2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
On easily the most straightforward day of racing at this year's Giro, four relatively unaccomplished riders formed the morning breakaway early in the race. Stef Clement, Michał Gołaś, Miguel Minguez, and Davide Ricci had just seven professional victories among them, all of them Clement's. Their time gap over the peloton was never more than four minutes, since the sprinters' teams, mainly HTC–Highroad, were vigilant not to let the prime opportunity go to waste. The catch was as controlled as the time gap had been for the stage, occurring with 12 km (7.5 mi) to go.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
HTC–Highroad drove the peloton into the final kilometers to set up their sprinter Mark Cavendish, effectively staying at the front of the field all day. With 2 km (1.2 mi) to go, a crash occurred about 15 riders deep in the peloton. Team RadioShack's sprinter Robbie Hunter lost the front wheel on his bicycle and bickered with Colnago–CSF Inox rider Sacha Modolo who had crashed near him, even though an Androni Giocattoli rider had caused the crash.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
While only a little more than a dozen riders actually finished together, everyone who was in the front group at the time of the crash was given the same time at the end of the stage since it took place within the stage's final 3 km (1.9 mi). HTC–Highroad executed a very strong leadout, with Lars Bak driving from 3.5 km (2.2 mi) to go before pulling off for Alex Rasmussen to do the same until a little about 600 m (2,000 ft) to go.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 12
At that point, Cavendish's favored leadout man Mark Renshaw took over, leaving the Manx sprint ace to launch from 200 m (660 ft) to go. The sprint was tight at the finish, with Team Sky's Davide Appollonio neck-and-neck with Cavendish, but the HTC–Highroad man paid off his team's efforts by taking his second win of the Giro, making them the only team to this point to win two mass-start stages. Points leader Alessandro Petacchi was third.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
This was the first of three consecutive high mountain stages before the second rest day. This was the second time the Giro finished at Grossglockner, the first being 40 years prior. However, this time the race did not go to its summit, instead climbing to an elevation of 1,907 m (6,257 ft). The climb was 13 km (8.1 mi) long and averaged more than 6% gradient, with hardest sections at 14%, though the easiest part of the climb occurred right at the finish.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Several sprinters and leadout men pulled out of the Giro before this stage was run, and several more failed to complete it. A total of ten riders left the race, chief among them stage winners Mark Cavendish, Francisco Ventoso, and points leader Alessandro Petacchi. The points classification lead transferred to overall race leader Alberto Contador, with second-placed Roberto Ferrari wearing the red jersey during this stage. The race began with a flurry of attacks and counter-attacks, resulting in none going clear for quite a while. Finally, 41 km (25 mi) into the stage, 16 riders from 15 teams came free.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Movistar Team was the squad to place two riders, having both Pablo Lastras and Branislau Samoilau in the group. Lastras was the best-placed rider in the group, 28th overall at just under seven minutes back of Contador. The chase was taken up not by Contador's squad Saxo Bank–SunGard but by Euskaltel–Euskadi, indicating perhaps that their leader Igor Antón was targeting the stage win.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Samoilau won the first two climbs on the course, and as such was the leader of the mountains classification pending the conclusion of the stage. As the breakaway neared the top of the third climb, still a good 45 km (28 mi) from the finish of the stage, Robert Kišerlovski set out on the attack alone. After a short while, he attained a two-minute time gap over the rest of the morning escapees.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
The main field, rapidly dwindling to a select group of overall contenders and their support riders, began reabsorbing the members of the morning breakaway as the Grossglockner ascent began. Two riders from the breakaway, Cayetano Sarmiento and former race leader Pieter Weening made it to the front of the race and displaced Kiserlovski as the first man on the road with about 13 km (8.1 mi) to go. Mere minutes later, the group of overall contenders made it to the front of the race.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Michele Scarponi and Igor Antón were the first riders on the attack up the Austrian peak, but neither got away. Contador then rode clear, but it was not an explosive attack like he had put in on the stage that ended at Mount Etna, rather a slow, grinding move. The only rider to have an answer was José Rujano.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Again unlike the Etna stage, where Rujano struggled mightily simply to hold Contador's wheel, the two were able to work cohesively for the final 8 km (5.0 mi) of the stage and build a substantial time gap over the remainder of the field. Rujano, having lost five minutes during stage 5 earlier in the race, was an ideal ally for Contador in that had climbing prowess but was not an overall threat. The two approached the finish with the other overall contenders still a full 1 km (0.62 mi) away.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Contador did not contest a sprint for the line, content to have Rujano win the stage. From behind them, the Ag2r–La Mondiale tandem of John Gadret and Hubert Dupont both rode away from the other overall contenders who Contador and Rujano left behind. Gadret crossed the line third, almost a full minute and a half down on Contador and Rujano but, with actual time and time bonus, 17 seconds better than the others.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 13
Contador's lead in the overall standings surpassed three minutes with his gains on this stage. He was also awarded all three jerseys for which he was eligible, the pink for the general classification, the green for the mountains classification, and the red for the points classification. Due to greater losses by Kanstantsin Sivtsov and Christophe Le Mével, Vincenzo Nibali and Michele Scarponi were able to move into the top three overall, but at a significant gap to Contador.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
As the course was originally designed, this was perhaps the Giro's single most difficult stage. The stage ends at Monte Zoncolan, visited for the fourth time in the past eight years and second year in a row. The Zoncolan is not especially tall, but it is absurdly steep, averaging a 12% gradient with sections as high as 22%. Originally, it was but the final challenge on the course as the first-category Monte Crostis, a new climb which was to be used for the first time in this year's Giro, crests 38 km (24 mi) from the finish.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The Crostis is nearly as steep as the Zoncolan, and is taller, with its summit at 1,982 m (6,503 ft). Even before the Crostis were a second-category climb and two third-category climbs, leaving hardly a single kilometer of flat racing in this stage. Giro favorite Alberto Contador reconned both the Crostis and the Zoncolan climbs in the weeks before the Giro, saying that he liked the Zoncolan, but that he was afraid of the Crostis.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
On the night before this stage was to be run, UCI commissaires ordered the Monte Crostis be removed from the race route. There had been talk of a rider protest on the basis of the extremely steep and poorly maintained roads the race was to go down, instigated somewhat after the death of Wouter Weylandt earlier in the race, but the UCI's decision was not on the basis of safety.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Giro officials had set out a detailed protocol wherein team cars would not follow the race up or down the Crostis, and only motorbikes offering wheel changes would be present with the riders. Team managers expressed concern that they would not fully be able to fulfill their duties if not present with the riders like normal, and this was given as the basis of the UCI's decision. They held that Giro organizers had sufficiently ensured rider safety on the course, but the necessary protocols did not protect the sporting aspect of the race.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Thus, the Crostis was eliminated, and the stage was reduced in length from its originally planned length of 210 km (130 mi). The resultant course was still quite hilly, and the second-category Tualis climb was added to the route for the day to offset the loss of the Crostis. However, protests from spectators disappointed by the removal of the Crostis part of the route, including many who had volunteered for works to make parts of that road safe, lead to the cancellation of the Tualis climb.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The route was diverted while the stage was in progress to avoid a small village at the foot of the Tualis where protesters had gathered. Therefore, the exact distance of this stage is unknown. Race director Angelo Zomegnan had earlier insisted that the Crostis would stay in the race, but he was obligated to accept the overruling decision of cycling's governing body. Reportedly, five teams, including Lampre–ISD, Liquigas–Cannondale, and Farnese Vini–Neri Sottoli were willing to ride over and down the Crostis, but the other 17 were against it.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Riders were satisfied that safety had been assured, but concurred that the sporting aspect of the race was not fairly served by only allowing a motorbike per team up the mountain. Zomegnan appeared on Italian television shortly before the stage was run and had scathing words for the teams and managers who had apparently approved the climb in October 2010 and again in March, in advance of the Giro, but lobbied for its removal at the last moment.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
With Saxo Bank–SunGard leading the peloton at a relatively easy pace over the first two climbs on the course, the day's breakaway gained a lead over 10 minutes at one point. None of them – Matteo Rabottini, Bram Tankink, or Gianluca Brambilla – had particularly good climbing ability, meaning the peloton could afford to give them a large time gap. As the peloton approached the Zoncolan, Vincenzo Nibali had his teammates take to the front of the main field to quicken the pace and try to make the race selective.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
The time gap fell much more quickly in that time than it had when Saxo Bank–SunGard was leading the field. The breakaway still had four and a half minutes with 10 km (6.2 mi) remaining. Ordinarily, this would be enough time to assure that the day's winner would come from the lead group, but the incredibly steep pitches of the Zoncolan meant this was unlikely even with such a large time gap and little road remaining.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
No cars followed the race up the Zoncolan due to the risk that they would stall on the mountain and obstruct the riders. With 7.5 km (4.7 mi) to go, Brambilla attacked from the leading group and got free to be the sole leader on the road. At the same time, Joaquim Rodríguez did the same out of the trailing group. Igor Antón and race leader Alberto Contador soon followed, and overtook Rodríguez. Michele Scarponi followed their wheels as they rode to the front of the race, easily passing up the three breakaway riders.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Antón put in his own attack and succeeded in getting free, and Contador and Scarponi were subsequently able to drop Rodríguez back to the trailing group containing Nibali, Roman Kreuziger, and Denis Menchov. Nibali was eventually bridge up to Contador, and in trying to ride away from him he established himself and Contador as the second group on the road, behind Antón and ahead of Scarponi, Menchov, and John Gadret, as Kreuziger faded (eventually finishing 16th).


