2011 Tour of the Basque Country

As the Tour of the Basque Country was part of the 2011 UCI World Tour, all 18 UCI ProTeams were invited automatically and obligated to attend. Two UCI Professional Continental teams were awarded wildcards, and these were the Geox–TMC and Caja Rural teams.

The full list of participating teams was:

2010 race winner Chris Horner was a favourite and had Team RadioShack team mate, and 2000 winner Andreas Klöden to help him. Other heavy contenders included Ivan Basso as he prepared for the 2011 Tour de France, Damiano Cunego and Robert Gesink. Samuel Sánchez had hopes in redeeming himself after a split in the peloton ruined his chance of victory in 2010, warming up for the race by taking the GP Miguel Indurain one-day race two days before the start of the Tour. Fränk Schleck was also expected to do well after winning Critérium International and his brother Andy was also a part of the Leopard Trek squad in the Basque Country.[3]

In the Tour of the Basque Country, four different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Tour of the Basque Country, and the winner was considered the winner of the race itself.

Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a white jersey. In the points classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top fifteen in a stage. The stage win awarded 25 points, second place awarded 20 points, third 16, fourth 14, fifth 12, sixth 10 and one point fewer per place down the line, to a single point for fifteenth.

There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a red jersey. In the mountains classification, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. All climbs were categorised, first, second, or third-category, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs.

The fourth jersey represented the sprints classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the sprint classification, cyclists received points for being one of the first three in intermediate sprints, with three points awarded for first place, two for second, and one for third.

Stage	Winner	General Classification	Points Classification	Mountains Classification	Sprints Classification	Team Classification
1	Joaquim Rodríguez	Joaquim Rodríguez	Joaquim Rodríguez	Mathieu Perget	Bram Tankink	Movistar Team
2	Vasil Kiryienka	Andreas Klöden	Andreas Klöden	Maxim Iglinsky
3	Alexander Vinokourov	Joaquim Rodríguez	Joaquim Rodríguez	Amaël Moinard
4	Samuel Sánchez		Andreas Klöden	Michael Albasini
5	Francesco Gavazzi
6	Tony Martin	Andreas Klöden
Final		Andreas Klöden	Andreas Klöden	Michael Albasini	Bram Tankink	Movistar Team