Caleb Ewan finally achieved his Tour de France breakthrough win in the boulevards of Toulouse, despite the Australian’s usual lead-out man, Jasper De Buyst, tumbling into a ditch a few kilometres from the finish.

The 25-year-old from Sydney, who rides for the Lotto-Soudal team, has now won stages in all three Grand Tours, having led the peloton across the line in stage five of the 2015 Vuelta a España and done so three times in the Giro d’Italia, including twice this year.

“I’ve dreamt of winning since I was a young kid,” Ewan said. “The Tour de France is so distant from Australia, something we only watched on TV. I can’t believe I’m even here and to win a stage is a real dream come true for me.

“It’s a massive honour,” he added. “Every rider when they turn pro would dream of winning a stage in every Grand Tour. I’m only 25 and I’ve done it. As an Australian it is a big sacrifice to move to Europe, leaving your family and friends behind. When you achieve a win like this it’s almost worth it.”

Ewan’s sprinting prowess has never been in doubt and, with his low-profile style and last-minute accelerations, he has often been compared to Mark Cavendish, the last winner in Toulouse in 2008, in his heyday. Ewan’s win in the Boulevard Lascrosses came at the expense of Dylan Groenewegen, who had appeared set to secure a fifth stage win of this Tour for his Jumbo‑Visma team, before the Australian thrust his bike forward as the pair reached the line.

On a stage initially so pedestrian that the main topic of conversation in the press room was the provenance of the truffle-themed rest-day dining experience of the Tour director, Christian Prudhomme, a four-man breakaway stole clear over the rolling roads of the Tarn and Haute Garonne.

Two Cofidis teammates, Stéphane Rossetto and Anthony Perez, despite their team being stricken by a bug so virulent that their riders have been sleeping in separate rooms, made the day’s move, with Aimé De Gendt of Wanty Goubert and the Albi-born Lilian Calmejane of Total Direct Energie.

But with the peloton’s sprinters keen to make the most of one final opportunity before the Pyrenees, and possible crosswinds never far from anyone’s mind, the group was reeled in on the approach to Toulouse, with De Gendt making one last-ditch lone attack, 11 kilometres from Toulouse, after a long period in the slipstream of his companions.

His solitary move did little to further his relationship with his breakaway companion Rossetto, who turned the air blue on teatime French TV after the finish. “This guy was breaking my balls. De Gendt’s worth nothing if he was able to go away like that after all day in the break,” he said.

Behind De Gendt, a flurry of crashes as the peloton accelerated on narrow roads led to Nairo Quintana, Richie Porte and Michael Woods hitting the tarmac, although all three chased back to rejoin the field.

Finally the biggest climbs in what has been billed as the “highest Tour in history” are in view. Stage 12 from Toulouse to Bagnères-de-Bigorre takes in the Col de Peyresourde and Hourquette d’Ancizan, both first-category climbs, before a 30km descent to the finish.

While Team Ineos’s Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal lie in wait the race leader, Julian Alaphilippe, can hope to hang on to his yellow jersey until Friday’s time trial in Pau. But the Deceuninck–Quick-Step rider is now growing weary of the constant questions over his durability in yellow.

“I really don’t know how long I can keep the jersey,” he said. “I will try to keep it tomorrow but Paris is a long way. But Thomas is the favourite again, he looks really strong and really confident.”

Bernal, however, was more circumspect. “I think we should wait,” the Colombian said of the potential for Thomas to make a move on Alaphilippe in the first big mountain stage.

“We are in a really good position with Geraint second. He can do a really good time trial so we should not take any risks tomorrow and look to Friday.”

Tour de France 2019: Caleb Ewan wins stage 11 – as it happened Read more