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Antón's lead was only a few seconds for most of the climb, but he stayed out front all the way to the finish line to claim the stage victory. Nibali motioned several times for Contador to take a pull at the front of their group, but the Spaniard refused. He eventually attacked Nibali near the finish line, taking second on the day seven seconds ahead of the Italian. Nibali complained after the stage that Contador's tactics were disrespectful, and revealed that he had not intended to aggressively descend the Monte Crostis should it have been raced.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 14
Contador added 11 seconds to his lead over second-placed Nibali, and Antón rose to third in the overall classification, just a single second behind Nibali. The ride achieved Antón's stated goal of a stage win, and he mused after the stage that he may try to hold onto his podium position.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The course for the last stage prior to the second rest day was again crushingly difficult, featuring five climbs. There were three first-category climbs, one second-category climb, and the Cima Coppi climb (the name given to the highest point in the race) of the Passo Giau. Each of the four climbs prior to the summit finish featured a lengthy descent, meaning that this stage contained the most vertical climbing of any in the race. The final climb to Val di Fassa features maximum gradients of 16%.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
The stage began with a group of seven coming clear of the peloton. This group included Yaroslav Popovych, who had made several breaks earlier in the race and therefore led the Trofeo Fuga Pinarello classification for most kilometers spent in a breakaway of ten riders or fewer. They, however, were not to stay away as the day's principal break, being brought back after 50 km (31 mi) had been raced. Eleven riders counter-attacked when the first seven were brought back.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
This group included former Giro winners Danilo Di Luca and Stefano Garzelli, former Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre, and former leader of this race Pieter Weening. Their advantage over the main field quickly extended to nearly ten minutes while on the slopes of the day's second climb, the Passo Cibiana. Liquigas–Cannondale took the pace at the front end of the peloton to try to set up their leader Vincenzo Nibali.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Johnny Hoogerland was the first rider to attack out of the breakaway to try to claim the Cima Coppi, and the cash prize to go with it. He attained a lead of over a minute, but Garzelli and Mikel Nieve formed a cohesive chase behind him and passed him up after a while. Garzelli went solo ahead of the Basque to claim the Passo Giau by a margin of 45 seconds. Hoogerland followed at 1'25", with the remainder of the breakaway next at 1'44".


