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Vinokourov takes 11th Tour stage
Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won Wednesday's 11th stage of the Tour de France - a gruelling 172km Alpine slog from Courchevel to Briancon.

The T-Mobile rider out-sprinted Colombian rival Santiago Botero, of Phonak, in the final 500m to win by a second in four hours 47.38 seconds.

France's Christophe Moreau edged a chasing group that included Lance Armstrong to take third in 4:48.53.

But Armstrong's result was good enough to see him retain the yellow jersey.

Vinokourov mounted an early breakaway and by the time he was at the summit of the day's third climb - the massive Hors Category Col du Galibier - he was out on his own.

Botero caught him on the long descent into Briancon and together both riders worked together to hold off a chasing bunch being led by Armstrong's Discovery Channel.

But he timed his sprint to line perfectly to secure the stage.

'I really wanted to attack on this stage,' said Vinokourov, who now moves up from 16th overall to 12th.

'After losing so much time on Tuesday I felt I had got nothing to lose and I wanted to show that I'm far from being out of the race.'

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 13, 2005 at 9:02 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.