The next bix thing?: Pierre Rolland

Pierre Rolland has given French cycling something to become excited about, after winning the young riders classification in the Tour de France, last month.

Rolland was born 10^th October 1986, to father John-Pierre and mother Chantal, in Gien, in Northern France. The only boy in his family Rolland has three older sisters; Stephanie, Françoise and Anne-Sophie.

In the Beginning

At 11-years-old, he and his family moved closer to the centre of Orleans, in 1999, which didn’t have any high level of sport, making cycling difficult for him. It wasn’t until he met, his soon to be best friend, Benjamin Gault, that he begun mountain biking. Rolland eventually moved over road cycling and, in 2004, he took 14^th at the Junior Road Cycling World Championships.

Tour de France: Good Tour / Bad Tour - Winners

Cadel Evans

Evans became the first Australian and first Southern Hemisphere rider, to win the Tour de France’s 108 year history. It was his ability to stay with his rivals in the mountains that put him in the prime position to win. Evans knew he had superior time-trialling ability to the Schlecks and really showed it, by beating them by over two minutes. The victory has been received very well in his home country, who has declared a national holiday to celebrate it. Evans is hoping to carry his tour success to London next year, with an Olympic Gold medal.

2011 Tour de France - In numbers

3430 – The Kilometres ridden during the 2011 Tour de France

Days Thomas Voeckler spent in yellow - 10

2,020,500 – The amount of prize money given, in Euros, over the three weeks.

The amount of stitches Johnny Hoogerland received, after his collision with a TV car. - 33

TdF: Mark Cavendish wins on the Champs-Elysees and claims Green

Mark Cavendish took his third consecutive victory on the Champs-Elysees, to become the first British rider to win the fabled green jersey.

Cavendish launched himself from the wheel of, his lead-out man Mark Renshaw, and never looked in doubt of the victory. Edvald Boasson Hagen tried to take a third victory, but the young Norwegian just didn’t have the speed to pass the Manx missile. Boasson Hagen started to reel in the green jersey, but Cavendish gave a second kick and beat him by over a bike’s length. Cav now has six victories in the 2011 tour and 20 tour victories overall.

TdF: Cadel Evans storms in to yellow as Tony Martin wins Stage 20

Cadel Evans put on a stunning performance, to become the first Australian to win the Tour de France, as Andy Schleck cracked under pressure.

Evans came in to the individual time-trial with a 57 second deficit to the younger Schleck, after failing to make any time during the mountains. Many people predicted he would overhaul the gap, but nobody would have believed how much time he did take. The Australian had already taken 30 seconds out of the Luxembourgish rider, by the 15km mark.

By the final intermediate check he was only two seconds down on, the stage’s eventual winner, Tony Martin. He eventually crossed the line seven seconds down, but put a massive 2 minutes 31 seconds on Andy Schleck. Emotional scenes on the podium followed, as Evans had tears in his eyes, while the crowd gave him a huge cheer. The Australian will be the first from the Southern Hemisphere to win the tour, if he can stay on his bike until Paris.

TdF: Pierre Rolland wins on the Alpe D'Huez as Andy Shcleck takes yellow

Pierre Rolland rode to the biggest victory of his career, on the Alpe d’Huez, as Andy Schleck finally took the yellow jersey, on stage 19.

Rolland, who has been Thomas Voeckler’s work horse in the mountains, rode away from Samuel Sanchez and Alberto Contador, in the final 3 kilometres. The young Frenchman, who is in his first tour, attacked as the main group reached the Alpe d’Huez. He was quickly followed by Ryder Hesjedal, but the Canadian couldn’t keep up with him and was soon dropped.

The Europcar rider wasn’t alone for long, as the main group began to attack each other and he soon had Contador for company. Contador looked like he was on his last legs, but put in a dig to put some time on the GC contenders. While Rolland was now trying to catch the Spaniard, the following group were trying to bridge the gap.

TdF: Andy Schleck wins on the Galibier as Voeckler clings to yellow on Stage 18

Andy Schleck rode to a very tough victory on the Col du Galibier, but missed out on the yellow jersey, as Thomas Voeckler hung on to the lead.

Schleck, who finished second in last year’s tour, launched a stinging attack, as the group reached the Col d’Izoard. The younger of the two Schleck brothers has so far been in the shadow of his elder sibling, but he left the other GC contenders with no answer to his attack. With only 2 kilometres left to the top, Andy had his hands on the yellow jersey. Voeckler had to put in a massive performance to close him down.

TdF: Boasson Hagen doubles his money as Voeckler loses time on Stage 17

Edvald Boasson Hagen doubled his victory tally, to make it four for Norway this year, as Thomas Voeckler escaped two scares, to cling on to his yellow jersey.

Boasson Hagen came back from the disappointment of yesterday, after being pipped to the line by Thor Hushovd, to blow the rest of the field away. The young Norwegian left his breakaway companions, with 11km of the stage still to go, before pulling out an impressive 40 seconds. Norway have enjoyed a rich vein of form in the 2011 tour, with Boasson Hagen taking stages 6 and 17 and Hushovd winning on stages 13 and 16.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Stage 16 Finale + Interviews with Hushovd and Voeckler

TdF: Hushovd beats Boasson Hagen in to Gap on stage 16

Thor Hushovd made it a brace of victories, after beating compatriot Edvald Boasson Hagen in the Sprint to Gap on stage 16.

