavera, finishing staunchly in the middle of a 15-man sprint at the finish. Antón similarly made all the day's selections and finished 11th in this group, as he built his form for the Giro d'Italia. Later in April at the Gran Premio de Llodio, Nieve rode to eighth place finishing with the first chase group behind a solo winner.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Spring classics
The team also sent squads to the Clásica de Almería, Milan–San Remo, Gent–Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders, the Scheldeprijs, the Grand Prix Pino Cerami, Paris–Roubaix, the Amstel Gold Race, and the Vuelta a La Rioja, but finished no higher than 12th in any of these races. Paris–Roubaix figured as an especially difficult day for the team, as Alan Pérez was the team's only classified finisher and was well down in 107th place on the day.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Fall races
The team had few noteworthy performances in later-season single-day races. Sánchez held the Clásica de San Sebastián as a target for his season, hoping to be the first Euskaltel-Euskadi rider to win the race. Sánchez rode at the front of the race most of the day, until the winner Philippe Gilbert made his signature solo attack to earn victory. Sánchez finished near the back of the chase pack 14 seconds down the road, for eighth place on the day. Izagirre just missed the podium at the Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia, finishing fourth in a five-man escape that decided the race.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Fall races
Near the end of the season, the team did obtain a podium finish. Trainee rider Peio Bilbao finished second in October's Tour de Vendée. He was just edged out by Vacansoleil–DCM's Marco Marcato in a five-man sprint finish. Only 14 riders officially completed this race due to race organizers strictly enforcing the time cut.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, One-day races, Fall races
The team also sent squads to the Circuito de Getxo, the Châteauroux Classic, Vattenfall Cyclassics, the GP Ouest-France, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Paris–Tours, the Giro del Piemonte, and the Giro di Lombardia, but finished no higher than 15th in any of these races.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Stage races
Sánchez won stage 4 at the Tour of the Basque Country in April, the team's first win in a stage race on the season. He made the day's selections and stayed with an elite group which formed at the top of the Arrate climb. Sánchez attacked on the descent and won the stage that way, though he did not have a time gap at the finish. Sánchez had also won the stage run on this same course in 2010.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Stage races
Antón finished on the podium, in third, at the Vuelta a Castilla y León, thanks to a fourth place on the race's one summit finish and a solid individual time trial the next day. At the Tour de Romandie, Castroviejo took a relatively rare time trial win for the team, coming home mere tenths of a second better than Taylor Phinney and Leigh Howard in the 3.5 km (2.2 mi) prologue.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Stage races
He turned in another strong time trial later in the Tour de Romandie, finishing ninth in the stage 4 race against the clock, which was 20.1 km (12.5 mi) long, as well as eighth earlier in the season in the 9.3 km (5.8 mi) time trial which closed out the Tirreno–Adriatico. Castroviejo further confirmed his prowess in the short time trial by winning stage 1 of the Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid, a 7.8 km (4.8 mi) timed race. No rider finished within 10 seconds of his winning time.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Stage races
The team had a successful Vuelta a Burgos in August. Defending champion Sánchez won the first stage, atop San Juan del Monte, by outkicking Joaquim Rodríguez in sight of the line as the two finished four seconds better than any other riders. However, he lost the race lead to Rodríguez when the latter won stage 2 in the city of Burgos. The stage 3 team time trial then dropped Sánchez to fifth overall, before he improved to fourth after stage 4. Landa won stage 5 from a breakaway, his first professional victory. Winning the final climb also gave him enough points to take the race's mountains classification. The squad placed three riders in the top ten, with Sánchez fourth, Antón eighth, and Nieve tenth. Antón rounded out the team's season by winning the climber's prize at the inaugural Tour of Beijing.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Stage races
