July 22, 2015

Feillu Dons Grey Jersey After Abandons on Stage 17

Six abandons on the very difficult Stage 17 of the 2015 Tour de France, including that of American T.J van Garderen, left 163 riders to come home. At the center of the peloton, in 82nd place, is Brice Feillu of Bretagne-Séché Environnement, the new holder of the Point d’Appui.

Chris Froome of Sky retains the yellow jersey. The Lanterne Rouge, however, passes from Sam Bennett, who also abandoned, to Sébastien Chavanel of FDJ.fr.

In addition to Van Garderen and Bennett, other racers who had to withdraw included Jerome Coppel of IAM Cycling, Nathan Haas of Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team, Laurent Didier of Trek Factory Racing, and Michal Kwiatkowski of Etixx – Quick-Step.

July 20, 2015

Voss Gains Point d’Appui as Peloton Reaches Second Rest Day

Paul Voss

The peloton of the 2015 Tour de France is down to 169 riders, and Paul Voss of Bora-Argon 18 found the fulcrum at the end of Stage 16, while the previous holder, Angelo Tulik of Team Europcar, dropped three spots but is still within striking distance.

The German Voss, who is keeping a journal during the Tour, wrote: “So far I’m not totally satisfied with my performance. I’ve tried several times to be in the breakaway but sometimes it was missing luck or timing.” However, he is looking forward to the Alps and the attacks in the mountains. He began riding in a bike club at age 13 and has been improving each year. He won the Cinturó De L’empordà in 2011 and finished 4th in the 2010 Giro d’Italia. He also finished 50th in last year’s Tour de France.

Voss’s teammate, Sam Bennett, continues to hold the Lanterne Rouge, and Christopher Froome of Team Sky continues in the yellow jersey, more than 3 minutes ahead of his next rival.

On spot behind Voss, Damiano Caruso of BMC Racing Team holds the median time among the racers.

July 20, 2015

Tulik Takes Mantle of Point d’Appui on Stage 15

angelo-tulik

The split in the peloton threw the rider’s placements into the jackstraws again with many riders sliding back while others gained jumps in their placement, and Angelo Tulik of Team Europcar wound up as the Point d’Appui after the end of Stage 15 of the Tour de France.

The 25-year-old Tulik began bicycling when he was 9 years old. In 2014, he won the Roue Tourangelle and seems on track to become a strong competitor in the Spring Classics. Right now he is 12th in the young rider classification.

Christopher Froome of Team Sky retains the yellow jersey, and Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 continues as the Lanterne Rouge, just over 16 minutes behind the penultimate rider of the Tour.

Sebastian Langeveld, the Dutch rider for Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team, had to abandon the race due to illness on Stage 15.

July 18, 2015

DQ of Sepulveda Puts Tour Back in Les Cuspides

One hundred and seventy-two riders remain in the 2015 Tour de France after Stage 14, leaving the race without a fulcrum. Simon Yates of Orica GreenEdge, who got into the break (if indeed it was Simon and not his twin, Adam) and Reto Hollenstein of IAM Cycling held Les Cuspides at the end of the stage. Wouter Poels, who held the Point D’Appui on Stages 12 and 13, dropped five places.

Steve Morabito of FDJ.fr and Ramon Sinkeldam of Team Giant-Alpecin were unable to finish the day, and Eduardo Sepulveda of Bretagne-Séché Environnement was disqualified for hitching a ride for about a hundred meters in an AG2R team car after his bicycle had mechanical problems on the final climb up to Mende.

Chris Froome of Sky gained another second over his rivals in the GC competition, and Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 retains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 18, 2015

Poels Holds Point d’Appui for Second Day

Wouter Poels of Team Sky retained the Maillot Gris for the second day in a row, despite finishing 101st on the stage. We’re not sure how that math works to allow that, whether the overall time changes were small enough or balanced enough, Woot holds onto the Point d’Appui after Stage 13.

Other competitors near the middle include Markel Irizar of Trek Factory Racing, who won the 2011 Tour Point d’Appui, and Rohan Dennis of BMC Racing Team, who held the fulcrum after Stage 11.

On the other hand, the Lanterne Rouge since Stage 4, Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge, finished 17th on the stage and gained two places, handing last place to Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18.

Chris Froome still holds the yellow jersey, close behind the top finishers at Rodez.

July 16, 2015

Poels Climbs into Point d’Appui atop Plateau de Beille

Wouter Poels

Another day in the Pyrenees led to a new Point d’Appui on Stage 12 of the 2015 Tour de France. The fulcrum after Stage 11, Rohan Dennis, dropped back one place and Wouter Poels of Team Sky moved up to the middle.