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
From the peloton behind, Joaquim Rodríguez and David Arroyo put in attacks that led to a selection among the race's top rider. Those two along with Michele Scarponi, Igor Antón, Denis Menchov, Roman Kreuziger, race leader Alberto Contador, and Nibali coalescing as the fourth group on the road. Nibali chose to aggressively descend the Passo Giau, nearly bridging up to Nieve. He later commented that this intensive dig was in effort to win the stage and not necessarily to distance Contador.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Contador himself also put in an attack, on the Passo Fedaia which followed the Passo Giau, but neither was destined to stay away for long. Nibali in particular paid for his efforts, being gapped off from Contador's group. He chased back on once, but was unable to keep Contador's pace to the finish, losing a further minute and a half to the Spaniard at day's end.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Garzelli was also first over the Passo Fedaia, giving him maximum mountains points on three of the day's climbs. He held an advantage of six minutes over Nieve as the Gardeccia climb began, but he was spent from his efforts and was passed up by Nieve with 5.7 km (3.5 mi) to go. Nieve continuously built his advantage as the grueling final climb wore on, winning the stage by nearly two minutes over Garzelli, who narrowly held on for second against a fast-charging Contador.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 15
Garzelli took over leadership in the mountains classification with the day's results, with a commanding 23-point lead over Nieve. For his part, Nieve's ride propelled him into fifth in the overall classification. Contador further padded his already sizeable lead, now holding over four minutes against Scarponi with no other rider inside five minutes.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
This was another climbing time trial, similar to the stages in the 2008 and 2010 editions of the Giro which featured a race against the clock ending at the Plan de Corones. Nevegal is perhaps an easier climb than Plan de Corones, but still averages 10% gradient with its hardest section, 4 km (2.5 mi) from the top, reaching 14%.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Before the time trial began, a moment of silence was observed for Xavier Tondó, a Movistar Team rider who was killed in a freak accident at his home the day prior. Riders and team staff held a meeting at their hotel shortly after hearing the news, to discuss whether they would continue in the race. The riders unanimously voted to ride on.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Most riders used normal road bikes for this stage – very few even added the clip-on aerodynamic handlebars, which are normally standard equipment in a time trial. The first competitive time up the mountain came from Rabobank's Stef Clement, a time trial specialist. While the Nevegal climb was undoubtedly the main feature of this time trial course, it also contained a 5 km (3.1 mi) flat section at the very beginning, and a mostly flat final 2 km (1.2 mi), meaning riders best suited for time trialing would have a chance to be competitive with pure climbers.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Clement was the 41st of 165 riders to take the start, and his time held as best until Tondó's teammate Branislau Samoilau finished his ride about an hour later, taking 34 seconds out of the Dutchman as the first rider on the day under 30 minutes. Samoilau was visibly overcome with emotion when being interviewed by assembled media after his ride. Shortly after, Samoilau came the top riders in the race. Mountains leader Stefano Garzelli was the next rider to post a provisional best time, coming home 13 seconds faster than Samoilau. It seemed for a while that Garzelli's time might hold up as best, since riders like Roman Kreuziger, Denis Menchov, and Joaquim Rodríguez came close but did not knock off the 2000 Giro winner. José Rujano did eventually best Garzelli, by seven seconds.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
The last three men on the course were the top three men in the overall standings. Third-placed Vincenzo Nibali posted the best time at the intermediate time check, but since this time check came at 5 km (3.1 mi) and before the road went uphill, this was not necessarily indicative of his form and standing. Race leader Alberto Contador was 13th at the first time check, 13 seconds back. Nibali posted the day's best time when he crossed the finish line, five seconds better than Rujano.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
Second place man Michele Scarponi came very close to displacing Nibali, but was the worse of him by a single second. Nibali commented after the stage that his main ambition for the remainder of the Giro was to reclaim second place from Scarponi, essentially giving up on winning the race overall in the face of Contador's all but insurmountable advantage. Contador, per his usual riding style, rode the climb with a much higher cadence and lower gear than the other top riders in the field.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
He was the only rider on the day to finish within 29 minutes, stopping the clock 34 seconds faster than Nibali for a second dominant stage win in this Giro. Most of the other time gaps were close – Contador's advantage over second place was the second-biggest difference between two consecutive riders in the standings (the largest was the last and second-to-last riders, separated by 58 seconds). While no time bonuses were awarded in this stage, Contador nonetheless increased his lead yet again, now holding almost five minutes over second place. Contador's ride was not without a touch of controversy.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 16
His personal mechanic Faustino Muñoz was expelled from the race for opening the door of the car he was riding in, behind Contador, to swat at a fan he thought he was going to push Contador off his bicycle. Muñoz was barred from attending any of the further stages, though he was permitted to stay with the team and work on Contador's bicycle before and after the stages. Contador downplayed reports of the Italian fans being harsh with him, saying he had "no problem with the tifosi." Contador immediately dedicated his win to Tondó on the podium after the stage. He, like many riders, had worn a black armband to memorialize Tondó.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Two frequently-used Giro climbs featured in this course, the Passo del Tonale and the Aprica. The finish, however, came on the descent from the Aprica with a flat final 7.2 km (4.5 mi), so pre-race analysis found it unlikely that the overall favorites would be a factor on this stage. This stage was originally designed to be 16 km (9.9 mi) longer and end at Sondrio, but safety concerns led to the alterations in the course.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
After over an hour of racing, ridden at a fast speed of 48 km/h (30 mph), 15 riders from 13 teams came clear of the peloton. Farnese Vini–Neri Sottoli and Team Katusha were both able to place two riders in the group. After a chase, Ag2r–La Mondiale's Hubert Dupont made the bridge, to make for a 16-man leading group. The group contained some riders who could conceivably threaten top-ten placings, as 12th-placed Kanstantsin Sivtsov, 15th-placed Dupont, and 16th-placed Christophe Le Mével were all up the road.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
This meant that race leader Alberto Contador's team Saxo Bank–SunGard could afford to pace the peloton gently, as they had nothing to lose were they to allow this group several minutes but other teams might. As such, the Liquigas–Cannondale squad came to the front end of the main field to take up the chase when the group's advantage was such that Sivtsov was in position to displace their leader Vincenzo Nibali from third place.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
When they successfully lowered the time gap to the point where Nibali's position was no longer in jeopardy, they gave way to Geox–TMC and Euskaltel–Euskadi, working similarly to protect the high overall positions held by Denis Menchov and Mikel Nieve. These teams' efforts were not as successful, as Sivtsov's eventual tenth place on the day moved him up to fifth in the overall classification.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
The hilly parcours made for attrition in the leading group, as seven eventually came free of the sixteen, and later four broke free of the seven. The main field only caught two riders from the initial group of 16, as Luca Mazzanti was the first over the line from the peloton for 15th. The four riders who remained at the front of the race to the finish were Diego Ulissi, Giovanni Visconti, Jan Bakelants, and Pablo Lastras. Bakelants had tried to solo to the finish line from 3 km (1.9 mi) out, but the other three held his wheel.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Ulissi originally opened his sprint a full 1,000 m (3,300 ft) from the line, but when Bakelants covered his move he sat up and let the Belgian lead out the sprint. He launched again from 300 m (980 ft) out, at which point Bakelants sat up and faded to fourth. Visconti tried to take the line to Ulissi's left, even though Ulissi was already quite near the barricades and there was not very much room there. Ulissi then deviated from his line slightly and moved even closer to the barricades.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Visconti was visibly enraged and twice took his right hand off the handlebars to shove Ulissi. Both Italians sat up just before the finish line, but Lastras was unable to come around them. Visconti crossed the finish line first, and was still shouting and gesticulating at Ulissi after the finish. Shortly after the stage, race officials stripped him of his apparent stage win and relegated him to the last position in his group, third, for irregular sprinting. The victory instead went to Ulissi, who had crossed the line second.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
The two riders involved in the controversial finish later shook hands after an intense face-to-face meeting on Italian television. Visconti adamantly claimed he had done nothing wrong, and that he had shoved Ulissi to keep himself from crashing. He stated that he believed himself winner of the stage despite what the official results said, since he was strongest and fastest. He asserted that Ulissi had specifically maneuvered him to the barricades because he knew that Visconti was the faster finisher, and that Ulissi had not done his equal share of work in the breakaway.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 17
Visconti's director Luca Scinto admitted that he agreed with the decision to relegate his rider, but he felt that Ulissi also should have been relegated and the stage victory awarded to Lastras. Ulissi did not deny that he had not taken as many pulls as other riders in the breakaway, or that he had used tactics in the sprint, but he claimed that more than half of the breakaway were lax on taking pulls and that he had simply done what he needed to do to win the stage. Other than Sivtsov's leap back into the top ten, there were no changes to the top of the overall standings, since the top riders all finished together three minutes behind the leading trio.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
This stage was mostly flat, but about 30 km (19 mi) from the finish, the second-category Passo di Ganda crested. The finish came after a nearly 25 km (16 mi) long descent from the 1,060 m (3,480 ft) height reached on the Ganda, and a brief flat section.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
With the last two road race stages featuring summit finishes, this was likely to be the last chance at a stage win for opportunistic breakaway riders. As such, there were a great number of attacks and counter-attacks in the first hour of racing, which covered 53 km (33 mi). Even well into the second hour of the stage, no group could distinguish itself off the front of the main field.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
Finally, after 100 km (62 mi) had been covered, Team RadioShack's Philip Deignan instigated a move on the Bergamo Alta, a steep cobbled climb that once featured in the Giro di Lombardia. He took with him ten riders from nine teams (Quick-Step placed both Jérôme Pineau and Kevin Seeldraeyers in the group). Race leader Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank–SunGard squad did not come to the front of the main field after these riders slipped away, content to let one of them be the stage victor. As they had in the previous stage, Liquigas–Cannondale and Lampre–ISD did most of the work at the head of the peloton.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
Liquigas–Cannondale rode to hinder the chase rather than help it, since their rider Eros Capecchi had made the breakaway and was in fact proving himself to be one of the strongest riders on the day. He drove the escape group up the Passo di Ganda, and succeeded in whittling the leading group down to three – Capecchi himself, Seeldraeyers, and former race leader Marco Pinotti. The three worked cohesively to build a time gap, with Capecchi taking the most pulls, until there were only 3 km (1.9 mi) left to race.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
At this point it was clear that one of them would be the stage winner, so there was no need for further cooperation. Since none of the three of them had any sprinting abilities of note, tactics were to play a key role in the finale. Pinotti led out from just past the red kite indicating 1 km (0.62 mi) to go, with Seeldraeyers in second position and Capecchi third, coming close to losing the Belgian's wheel. The young Italian was able to take the optimal line on the final left-hand turn, with 200 m (660 ft) to go, to claim first position long enough to cross the line first ahead of Pinotti and then Seeldraeyers.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
After the stage, Capecchi dedicated the victory to his late grandfather and cousin. He said the Giro so far had been a disappointment for him since he had not been able to help Vincenzo Nibali very much, and since he had missed out on wearing the white jersey for the best young rider competition. A seven-year pro despite being only 24 years old, Capecchi also took the occasion to outline further goals for his career, up to and including overall victory in a Grand Tour. Pinotti, for his part, was crushed to miss the stage win.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 18
He had specifically targeted this stage, since it ended near his childhood home. He correctly anticipated that the race would split on the Bergamo Alta, and found the winning breakaway, but did not have the closing speed to hold off Capecchi. He turned his attentions to the forthcoming stage 21 time trial. There was no change to the top of the overall standings after this stage, as all the top riders finished together again.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
This was categorized as a high mountain stage and involved a summit finish at Macugnaga. Since a far more difficult stage followed, pre-race analysis led to the expectation that the race's overall favorites would mostly mark one another on this stage and not show themselves strongly. Parts of 11 different Italian provinces were covered by the course for this stage.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Just like the previous day, a very combative first hour of racing resulted in no breakaway group establishing itself early on. After 51 km (32 mi), Jérôme Pineau, Matteo Rabottini, and Lars Bak, all of whom had previously found breakaways, were able to come clear. Heading toward the first climb of the day, the first-category Mottarone, Acqua & Sapone took control of the peloton, setting up their captain Stefano Garzelli for an attack on the climb.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
He took maximum points from the peloton to increase his lead in the mountains classification against overall leader Alberto Contador to a fairly substantial 11 points. He made it to the leading trio on the descent, as did Johann Tschopp and Mickaël Cherel who followed his acceleration. On approach to the second climb, Macugnaga, Team Katusha began pulling at the front of the main field, to try to set up their leader Joaquim Rodríguez.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
A big crash happened just after the Russian team took control of the race, resulting in HTC–Highroad's Craig Lewis and Marco Pinotti both needing to leave the race. Lewis struck a traffic sign and had a fractured femur, while Pinotti was treated for a knee injury and a suspected broken collarbone.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Team Katusha's efforts succeeded in bringing back the breakaway riders. After strenuous pulls from Danilo Di Luca, the group of overall favorites occupied first position on the road with 13.5 km (8.4 mi) remaining. Astana rider Paolo Tiralongo, Roman Kreuziger's top support rider in this Giro, attacked out of this group with 7 km (4.3 mi) remaining to the finish, all of it uphill. Hubert Dupont then launched with 2.5 km (1.6 mi) to, drawing Rodríguez with him. In short order, Rodríguez sped past Dupont, leaving himself second on the road behind Tiralongo.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
With 1,500 m (4,900 ft) to go, Contador came out of the trailing group and easily sped past both Rodríguez and Tiralongo. However, upon reaching Tiralongo, he effectively led him out to sprint for the finish. The two shared a few words in the stage's final meters, and for the second time Contador appeared to allow another rider a stage win he could have easily taken himself.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
Contador said after the stage that he wanted to give the stage victory to Tiralongo as a gesture of thanks for all the riding the Italian did for him when he was with Astana the season prior. He said that he considers Tiralongo a good friend, and hopes that Saxo Bank–SunGard will sign him once his contract with Astana expires, after the 2011 season. Tiralongo echoed many of these sentiments, recalling that he had spent less time with his family at home than with Contador and Alexander Vinokourov during the 2010 season.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 19
He also revealed that Contador had been the one to encourage him to attack for victory. It was the first race win in Tiralongo's 12-year career. While Vincenzo Nibali's third place time gap and time bonus moved him 13 seconds closer to Michele Scarponi in the overall standings, the biggest change in the overall standings was due to José Rujano finishing a distant 23rd on the day, 2'20" back of Tiralongo and Contador. He dropped to tenth overall.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
The course for the final road race stage was flat for the first 200 km (120 mi), but it was at that point that the first-category Colle delle Finestre began. This climb is 18 km (11 mi) long, has some unpaved sections, and reaches 2,178 m (7,146 ft) in height. After a descent, the somewhat easier second-category ascent of Sestriere was the race's final climb. Sestriere first featured in the Giro in 1911, making this its 100th anniversary in the race.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
A group of 13 riders, each representing a different team, broke away from the peloton almost immediately after the beginning of this stage. They quickly attained an advantage of over 11 minutes, since no GC threat was posed – Vasil Kiryienka, starting the day over an hour down on race leader Alberto Contador, was the highest-placed man in the group. Liquigas–Cannondale took the pace in the main field when the break's time gap reached its highest point, trying to make the race hard for Michele Scarponi and the other riders near their leader Vincenzo Nibali in the overall standings.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
An attack by José Rujano out the front of this group effectively reduced it to just 30 riders. On the ascent of the Colle delle Finestre, Kiryienka attacked and easily got clear of his breakaway companions, none of whom had any real climbing prowess. He crested the Finestre with an advantage of over four minutes on the pink jersey group. As that group neared the top, at a point with many switchback turns, Rujano again attacked and got clear. He stayed clear to the finish, moving up from tenth overall to sixth with his ride on the day.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
The efforts to chase him down resulted in Nibali getting gapped off the back of the group. He was able to chase back onto the group on the descent of the Finestre, but again lost pace on the ascent of Sestriere, finishing 22 seconds behind Scarponi's group and losing any real chance of overtaking him for second place. The only remaining stage was the individual time trial, and though Nibali is the better time trialist of the two, he was unlikely to take 56 seconds out of Scarponi, which was his deficit to his fellow Italian.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
Joaquim Rodríguez and Steven Kruijswijk, trying to enter the top five and top ten overall respectively, attacked on the way up Sestriere. Rodríguez' was much more successful, as he finished more than a minute ahead of the other elite riders and moved up to fifth overall with the result. Kruijswijk took 18 seconds out of Roman Kreuziger for the best young rider competition, but with over two minutes still in hand the Czech rider was all but assured of winning the jersey at the Giro's conclusion. The young Dutchman did, however, enter the top ten, at the expense of Kanstantsin Sivtsov, who lost three and a half minutes to the race's elite riders and fell to 11th place overall. Mikel Nieve also lost considerable time in 17th on the day, falling from sixth to tenth.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
With the race among themselves the primary concern, the top overall riders never made any serious inroads into Kiryienka's advantage. They surpassed every other member of the morning breakaway other than Acqua & Sapone's Carlos Betancur, but the Belarusian at the front of the race actually continued to add to his advantage as the Sestriere climb wore on. He was first at the finish by nearly five minutes over Rujano in second.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
Knowing he had the stage won by a considerable margin, Kiryienka slowed in the final meters to straighten out his jersey to more clearly show his team's sponsor's logo. As he crossed the finish line, he looked and pointed skyward, dedicating his victory to recently deceased teammate Xavier Tondó. He said after the stage that even though Tondó had not been part of the team for very long, his loss was still profoundly felt.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 20
Kiryienka acknowledged that the team had discussed possibly withdrawing from the race, but he and the other riders all felt that the best tribute to Tondó was to continue racing, and to get a further stage win in his honor, while other members of the team spent time with his family. He had come to the Giro hoping to ride for an overall placing, but had a bad day on the Passo Giau and fell precipitously in the overall classification because of it, which further intensified his desire for a stage win.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
This was the Giro's one and only straightforward individual time trial. The course was flat and somewhat technical, with a handful of sharp turns. There were also several long straightaways. The course was shortened by 5.5 km (3.4 mi) four days before the stage took place, due to a special election taking place in Milan the same day as the stage. City officials expected high voter turnout and did not want the city center tied up by the race all day, so the revised route began at the outskirts of Milan instead of its center. It still ended, per its original design, at the Duomo di Milano.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
There was not very much to decide with regards to the overall standings coming into this stage. Race leader Alberto Contador held the biggest advantage over second place that he had ever had in any Grand Tour. Michele Scarponi, while a lesser time trialist than third-placed Vincenzo Nibali, also had sufficient time that, barring a crash, he could be all but assured of remaining in second overall. Fourth and fifth-placed John Gadret and Joaquim Rodríguez were both noted as especially poor time trialists, but Gadret had a substantial time advantage over Rodríguez and Rodríguez likewise over sixth-placed José Rujano.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Sixth through eighth overall were in play, as only 28 seconds separated Rujano, Roman Kreuziger, and Denis Menchov, but there was over two minutes to the next main in the standings, Steven Kruijswijk. This meant both that Rujano, Kreuziger, and Menchov were almost certain to hold onto their top-ten placings, and Kreuziger would likewise retain and win the white jersey as best young rider.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Former race leader David Millar targeted the time trial, saying that with the withdrawal two days earlier of Marco Pinotti that he saw Contador as his chief rival. Contador, for his part, stated that he would not ride the time trial to win, already savoring overall victory. Millar was among the earliest starters on the day and posted a time of 30'13" that proved solidly better than the rest of the field, bar HTC–Highroad's Alex Rasmussen. The Dane had started shortly after Millar and stopped the clocked in 30'20", but had ridden the last kilometer with a flat rear tire.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
He rued the day after the stage that it had cost him a stage win, because no one finished within 30 seconds of these two riders. Remarkably, Contador's ride was good for third on the day, despite having said he was purposely not going to give his strongest effort. Both Rasmussen and Contador were better than Millar at the intermediate time check, but neither was faster at the finish. The win gave Millar the distinction of stage wins for his career at all three Grand Tours, after he had earlier in the race earned the distinction of having worn the overall leader's jersey at all three Grand Tours.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Most of the other overall positions held up, as the race's top riders had incident-free time trials. Rujano ceded 59 seconds to Kreuziger, which resulted in him dropping to seventh. He might have dropped further had Menchov not had an uncharacteristically bad day racing against the clock. The Russian all-round was 35th on the day, only 22 seconds better than Rujano, which was not enough to overtake him.