The team also sent squads to the Tour Down Under, the Vuelta a Andalucía, the Vuelta a Murcia, Paris–Nice, Tirreno–Adriatico, the Volta a Catalunya, Bayern-Rundfahrt, the Critérium du Dauphiné, the Tour de Suisse, the Brixia Tour, the Eneco Tour, and the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, but did not achieve a stage win, classification win, or podium finish in any of them.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Euskaltel-Euskadi has in their history been reticent to ride the Giro d'Italia, favoring the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España instead. After first indicating a reluctant willingness to participate as per the requirements of holding a ProTeam license, the team later stated that they intended to seek overall victory in the race with Antón. Antón was named as the leader of the squad, which included Nieve, Oroz, Isasi, Aramendía, Azanza, Cazaux, Sesma and Minguez to ride in support. Antón tempered the expectations somewhat, saying that a stage win would be nice, as would General Classification success should it come, but that he was only banking on riding for the overall at the Vuelta a España.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The squad was dead last of 23 teams in the stage 1 team time trial, losing more than a minute to the winners HTC–Highroad, a result later described by team captain Antón as "a bit ugly". Antón finished with the group of overall favorites in the selective fifth and seventh stages, and was solidly eighth in stage 9 when eventual Giro champion Alberto Contador won the day and first took the race lead, but sat only in 11th place as a result.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The squad was, as could be expected, far more successful in the second and more mountainous half of the race. Antón's ride on stage 13 ending at Grossglockner in Austria moved him into the top ten overall for the first time, at seventh place, though he was again distanced from Contador at the front of the race and lay over four minutes down. The next day's stage ended at Monte Zoncolan, one of the steepest climbs in all of professional cycling.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Antón rode with the top overall riders until about 7.5 km (4.7 mi) to go, when he attacked and broke free. Riding for a time with Contador and Joaquim Rodríguez, who had bridged up, Antón put in another attack with 6 km (3.7 mi) left to go, and surpassed the remaining riders from the morning breakaway to occupy first position on the road. He rode alone to the finish for the stage win, by 33 seconds over Contador in second place. Antón revealed after the stage that he had never ridden the climb before, having only seen it on television.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
He admitted it was a risk to attack for victory from as far out as he did and that he suffered badly in the final few kilometers, but was still able to hold on. Antón called the Zoncolan climb "mythical" and "absolutely the hardest climb for a bike race." The result installed him into third place overall, still more than three minutes down on Contador but only a single second behind Vincenzo Nibali for second place. Antón mused that he may try to hold on to his podium placing to the conclusion of the race.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
The next day featured the third consecutive summit finish prior to the second rest day, at Gardeccia, near the Fascia Valley. Nieve figured into a high-powered breakaway that formed right as the morning's initial breakaway was caught, after about 50 km (31 mi) had been raced. Also in the group were former Grand Tour winners Stefano Garzelli, Danilo Di Luca, and Carlos Sastre, and it was Nieve and Garzelli who formed a chase behind Vacansoleil–DCM's Johnny Hoogerland on the way to the Cima Coppi (the Giro's tallest climb) at the Passo Giau.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Garzelli took the climb, and the Passo Fedaia that followed, and maintained first position on the road well into the stage-concluding climb, but Nieve eventually caught and passed him with 5.7 km (3.5 mi) left to race. Nieve won the stage, and as he approached the finish line he attempted to raise his arms in a gesture of triumph, but he found himself too fatigued to do even that. Nieve's ride had taken nearly seven and a half hours, visiting five grueling high-category climbs along the way. The day was not a good one for Antón. He finished eight minutes back of teammate Nieve, losing between four and six minutes to the race's top overall riders. He fell back to 11th with the day's results, while Nieve entered the top ten at fifth overall.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Despite the stage 16 individual time trial being almost fully composed of the Nevegal climb, Antón finished the stage in 13th, a minute and 21 seconds back of the day's winner Contador while Nieve was 36th, two minutes 19 seconds down. Nieve fell to sixth overall, while Antón moved past David Arroyo for tenth as Arroyo lost even more time than Antón did. While Antón again fell from the top ten as a result of Kanstantsin Sivtsov's stage 17 breakaway ride gaining him just under three minutes, Nieve's position held steady until stage 20, the Giro's final road race.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Giro d'Italia
Movistar Team's Vasil Kiryienka rode to a dominant stage victory, coming in almost five minutes before the day's second-placed rider and about six minutes ahead of the largest group of the race's top riders. Nieve was a further three minutes down in 17th, and fell to tenth overall. Nieve stood to lose time in the more straightforward stage 21 individual time trial, where he, like most of the team, struggles mightily. He indeed finished well down, in 114th place on the day nearly four minutes slower than the day's winner David Millar. With Sivtsov tenth two and a half minutes better than Nieve, he took the Basque's top-ten overall position, leaving Nieve to finish the Giro 11th overall. Antón, for his part, finished in 18th place, having lost nearly twenty minutes in stage 19.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
