July 18, 2016

Barta Becomes Newest Point d’Appui Holder

Jan Bárta

It didn’t take a photo finish to determine that Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18 is the new general classification Point d’Appui after stage 16 of the 2016 Tour de France. He goes into Tuesday’s rest day more than a minute behind Thomas Voekler of Direct Energie and just about a minute ahead of Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team.

Tony Gallopin, the GC leader after Stage 15, fell back 10 spots on the hot, fast 206 kilometer stage from Moirans-en-Montagne across the Swiss border to finish in Berne.

Bárta has won the Czech National Time Trial Championships the last four years and also picked up the Czech National Road Race Championship in 2012. This is his third time in the Tour de France. He finished 71st in 2014 and 25th in 2015.

Peter Sagan of Tinkoff won his third stage of this year’s Tour de France, nipping Alexander Kristoff by just a few millimeters. Chris Froome of Team Sky remains the GC leader of the race, and Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 holding the Lanterne Rouge.

July 17, 2016

Gallopin Holds Point d’Appui after Stage 15

Tony Gallopin

Tony Gallopin of Lotto Soudal is the new GC Point d’Appui after Stage 15 of the 2016 Tour de France. The peloton is reduced to 183 riders, and Gallopin finished 92nd, one place ahead of Peter Sagan, who held the Point d’Appui earlier in the race.

Also close to the fulcrum are Alexey Lutsenko, Anthony Delaplace and Michael Valgren, each of whom has been on the cusp at the end of earlier stages.

It is Gallopin’s first time in the grey jersey. He held the 2014 tour’s yellow jersey briefly during the 2014 race and also won Stage 11 that year. This is his sixth Tour de France. He has placed as low as 78th in 2011 and as high as 29th in 2014. He has been riding in support of sprinter André Greipel, but the Lotto Soudal team has suffered misfortune, the latest being the abandon of Jens Debusschere, who suffered a crash on Stage 14, limped to the finish but wasn’t able to start Stage 15.

Jesus Herrada of Movistar Team had to abandon Stage 15 during the race due to fever and stomach illness.

A grand Colombian, Jarlinson Pantano of IAM Cycling, won Stage 15 after twice climbing over the heights of the Grand Colombier.

The race leader remains Christopher Froome of Sky, who came home with most of the GC contenders. The only GC rider who fell back was Tejay Van Garderen, coming in 1 minute 28 seconds behind the other leaders. His teammate Richie Porte is now in the lead for BMC. Sam Bennett remains the Lanterne Rouge, now 3 hours, 26 minutes and 14 seconds behind the leader.

July 16, 2016

Đurasek Takes Fulcrum on Stage 14

Kristijan Đurasek

Stage 14 of the 2016 Tour de France saw Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre-Merida slip into the Point d’Appui in general classification.

Đurasek won both the Croatian National Road Race Championships and Time Trial Championships back in 2011. He also won the 2015 Tour of Turkey. This is his third Tour de France. He finished 46th and 76th in 2014 and 2015, respectively.

Two riders abandoned on Stage 14: Matti Breschel of Cannondale-Drapac and Mathias Frank of IAM Cycling. Breschel abandoned after a crashing into a vehicle and suffering a severe cut on the leg. Frank, the leader of IAM-Cycling, apparently abandoned after it became clear he would not be a top-ten finisher. He was ranked 31st after the individual time trials of Stage 13 and two teammates were ranked higher at that point.

The tour leader is still Christopher Froome, and the Lanterne Rouge remains Sam Bennett.

Mark Cavendish won his fourth stage of this year’s tour with a perfectly timed charge to the finish. At this point, the tour might be his best training for the upcoming Olympics.

July 16, 2016

Vichot at Fulcrum after Stage 13 Time Trials

Arthur Vichot during the 3rd stage of the Tour de Romandie 2010. Photo by Fanny Schertzer.

During the individual time trials of Stage 13 of the 2016 Tour de France, Arthur Vichot of FDJ did well enough to land in the fulcrum position. He was 94th of the 187 riders still in the tour and becomes the third rider of this year’s tour to hold the Point d’Appui.

Vichot, who won the French National Road Championship earlier this year, has raced in the Tour de France four previous times, finishing as high as 66th in the general classification and as low as 103rd. He had to withdraw from the race in 2014. He has also twice won the Tour du Haut Var, a two-day race in the early season run through the region in which the tour is currently passing.