2011 Giro d'Italia, Stage 12 to Stage 21, Stage 21
Mikel Nieve, known to be a weak time trialist, was nearly four minutes slower than the winning time, which opened the door for Kanstantsin Sivtsov, tenth on the day, to move back into the top ten overall. Nieve's final overall placing was 11th, still almost two minutes better than Hubert Dupont. Contador cemented his sixth career Grand Tour victory, though with a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing regarding his positive test for clenbuterol at the 2010 Tour de France, it was far from certain what place his ride would occupy in the history books. He also won the red jersey for the points competition, with Kreuziger taking home the white jersey for the youth competition and Stefano Garzelli the mountains classification green jersey.


2011 Giro del Trentino
The 2011 Giro del Trentino was the 35th edition of the Giro del Trentino cycling stage race. It was held from 19–22 April 2011, as 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. Italian Michele Scarponi of Lampre–ISD won the overall classification after moving into the leader's jersey after stage 2. Tiago Machado was second, Luca Ascani third.


2011 Giro del Trentino, Teams and cyclists
There were 18 teams in the 2011 Giro del Trentino. Among them were 7 UCI ProTeams, seven UCI Professional Continental teams, and four Continental teams. Each team was allowed eight riders on their squad, giving the event a peloton of 144 cyclists at its outset. The favourites were: Vincenzo Nibali, Roman Kreuziger and Michele Scarponi, all of them preparing for the Giro d'Italia.


2011 Giro di Lombardia
The 2011 Giro di Lombardia was the 105th edition of the Giro di Lombardia single-day cycling race, often known as the Race of the Falling Leaves. It was held on 15 October 2011, over a distance of 241 km (149.8 mi), starting in Milan and ending in Lecco for the first time. It was the 26th and final event of the 2011 UCI World Tour.


2011 Giro di Lombardia
Leopard Trek rider Oliver Zaugg won the race, having attacked on the final climb of Salita di Ello and stayed away until the end, winning a race for the first time in his professional career. The remaining podium places were contested for – eight seconds behind Zaugg – in a five-man sprint for the line with Garmin–Cervélo's Dan Martin just besting Joaquim Rodríguez of Team Katusha for second place. The two-time defending race winner and World Tour points leader Philippe Gilbert finished in eighth position, 16 seconds down on Zaugg.


2011 Giro di Lombardia, Teams
As the race was held under the auspices of the UCI World Tour, all eighteen ProTour teams were invited automatically. Seven additional wildcard invitations were given – Acqua & Sapone, Androni Giocattoli, Colnago–CSF Inox, Farnese Vini–Neri Sottoli, FDJ, Geox–TMC and Team Europcar – to form the event's 25-team peloton.


2011 Giro di Padania
The 2011 Giro di Padania was the first edition of the Giro di Padania cycling stage race. It started on 6 September in Paesana and ended on the 10th in Montecchio Maggiore.


2011 Giro di Padania
More than 200 riders and 25 teams participated in the race, including the ProTour teams Liquigas-Cannondale, Lampre-ISD and Astana, and the national teams of Australia, Poland and Slovenia. Among the riders who took part to the race there were the 2006 and 2010 Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, the 2011 Milano-Sanremo winner Matthew Goss, the Italian Road Race Champion Giovanni Visconti, the 2000 Giro d'Italia winner Stefano Garzelli, and the classic specialist Davide Rebellin.


2011 Giro di Padania
The race was won by Liquigas-Cannondale rider Ivan Basso, who claimed the leader's green jersey after winning the fourth stage.


2011 Giro di Padania
In the race's other classifications, Liquigas-Cannondale rider Elia Viviani won the Points and the Intermediate Sprints classifications, Simone Campagnaro of D'Angelo & Antenucci-Nippo won the light blue jersey for the King of the Mountains classification, Astana's Francesco Masciarelli, who was third in the General classification, won the Young Rider classification, with Androni Giocattoli finishing at the head of the Teams classification.


2011 Giro di Padania, Controversy
This edition was heavily disrupted by activists who stated that the race was intended as political Propaganda for the Lega Nord political party. The idea of organising the race was announced by Lega Nord's leader Umberto Bossi in September 2010  and, according to the protesters, the race itself was full of references to the Padanian nationalism, such as the choice of green colour for the leader's jersey. Moreover, the race is organized by the society Monviso-Venezia, whose president, Michelino Davico, is a Lega Nord's senator.


2011 Giro di Padania, Controversy
During second stage, in Savona, Ivan Basso and Sacha Modolo had been slapped and insulted by protesters.


2011 Global Champions Tour
The 2011 Global Champions Tour was the 6th staging of the Global Champions Tour (GCT), an important international show jumping competition series. The series was held mainly in Europe, three competitions was held outside of Europe. All competitions was endowed at least 285000 €. All GCT events was held as CSI 5*.