With Antón focusing on the Vuelta a España, Sánchez led the squad sent to the Tour de France. Team manager Igor González de Galdeano said that a stage win was an important objective, having come very close to one with Sánchez in the 2010 Tour de France, only to have him lose a two-up sprint to Andy Schleck. He also hoped Sánchez would finish in the top three.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
With the stage 2 team time trial presenting such a clear detriment to Sánchez' overall hopes, the team gathered for a special training session about two weeks prior to the Tour to focus solely on that discipline. Martínez, Verdugo, Txurruka, Velasco, Urtasun, Izagirre, and Rubén and Alan Pérez were also named to the squad.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Sánchez' overall hopes took an immediate hit. Near the end of stage 1, two crashes greatly reduced the number of riders who contested the finish at the Mont des Alouettes. Despite this finish being slightly uphill, the stage was classified flat, meaning any riders who crashed within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) would receive the same finishing time as those they were with upon crashing, regardless of when they actually finished.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
The second of the two crashes occurred inside 3 km (1.9 mi), but the first did not, and it was behind that first crash that Sánchez, as well as two-time defending champion Alberto Contador, was caught. As a result of little more than bad luck, Sánchez was immediately a minute and 20 seconds down, in 79th place. The next day, despite extra team time trial training prior to the Tour, the squad finished still finished last of the 22 teams, losing a minute and 22 seconds to the day's winners Garmin–Cervélo. This dropped Sánchez to 104th place.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Sánchez began to climb back up the standings in stage 4, similar in profile to stage 1 as it was largely flat but with an uphill finish. Sánchez took eighth atop the Mûr-de-Bretagne, gaining 47 places in the standings as he took time out of the vast majority of the field. Sánchez finished close to the front of the race on stage 8 on Super Besse. Movistar Team's Rui Costa took the victory alone a few seconds ahead of the field, but Sánchez finished fourth, in the first large group, improving his position to 29th. Sánchez' time gap to the race leader grew as a result of stage 9, when Thomas Voeckler took the yellow jersey from a breakaway, but his position improved, to 20th, since riders who had begun the day ahead of him lost more time than he did.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Stage 12, the Bastille Day stage, was the first particularly difficult mountain stage in this Tour. It ended at the hors catégorie climb Luz Ardiden, and also visited the hors catégorie Col du Tourmalet and a never-before-seen first category climb La Hourquette d'Ancizan. Sánchez effectively stayed with the group of overall favorites throughout the day, and attacked with Omega Pharma–Lotto's Jelle Vanendert on the way up to Luz Ardiden, surpassing the morning breakaway. Starting his sprint for the finish line from 250 m (820 ft) out, Sánchez won so convincingly that he opened up a 7-second time gap on Vanendert.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
It was Sánchez' first Tour stage win of his career and just the third in the team's history – one of them had come from former rider Roberto Laiseka on this very mountain in the 2001 Tour de France. Given the new points system for the mountains classification, Sánchez took the polka-dot jersey as mountains leader due to this win, even though he had not previously scored a single point. The result also installed him into the top ten overall for the first time, as he occupied eighth place.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
The next day, by winning the Col d'Aubisque climb, Jérémy Roy took the mountains classification lead from Sánchez. In stage 14, the overall favorites chased down a breakaway on the way to the Plateau de Beille summit finish. Once they occupied first position on the road, Andy Schleck tried numerous times to escape but was unable. Vanendert went, and no one but Sánchez put in any serious attempt to chase him down. Vanendert won the stage, and took the mountains classification lead, with Sánchez finishing second, exactly reversing their fates from stage 12.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Sánchez also improved to sixth overall with this result. Sánchez improved further in stage 16. While previous race leader Thor Hushovd won the stage from a breakaway, Sánchez, as well as Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador, took time out of some of the race's other top riders by riding away from them on the descent to the finish. Evans was three seconds the better of Sánchez and Contador, who were in turn 18 seconds faster than race leader Thomas Voeckler, Fränk Schleck, Damiano Cunego, and others.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