Alexey Lutsenko, who has been on the cusp during the last two stages moved up one place above Vichot and remains in strong contention for the fulcrum.

Three riders abandoned the race Friday. Neither Thibaut Pinot of FDJ nor Simon Gerrans of Orica-BikeExchange started the stage, and Edward Theuns of Trek-Segafredo was unable to finish the 37-kilometer time trial.

Mikel Nieve of Team Sky finished as the Point d’Appui of the time trial. Teammate Wouter Poels was just a second behind him.

Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant-Alpecin won the stage by more than a minute over the second-place rider on the day, Christopher Froome of Sky. Froome looks unbeatable for the overall yellow jersey this year, excelling in the mountains, on the flats and now in the time trial.

Froome remains the overall leader and gained almost a minute over his top rivals. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett still retains the Lanterne Rouge, but finished 160th on the stage, showing that he is on the mend.

July 15, 2016

Fans Atop Mont Ventoux Nearly Derail Tour

Anthony Delaplace

Alexey Lutsenko

The climb up Mont Ventoux got steeper and steeper while the crowd pressed tighter and tighter until it all came to a stop. For a few brief minutes. Richie Porte of BMC, Chris Froome of Sky and Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo were caught behind a motorbike that had to stop during the last kilometer because of the crowds in the road. Porte hit the motorbike pretty hard, and Froome’s bike was damaged. He began running up the course and eventually was supplied a bicycle from the neutral car. It didn’t fit well and his team car caught him in the 500 meters to supply him a bike of his own.

All said, Froome and Porte would have lost time to the other GC contenders except that the race judges decided to award everyone time based on their time at the 1 kilometer mark, meaning Froome stays in yellow.

It is no consolation to the riders who finished the stage 30 seconds ahead of their rival but lost 19 or 20 seconds on the recalculated general classification.

None of this affected the middle of the race much. Marcus Burghardt, on the cusp after Stage 11, moved up a spot, and Anthony Delaplace of Fortuneo-Vital Concept joined Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team on the cusp of the fulcrum. Lutsenko was also on the cusp after Stage 11.

Two riders who contended for the Point d’Appui early in the race – Simon Gerrans and Wouter Poels – took falls together in a sharp turn. They managed to get back in the main group to support Froome before the climb.

The Lanterne Rouge remains Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18. Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal won the stage, his first in the Tour de France.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Team Katusha didn’t start the stage and Angelo Tulik of Direct Energie wasn’t able to finish after taking a fall and injuring his wrist.

July 14, 2016

Winds Shift Cusps to Lutsenko, Burghardt

Marcus Burghardt

Alexey Lutsenko

Despite early crashes on narrow roads amid a crowded field, the 192 riders who started Stage 11, the middle stage of the Tour de France, managed to come home at the end of the day, leaving the tour in les Cuspides.

The crazy winds lashing the peloton blew Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team and Marcus Burghardt of BMC Racing Team into the middle of the general classification placement, Lutsenko at 96th pace and Burghardt at 97th. Both are new to the fulcrum.

The stage was won by Peter Sagan in an impressive run off the front end of the GC group. More impressively, Tour leader Chris Froome of Sky got onto Sagan’s wheel and stayed with him to gain another 6 seconds over the rest of the field. Sam Bennett remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 13, 2016

Stage 10 Takes Tour Back into les Cuspides

Michael Valgren

Simon Gerrans

Even as his teammate was winning Stage 10 of the Tour de France, Simon Gerrans of Orica-Bike Exchange was reclaiming a spot at the middle of the pack.

Joining him on the cusp of the fulcrum was Michael Valgren of Tinkoff Team. Valgren was one of the first riders among the main peleton to cross the finish line in Revel, officially in 18th place on the stage. He gave a smiling, shy look back at race leader Chris Froome as if to ask whether he should be crossing the line ahead of the pack. No worries. All the time bonuses and points had been eaten up by the break, and the members of the peloton were all awarded the same time.

Two things conspired to put Gerrans and Valgren at the middle:

Peter Sagan of Tinkoff, who held the GC Point d’Appui after Stage 9, moved higher into the standings due to his luck at getting into the break and finishing second on the stage.
Sebastian Langeveld of Cannondale-Drapac had to abandon the race.

