Alongside winning a stage in the 2011 Tour de France, Rolland also won the young rider classification.

Born in Gien, Rolland turned professional in 2007 for Crédit Agricole after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 2006.

In his first season as a professional he won a stage at La Tropicale Amissa Bongo and the Tour du Limousin.

On stage 9 in the Tour de France, Thomas Voeckler claimed the yellow jersey after being in the breakaway.

For the following week, Rolland would help Voeckler defend the jersey over legendary mountain passes at Luz Ardiden, the Plateau de Beille and the Col du Galibier.

"[7] Rolland won the 19th stage at the top of Alpe d'Huez, beating Olympic gold medalist Samuel Sánchez and two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador.

[9] On stage 11, Rolland was part of a four-rider breakaway, along with Chris Anker Sørensen (Saxo Bank–Tinkoff Bank), Robert Kišerlovski (Astana) and Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar Team).

On the descent from the Col du Mollard, Rolland crashed in a corner but quickly got back on his bike.

On the final climb up to La Toussuire/Les Sybelles, Rolland attacked and left the other riders behind, to take yet another solo win in the Tour de France.

This was his best career finish at the time, at the Tour de France, and he was also the best placed Frenchman in the general classification.

On stage 2 in the 100th edition of the Tour de France, Rolland made it into the breakaway and snatched the polka-dot jersey for the first time in his career.

As the more mountainous stages appeared in the race, Rolland improved his performance and moved even further up in the general classification.

[13] As he arrived at the Tour de France, Rolland was not considered any threat to the general classification and could therefore focus on breakaways.

Two weeks later, Rolland was in the breakaway in the Circuit de la Sarthe, but this time he lost the sprint to Manuele Boaro.

Having raced on a French team for the previous 10 seasons, Rolland did not speak English when he first arrived at Cannondale.

Even though being tough at first, Rolland could eventually communicate well with his team-mates even though the year was a learning curve; he was still looking to perform on his best level.

He was very close to winning stage 11 of the race but finished 3rd in a reduced breakaway sprint behind Omar Fraile and Rui Costa.

Almost three weeks after the Giro, Rolland took part in the Route du Sud, his final race before the Tour de France.

He abandoned Volta a Catalunya on the last day, but recovered throughout the following week to take part in the Circuit de la Sarthe where he finished 20th overall.

The last four stages of the race all featured mountains, and Rolland slowly made his way into the top 10, and was in the breakaway on the final day where he finished 10th and moved up to 8th overall.

Although having made a great effort early on the stage, Rolland and many others in the breakaway were caught before the final climb.