They were also 51 seconds the better of Ivan Basso and more than a minute better than Andy Schleck. This result moved Sánchez up to fifth place. Sánchez lost time on stage 18 on the Col du Galibier, finishing 18th almost five minutes behind stage winner Andy Schleck and between one and three minutes behind the race's other top riders. He fell back to eighth because of this.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Sánchez rebounded to turn in another strong ride on Alpe d'Huez in stage 19. He, along with Contador and Pierre Rolland formed the leading group on the way up the climb. Contador, who had been riding out front much of the stage after an early attack, faded first and finished the day in third place. Rolland eventually rode away from Sánchez for the stage win, but Sánchez' second place on the day moved him up to seventh overall, and back into the mountains classification lead.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Tour de France
Sánchez, as well as Contador, moved up a place in the stage 20 individual time trial. Damiano Cunego, who had been in fifth place and is considered a poor time trialist, had a bad race against the clock even by his standards, losing two minutes to most of the race's top overall riders and more than three to the stage winner. This moved him up to sixth place overall, the position in which he concluded the race the next day, while also finishing as mountains classification winner.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Antón, as expected, was named as the squad leader for the Vuelta a España. His goal was overall success. He was joined in the squad by fellow Giro d'Italia stage winner Nieve, Martínez, Verdugo, Txurruka, Oroz, Isasi, Azanza and Cazaux. Nieve commented a day into the Vuelta that he would ride solely to support Antón, despite the fact that both had won Giro stages and he (Nieve) had actually finished the race higher overall.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
The squad was solidly better in the stage 1 team time trial than they had been in the equivalent stages at the Italian and French Grand Tours, coming in 12th of the 22 teams. The result installed Antón 24 seconds back of defending champion Vincenzo Nibali, whose Liquigas–Cannondale squad finished second. Antón had a bad ride on the Vuelta's first day in the mountains, in stage 4.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
On a blisteringly hot day, Antón lost contact with the main group of overall favorites on the way to the summit finish at Sierra Nevada, losing a minute and a half to the stage winner and more than a minute to the race's top favorites. Antón admitted that he did not have the form of 2010, when he crashed out of the race while holding the overall lead.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
He said that even on the flat third stage he had come close to losing time to the peloton, and that while there was a long way left to race, he effectively ruled himself out of overall contention. Nieve, on the other hand, had finished with the race's top riders, and lay 14th overall at this point. Antón and Nieve both rode well on stage 8 to San Lorenzo de El Escorial.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Joaquim Rodríguez claimed the stage win atop a climb featuring 27% gradients in places, while Antón took sixth 15 seconds back and Nieve 13th a further five seconds back. Both finished well back on stage 9, with Nieve ceding 41 seconds to the day's winner and Antón close to two minutes. Both were all but conclusively ruled out of any overall contention in the stage 10 individual time trial, losing between three and five minutes to the race's top overall riders after their earlier time losses. Txurruka found a winning breakaway in stage 11, but finished well back in seventh place, as David Moncoutié took a dominant solo win.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
The team set its sights to stage hunting in the second half of the race, hoping for success on difficult mountain stages, mentioning La Farrapona and Angliru as their targets. Nieve and Verdugo finished at the front of the race in stage 13, in a selective escape group, but finished 9th and 18th respectively in the 18-man sprint. Despite targeting the day, the squad could finish no higher than ninth on La Farrapona in stage 14, as Nieve took that placing.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Antón, for his part, finished that stage in the last group on the road, more than half an hour down on the winner. The team was extremely active in stage 15 on Angliru, to the point that one post-race analysis suggested they "left it all" on the climb. Antón crossed the line in sixth place, a minute and 21 seconds down on stage winner and eventual Vuelta champion Juan José Cobo. He said it was the first day at the Vuelta that he had enjoyed. Nieve also had a decent ride, coming 13th, 41 seconds back of Antón. Antón and Nieve finished together in stage 17 on Peña Cabarga, 27 seconds back of eventual Vuelta runner-up Chris Froome for fifth and sixth place. This moved Nieve into tenth place overall.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Stage 19 ended at Bilbao, capital of the province of Biscay in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It was the first time the race had visited the Basque Country since the 1978 Vuelta a España, when Basque separatist protesters disrupted the race. Thus, it was clearly an important stage for Euskaltel-Euskadi, given their strong Basque identity. Its profile as a medium mountain stage suggesting a breakaway winner was also reasonably favorable to the team. The team indeed placed two riders into the day's four-man escape group – Antón and Verdugo.


