By Brecht Decaluwé in Pla-de-Beret
Behind the heroics in the front of the race, the 'bus' gathered and tried to make it to the finish of stage 11 within the time limit. One of the 'passengers' in the bus was world champion Tom Boonen, but Cyclingnews found him in a fury when he crossed the finish line in Pla-de-Beret.
"I've been riding on my bike for seven hours, I've climbed five cols; tomorrow, there's a stage of 212 kilometres, and after that, a stage of 230 kilometres... I think that's just great," he said sarcastically.
"This is scandalous, it's over the top. They are just shouting that they want to fight against doping, but then they give us a program like this," said Boonen, referring to either the UCI or Tour organisers ASO, or perhaps both.
"I'm also supporting the battle against doping, but with these sorts of stages, the battle will never be won," Boonen said, riding off back to the hotel in an effort to recover from today's stage.