2011 Global Champions Tour
The competitions was held between March 17, 2011 and November 12, 2011. There was no final. At the end of the season the best 18 riders in the final overall standings had got a bonus prize money.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions
All competitions was held as competition over two rounds against the clock with one jump-off against the clock.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 1st Competition: Global Champions Tour of Qatar
March 17, 2011 to March 19, 2011 – Qatar Racing & Equestrian Club, Doha,  QatarCompetition: Saturday, March 19, 2011 – Start: 6:45 pm, prize money: € 475,000


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 2nd Competition: Global Champions Tour of Spain
May 6, 2011 to May 8, 2011 – Museo de las Ciencias Príncipe Felipe, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències, Valencia,  SpainCompetition: Saturday, May 7, 2011 – Start: 5:00 pm, prize money: € 285,000


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 3rd Competition: Global Champions Tour of Germany
June 2, 2011 to June 5, 2011 – Hamburg (German show jumping and dressage derby),  GermanyCompetition: Saturday, June 4, 2011 – Start: 1:40 pm, prize money: € 285,000


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 4th Competition: France I
June 9, 2011 to June 11, 2011 – Cannes,  FranceCompetition: Saturday, June 11, 2011 – Start: 6:00 pm, prize money: € 285,000


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 5th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Monaco
June 23, 2011 to June 25, 2011 – shore at the marina „Port Hercule“, Monte Carlo,  MonacoCompetition: Saturday, June 25, 2011 – Start: 6:00 pm, prize money: € 285,000


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 5th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Monaco
Course designer of the competition was fourth time in 2011 season Frank Rothenberger. The Monaco horse show was held on a provisional sand jumping arena at the shore of the Boulevard Albert 1er.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 5th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Monaco
In the first round of the competition 12 riders had not faults. The second round was much more difficult, only three riders with her horses are clear in this round. Only Rolf-Göran Bengtsson was clear in both round, so he won the competition without a jump-off.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 5th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Monaco
Charlotte Casiraghi was honorary president of the Monaco horse show. The congratulations at the prize giving ceremony of the Global Champions Tour competition was given by Albert II, Prince of Monaco.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 6th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Portugal
June 30, 2011 to July 2, 2011 – Hipódromo Manuel Possolo, Cascais near Estoril,  PortugalCompetition: Saturday, July 2, 2011


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 6th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Portugal
Frank Rothenberger was again the course designer of the competition. In the first round nine riders had not faults. The second round are no problem for most of the now 18 riders, more than the half of them had not faults. In total six riders are faultless in both rounds – they was qualified for the jump-off.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 6th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Portugal
In the jump-off the half of the six riders had no faults, Christian Ahlmann won the competition. The second round and the jump-off were held under floodlight.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 7th Competition: France II
July 22, 2011 to July 24, 2011 – Chantilly Racecourse, Chantilly,  FranceCompetition: Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 3:30 pm


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 7th Competition: France II
Course designer at the GCT Grand Prix of Chantilly was Uliano Vezzani from Italy. Six riders with their horses had not faults in the first round. Also four riders had only time faults in this round. In the second round of the Grand Prix nine rider had not faults. In total three riders are faultless in both rounds – they was qualified for the jump-off.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 8th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the Netherlands
August 12, 2011 to August 14, 2011 – Valkenswaard,  NetherlandsCompetition: Saturday, August 13, 2011


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 8th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the Netherlands
Second time in this GCT season Uliano Vezzani was the course designer of a GCT Grand Prix. In the first round of this Grand Prix twelve riders had no penalty points. In the second round six riders with their horses had not faults. In total four riders are faultless in both rounds. This riders were qualified for the jump-off. Winner of the competition was US-American rider Beezie Madden.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 9th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Brazil
September 2, 2011 to September 4, 2011 – equestrian facility of the Sociedade Hípica Brasileira, Rio de Janeiro (Athina Onassis International Horse Show),  BrazilCompetition: Saturday, September 4, 2011 – Start: 4:00 pm


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 9th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Brazil
The Grand Prix of Rio de Janeiro is with a prize money of € 1,000,000 the highest endowed show jumping Grand Prix in 2011 – in front of the Grand Prix of Calgary (with a purse of C$ 1,000,000) and the Grand Prix of Saugerties (US$ 1,000,000 prize money). Course designer of this competition is Luc Musette from Belgium.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 9th Competition: Global Champions Tour of Brazil
According to the prize money the course was built very sophisticated. In round one only two riders had no faults, five riders had retired in the show-jumping course. The second round was easier for the riders, ten of 18 riders with their horses had no faults. The only rider with a double clear round was Gerco Schröder with the Belgian stallion London, so a jump-off was not necessary.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 10th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the United Arab Emirates
November 24, 2011 to November 26, 2011 –  Al-Forsan International Sports Resort, Abu Dhabi,  United Arab EmiratesCompetition: Saturday, November 26, 2011 – Start: 3:45 pm


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 10th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the United Arab Emirates
First time ever a Global Champions Tour competition was held in the United Arab Emirates. The show jumping course was built again by Italian Uliano Vezzani. The competition had a purse of € 400,000.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 10th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the United Arab Emirates
In the first round 13 riders had no faults, three other riders had only time faults. Ludger Beerbaum, who had ridden Chaman, had big problems in a triple combination and retired after eight penalties. After this ride it was clear that Edwina Tops-Alexander had won the 2011 Global Champions Tour ranking. But also Tops-Alexander had eight penalties, so she was not qualified for the second round of this competition.


2011 Global Champions Tour, Competitions, 10th Competition: Global Champions Tour of the United Arab Emirates
In the second round elven of eighteen riders with their horses had no faults. Eight riders in total was clear in both rounds, they was qualified for the jump-off. The winner of the competition was French rider Roger-Yves Bost, who used as only rider of the jump-off a shortcut, so he had the fastest time in the jump-off.


2011 Gloucester City Council election
The 2011 Gloucester City Council election took place on 5 May 2011 to elect members of Gloucester City Council in England. There were 11 seats for election and the Conservative Party gained overall control of the council from no overall control.


2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl
The 2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl, the twelfth edition of the college football bowl game, was played at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama on January 6, 2011. The game was telecast on ESPN and matched Miami from the MAC versus Middle Tennessee from the Sun Belt. Previously, the bowl game was known as the GMAC Bowl.


2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl, Teams, Middle Tennessee
This was Middle Tennessee's first bowl appearance in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Entering the game, offense leaders for the Blue Raiders were RB Phillip Tanner (149 att., 841 yds. rushing, 11 TDs), QB Dwight Dasher (127 of 222 passes, 1,388 yards, 6 TDs) and WR Malcolm Beyah (27 rec., 364 yds., 2 TDs). Defensively, the team was led by DB Jeremy Kellem (101 tackles, 1.5 tfl, 2 INT), DE Jamari Lattimore (64 tackles, 14.5 tfl, 11.0 sacks) and LB Darin Davis (73 tackles, 8.0 tfl, 3.5 sacks, 3 interceptions).


2011 GoDaddy.com Bowl, Teams, Miami
This was Miami's second appearance in this bowl game; they played in the 2003 edition when it was under the name GMAC Bowl. Miami was one of the most improved program in the country, capped a dramatic turnaround season by winning the 2010 marathon MAC Football Championship. The RedHawks defeated Northern Illinois, 26–21, with a touchdownwith 33 seconds left in regulation. Miami clinched the East Division with a 23–3 win over Temple on November 23.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado
The 2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado was an F3 tornado generated by an isolated supercell which unexpectedly tore across Huron County, Ontario, on the afternoon of Sunday, August 21, 2011. Beginning as a tornadic waterspout over Lake Huron, the tornado ripped through the lakeside town of Goderich severely damaging the historic downtown and homes in the surrounding area. One person died and 37 more were injured as a result. This was the strongest tornado to hit Ontario in over fifteen years, since the April 20, 1996, tornado outbreak in Williamsford, Arthur, and Violet Hill.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Antecedent conditions
There was little hint of what was to come that day as far as severe weather was concerned. Both Environment Canada in Toronto and the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma outlined the risk for non-severe thunderstorms that day across the lower Great Lakes. Lapse rates yielded limited instability for severe weather, with a secondary cold front acting as a trigger. Given the much colder air aloft (freezing levels near 700 hPa) coupled with surface heating there was the risk for small hail and gusty outflow winds, which was also mentioned.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Antecedent conditions
Though some upper-level wind field parameters were sufficient for tornadic activity, they were marginal at best when coupled with the synoptic pattern at hand (a highly atypical pattern compared to previous major tornado events in the lower Great Lakes region). Goderich is also located in the "lake shadow" of Lake Huron, which is much less likely to be hit by tornadoes than other parts of Southwestern Ontario where lake convergence fronts collide.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Antecedent conditions
By 11:00 am that morning, showers and thunderstorms began to develop over southwestern Ontario. Initially they were weak, but began to intensify in some localized areas. Hail and heavy rain came down with a line of storms tracking from northwest of Kitchener toward the Brampton area early that afternoon. There were reports of localized flooding and marginally damaging wind gusts associated with these storms. A brief tornado was also reported in Gananoque at 12:45 pm. Later confirmed as an F1, this tornado caused minor damage in an area 1.5 kilometres long and 60 metres wide. Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm watch for most of southern Ontario as a result. The town of Goderich and surrounding areas of Huron County were included.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Antecedent conditions
At around the same time, an intense thunderstorm had developed over northern Michigan in Alcona County. Hail of up to two inches in diameter was reported to the National Weather Service and a velocity couplet appeared on Doppler weather radar at around 1:30 pm. A tornado warning was subsequently issued, but the storm moved out over the relatively warm waters of Lake Huron shortly after. It weakened for a time, but began to intensify once again as it crossed the border into Canada by 3:00 pm.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Antecedent conditions
Strong rotation began to develop on the southwest side of this thunderstorm as resolved by velocity images on the Exeter, Ontario radar, and a textbook-style hook echo soon appeared on reflectivity images too (see image to left). With the powerful storm closing in on Goderich from the northwest at approximately 75 km/h, Environment Canada issued a tornado warning at 3:48 pm. The meteorologists estimated the storm would make landfall there in approximately ten minutes.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning
Huron County does not presently have a network of tornado sirens in place, unlike some other Ontario municipalities. As a result, the tornado took most area residents by surprise despite the twelve-minute lead time of the tornado warning. The relatively low casualty rate was attributed to the fact that an earlier thunderstorm had cleared downtown Goderich of hundreds of market-goers attending a weekend festival, most of whom were still outdoors as little as two hours before the tornado struck.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
In the minutes prior, the tornadic supercell was closing in on the Lake Huron shoreline. Photos and video of these initial moments reveal no funnel, merely a thick, rotating wall of rain curtains. Not unlike the Barrie tornado in 1985, this storm was also heavily rain-wrapped. At this point, the only sign of the approaching tornado was a loud roar; some witnesses falsely interpreted it to be the engine from a nearby freighter (Cooper and Cove, 2011).


