Month: July 2013

July 21, 2013

Quinziato Wins Point d’Appui in 100th Edition of Tour de France

Manuel Quinziato, winner of the Point d'Appui for the 2013 Tour de France.

Manuel Quinziato, winner of the Point d’Appui for the 2013 Tour de France.

Quite sadly, an abandon by Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil-DCM on the last stage of the 100th edition of the Tour France, on its way into Paris, left the tour with 169 finishers. We would have been much happier to see Westra finish the tour and not to proclaim a Point d’Appui for the race.

Alas, we do have a 2013 Point d’Appui, but it is well deserved. Manuel Quinziato of BMC Racing finished 2 hours, 39 minutes and 34 seconds behind the winner, Christopher Froome of Sky, to win the 2013 Tour de France maillot gris.

Quinziato started the race with a good first stage, finishing nine places ahead of the middle. On Stage 2, he slipped back to 106th place, but over the next ten stages, he slowly worked his way forward in the peloton to get to the fulcrum position on Stage 12. After a strong finish in Stage 13, he moved up eight places, peaking at 73rd place in Stage 16 when he got into a break of 26 riders that survived to the finish in Gap. Quinziato, though, limited his damages for the Point d’Appui by finishing 26th out of the 26-member break.

By Stage 19, he had dropped back to the middle, finishing on Les Cuspides on 19 and 20. The abandon by Westra and no significant changes on the final day of romps on the Champs allowed Quinziato to finish on the fulcrum and win the Point d’Appui.

Quinziato finished 1 hour, 48 minutes and 21 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Svein Tuft of Orica-GreenEdge.

The rider with the time closest to the median for the 21-day race proved to be Thomas Voeckler, the French rider for Team Europcar.

The stage-by-stage general classification results for Point d’Appui:

  • Stage 1 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 2 – No fulcrum. Markel Irizar of RadioShack Leopard, winner of the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France, was on Les Cuspides.
  • Stage 3 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 4 – Pavel Brutt of Katusha
  • Stage 5 – Sergey Lagutin of Vacansoleil-DCM
  • Stage 6 – Vasil Kiryienka of Sky Procycling. Kiryienka was the winner of the Point d’Appui in the 2012 Tour de France.
  • Stage 7 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 8 – Adam Hansen of Lotto Belisol
  • Stage 9 – No fulcrum. Vasil Kiryienka was eliminated from the race after coming home too slow on the stage.
  • Stage 10 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 11 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 12 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 13 – Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas of Movistar Team.
  • Stage 14 – Simon Clarke of Orica-GreenEdge
  • Stage 15 – Julien El Fares of Sojasun
  • Stage 16 – Alberto Losada Alguacil of Katusha
  • Stage 17 – Alberto Losada Alguacil of Katusha
  • Stage 18 – Matteo Tosatto of Team Saxo-Tinkoff
  • Stage 19 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 20 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 21 – Manuel Quinziato of BMC Racing
July 7, 2013

2012 Winner, Kiryienka, Dropped for Time

Bad news to report. Vasil Kiryienka, the winner of the 2012 Point d’Appui in the Tour de France and one of the Sky team members riding in support of Chris Froome, has been dropped from the race after finishing beyond the time limit on Stage 9. The peloton was scattered across the Pyrenees after Garmin-Sharp threw caution to the wind and dropped the anvil on the pedals.

Kiryienka, who had looked like a strong contender for his second Point d’Appui after finishing at the fulcrum at the end of this year’s Stage 6, must have spent his legs on Saturday during the first mountain stage. He wobbled home Sunday and couldn’t get under the time requirement.

Along with Kiryienka, there were four other abandons — one who did not start and three who did not finish the day. As a result, 182 riders are still in the race, and there is no Point d’Appui at the moment. Les Cuspides are shared by Sergey Lagutin of Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling and Daniele Bennati of Saxo-Tinkoff. Lagutin held the Point d’Appui after Stage 5, but several other riders remain close to the center, including Stage 8’s fulcrum, Adam Hansen.

With a rest day coming on Monday and a relatively level run on Stage 10, perhaps no more of the favorites will be dropped from the race.

Tom Veelers of Argos-Shimano remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 7, 2013

MacLean Edges Out Schwager for Giro Rosa Point d’Appui

17' Giro della Toscana - Stage 4, Lucca - Firenze, 97 km

Jessie MacLean

A minor shift in placement on the last day of the 2013 Giro Rosa put Jessie MacLean, who held the Point d’Appui after Stage 5, back in the fulcrum position to win the Maillot Gris.

MacLean, who rides for Orica-AIS, finished the first stage in 37th place, slipped all the way back to 103rd in the second stage and then slowly focused in on the Point d’Appui, coming home 71st, 74th, 68th, 69th and 68th again before capping the race with a strong finish in Stage 8, enough to bring her up to 64th place overall amid the 137 riders who finished.

MacLean rode in support of team leader Shara Gillow and finished 55 minutes and 23 seconds behind the Giro Rosa winner, Mara Abbott, and just under 1 hour and 39 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Alessia Martini of Vaiano Fondriest.

Lauren Tamayo of the USA National Team had the time closest to the median time of the entire race.

Romy Kasper of Boels Dolmans Cycling took the Point d’Appui on today’s stage.

