Anna Kisenhofer, who started the break near the beginning of the Olympic women’s road race, pushes up a short hill toward a Gold Medal finish.
Omer Shapiro of Israel while in the break eventually dropped back to 24th position after being caught by the peloton in the last kilometers of the Olympic women’s road race.
The Netherlands did better in the race for the Halfnium Medal than for the Gold in the women’s Olympic road race, with the Dutch rider Demi Vollering claiming half of Les Cuspides at 25th place among 48 riders who finished. Omer Shapira of Israel at 24th claimed the front half of the cusps.
The amazing Gold Medal finish of Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria, an amateur cyclist who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Lausanne, was the story of the race. Kiesenhofer was the first to make a break at the beginning of the race and was joined in the move by four more riders, including Shapira.
Kiesenhofer broke with her fellow escapists on the climb over the Kagosaka Pass and never looked back, putting her strength as a time trial racer to the test.
The mathematician Anna Kiesenhofer going for gold in the final kilometers of the Olympic women’s road race.
Behind her, the peloton and particularly the Dutch riders favored in the race made tactical mistakes that delayed and ultimately doomed any chance of making the catch, finishing more than a minute after Kiesenhofer.
The last time an Austrian won a medal in Olympic bicycle racing was 1896.
Soraya Paladin of Italy came home the Lanterne Rouge.
Riders from Iberian peninsula claimed the fulcrum of the 2021 Olympic men’s road race. Olivera Nelson of Portugal and Alejandro Valverde of Spain as Les Cuspides finished 41st and 42nd among the 82 finishers in a race that ended up without a Point d’Appui.
Nelson and Valverde were part of a group of 19 riders who came home together a little over 10 minutes adrift of the gold medalist, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador.
More than 40 riders did not finish the race, many of them abandoning after a large crash with 150 kilometers still remaining.
Toms Skujiņš of Trek-Segafredo won the Point d’Appui on the ride into Paris during the final stage of the 2021 Tour de France. The race had been without a fulcrum for four stages, but the abandonment of the race by Jakob Fuglsang of Astana-Premier Tech before the start of Stage 21 left 141 riders to come home in Paris.
The grey jersey changed hands 13 times during the race, with two riders — Omar Fraile Matarranz and Rui Costa — holding the Point d’Appui after two separate stages each.
Skujiņš, 30, has raced in the Tour de France since 2018, holding the polka dot jersey for five stages during the 2018 edition and being awarded the combativity award on Stage 5 of both the 2018 and 2019 editions. He finished in 81 or 82 in previous tours and finished at 71st place this year. Skujiņš held the Point d’Appui briefly during the 2019 Tour de France when he landed at the middle of the peloton at the end of Stage 19.
Trek-Segafredo’s support of GC leader Vicenzo Nibali lasted until the second rest day, at which point Nibali abandoned to begin preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. Skujiņš made the best of the tour by jumping into several breaks on the latter stages.
The winner of the three-week race was the Slovenian incumbent, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, who had a comfortable lead over other competitors since midway through the race, having won four stages of his own. As in the 2020 Tour de France, Pogacar also won the white jersey for best young rider and the polka dot jersey for best mountain climber of the tour.
The Lantern Rouge went to Tim Declercq of Deceuninck-QuickStep, who finished nearly 5 hours behind the leader, Pogacar. The team title went to Bahrain Victorious, which incurred a hotel raid by French police after Stage 17 looking for evidence of doping.
Highlights of the tour include:
The across-the-board range of Wout van Aert, the Belgian rider for Jumbo-Visma who won a flat stage, a mountain stage, the Stage 20 time trial and then the sprint finish on the next day’s final stage on the Champs-Élysees of Paris.
The return of Mark Cavendish of Deceunink-QuickStep to the sprints winning the green jersey and five stages, bringing his career total to 34 and tying the career record stage wins of Eddy Merckz. Despite
The top-25 finish of the oldest rider in the peloton this year Alejandro Valverde of Movistar Team, who won his first stage of the Tour de France in 2005 during his first appearance in the tour.
A strong showing and win on Stage 15 from the top American in the race, Sepp Kuss of Jumbo-Visma, during his first time in the tour.
The Point d’Appui through the stages:
Stage 1 — Jelle Wallays of Cofidis Stage 2 — No fulcrum Stage 3 — Michael Woods of Start-up Nation Stage 4 — Omar Fraile Matarranz of Astana-Premier Tech Stage 5 — Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates Stage 6 — Omar Fraile Matarranz of Astana-Premier Tech Stage 7 — Michael Schär of AG2R Citroën Team Stage 8 — Warren Barguil of Team Arkea-Samsic Stage 9 — Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal Stage 10 — No fulcrum Stage 11 — No fulcrum Stage 12 — Connor Swift of Team Arkea-Samsic Stage 13 — Benoit Cosnefroy of AG2R Citroën Team Stage 14 — Tao Geoghegan Hart of Ineos Grenadiers Stage 15 — Lorenzo Rota of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Stage 16 — Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates Stage 17 — No fulcrum Stage 18 — No fulcrum Stage 19 — No fulcrum Stage 20 — No fulcrum Stage 21 — Toms Skujiņš of Trek-Segafredo
Due to a heavy day of mountains and rain, considerable changes occurred in the rankings of the 2021 Tour de France with a change in the both the yellow jersey and the gray jersey, Warren Barguil of Team Arkea-Samsic becoming the latest rider to hold the latter.
Barguil is riding his seventh Tour de France. He won two stages in the 2017 edition as well the polka dot jersey and finished 10th overall that year. He also won two stages in the Vuelta a España way back in 2013. Although a strong mountain climber, he’s playing second fiddle to Arkea teammate Nairo Quintana.
Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates obliterated the field of general classification riders with impressive climbs over the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex, the Col de Romme and finally the Col de la Colombière, gaining almost 2 minutes over the next best rider, Wout Van Aert of Jumbo-Visma.
Dylan Teuns of Bahrain Victorious won the stage, and Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal remains the Lanterne Rouge, 1 hour and 33 minutes adrift of Pogacar.
Michael Schär of AG2R Citroën Team found his way to the Point d’Appui of Stage 7 of the 2021 Tour de France as Omar Fraile Mantannza fell four places.
Schär, one of the top Swiss riders for the past decade, is competing in his 11th Tour de France. He nearly always finishes in the top half of the peloton, winning stages in two previous tours. He has also won the combativity awards on three Tour stages, including Stage 3 this year. He also held the Point d’Appui in the 2020 Tour at the end of Stage 13.
Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal finished 25 minutes behind all riders on the Stage 7 and wound up with the Lanterne Rouge, probably lucky to escape being cut on time.
Matej Mohoric of Bahrain Victorious won the stage, riding away from a large break-away group that included a goodly number of GC contenders, including Mathieu Van der Poel, who retained the yellow jersey.
Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates holds the Point d’Appui after Michael Woods slipped one spot during the time trials of Stage 5 of the 2021 Tour de France.
Mathieu Van der Poel, not a classic time trialist, rode well enough to retain the yellow jersey, although a flawless race by Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates allowed him to erase the time differences incurred earlier in the race.
Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Team BikeExchange retains the Lanterne Rouge.
Point d'Appui 