The team's ridership changed drastically after the 2010 season. Two of its leaders in past seasons, Andy and Fränk Schleck, departed for the newly formed Leopard Trek, along with several other riders. The team notably added three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador and three of his helpers from the 2010 Astana team, while his doping case stemming from the 2010 Tour de France remained unresolved until February 2012, where he was given a backdated two-year ban. As well as his results from that race, all of his results from 2011 were disqualified,[1] including his victory in the Giro d'Italia. From the squad's 2011 total, Contador vacated six stage victories and three overall stage race victories, along with four sub-classification triumphs.
New acquisition Nuyens took the team's first one-day win of the season at Dwars door Vlaanderen. After several chase groups attempting to catch the morning breakaway were subsequently caught by the peloton, Nuyens and Team Sky's Geraint Thomas caught up with the last two 20 km (12 mi) from the finish line. They eventually dropped both, and contested the win between themselves despite nearly being caught in turn. Nuyens and Thomas never had more than 20 seconds' advantage, and no appreciable time gap at the finish, but Nuyens just managed to hang on for the win.[23] Nuyens' win made him a pre-race contender at the monument classic the Tour of Flanders, though he was not seen as a true favorite ahead of riders like Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen.[24][25][26] Nuyens rode a largely defensive race. One photographer remarked after the race that he had not taken any pictures of Nuyens until he and Sylvain Chavanel bridged up to an attack by Cancellara on the Bosberg, the eighteenth and final cobbled climb on the day's parcours. He had been gapped off on the Kwaremont, but made a bridge back to the leading group along with Stijn Devolder.[27] As he had much of the day, Nuyens stayed within the slipstreams of the other riders to the finish. Cancellara led out the sprint, but Nuyens maneuvered around him at the finish, taking the biggest win of his career.[28] Riis praised Nuyens' ride after the race, but also admitted that the Belgian had been a bit lucky to win.[29] Cancellara, for his part, blasted Nuyens and the other riders in the race for riding, as Cancellara saw it, only to ensure that he did not win.[30]
Cooke was the team's leader at the third monument classic, Paris–Roubaix, the first time the veteran Aussie had ever held such a mantle. He did not expect to contend for victory, but was confident of a top-ten placing.[31] Cooke ended up having a difficult race, crashing twice and breaking his shoe after the second impact. His team car brought him a new bike, but they were not at first aware that he needed a new cleat, so he rode for several kilometers with one foot bare. This effectively ended his race, and he finished in 22nd place, almost four minutes behind the winner Johan Vansummeren.[32] Riis nonetheless praised his team's efforts, saying the support riders had rallied well around Cooke, but the Aussie sprinter's bad luck had doomed his chances.[33]
Contador returned to racing after being reinstated from a provisional doping suspension at the Volta ao Algarve, an event where he was the defending champion. He finished fourth overall, having slipped from second in the final day's time trial, bettered in both the time trial and the overall standings by HTC–Highroad's Tony Martin.[34] Contador got back to his winning ways at the Vuelta a Murcia in March. He finished safely in the bunch in a flat but difficult stage 1, one where several overall contenders lost time.[35] He won the hillier second stage, being the first up the Alto del Collado Bermejo and beating Denis Menchov and Saur–Sojasun's Jérôme Coppel by five seconds on the descent to the finish line.[36] He also won the stage 3 time trial, by eight seconds over Coppel and 12 over Menchov, and the three finished in those same positions on the final podium.[37] Since the Vuelta a Murcia overlapped with Paris–Nice by a day, Contador did not defend his championship at that event. At Tirreno–Adriatico, J. J. Haedo won stage 3 ahead of race leader Tyler Farrar, as Farrar had been forced to sprint from a long way out after an early leadout from world champion Thor Hushovd. The Argentinian timed his sprint just right and took an easy win.[38] Contador won the queen stage of the Volta a Catalunya in March, last shedding former teammate Levi Leipheimer on the ascent to Vallnord in Andorra.[39] The other stages all ended in group sprints, meaning Contador's 23-second time gap attained in Andorra was sufficient to win him the race overall.[40]
Contador entered the Vuelta a Castilla y León as the defending champion and winner of three of the last four editions of the race, but he came in having battled a cold over the two days previous to the event and with his Court of Arbitration for Sport looming in the near future. He said it would be difficult to ensure victory since the race's one summit finish was not especially difficult, and its time trial was short, at only 11.2 km (7.0 mi) in length.[41] Contador finished with the first group on the road in the first two flat stages, occupying ninth place before the race's one mountain stage, ending at the Laguna de los Peces.[42] However, in stage 3, mechanical trouble struck the Spaniard. Gapped off on the stage-concluding ascent, he finished nearly three minutes behind the stage winner, ending any chance at overall victory.[43] Contador rebounded to win the stage 4 time trial, with teammate Porte coming the closest to him at one second back,[44] but finished just 24th overall.[45]
Alberto Contador won the Overall classification for Saxo Bank-SunGard in 2011.
Tour de France
Vuelta a España
Away from competition
Ongoing resolution of Alberto Contador clenbuterol case
While riding for Astana in the 2010 Tour de France, Contador tested positive for clenbuterol, a bronchodilator and stimulant specifically banned by UCI anti-doping rules. Due in large part to the tiny amount of the substance present in his urine sample, 50 picograms per milliliter, Contador believed the positive was the result of eating contaminated beef.[47] While the result was discovered in August, and Contador was informed shortly thereafter, it did not become public knowledge until late September, a point at which Contador had already been announced as signing for Saxo Bank–SunGard for the 2011 season.[48] Though provisionally suspended with immediate effect by the UCI,[49] he attended the team's first training camp in December, still unsure what his status for the 2011 season would be.[50] After months of deliberation, the Spanish cycling federation handed Contador a formal one-year suspension on January 26.[51] Two days later, he announced his intention to appeal,[52] and this appeal was accepted; the Spanish federation went back on their own decision and on February 15 cleared Contador of any wrongdoing.[53] He was cleared to return to competition immediately, and started the Volta ao Algarve the next day, finishing fourth.
On March 24, the UCI confirmed that they would appeal the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, feeling that the highest legal body should hear the case.[54] They waited the maximum amount of time possible before announcing their appeal.[55] The World Anti-Doping Agency decided on March 29 to appeal separately the Spanish federation's decision.[56] The appeal casts doubt on Contador's potential presence in the 2011 Tour de France, as a member of the court stated that he is pessimistic that the case will be decided before July.[57]
It was not until February 2012 that the case was resolved, when Contador was given a two-year backdated ban and was stripped of both his 2010 Tour de France win for Astana, and his 2011 Giro d'Italia win for Saxo Bank–SunGard.[58]
^Farrand, Stephen (3 November 2010). "Denifl, Clarke and Feillu join the Luxembourg Pro Cycling Project". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 9 December 2011. 22-year-old Manuele Boaro is a former Italian junior time trial champion and rode for the Zalf-Désirée-Fior team this year.
^Farrand, Stephen; Nilsson, Tomas (3 August 2010). "Contador to ride with Riis in 2011". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
^Stephen Farrand (2011-03-27). "Contador secures overall victory". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-03-30.
^Cycling News (2011-04-14). "Two in a row for Ventoso". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
^Cycling News (2011-04-16). "Contador best against the clock". Cycling News. Future Publishing Limited. Archived from the original on 27 April 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-19.