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Moving on to land by 3:55 pm, the tornado made its first destructive appearance at the Sifto Salt mine located on Indian Island at the mouth of the Maitland River. It tore large portions of roof from the salt storage domes and brick outbuildings at the facility. Pieces of sheet metal were also ripped from some of the higher-profile structures, such as the salt evaporator. A 61-year-old crane operator was killed when his boom collapsed. After crossing the river, the tornado tore more sheet metal from the upper portion of a nearby grain elevator before plowing up the bluff overlooking Lake Huron, in a swath several hundred metres wide.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
The tornado then moved into the neighbourhood immediately northwest of Goderich's downtown core. Hardest hit was the Waterloo Street and St. Georges Crescent area, which was closest to the immediate edge of the bluff. Power poles and trees were snapped or uprooted in addition to many homes either losing their roofs or sustaining further structural damage after initial roof loss. Most buildings in the historic octagonal downtown, housing century-old brick buildings, suffered blown out windows or much worse. This included the sturdy and relatively unscathed Huron County courthouse, which also suffered major interior damage (Cooper and Cove, 2011).


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Others were not so lucky as roofs were completely torn off, leaving little structural integrity to face the wind. The upper floors of several of these buildings were completely destroyed. The remaining loose brick and mortar fascia collapsed, crushing vehicles and other similarly-sized objects. Vehicles parked in more open areas were subsequently overturned or impaled by flying debris, trees were removed of most of their limbs with sheet metal and other foreign objects wrapped around them.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Immediately surrounding the downtown, a church built in 1878 (see photograph to left) at the intersection of Kings Highway 21 and St. David Street was severely damaged. A carwash facility adjacent to the church suffered a similar fate. Three people were injured at the carwash when the roof was torn off and the bays underneath became exposed to the wind. A van with two people inside had its windows smashed out when debris wrapped itself around it.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Another man on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle had both his legs broken when he became pinned between his bike and a collapsed wall from one of the bays. The three had been seeking shelter from the storm at that time, mainly from the golfball to baseball size hail that preceded the tornado.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Crossing Kings Highway 21, the tornado moved into the easternmost residential areas of Goderich, north of Elgin Street. More homes sustained significant damage here, with most of those affected receiving some form of roof or window damage. Those with clapboard siding had pock marks and some of their paint stripped. Other homes lost vast portions of their roofs and commercial buildings near Oxford Street and Maitland Road had partial roof removal and exterior wall damage. Some of these walls partially collapsed, crushing more vehicles. Timber power poles were snapped, and concrete light posts were partially toppled near this location.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Moving to the east-southeast, the tornado left Goderich, on its way toward the hamlet of Benmiller approximately 8 kilometres away. Now emerging from the rain curtains as a menacing, stovepipe-shaped funnel, and roughly following the Maitland River, the tornado's path widened. In this mostly rural area, there was extensive tree damage in a swath about 1 kilometre wide. Passing through Benmiller it caused extensive damage to several more structures, including the Benmiller Inn. Large swaths of trees were downed on both sides of the Maitland River, as well as in town. Witnesses also reported that the tornado briefly reversed the river's flow as it approached (Cooper and Cove, 2011). Structural debris from Benmiller was deposited into the river, and the damage became more erratic as the tornado crossed uneven terrain; structures on higher ground were more severely damaged.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, The tornado's track
Leaving Benmiller, the tornado entered into a more rural area once again, as it began to enter its final stages. Many tree limbs were removed by the tornado in addition to it toppling the trees themselves. The damage path also became more evident as it passed through open cornfields, downing large swaths of corn in an area about 200 metres wide. Crossing Sharpes Creek Line (Huron Road 31) there was more tree and corn damage by the tornado, though it was becoming increasingly weaker and sporadic in nature. The tornado eventually dissipated in the open fields between Base Line (Huron Road 8) and London Road (Kings Highway 4), southwest of the village of Londesborough, after some 15 to 20 kilometres on the ground.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
Following the tornado, one person was dead and 37 more were injured along the tornado's track from Lake Huron to near Londesborough. In the hours after the disaster, the Ontario Provincial Police closed all roads leading into Goderich in order to allow streets to be cleared of debris, and to deal with the numerous gas leaks across the town of 8,000. Town officials quickly declared a state of emergency as urban search and rescue teams combed the town for missing individuals. No one was left unaccounted for in spite of the severe damage. The day after the storm, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty visited Huron County and pledged $5 million in disaster assistance from the province of Ontario, half of which was allotted to the town of Goderich. Local hardware stores also donated many of their products to assist in the recovery effort.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
News reports later estimated that in Goderich, one hundred houses, 25 buildings and thousands of 150-plus-year-old trees were seriously damaged or destroyed.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
In the days following the storm, as power was restored, roads became passable, and damaged structures shored up, local public works crews established fencing and concrete barriers around the entire perimeter of historic downtown Goderich to prevent looting and trespassing. These measures were also enforced by the Ontario Provincial Police, who barred anyone other than those contracted for cleanup efforts to stay out of the area. By the end of August, the question of restoration of many of the oldest structures in Goderich was one of major debate. The town square was finally reopened on Friday, September 9.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
However, several of the historic structures (including the opera house on Kingston Street, the church on Victoria Street, and a studio on Montreal Street) were all razed in October. The recovery process is ongoing, and will take many months or potentially years to fully complete, amid significant controversy regarding insurance settlements for private property owners. The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimates the tornado caused $75 million in damage, but the Mayor of Goderich estimates the total bill will top $100 million.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
A city relief fund has also been set up, entitled the Goderich Disaster Relief Fund, in which anyone can make a donation at chartered banks and the Goderich Community Credit Union. Early in 2012, this latter effort is expected to match the assistance issued by the province, owing to contributions from those all over Canada and the United States. In addition, a book immortalizing the disaster, entitled Not Like Any Other Sunday, has been published and is available as of December, 2011. All proceeds go to relief efforts such as the Victim Services of Huron County and the Goderich Trees reforestation project.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Aftermath
In the months following the tornado disaster, Huron County officials began discussing the use of tornado sirens. The community of Clinton in the Central Huron Municipality implemented its volunteer fire department's siren to be used for severe weather, which is now one of the few Ontario communities to do so. Huron County asked for a government grant to purchase 30 tornado sirens for communities across the county, but the grant request was denied. Officials are now working on a plan to use the remaining fire department and Cold War air raid sirens for severe weather.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Rebuilding The Square area
After the tornado, a news report described The Square area as follows: "The roofs of several buildings ringing the square were torn off. The green space around the courthouse at the centre of the square was littered with tree limbs and trees that had been ripped out of the ground."


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Rebuilding The Square area
A year later, 152 of the 170 downtown businesses had reopened but reconstruction of the courthouse, some historic buildings and the trees in the area took much longer.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Rebuilding The Square area
A visitor to the area nearly four years after the event found that the park had re-opened with a new band shell. New trees, greenery, a statue and a water feature had been installed in front of the court house. Much of the area around the park had been reconstructed including commercial building on Kingston Street and The Square. The last work to be completed was the Kingston block of commercial buildings on Kingston Street and The Square. Although the farmers' market and flea market had closed before the tornado, it re-opened again.


2011 Goderich, Ontario tornado, Text of the Goderich tornado warning, Rebuilding The Square area
A postgraduate researcher from Wilfrid Laurier University visited the downtown area in May 2016 and described it as absolutely gorgeous. "The only visible signs of the tornado's aftermath were some fallen trees and debris in a cemetery."


2011 Gold Coast Sevens
The 2011 Gold Coast Sevens was the first tournament of the 2011-2012 Sevens World Series It was held over the weekend of 25–26 November 2011 at Robina Stadium (known for sponsorship reasons as Skilled Park) in Queensland, Australia. The tournament was the ninth completed edition of the Australian Sevens and the first on the Gold Coast after the event had been previously hosted in Adelaide and Brisbane.


2011 Gold Coast Sevens
Fiji won the tournament by defeating New Zealand in the Cup final 26–12.


2011 Gold Coast Sevens, Format
The teams are divided into pools of four teams, and a round-robin played within each pool. Points in rugby sevens pools are awarded on a different basis to most rugby tournaments: 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss.


2011 Gold Coast Sevens, Format
The top two teams in each pool advance to the Cup competition, and the four Cup quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket to play for the Plate. The bottom two teams in each pool go to the Bowl competition, and the four Bowl quarterfinal losers drop into the bracket to play for the Shield.