July 7, 2013

Mountains Take Toll; New Point d’Appui in Pyrenees

Adam Hansen of Lotto Belisol took over the GC Point d’Appui by the end of Stage 8 of the 2013 Tour de France as the tour headed into the Pyrenees for the first time.

The Point d’Appui after Stage 6, Vasil Kiryienka, slipped a place while riding in support of the new race leader, Chris Froome, on the first mountain stage of the day, leading Team Sky most of the way up the steep ramparts of the Col de Pailhères, the highest point on the Tour de France this year at more than 2,000 meters. His continued position one spot out of the fulcrum gives him plenty of time to regain the middle

Hansen has been working forward in the standards, and the first mountain stage favored his legs. He won Stage 7 of this year’s Giro d’Italia by breaking away early on a hilly, rugged day and staying away. Hansen finished Stage 8 of the Tour de France 44 minutes and 9 seconds behind Froome and 48 minutes and 9 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Tom Veelers of Argos-Shimano.

On the stage, José Ivan Gutierrez of Movistar took the Point d’Appui.

July 7, 2013

On Eve of Time Trial, Schwager Grabs Fulcrum

Patricia Schwager

Patricia Schwager

Patricia Schwager, the Swiss rider for Faren-Kuota, took over the GC Point d’Appui of the Giro Rosa, finishing at the middle of the pack after Stage 7. The final stage of the race, a time trial, will be Sunday.

She’s 54 minutes and 29 seconds behind the race leader, Mara Abbott, and an hour and 36 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Alessia Martini of Vaiano Fondriest.

On the stage, Valentina Carretta of MCipollini Giordana won the Point d’Appui.

July 5, 2013

Winner of 2012 TdF Point d’Appui Returns to Middle

Vasil Kiryienka

Vasil Kiryienka

Vasil Kiryienka of Sky Procycling, the winner of the grey jersey during the 2012 Tour de France, has finagled his way into the Point d’Appui on general classification after Stage 6.

Kiryienka finished in 109th place after Stage 5 and managed to move up in the standings to gain the middle spot. There were four abandons — two who did not start and two who did not finish the day — that made the climb in standings even more difficult for the Belorussian rider. Kiryienka is 14 minutes and 12 seconds behind the race leader, Daryl Impey, and 32 minutes and 6 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Tom Veelers of Team Argos-Shimano. The rider with the median speed at the end of Stage 6 is David Lopez Garcia of Sky Procycling.

Jan Bakelants of RadioShack Leopard was on the fulcrum for the stage.

July 4, 2013

Australia’s MacLean Hits Middle on Giro Rosa Stage 5

Stage 5 of the 2013 Giro Rosa produced changes at all levels of the race: Jessie MacLean of Orica-AIS took over the Point d’Appui; Mara Abbott of the USA National Team sped into the maglia rosa; and Alessia Martini of Vaiano Fondriest became the new Lanterne Rouge.

MacLean is 40 minutes behind the race leader and 1 hour and 16 minutes ahead of the caboose.

On the stage, Anna Bianca Schnitzmeier of Wiggle-Honda won the Point d’Appui.

July 4, 2013

Caught up in Crash, Lagutin Finishes Slow, Ends up in Fulcrum

Sergey Lagutin of Vacansoleil-DCM rolled in with the post-crash autobus to finish 181st on the stage, good enough to drop him in the general classification to the Point d’Appui at the end of Stage 5. A large crash with about 15 kilometers left in the race put many riders off the main run-in, including Lagutin.

Lagutin, the national road race champion of Uzbekistan for eight of the last ten years, won the under-23 World Road Race Championship in 2003 and placed fifth in the 2012 Olympic road race.

Steve Morabito of BMC Racing Team took the fulcrum position on the stage.

July 3, 2013

Bronzini, Former Lanterne Rouge, Moves to Fulcrum in Giro Rosa

Stage 3 of the 2013 Giro Rosa finished with an even number of riders and, so, no fulcrum. Seven abandons on Stage 4, however, brought the Point d’Appui back into play, and the Lanterne Rouge after the first stage, Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-Honda, has moved into the general classification fulcrum.

Bronzini, the team leader, is 20 minutes and 20 seconds behind the Giro Rosa leader, Marianne Vos, and 1 hour and 25 minutes ahead of the current Lanterne Rouge, Jasmine Dotti of Servetto Footon.

On the stage, Martine Bras of Boels Dolmans Cycling took the Point d’Appui.

July 3, 2013

Team Time Trial Puts Katusha’s Brutt in Fulcrum

Judges for the Tour de France refused to reverse course on their decision that Eddie King would be dropped from the race, leaving the tour with its first odd number of racers to come home. Pavel Brutt of Katusha proved to be the rider at the center of the pack.

It’s a bad way to crown the first Point d’Appui of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, but we live with what we are given. Team Katusha finished in 10th place on the team time trial, just enough ahead of Radioshack Leopard to pull Brutt into the fulcrum position.

During the first three stages, an even number of riders came home each day. The Cuspides on each stage:

  • Stage 1 – Aliaksandr Kuchynski of Katusha, who held a similar position in the 2012 Tour de France, and Thomas Voeckler of Europcar.
  • Stage 2 – Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas of Movistar and Markel Irizar of RadioShack Leopard. Irizar won the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France.
  • Stage 3 – Arthur Vichot of FDJ and Peter Kennaugh of Sky Procycling.