Grand Tours

August 18, 2012

Astana, AG2R on Cusp after Vuelta Team Trial

The Vuelta a España began Saturday with a team time trial. With 22 teams finishing and 198 riders coming home, there was no Point d’Appui on the day. The teams Astana and AG2R la Mondiale finished 10th and 11th, respectively, to settle in as les Cuspides on the opening day.

David Boucher

David Boucher

Rémi Pauriol

Rémi Pauriol

Two members of FDJ-Bigmat — Rémi Pauriol and David Boucher — finished as the individual les Cuspides, 57 seconds behind leader Jonathan Castroviejo of Movistar. They finished more than 8 minutes ahead of Enrico Gasperotto of Astana, who finished as the Lanterne Rouge on the first day.

Using a team trial to start the Vuelta makes assessment of the fulcrum more difficult. Each team’s finish is a reflection of its team members’ ability to hang together and serve the weakest among themselves, the antithesis of most stage races, where the weakest protect the team leader for as long and as well as they can. Predicting the fulcrum for Sunday’s road stage is anything if not mediocre.

However, if we must guess, we would go with Team Radioshack’s Markel Irizar, who won the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France as well as one stage in the 2011 Vuelta, was only three places off the fulcrum. Radioshack appears to be setting him up for another run at the overall Point d’Appui in the Vuelta this year.

CyclingNews quotes Irizar thusly about the likely ease but possible difficulty of Stage 2: “I know this area well and it can be windy around. This should be one of the easiest stages but it depends where the finish is exactly. Often races finish on a short, 800m hill in Viana. It could complicate things for the sprinters.”

The defending champion of the Point d’Appui for the 2011 Vuelta, Lloyd Mondory of AG2R la Mondiale, finished in 130th place.

July 23, 2012

Kiryienka Wins Point d’Appui in 2012 Tour de France

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

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.
July 22, 2012

Going into Paris, Kiryienka Holds Point d’Appui

After the individual time trials on Saturday, Vasili Kiryienka of Movistar has gotten ahold of the Point d’Appui on the eve of the finish to the 2012 Tour de France.

The Belarussian Kiryienka found his way to Les Cuspides on Stage 15, stayed close to fulcrum in the intervening stages before gaining time on Yaroslav Popovych in the time trial Saturday to steal the fulcrum from him.

There is still a chance that a late move up or down in the rankings on the final day could affect the Point d’Appui, but Kiryienka looks a lock for the middle spot.

Marco Marzano got the Point d’Appui on the stage. He’s still a contender for overall if things shift a little on the Champs Élysées.

July 20, 2012

Christophe Kern Becomes Newest Point d’Appui

Christophe Kern of Europcar, who shared the cusp on Stage 8 of the Tour de France, squeaked into the general classification Point d’Appui at the end of Stage 17.

Kern is sitting dead center of the peloton, 2:10:10 behind Tour leader Bradley Wiggins and 1:15:13 ahead of the new Lanterne Rouge, Jan Ghyselinck of Cofidis. The riders came home Thursday with an odd number after Radio Shack-Nissan pulled Frank Schleck.

Several riders are within striking distance as we go into a third day in the Pyrenees: Yaroslav Popovych, Marco Marzano, Andrey Kashechkin and Guillaume Levarlet. The nearest is only 40 seconds away from the fulcrum.

Barring more positive drug test results, the tour may finish with another Point d’Appui, its 52nd since the race began.

July 12, 2012

Morkov Hits the Fulcrum After Tap Dancing Around It

Michael Morkov

Michael Morkov

Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank finally caught hold of the general classification Point d’Appui in Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France. Morkov finished in Les Cuspide on Stage 9 and tip-toed around both sides of the fulcrum on other stages. He finished 1:19:10 behind the leader of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins, and 1:01:30 ahead of the new Lanterne Rouge, Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda.

Morkov is pedaling an interesting line during this year’s tour, a track rider who manages to grab the mountain climber’s polka dot jersey for several stages and yet still slides into the middle just past the midway point of the tour. Also nibbling around the edges are Yaroslav Popovych and Vladimir Karpets, two riders whom we have been watching for the GC Point d’Appui.

On the stage, Dimitry Fofonov of Astana turned in the Point d’Appui performance of the day, finishing one place behind Jérôme Pineau, who finished as a Cuspide on the Prologue.

Notes on Stage 11:

  • Cyril Gautier, who held the Point d’Appui GC on Stage 10 continued his climb up the rankings, finishing another 20 places higher after the climbing through the beyond-classification mountains of Stage 11.
  • Jimmy Engoulvent of Saur-Sojusan climbed a spot to escape the Lanterne Rouge, leaving it to Tyler Farrar.
July 11, 2012

Gautier Climbs into Point d’Appui for Tour de France

The peloton climbing into the Alps on Stage 10

The peloton climbing into the Alps on Stage 10

Cyril Gautier

Cyril Gautier

Cyril Gautier of Europcar climbed 70 positions from his general classification standing after Stage 9 to gain the Point d’Appui by the end of Stage 10 of the Tour de France. Gautier was in 158th place in GC after the time trials on Monday, but finished well up on the mountainous Stage 9 to find his way to the fulcrum. His team leader, of course, Thomas Voeckler won the stage.

Les Cuspides after Stage 9 rode in opposite directions with Michael Morkov moving up in the standings and Lars Bak slipping back an equidistant.

On the stage, Fedrigo Pierrick came in at the exact middle of the pack on a day in which the riders hit their first beyond-category climb, going over the Col du Grand Colombier about three-fifths of the way through the day.