2011 Euskaltel–Euskadi season, Grand Tours, Vuelta a España
Antón won the climb at the Puerto de las Muñecas, which was the point when the race officially entered the Basque Country for the first time. Verdugo did far more work in the escape group than Antón, so Antón was left fresh to attack for victory 2 km (1.2 mi) from the top of the Alto El Vivero near the finish. This gained him a time gap over breakaway mate Marzio Bruseghin that he held to the finish in Bilbao, winning the stage. Antón said of his ride “This is an historical win for Euskaltel-Euskadi!” and that he had specifically targeted this stage after his poor form earlier in the race destroyed his overall chances. Nieve held the tenth place he took on Peña Cabarga to finish as the team's best-placed rider, and Antón finished in 33rd place. All nine riders completed the race.


2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards
The 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on 20 November 2011. The shortlist was revealed on 7 November 2011 and the longlist on 19 October 2011.


2011 Ex-Yu Cup
The 2011 Adecco Ex-Yu Cup was the first edition of this tournament, created with the aim to create a new Cup for the Ex-Yugoslavia countries.


2011 Ex-Yu Cup
Six teams played the inaugural edition in summer 2011. The inaugural edition was held in Arena Stožice from Ljubljana, Slovenia. The teams are divided in two groups of three teams. The top teams play the Final of the tournament.


2011 Exeter City Council election
The 2011 Exeter City Council election took place on 5 May 2011, to elect members of Exeter City Council in Devon, England. The election was held concurrently with other local elections in England. One third of the council was up for election; the seats up for election  were last contested in 2007. The council remained under no overall control with the Labour Party as the largest party.


2011 Extremaduran regional election
The 2011 Extremaduran regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Assembly of the autonomous community of Extremadura. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.


2011 Extremaduran regional election
For the first time since the first democratic election in 1983 in the region, the People's Party (PP) was able to win a regional election, obtaining its best historical result, with 46.1% of the share and 32 seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), which had formed the government of the Extremaduran region since 1983, achieving an absolute majority of seats at every election except in 1995, was ousted from power in the worst result obtained by the party until that time.


2011 Extremaduran regional election
However, as the PP stood one seat short of an overall majority, the possibility arose of PSOE pact with United Left (IU), which had re-entered the Assembly after a four-year absence, in order to maintain the regional government. However, IU declined to support outgoing Socialist Guillermo Fernández Vara after a 24-year PSOE rule over the region, opting to abstain in the investiture voting and allowing the most-voted candidate to be elected. As a result of the PP having more seats than the PSOE, party candidate José Antonio Monago became the first not-Socialist democratically elected President of the region.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The Assembly of Extremadura was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Extremadura, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Extremaduran Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Extremadurans abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado). The 65 members of the Assembly of Extremadura were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
Alternatively, parties failing to reach the threshold in one of the constituencies were also entitled to enter the seat distribution as long as they ran candidates in both districts and reached five percent regionally. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated an initial minimum of 20 seats and the remaining 25 being distributed in proportion to their populations.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Electoral system
The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of at least 2 percent of the electors registered in the constituency for which they sought election. Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Election date
After legal amendments earlier in 2011, fixed-term mandates were abolished, instead allowing the term of the Assembly of Extremadura to expire after an early dissolution. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election decree was required to be published in the DOE no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Assembly on Sunday, 26 June 2011.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Overview, Election date
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Assembly of Extremadura and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.


2011 Extremaduran regional election, Opinion polls
The table below lists voting intention estimates in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font. 33 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Assembly of Extremadura.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series
The 2011 Extreme Sailing Series is the fifth edition of the sailing series. This is the second year without the original sponsor iShares. The 2011 series started in Muscat, Oman on 22 February 2011 and ended in Almeria, Spain on 11 December 2011 and took place in 9 cities around the world.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 1: Muscat, Oman
The first act of the series was held in Muscat, Oman between 22–24 February 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 2: Qingdao, China
Qingdao, China was the second act for the 2011 series, and was held on 15–17 April 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 3: Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey was the host of the third act of the 2011 series, on the weekend of 27–29 May 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 4: Boston, USA
The fourth act of 2011 was in Boston, United States and was held between 30 June - 4 July 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 5: Cowes, UK
The second act of the series was held again in Cowes, UK. The birthplace to the America's Cup, this act was held during Cowes Week between 6–12 August 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 6: Trapani, Italy
Trapani, Italy was the sixth act this year, held between 16–18 September 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 7: Nice, France
Between 30 September and 2 October 2011, Nice, France hosted the seventh act of the series.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 8: Almeria, Spain
Almeria, Spain was the host for the penultimate act of the 2011 series, being held on 12–16 October 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Acts, Act 9: Singapore
Singapore was the final act in 2011, and was held on 9–11 December 2011.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Artemis Racing
Terry Hutchinson, Santiago Lange, Sean Clarkson, Rodney Ardern, Morgan Trubovich, Julien Cressant and Andy Fethers.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Emirates Team New Zealand
Dean Barker, Adam Beashel, Chris Ward, Andy McLean, Glenn Ashby, James Dagg, Jeremy Lomas and Richard Meacham.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Niceforyou
Alberto Barovier, Alberto Sonino, Mark Bulkeley, Daniele de Luca and Simone de Mari.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Oman Air
Sidney Gavignet, Kinley Fowler, David Carr and Nasser Al Mashari.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Red Bull Extreme Sailing
Roman Hagara, Hans Peter Steinacher, Will Howden and Craig Monk.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Team Extreme
Roland Gaebler, Bruno Dubois, Sebbe Godefroid, Nicholas Heintz, Michael Walther and William Wu.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, Team GAC Pindar
Ian Williams, Brad Webb, Mark Ivey, Mischa Heemskerk, Gilberto Nobili and Jono Macbeth.