2011 Gold Coast Suns season
The 2011 AFL season was the Gold Coast Suns' first season in the Australian Football League (AFL). The Gold Coast Suns reserves team also competed in the inaugural NEAFL season.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season
The 2011 Gold Coast Titans season was the 5th in the club's history. They competed in the NRL's 2011 Telstra Premiership coached by John Cartwright and captained by Scott Prince. Gold Coast finished the regular season 16th (out of 16), failing to make the finals and collecting the wooden spoon for the first time in the club's history.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
The Gold Coast Titans started the season poorly with three first up losses to the reigning premiers St. George Illawarra Dragons, then a 40–12 smashing at the hands of the Melbourne Storm before losing to archrivals the Brisbane Broncos at home. It seemed after the loss to Melbourne that the Titans would never recover and its fans were forecasting a very long season ahead.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
Round 4 saw the Titans register their first win for the 2011 season with a 23–22 golden point win over the Canberra Raiders thanks to a Greg Bird field goal in the 2nd minute of extra time. The winning feeling was short-lived with a 10-point loss to the North Queensland Cowboys the following week. Things improved however with the signing of Bulldogs centre Jamal Idris for 5 years and a win against the Wests Tigers in round 6.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
Round 7 saw the Titans lose their fifth game of the season with the Parramatta Eels scoring a try with 37 seconds remaining to give them a 22–18 victory. A win over the Sydney Roosters in round 8 saw the Titans improve their win-loss record 3–5, and Nathan Friend become the first player to play 100 games for the Titans. This would be the Titans' last win for a while as they lost their next four games, including three at home.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
The Titans emerged briefly from their losing streak to beat a depleted St. George Illawarra Dragons missing six players due to Origin before entering a five-game losing streak which included a 36–12 loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, which is their worst ever defeat at Skilled Park. To help counter their poor form and last place on the ladder, the Titans lured former dual-international Mat Rogers out of retirement to play out the remainder of the 2011 NRL season.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
The return did little to change the luck of the Titans with Rogers breaking his foot in his very first game back (although he did achieve a milestone in his comeback, with this being his 200th NRL game) and their poor season continuing with a 22–6 loss against the New Zealand Warriors in round 18. It only got worse for the Titans, with 3 more losses from as many games, including a 30-point thrashing from the Newcastle Knights in round 21.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
Round 22 saw the Titans rebound with a gutsy 20–16 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks but came at a price, with captain Scott Prince breaking his arm and being ruled out for the remainder of the season. The loss of Prince saw retiring club legend Preston Campbell elevated to captain but faced a tough debut against the ladder leading Melbourne Storm. Melbourne easily handled the Titans beating them by 24 points, the game also saw Preston Campbell play his 100th game for the Titans. Round 24 saw the Titans jump two spaces clear of the bottom of the ladder thanks to a 26–18 victory over the Canberra Raiders in front of their lowest ever home crowd of just 10,230.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary
The Titans had a chance to secure safety from the wooden spoon with a win in Round 25 against the Tigers but instead were soundly beaten by 19 points. Round 26 saw the 15th-placed Titans play the 16th-placed Parramatta Eels in the so-called "Wooden Spoon Showdown", with the loser taking out the wooden spoon for the 2011 season. Despite home ground advantage and wanting to send retiring Preston Campbell out a winner, the Titans gave the Eels a 22-point lead at halftime. The lead proved too much for the Titans, eventually losing 32–12 and collecting the club's first wooden spoon.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Season Summary, Awards
Luke Bailey won a record third Paul Broughton Medal for the club's best and fairest player and also won Clubman of the Year. Matt Srama won Titan's Rookie of the Year while Kevin Gordon who missed the majority of the season with a knee injury won the Community Award. David Mead was awarded Try of the Year for his impressive one-handed pickup from a Scott Prince kick in Round 22 against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. Retiring club legend Preston Campbell took home the Members Choice Player of the Year and became the second inductee into the Titan's Hall of Fame.


2011 Gold Coast Titans season, Representative honours
The following players played a representative match during the 2011 NRL Season.


2011 Golden Spin of Zagreb
The 2011 Golden Spin of Zagreb (Croatian: Zlatna pirueta Zagreba) was the 44th edition of an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Zagreb, Croatia. It was held at the Dom Sportova on December 8–11, 2011. Skaters competed in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing on the senior level.


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic
The 2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament which was part of the 2011 ITF Women's Circuit. It took place in Phoenix, Arizona, United States between 7 and 13 November 2011.


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic, WTA entrants, Other Entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic, Champions, Doubles
Jamie Hampton /  Ajla Tomljanović def. Maria Sanchez /  Yasmin Schnack, 3–6, 6–3, [10–6]


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic – Doubles
Tetiana Luzhanska and Coco Vandeweghe were the defending champions, but Luzhanska chose not to participate. Vandeweghe competed with Mashona Washington, but lost in the first round to Elizabeth Lumpkin and Ioana Raluca Olaru.


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic – Doubles
Jamie Hampton and Ajla Tomljanović won the title defeating Maria Sanchez and Yasmin Schnack in the final 3–6, 6–3, [10–6].


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic – Singles
Varvara Lepchenko was the defending champion, but lost to Monica Puig in the second round.


2011 Goldwater Women's Tennis Classic – Singles
Sesil Karatantcheva won the title defeating Michelle Larcher de Brito in the final 6–1, 7–5.


2011 Gombe State gubernatorial election
The 2011 Gombe State gubernatorial election was the 4th gubernatorial election of Gombe State, Nigeria. Held on April 26, 2011, the People's Democratic Party nominee Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo won the election, defeating Abubakar Aliyu of the Congress for Progressive Change.


2011 Gombe State gubernatorial election, Results
A total of 6 candidates contested in the election. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo from the People's Democratic Party won the election, defeating Abubakar Aliyu from the Congress for Progressive Change. Valid votes was 780,393, votes cast was 801,747, 21,354 votes was cancelled.


2011 Gomelsky Cup
The 2011 Gomelsky Cup is a European basketball competition that occurred between September 24 and September 25 in Moscow.


2011 Good Sam Club 500
The 2011 Good Sam Club 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 23, 2011 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Clint Bowyer defended his win in the previous year's race by slingshotting past his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton on the final lap. It was the 100th career win for Richard Childress Racing. For Richard Childress Racing, it would be the last time their cars finished 1-2 until the 2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500.


2011 Good Sam Club 500, Qualifying
Mark Martin won the pole position with a time of 52.799, beating Jimmie Johnson who had a time of 52.801.


2011 Good Sam Club 500, Race
The race saw 9 caution flags for 37 laps under caution. The race took about 3 and half hours.


2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500
The 2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on August 7, 2011 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 200 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt triangular oval, it was the 21st race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing won the race, while brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch finished second and third respectively.


2011 Good Sam RV Insurance 500, Report, Background
Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn trianglular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The first turn at the track is banked at 14 degrees, and the second is banked at 8 degrees. The final corner is at 6 degree banking, while the straightaways each have 2 degrees of banking. The racetrack has seats for 76,812 spectators.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500
The 2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on April 3, 2011 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. Contested over 500 laps, it was the sixth race of the 2011 season. Kevin Harvick from the Richard Childress Racing team won the race, while Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished in the second position ahead of Kyle Busch. Scenes from this particular race are shown in The Simpsons episode "Steal This Episode".


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Background
Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long. The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking. The racetrack had seats for 63,000 spectators.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Background
Before the race, Carl Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 187 points, and Ryan Newman stood in second with 178. Kurt Busch followed in third with 177 points, one ahead of Kyle Busch and four ahead of Jimmie Johnson in fourth and fifth. Tony Stewart with 170 was six points ahead of Paul Menard, as Juan Pablo Montoya with 161 points, was four ahead of Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth in ninth and tenth. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford were in the first three positions with 31 points, 14 ahead of Dodge in fourth. Denny Hamlin was the race's defending champion after winning it in 2010.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Two practice sessions were held in preparation for the race; both on Friday. The first session lasted 80 minutes long, while the second was 90 minutes long. Kyle Busch was quickest with a time of 19.804 seconds in the first session, 0.001 seconds faster than Joey Logano. Harvick was just off Logano's pace, followed by Brad Keselowski, Jamie McMurray, and Jeff Burton. Menard was seventh, still within a second of Busch's time. Also in the first practice session, Johnson spun sideways after the second turn.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
In the second and final practice, David Ragan was quickest with a time of 19.670 seconds. Jeff Gordon followed in second, ahead of Keselowski and David Reutimann. Kasey Kahne was fifth quickest, with a time of 19.764 seconds. Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Marcos Ambrose, Brian Vickers, and A. J. Allmendinger rounded out the first ten positions. Kyle Busch, who was first in the first session, could only manage 23rd. The second session also had cautions because of spins. The drivers involved were Logano and Dennis Setzer.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
Forty-four cars are entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. McMurray clinched his first pole position of the season, with a time of 19.621 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Newman. Kasey Kahne qualified third, Logano took fourth, and Hamlin started fifth. Allmendinger, Labonte, Reutimann, Harvick and Regan Smith rounded out the top ten. However, in the qualifying session, only 43 cars attempted to qualify (Setzer and Derrike Cope withdrew). Following the session, McMurray commented, "We've had really good cars.


2011 Goody's Fast Relief 500, Report, Practice and qualifying
It just seems like we've had really bad luck, so I'm hoping. ... I've always been a little superstitious of green, and I showed up, and I saw my car, and I was like, 'Wow, that's not really what I was expecting to see.' But I hope this turns it around for us."


2011 Governor General's Awards
The shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 11, and the winners were announced on November 15.