So, an even number of 192 riders finished the day and allowed Gerrans to move up a place in the standings and Valgren to fall back a place to 97th and 96th places respectively.

Gerrans might prove to be the best contender for this year’s Point d’Appui. He was on the cusp after Stage 7 as well, and he won the Point d’Appui in the 2013 Milan-San Remo Classic.

The winner of this Stage 10 proved to be Michael Matthews, whose teammates in the break helped him slip past Sagan during the cat-and-mouse finish. Sagan, however, recaptured the green jersey as a consolation. The overall leader of the tour continues to be Christopher Froome of Sky, and the Lanterne Rouge continues to be Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18.

July 10, 2016

Sagan Takes Point d’Appui after Stage 9

Peter Sagan

Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Team is just a few points behind the green-jersey leader, Mark Cavendish, and now holds the Maillot Gris of the Point d’Appui, having landed at the middle of the general classification at the end of Stage 9.

Sagan, of course, also held the yellow jersey for three stages after winning Stage 2. He fell back sharply in the standings after Stage 5, slipped as low as 113th place in Stage 7 and rose Sunday to the fulcrum position of the peloton.

Tom Dumoulin won the 184-kilometer stage in a cold downpour just after a hailstorm pounded the finish line. He got into an early break after several attacks and then chased away from the front end just before the beginning of the final climb.

Stage 9 had three Category 1 climbs and an HC climb to the finish.

Four riders did not finish the day. Alberto Contador, the team leader for Tinkoff, bailed out midway through the day. Mark Renshaw of Dimension Data and Matthieu Ladagnous and Cédric Pineau, both of FDJ, abandoned before the end of the day as well. The withdrawal by Renshaw, the lead-out for Mark Cavendish, might portend Cavendish’s withdrawal from the race if he were to fall behind on points for the green jersey.

Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 continues as the Lanterne Rouge, 2 hours, 22 minutes and 11 seconds behind the tour leader, Christopher Froome of Sky.

July 9, 2016

Périchon Takes First Point d’Appui of 2016 Tour

The mountains of the Pyrenees turned the middle inside out, and the final descent, of course, secured the yellow jersey for Christopher Froome of Sky. Froome — instead of pausing at the top of Col de Peyresourde, final mountain climb of the day — kicked in the after-burners and flew down mountainside into the town Bagnères-de-Luchon.

The brilliance of Froome’s surprise move was the highlight of the day. The low point was the abandon of the race by Michael Morkov of Katusha, who crashed hard during Stage 1 but courageously continued in the race through Stage 7 and even made it over the Col du Tourmalet.

Pierre-Luc Périchon

Morkov’s abandon left 197 riders to come home and the first GC Point d’Appui of the 2016 Tour de France. Pierre-Luc Périchon of Fortuneo-Vital Concept finished at the middle of the peloton to claim the fulcrum position. Périchon finished the 2015 Tour de France on the cusps of the fulcrum and has bobbed in the middle third of this year’s peloton, finishing in the general classification as high as 64th after Stage 3 and as low as 116th after Stage 4. He took a fall while making an attack during the Paris-Nice race earlier this year and cracked his clavicle, but he appears to have recovered fully from it.

The riders on the cusp after Stage 7 were Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg of Dimension Data in 99th place and Simon Gerrans of Orica-BikeExchange in 100th place.

Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18, who went down in the Stage 1 crash with Morkov, takes over the Lanterne Rouge.

July 7, 2016

Tour de France Remains in les Cuspides

Grégory Rast

Gorka Izaguirre

Amazingly, all 198 riders who started the 2016 Tour de France are still in the race after Stage 6. A few are banged and bruised, but no one has decamped to recuperate for the Olympics.

With an even number of riders, the tour remains in les Cuspides. No Point d’Appui. No fulcrum.

But we do have two veterans who finished on the cusp: Gorka Izaguirre of Movistar Team and Grégory Rast of Trek-Segafredo. Izaguirre was on the cusp after Stage 2, and Rast slipped into the cusp on Stage 5, holding steady after Stage 6.

Mark Cavendish won the bunch sprint into Montauban. Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team remains in the yellow jersey, and Michael Morkov continues to hold the Lanterne Rouge.

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