Vasili Kiryienka of Team Movistar has won the maillot gris of the 2012 Tour de France, edging out Yaroslav Popovych of Radio Shack and Andrey Kashechkin of Astana to win the overall Point d’Appui.
Vasili Kiryienka
Kiryienka is the 52nd competitor to hold the Point d’Appui in the 109-year history of the tour. He took hold of the fulcrum position during the individual time trial Saturday and held onto it through the ride into Paris and the circuit of the Champs-Élysées. Kiryienka, though riding thoroughly average in this tour, finished second on Stage 10 of the 2010 Tour de France and placed sixth overall at this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné. He has also had stage wins in the 2008 and 2011 Giro d’Italia. He was the Belarus Time Trial Champion in 2002, 2005 and 2006.
He finished 2:22:02 behind the winner of the tour, Bradley Wiggins, and 1:35:34 ahead of the last finisher, Jimmy Engoulvent.
The rider closest to the median time was Christian Vande Velde, who finished at 1:58:38.
During the 2012 Tour de France, the lead for the Point d’Appui changed six times, and nine stages ended without a rider at the center. The following show the general classification for le Point d’Appui during the 2012 Tour de France.
- Prologue – 198 riders come home. No fulcrum.
- Stage One – No fulcrum.
- Stage Two – No fulcrum.
- Stage Three – 196 riders finish on the day. No fulcrum
- Stage Four – Aliaksandr Kuchynski of team Katusha is the first point d’appui of the 2012 Tour de France, coming home 7 minutes and 22 seconds adrift. The Lanterne Rouge, Brice Feillu, finishes 35 minutes and 23 seconds behind the leader.
- Stage Five – 194 riders come home. No fulcrum
- Stage Six – No fulcrum.
- Stage Seven – Sébastien Hinault of AG2R La Mondiale strikes the midpoint on Stage 7, finishing 21 minutes and 12 seconds behind tour leader Bradley Wiggins. Only 181 riders finish on the day.
- Stage Eight – No fulcrum.
- Stage Nine – No fulcrum.
- Stage Ten – Cyril Gautier climbs, literally, into the Point d’Appui during Stage 10.
- Stage Eleven – Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, after finishing on the cusp of Stage 9, comes home as the fourth rider to hold the Point d’Appui during the 2012 Tour de France. Morkov finished 1 hour, 19 minutes and 10 seconds behind the tour leader, still Bradley Wiggins, and 1 hour, 1 minute and 30 seconds ahead of the tail of the tour, Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Sharp.
- Stage Twelve – No fulcrum.
- Stage Thirteen – Michael Morkov once again grabs the Point d’Appui after abandons allowed 163 riders to come home. He finished 1 hour, 30 minutes and 48 seconds behind the tour leader and 1 hour, 6 minutes and 28 seconds ahead of the caboose, Tyler Farrar.
- Stage Fourteen – No fulcrum.
- Stage Fifteen – No fulcrum.
- Stage Sixteen – No fulcrum.
- Stage Seventeen – After Frank Schleck was pulled from the race before the start of Stage 17, on odd number of riders were left to come home. Christophe Kern of Europcar, who shared the cusp on Stage 8 of the 2012 Tour de France, squeaked into the general classification Point d’Appui by the end of the day.
- Stage Eighteen – Yaroslav Popovych, riding for Radioshack-Nissan, moved up a spot on State 18, squeaking into the fulcrum and knocking Christophe Kern out of the position.
- Stage Nineteen – Vasili Kiryienka of Team Movistar edges Yaroslav Popovych off the center and takes the Point d’Appui during the third individual time trial of the tour.
- Stage Twenty – On the gentlemen’s ride into Paris, placing among the riders changes little on the Champs Élysées, and the Belarussian Vasili Kiryienka of Team Movistar wins the Point d’Appui of the 2012 Tour de France. He finished 2 hours, 22 minutes and 2 seconds behind winner Bradley Wiggins and 1 hour, 35 minutes and 34 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Jimmy Engoulvent.
Point d'Appui 