Poels joined Team Sky at the beginning of January and picked up his first stage win for the team in March racing in the Tirreno–Adriatico, where finished 7th overall, leading the team after Chris Froome withdrew. During the Tour de France, as you might imagine, Poels has been riding tempo with Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas in support of Froome.

Chris Froome of Sky retains the yellow jersey, despite a plethora of attacks from other GC leaders. Meanwhile, Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge still holds the Lanterne Rouge.

Zakkari Dempster of Bora-Argon 18 and Alex Dowsett of Movistar Team had to abandon, leaving the peloton with 175 riders to come home atop the Plateau de Beille.

July 16, 2015

Dennis at Fulcrum Point on Fulcrum Stage of Tour

Rohan Dennis of BMC, the new leader in the Point d’Appui competition.

The fulcrum stage of the 2015 Tour de France, Stage 11, saw a new leader in the contention for the Point d’Appui after the previous holder crashed and had to abandon. Rohan Dennis of BMC moved several spots up in the general classification to land on fulcrum point of the fulcrum stage of a difficult mountain stage.

The hot, steep climbs over the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet put the placement of riders below the top 20 into the jackstraws.

Rafal Majka of Tinkoff-Saxo won the stage atop the hill of Cauterets, riding solo much of the afternoon and dedicating his win in part to his teammate Daniele Bennati, who had led in the Point d’Appui competition after the Stage 10. Bennati crashed hard relatively early in the stage and had to abandon.

Along with the loss of Bennati, the Tour saw five more abandons on the day: Dominik Nerz of Bora-Argon 18, Rui Costa of Lampre-Merida, Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo, Johan Van Summeren of AG2R La Mondiale, Ben Gastauer of AG2R La Mondiale and Rein Taaramae of Astana Pro Team.

Chris Froome of Sky still leads the general classification and Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge still holds the Lanterne Rouge, but he has gained time on other riders in le autobus. He is less than a minute behind Alex Dowsett of Movistar Team.

July 11, 2015

Zubeldia at Fulcrum After Stage 8 of Tour de France

Haimar Zubeldia

Haimar Zubeldia of Trek Factory Racing finished in the top 30 on the stage with a good enough time to pull him up into the fulcum spot of the 2015 Tour de France after Stage 8. His time is 26 minutes and 35 sconds behind the leader Christopher Froome and 45 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Michael Matthews.

Luca Paolini of Team Katusha did not start Stage 8, putting the number of riders still in the race at 185.

The winner of the stage Alexis Vuillermoz of AG2R La Mondiale, who broke away from the lead group on the uphill finish. Daniel Martin of Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team reacted too slowly to catch Vuillermoz, and the leaders’ group had not reason to chase. Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 Tour champion, was dropped on the final climb. Whether that showed a bad day or was indicative of general condition will get answered on the time trial and then the upcoming Pyrenees.

July 10, 2015

High and Lows in Stage 6: Martin Abandons; Teklehaimanot Grabs Polka Dot

The Tour de France returned to Les Cuspides on Stage 6. Julien Simon of Cofidis and Damien Gaudin of AG2R La Mondiale shared placement on the cusp of the fulcrum.

The crash of tour leader Tony Martin and the subsequent announcement that he would abandon due to a broken collarbone made the stage win by teammate Zdenek Stybar a pyrrhic victory.

On the other hand, the work done by Daniel Teklehaimanot of MTN-Qhubeka to pick up the 3 mountain-climber points available on the course of Stage 6 meant that he is the first Eritrean and, in fact, the first African to stand on the Tour de France podium. He won the mountain jersey in this year’s Critérium du Dauphiné.

Also, Armindo Fonseca, who held the Point d’Appui after Stage 5, finished strongly on Stage 6, attaining 14th place in the sprint finish.

The yellow jersey was still held by Martin at the end of the stage, although it , and Michael Matthews remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 7, 2015

Malori Is First Competitor to Grab Point d’Appui in 2015 Tour

Adriano Malori in the Tour de Romandie 2010, Stage 3. Photo by Fanny Schertzer and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

After three riders were unable to start Stage 4 of the Tour de France, 191 riders were left to come home on a long but fast day, quiet sizzle after the furious pop of Stage 3. Adriano Malori of Movistar sat at the fulcrum of the peloton at the end of the stage and is the first rider of the 2015 Tour to hold the Point d’Appui.

Malori, the Lanterne Rouge of the 2010 Tour de France, has won three of the last five National Time Trial Championships of Italy, including this year’s contest. He also won the final time trial, Stage 21, in the 2014 Vuelta a España.

With his strong finish, Tony Martin of Etixx-Quick-Step was able to just finish enough ahead of Chris Froome to gain the maillot jaune. Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge remained the Lanterne Rouge, although if he mends enough he will assuredly climb out of last place.

Point d'Appui

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