2011 Extreme Sailing Series, Teams, The Wave, Muscat
Torvar Mirsky, Kyle Langford, Nick Hutton and Khamis Al Anbouri.


2011 F-League
The 2011 F-League was the first season of the F-League, the top Australian professional league for futsal clubs.


2011 F.C. New York season
The 2011 F.C. New York season will be the club's third year of existence, as well as their inaugural season of playing professional soccer. New York will be playing in the USL Professional Division, the third-tier of American soccer.


2011 F.C. New York season
It is expected that, in addition to USL Pro, the club will participate in the 2011 U.S. Open Cup for the first time, as well. However, U.S. Soccer has yet to make an announcement on team allocations for the Open Cup tournament.


2011 F.C. New York season, Review, April
F.C. New York played their first ever match on the evening of April 9, 2011, against Orlando City. FCNY's away match ended in disaster, losing 3–0 to the Lions.


2011 F.C. New York season, Review, May
On May 23, FCNY's head coach, Matt Weston, resigned as head coach of the club. He was replaced by assistant, Paul Shaw. Shaw is to serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2011 season.


2011 F.C. New York season, Club, Current roster
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 F1 Powerboat World Championship
The 2011 UIM F1 H2O World Championship was the 28th season of Formula 1 Powerboat racing. The calendar consisted of seven races, beginning in Doha, Qatar on 5 March 2011, and ending in Sharjah, UAE on 16 December 2011. Italian Alex Carella won the Drivers' World Championship, driving for the Qatar Team.


2011 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Season calendar
There were a total of 10 individual races originally planned for the 2011 season by the UIM, with events in St Petersburg, Nanyang and Haikou alongside the seven that ultimately took place. These included a brand new race in Vyshhorod which was announced on 25 January, bringing F1 powerboats to Ukraine for the first time. However on 12 April it was announced that the planned race in St Petersburg was to be rescheduled for 2012, with the Kazan race moved back a week to avoid a clash with the Class 1 Norwegian Grand Prix.


2011 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings
Points were awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. A maximum of two boats per team were eligible for points in the teams' championship.


2011 F1 Powerboat World Championship, Results and standings, Teams standings
Only boats with results eligible for points counting towards the teams' championship are shown here.


2011 F1600 Championship Series
The 2011 F1600 Championship Series season was the inaugural season for the F1600 Championship Series. Bill Valet took the championship over Tim Kautz in the final round.


2011 F2000 Championship Series
The 2011 F2000 Championship Series season was the sixth season of competition in the series, an American professional touring open-wheel racing series using the Formula Ford. It consisted of 14 rounds (seven double-race weekends), beginning April 8 at Virginia International Raceway and concluding October 16 at Watkins Glen International.


2011 F2000 Championship Series
Twenty-six-year-old Canadian driver Remy Audette, competing for a family-owned team, won five races and finished on the podium four more times on his way to the championship by an over 100 point margin over his closest challenger, American Chris Livengood who won twice. Twenty-year-old American Kyle Connery won six times, but failed to finish four times and failed to start twice, while Audette finished every race seventh or better. The only other driver to win a race was Australian Nathan Morcom who won the season opener at Virginia International Raceway.


2011 F2000 Championship Series
American Tim Minor captured his second Master's Class title for drivers 40 and older. Minor finished on the overall podium six times and finished fourth in the overall championship.


2011 F2000 Championship Series
The season finale at Watkins Glen International drew a large 35-car field but at the start of the race Tom Fatur crashed hard into the pit wall separator, forcing the race to be postponed one day due to damage to the wall. Despite the hard impact, Fatur was uninjured.


2011 F2000 Championship Series, Championship standings
This list only contains drivers who registered for the championship. (M) indicates driver is participating in Masters Class for drivers over 40 years of age.


2011 FA Community Shield
The 2011 FA Community Shield (also known as The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's for sponsorship reasons) was the 89th FA Community Shield, an annual football match contested by the winners of the previous season's Premier League and FA Cup competitions. The match was the 160th Manchester derby between Manchester United and Manchester City and played at Wembley Stadium, London, on 7 August 2011. Manchester United won the game 3–2, with goals from Chris Smalling and Nani (2), after Joleon Lescott and Edin Džeko had put City 2–0 up at half-time.