2011 Grambling State Tigers football team
The 2011 Grambling State Tigers football team represented Grambling State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Tigers were led by head coach Doug Williams in the first season of his second tenure as head coach and seventh overall after coaching the Tigers from 1998 to 2003. They played their home games at Eddie Robinson Stadium. They were a member of the West Division of the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). The Tigers finished the season 8–4 overall and 6–3 in SWAC play to win the West Division and defeated Alabama A&M in the SWAC Championship Game, 16–15, to become SWAC champions.


2011 Grand National
The 2011 Grand National (officially known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 164th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England.


2011 Grand National
The showpiece steeplechase began at 4:15 pm BST on 9 April 2011, the final day of the three-day annual meeting. The maximum permitted field of forty runners competed for prize money totalling a record £950,000, making it the highest valued National Hunt race in the United Kingdom.


2011 Grand National
Nineteen of the forty participants completed the 4½-mile course; of the 21 who did not, two suffered fatal falls on the first circuit, reigniting debates over the safety of the event. Irish horse Ballabriggs won the race, securing the first-place prize money of £535,135 and a first Grand National win for trainer Donald McCain, Jr., the son of four-time winning trainer Ginger McCain. Owned by Trevor Hemmings, Ballabriggs was ridden by Irish jockey Jason Maguire and was sent off at odds of 14/1. The pairing completed the race in 9 minutes 1.2 seconds, the second-fastest time in Grand National history.


2011 Grand National, Race card
On 2 February 2011 Aintree released the names of 102 horses submitted to enter, including 34 Irish-trained and three French-trained horses. Ten were trained by Paul Nicholls, including a leading contender in Niche Market; nine were handled by Irish trainer Willie Mullins, and three by Jonjo O'Neill, the trainer of last year's winner. Ballabriggs, another leading contender, was trained by Donald McCain, Jr., the son of Ginger McCain who trained Red Rum to three National victories in the 1970s and returned with another winner, Amberleigh House, in 2004.


2011 Grand National, Race card
20 contenders were withdrawn in the first scratchings. After a second scratchings deadline on 24 March 74 horses remained on the list of entrants, with the top weight handicap of 11 st 10 lb allocated to last year's winner Don't Push It. The official odds on 24 March placed Mullins-trained The Midnight Club at 10/1 favourite. Backstage and Oscar Time were given joint-second favourite odds of 12/1.


2011 Grand National, Race card
At the five-day deadline on 4 April, nine further withdrawals since the second scratchings left a total of 65 contenders still in the running to compete. Nina Carberry, the sister of 1999 winner Paul Carberry, became the first female jockey to take a third ride in the Grand National. Four amateur jockeys lined up to compete. Official odds on favourite The Midnight Club were cut to 8/1, while What A Friend replaced Oscar Time as a joint-second favourite with Backstage on odds of 11/1.


2011 Grand National, Race card
On 7 April, Aintree declared the final confirmed list of 40 runners and four reserves as follows. The reserves would replace any withdrawals prior to 9 am on 8 April. None of the reserves, however, were required.


2011 Grand National, Race card
*Barry Geraghty rode Or Noir de Somoza after his original jockey, Tom Scudamore, withdrew due to an injury sustained in a race the day prior to the National.


2011 Grand National, Finishing order
Ten-year-old Ballabriggs led for much of the race, and the gelding eventually saw off a strong run-in challenge from amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen on Oscar Time who secured second place. Third was 2010 winner Tony McCoy on Don't Push It, twelve lengths behind the second. 15/2 favourite The Midnight Club made a mistake at the third fence and finished sixth.


2011 Grand National, Finishing order
State of Play, the eleven-year-old 28/1 shot trained by Welshman Evan Williams, finished in the top four for the third successive National.


2011 Grand National, Finishing order
Nineteen runners completed the course, including three of the six 100/1 shots. This was the highest number of finishers since 2005 when twenty-one horses passed the finishing post.


2011 Grand National, Non-finishers
Ten horses fell during the race, four unseated their riders, two were brought down by other fallers and five were pulled up.


2011 Grand National, Non-finishers
The 100/1 outsider Santa's Son had led the field over the Canal Turn, but the short-distance runner eventually fell out of contention and jockey Jamie Moore pulled him up before the 27th fence. Killyglen fell at the 27th, having been close to leader Ballabriggs at the beginning of the second circuit.


2011 Grand National, Non-finishers
Ornais and Dooneys Gate both suffered fatal falls on the first circuit. Ornais incurred a cervical fracture at the fourth fence (a plain 4 ft 10-inch obstacle) and Dooneys Gate fractured his thoracolumbar at fence six (the 5 ft Becher's Brook). Aintree had made significant modifications to its National Course in recent years, including improving veterinary facilities and reducing the severity of some fences, but another notable change was highlighted in this race – that the course has been widened to allow more fences to be bypassed if necessary.


2011 Grand National, Non-finishers
As the remaining contenders on the second circuit approached the 20th fence, arrowed signposts and marshals waving chequered flags signalled them to bypass on the outside as Ornais' body was covered by a tarpaulin on the landing side. Two jumps later and they were again diverted, this time around the famous Becher's Brook, where veterinary staff attended to Dooneys Gate. This was the first time since the modern course was finalised in the 1880s that only 28 fences were jumped.


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
The Grand National has the status of being an event of significant national interest within the United Kingdom and thus is listed on the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events. The race therefore must be covered live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK. The BBC aired the race on radio for the 80th consecutive year and on television for the 52nd year.


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
BBC commentator Jim McGrath describes the climax of the race


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
Clare Balding presented the BBC's television coverage, supported by Rishi Persad and retired jockey Richard Pitman, which was broadcast on BBC One and, for the second year, BBC HD. Former National-winning jockeys Richard Dunwoody and Mick Fitzgerald provided expert analysis, while betting news was provided by Gary Wiltshire and John Parrott. Suzi Perry was due to be providing soundbites from spectators but did not take part in the programme. Her place was taken by last-minute replacement Dan Walker who had been at Aintree to present Football Focus, aired prior to the National.


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
The race commentary team was led by Jim McGrath, who called the winner home for the 14th consecutive year; he was supported by Ian Bartlett and Darren Owen.


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
As well as being streamed to UK viewers on BBC Online, BBC Radio 5 Live also aired the race, presented by Mark Chapman.


2011 Grand National, Broadcasting
The BBC later received some criticism for failing to mention the deaths of Ornais and Dooneys Gate until the end of its broadcast.


2011 Grand National, Quotes
James Reveley, who rode That's Rhythm and fell at the first fence


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
The unusually warm and sunny weather conditions were credited with helping the 2011 meeting set a Grand National attendance record. A crowd of 70,291 people attended the main Saturday race day, and a total of 153,583 attended over the course of the three-day meeting, beating the previous record of 151,660 set in 2005.


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
The Grand National is always a major event for bookmakers, particularly in the United Kingdom. An estimated £300 million in bets were said to have been placed on the 2011 race, including some from as far afield as Australia, Bermuda and Kazakhstan, with British troops in Afghanistan also joining in. It is estimated that nearly half of the adult population of the UK bets on the Grand National.


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
The race received a significant amount of negative media coverage over the two equine fatalities, which were more publicly noticeable than in prior Nationals due to two fences being bypassed for the first time. Those watching the race on television were given clear views of the tarpaulin-covered body of Ornais at the fourth fence, and an aerial shot at Becher's showed veterinary staff attending to the fatally injured Dooneys Gate, while the remaining runners diverted around them.


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
Andrew Taylor, director of the animal rights group Animal Aid, called for an outright ban of the Grand National, saying: "It's a deliberately hazardous, challenging and predictably lethal event." The RSPCA's equine consultant David Muir stated: "I was gutted that two horses died... What I will do now is go back and have a look at each element, with the BHA and the racecourse management, to see if the jump contributed to what happened, look at the take-off and landing side and so on, and see if the evidence suggests something can be done about it. I'm trying to make the race better, safer where I can, but the one thing I can never do is eliminate risk: that's always going to be there." Muir did however add: "There's no way I'm going to get the National banned."


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
Aintree's managing director Julian Thick said: "We are desperately sad at the accidents during the running of the Grand National today and our thoughts go out to the connections of Ornais and Dooneys Gate... Only the best horses and the best jockeys are allowed to enter and all horses are inspected by the vet when they arrive at Aintree to ensure that they are fit to race.


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
This year we had 20 horse-catchers, at least two attendants at each of the 16 fences, four stewards to inspect the course, two BHA course inspectors, ten vets, 50 ground staff and 35 ground repair staff... We work closely with animal welfare organisations, such as the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare, to make sure we are up to date with the latest thinking and research... and to make sure that the horses are looked after properly and that the race is run as safely as possible."


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
Veteran trainer Ginger McCain queried the suggestion of reducing the size of the fences in the aftermath of the race. McCain said: "You don't make things better by making it easier. Its speed that does the damage." Champion jockey Tony McCoy also defended the National, saying, "I personally don't think the sport could be in any better shape for horses or jockeys." Ornais's owner, Andy Stewart, later said: "We're still grieving but I think this whole hyped up situation regarding the Grand National is totally wrong... National Hunt racing is safer and compliant with every single sport that goes along. My son snowboarded in France and, unfortunately, he had an accident and he'll never walk again. Why don't we just get on with it and enjoy the sport?"


2011 Grand National, Aftermath
Winning jockey Jason Maguire was subsequently handed a five-day ban by the stewards for excessive use of the whip on Ballabriggs.


2011 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal
The 2011 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal was the second edition of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, a single-day professional bicycle road race. It was held on 11 September 2011, over a distance of 205.7 km (127.8 mi), starting and finishing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the 25th event of the 2011 UCI World Tour season.