South African Robert Hunter Wins 11th Stage of Tour de France

Filed in archive Biking on July 19, 2007

The Tour de France rolled on today (pun, intended) with South African Robert Hunter winning the 11th stage of the tour. The Barloworld rider beat Fabian Cancellara by a half a wheel to become the first stage winner from African in the Tour's 104-year history.

"It was a very difficult stage, there was a lot of wind. It was not easy to win in such a crazy finish," said Hunter, who is the first South African to win a Tour stage.

"It is very important to me to win a stage on the Tour de France. I am speechless."

Barloworld, who were invited to compete in the race by Tour organisers, clinched their second stage win following Colombia's Juan Mauricio Soler's in Briancon on Tuesday.

Belgian Tom Boonen did not compete in the final sprint after being delayed by a massive crash some 800 metres from the line.

France's Christophe Moreau, who was sixth overall and aiming for a podium in Paris, finished 3:20 behind the winner after being caught by a sudden burst of acceleration from the Astana team at the front of the peloton, 70 km from the finish.

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