2011 FA Community Shield
Manchester United qualified to take part for the fifth consecutive year by winning the 2010–11 Premier League title and Manchester City qualified by winning the 2010–11 FA Cup. United successfully defended the shield to win it for the fourth time in five years, having beaten Chelsea 3–1 in the 2010 match.


2011 FA Community Shield, Background
This was only the second occasion the two teams had met in the competition, with the first being the 1956 FA Charity Shield, which United won 1–0. Both teams secured their place in the 2011 Community Shield on the same day, 14 May 2011, when United clinched the 2010–11 Premier League title with a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and City beating Stoke City 1–0 later in the day in the 2011 FA Cup Final.


2011 FA Cup Final
The 2011 FA Cup Final was the 130th final of the FA Cup, the world's oldest domestic football cup competition. The final took place on 14 May 2011 at Wembley Stadium in London in front of 88,643 spectators and a British television audience of more than eight million. The clubs contesting the final were Premier League clubs Manchester City and Stoke City. The match was Stoke City's first FA Cup final, and Manchester City's ninth.


2011 FA Cup Final
As Premier League clubs, they entered the competition in the third round. Manchester City made an unconvincing start, contesting two replays against lower league opposition in the third and fourth rounds but gained momentum and kept three consecutive clean sheets en route to the final. Stoke City played one replay in the third round, before beating all opponents in a run which culminated in a 5–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers in the semi-final at Wembley Stadium – the biggest winning margin at Wembley since 1939. Manchester City entered the final as favourites, with Stoke City as underdogs.


2011 FA Cup Final
Manchester City began the match the brighter of the two teams with the majority of possession and a number of shots forcing saves from goalkeeper Thomas Sørensen but the first half remained goalless. Stoke improved after the half-time interval but failed to score from their only shot on target in the 62nd minute, which was saved by goalkeeper Joe Hart after a one-on-one with striker Kenwyne Jones. In the 74th minute, Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Touré fired a loose ball in the Stoke City penalty area past goalkeeper Sørensen to give Manchester City the lead.


2011 FA Cup Final
Stoke attempted to equalise after Manchester City's goal without success and the final finished 1–0 with Manchester City claiming their fifth FA Cup. The result gave Manchester City their first major trophy for 35 years, ending the longest trophy drought in the club's history. Stoke City manager Tony Pulis said "Manchester City were the better team and deserved to win", but expressed "disappointment" at his team's display. Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini dedicated the victory to the Manchester City supporters, declaring, "I am happy for the fans, they deserved to win this Cup. For a long time they didn't win."