Hushovd enjoyed the benefit of a lead-out man, in Ryder Hesjedal, with the Canadian the only remaining member of the original breakaway. Boasson Hagen looked to go to the left, of his more experience compatriot, but changed his mind. It seems the change in mind lost him the chance to take his second stage, of 2011.

The Norwegian pair set out to catch Hesjedal, who was out front with Mikhail Ignatyev, and used their impressive descending skills to catch the Garmin-Cervelo rider. Hushovd hasn’t had much to brag about in his usual hunting ground of the sprint, but a second victory in the rainbow jersey will prove a good enough replacement.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Week two highlights

Tdf: Vanendert wins atop the Plateau de Beille as Voeckler keeps yellow on stage 14

Jelle Vanendert wins atop the Plateau de Beille, as Thomas Voeckler puts in a stunning effort to keep the yellow jersey.

Vanendert launched his attack, 7km left to go, while the big GC favourites were too busy watching each other. The Belgian tried so hard on the Luz-Ardiden, but couldn’t quite manage it and was beaten by Samuel Sanchez. The Plateau de Beille gave him the chance to get his own back and win his first major victory.

TdF: Hushovd shines as RadioShack suffer

Thor Hushovd showed his world championship winning colours, after a stunning descent, to take Stage 13 of the 2011 Tour de France.

Hushovd, who was in yellow for much of the first week, and David Moncoutie tracked down Jeremy Roy, who had been out on his own for some time. The Norwegian wasn’t going to stop there and left the other two, but he couldn’t relax in the final kilometre. With some very tight bends, it was all too easy to crash and Moncoutie was bearing down on him. Hushovd finally took the stage by 10 seconds and become the first world champion to win a stage, since Oscar Freire in 2002.

TdF: Sanchez wins on the Luz-Ardiden as Contador loses yet more time

Samuel Sanchez beat all of the other GC contenders, in the first big mountain stage, as Frank Schleck moved closer to the yellow jersey.

Sanchez began to pull away from some of the big names, with Jelle Vanendert, with around 13km to go. It was a Spaniard who had the legs, in the final couple of hundred metres and managed to pull seven seconds out on the Omega-Pharma Lotto rider. Hot on their heels was Frank Schleck, who moved himself in to second and 1 minute 49 second behind the yellow jersey of Thomas Voeckler.

Video: 2011 Tour de France - Stage 9 - Flecha/Hoogerland crash

TdF: Sanchez wins in the Massif Central as Voeckler takes yellow

Luis Leon Sanchez sprinted away from his breakaway compatriots, to win Stage 9, while Thomas Voeckler took the yellow.

Voeckler looked like he wanted to add a stage victory to the yellow, but Sanchez was too powerful and put in a 5 second gap in the last 100 metres. The Spaniard, who finished 11th in last year’s tour, now moves in to second in the classification, with a 37 second gap over Cadel Evans. Third across the line was Sandy Casar, who didn’t have the legs to challenge Sanchez and Voeckler.

TdF: Edaval Boasson Hagen times it right to beat Goss and Hushovd in Stage 6

Edvald Boasson Hagen finally made it stick, as he went from 200 metres out, to win a rain soaked stage 6.

Boasson Hagen had to hold off charges from experienced sprinters Matt Goss and, yellow jersey holder and compatriot, Thor Hushovd. Despite controlling the bunch several times, over the last few stages, this is Team Sky’s first victory of the 2011 Tour. The Norwegian took his opportunity, as the bunch was recovering from a series of attacks. He stayed behind his teammate and white jersey wearer, Geraint Thomas, until just the right moment to slingshot him to the line.

TdF: Mark Cavendish wins in crash filled Stage 5

Mark Cavendish has briefly silenced his critics after winning a hard fought final sprint on Stage 5 of the Tour de France.

Cavendish has been out of contention in the sprints so far, but he powered around the outside of the bunch to beat Philip Gilbert to the line. The gradient favoured Gilbert, who won on similar terrain a few days before, but the Manxman went the long way around to edge him out.

Gilbert takes opener as Contador loses time

Philip Gilbert took the opening stage of the 2011 Tour de France, with a stunning final sprint, while Alberto Contador lost over a minute.

Gilbert made it made it past a crash, which took out half the field in the final eight kilometres, to set himself up for the short climb to the line. The Belgian champion looked like he’d run out of steam as several riders made their challenge. Fabian Cancellara launched an attack, which seemed to be the decisive one, but the Swiss rider wasn’t able to sustain the pace.

Gilbert didn’t panic and held off a closing Cadel Evans and Thor Hushovd, for the victory, this win adds to his stretch which goes back to April. Evans is in a very good position, only three seconds down on the yellow, while Alberto Contador lost over 1 minute 20 seconds.

The bunch had been seriously depleted when a spectator got a bit too close to the peloton, causing an Astana rider to fall into the group. The crash left most of the road blocked and several of the big favourites stranded. Contador was one of those who got caught up in the crash and has his work cut out, with Andy Schleck crossing the line only six seconds down.