2011 FA Cup Final
The medals were handed out by Prime Minister David Cameron. As winners, Manchester City won a place in the 2011 FA Community Shield and the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League but as they had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League via their league position, the Europa League place was given to Stoke City as runners-up. To celebrate their victory, Manchester City held an open-top bus parade on 23 May 2011, beginning at Manchester Town Hall and ending at the City of Manchester Stadium; it attracted a crowd of up to 100,000.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester City
As a Premier League team, Manchester City entered the competition in the third round. Their opening match was an away draw at Leicester City. Following a supporter campaign, Manchester City dedicated the match to former striker Neil Young, who was terminally ill. Young scored the winning goal when Manchester City and Leicester City met in the 1969 FA Cup Final. Manchester City fell behind after 46 seconds when Sol Bamba scored for Leicester following a corner.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester City
Manchester City took the lead by half-time through James Milner and Carlos Tevez, but Andy King equalised midway through the second half to make the score 2–2. The tie was replayed at the City of Manchester Stadium the following week. Tevez gave Manchester City the lead after quarter of an hour, but the lead was brief. Four minutes later, Paul Gallagher's penalty levelled the score, after Patrick Vieira had fouled Lloyd Dyer. Before half-time, two Manchester City goals in 90 seconds shifted the momentum of the match. In the second half, Tevez missed a penalty and a goal by Dyer made the score 3–2. Leicester then pushed for an equaliser, but instead Aleksandar Kolarov scored on a counter-attack to make the final score 4–2.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester City
For the fourth round Manchester City were drawn against League One Notts County at Meadow Lane. On a pitch described by the BBC as "pudding-like", lower division County threatened an upset when Neal Bishop scored from a corner in the 59th minute. However, ten minutes from time Micah Richards crossed for Edin Džeko to score his first Manchester City goal, ensuring a replay at the City of Manchester Stadium. Notts County started the rematch brightly, but faded as the game progressed.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester City
The score remained 0–0 for most of the first half, but Vieira scored either side of half-time to give Manchester City a two-goal lead. From that point, the match proved less even, and Manchester City scored three more goals for a 5–0 win. From there on, City kept consecutive clean sheets on the way to winning the cup. Manchester City's fifth round match was against Aston Villa at the City of Manchester Stadium. Villa manager Gérard Houllier rested several senior players, in contrast to a near full-strength Manchester City line-up. Manchester City took the lead after less than five minutes through Yaya Touré, and further goals from Mario Balotelli and David Silva resulted in a comfortable 3–0 win.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Manchester City
In the sixth round, Manchester City were again at home, and faced Reading, the only non-Premier League team left in the competition. Micah Richards scored the only goal, a header from a corner in the 73rd minute. In the semi-final, at Wembley Stadium, City defeated rivals Manchester United 1–0 with a Yaya Touré goal, and continued their FA Cup semi-final record of nine victories out of 11, reaching the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1981.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Stoke City
Stoke, also a Premier League side, entered the competition at the third round stage, where they were drawn at home to Welsh side Cardiff City. Stoke City made seven changes to the team that played their previous match. Michael Chopra gave Cardiff an early lead, but Stoke's Tuncay levelled the score just before half time. Stoke had a number of chances in the later stages of the match, but Cardiff held out for a replay. In the replay at the Cardiff City Stadium Stoke again used several reserves, changing all but one of the players from the previous league match.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Stoke City
Few chances occurred during the game; the score was 0–0 after 90 minutes, prompting extra time. In the added period, Jonathan Walters scored twice to secure a 2–0 Stoke City win; the first goal was a header from a corner, the second a near-post rebound. Stoke City then travelled to fellow Midlands team Wolverhampton Wanderers for the fourth round, in one of five all-Premier League ties. Stoke defender Robert Huth was a central figure in the match. Ten minutes from time he gave Stoke a 1–0 lead with a header from a free-kick, but in the final minute he conceded a penalty for tripping Nenad Milijaš. Milijaš took the spot-kick himself, but his effort was saved by Thomas Sørensen.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Stoke City
Stoke's fifth round match was at home against League One leaders Brighton & Hove Albion. Three first half goals by John Carew, Jonathan Walters, Ryan Shawcross led Stoke to a 3–0 win. Stoke then faced West Ham United in the sixth round. Stoke scored an early goal from a set-piece, when long throw-in specialist Rory Delap delivered the ball into the penalty area for Huth to score with a header. Controversial refereeing decisions then provoked the ire of both teams.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Stoke City
When Frédéric Piquionne equalised for West Ham, the decision to award the goal infuriated Stoke; in controlling the ball Piquionne committed what Stoke manager Tony Pulis called a "stonewall" handball. West Ham themselves felt aggrieved in the first minute of the second half when Stoke were awarded a penalty. Matthew Etherington was adjudged to have been fouled by Scott Parker though, as the BBC correspondent wrote, "there appeared to be minimal contact". Robert Green saved Etherington's penalty to keep the score level. The winning goal also came from a set piece.


2011 FA Cup Final, Route to the final, Stoke City
Danny Higginbotham's free-kick was reached by Green but could not be stopped, and Stoke won 2–1 to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 1972. In the semi-final, Stoke beat Bolton Wanderers comfortably, winning 5–0. Stoke took a three-goal lead in less than half an hour after goals from Etherington, Huth and Kenwyne Jones. Walters scored twice in the second half to complete the win. The margin of victory was the biggest in an FA Cup semi-final since 1939, and secured Stoke's first ever FA Cup Final appearance. By reaching the final, Stoke qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League before the final, as Manchester City had beat Tottenham days before the final to secure fourth position in the Premier League and consequently Champions League qualification.


2011 FA Cup Final, Pre-match
Manchester City were appearing in the final for the ninth time. They had won the cup four times previously (in 1904, 1934, 1956 and 1969), and had been beaten in the final four times (in 1926, 1933, 1955 and 1981). Stoke City were making their first appearance in the final. Their previous best was participation in the semi-finals, which had occurred three times.


2011 FA Cup Final, Pre-match
The 2011 final faced scheduling problems and the match clashed with top flight League fixtures for the first time since 1934, which disappointed football traditionalists. The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final was being hosted at Wembley on 28 May 2011 and UEFA rules stipulate that the host stadium for the final must not have a fixture played two weeks prior to the final. Therefore, the FA Cup final had to be moved forward, and for the first time since 1989 was played before the English football domestic season ended.