Spring Classics

March 6, 2013

Crashes Again Shake Up Paris-Nice; Izagirre at Fulcrum

Photo of bicycle racer Jon Izagirre

Jon Izagirre, leading a break in the 2012 Giro d’Italia on the stage he eventually won. Photo by Richard Schofield, via Wikimedia Commons

Jon Izagirre of Euskaltel-Euskadi is the new Point d’Appui after Stage 2 of the Paris-Nice spring classic. Izagirre placed fourth overall in the recent Tour Down Under and won a stage of the Giro last year. That says something about the top-flight quality of riders who still have excellent times at Paris-Nice but who are relegated to the middle of the pack by the relative ease of the race so far.

Izagirre finished 24 seconds adrift the leader of the race, Elia Viviani of Cannondale, and more than 17 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Alexander Kristoff of Team Katusha. Andrea Palini of Lampre-Merida holds the median time for the general classification.

Jerome Cousin, who held the fulcrum after Stage 1, drifted back more than 20 places but might still have a stab at the middle on Stage 3 as the route heads into the Monts du Livradois and hits its first category climbs, a couple of Category 3s and a Category 2 climb – the Côte de Mauvagnat – near the end of the day.

On the stage, Francis De Greef of Lotto Belisol finished at the center of the peloton. Four riders abandoned, including the leader after Stage 1, Nacer Bouhanni.

March 5, 2013

Crashes Give Cousin First Point d’Appuit of Paris-Nice

After three abandons following crashes, we are left with our first Point d’Appui of the 2013 Paris-Nice Classic. Jerome Cousin of Team Europcar slipped into the fulcrum position of the race, right behind teammate Vincent Jerome. That’s right, two Jeromes. If Jerome Cousin married Vincent Jerome, he would be…

Cousin started the day in 131st place and finished up in 91st, not by dent of power but rather by avoiding the pavement that ate up many riders. Cousin is 15 seconds behind the new leader of the race, Nacer Bouhanni of FDJ, and slightly more than 17 minutes ahead of Alexander Kristoff, the Katusha rider who took a nasty fall in the latter 50 kilometers of the race but managed to limp in to Nemours for the finish.

For the stage, Maxim Iglinskiy of Astana Pro Team took the maillot gris.

March 3, 2013

Cofidis Teammates on Cuspides for Paris-Nice Prologue

A pair of Cofidis riders, Jerome Coppel and Rein Taaramae, have taken the Cuspides on the Prologue of the Paris-Nice stage race, the unofficial start of the 2013 racing season.

It took less than five minutes for even the slowest rider, Andreas Klier of Garmin Sharp, to finish the 2.9 kilometer Prologue in the Paris suburb of Houilles. All 184 riders came home safely, so there is no Point d’Appui to be awarded on the Prologue. Coppel and Taaramae were both 13 seconds adrift.

Damien Gaudin of Europcar won the Prologue, narrowly edging out Sylvain Chavanel of Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Lieuwe Westra of Vacansoleil-DMC. The Prologue win was unexpected for the Europcar Team, or at least anyone following Europcar. Chris Fontecchio over at Podiumcafe picked Europcar as the team whose ambition at Paris-Nice might be to “get noticed on camera at some point.” Gaudin has a string of first place finishes in the French national track championships, but this his first top finish in a stage race, albeit a Prologue that on paper looks more like a track race than a stage race.

A Frenchman, Yann Huguet of Team Argos-Shimano, had the median time of the day with right at 25 seconds.

Monday’s stage, 195 kilometers from Saint-Germain-en-Laye to Nemours, will be a romp for the sprinters. With only three seconds separating the middle 20 percent of the racers, anyone might slip into the fulcrum position by the end of the day.

March 3, 2013

Paris-Nice Prologue Unlikely to provide Fulcrum

With 13 teams, eight riders per team and only 2.9 kilometers of prologue, the odds seem highly in favor of all 184 riders coming home later today, leaving us without a fulcrum after the first leg of the 2013 Paris-Nice.

The start and finish in Houilles, just outside of Paris, portends unpredictability though, so who knows what might happen by the end of today’s ride.

There are several riders expected to race who have proved their middle in earlier seasons, such as Michael Morkov and Vasili Kiryienka.

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.
April 22, 2012

Rabobank’s Gesink Finishes at LBL Fulcrum

Robert Gesink of Rabobank Cycling Team finished 57th among 113 finishers to grab the Point d’Appui of the Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the spring classic with Bastogne as its own point d’appui between Liège and Liège.

Gesink, who hails from the Netherlands, finished in a pack at 5:39 behind the winner, Maxim Iglinsky of Astana, and 9 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Dennis Vanendert of Lotto Belisol Team.

April 15, 2012

Paterski Slips in as Point d’Appui for Amstel Gold Race

Polish rider Maciej Paterski of Liquigas-Cannondale found the fulcrum, slipping in just behind teammate Federico Canuti at the finish of the Amstel Gold spring classic. Both Paterski and Canuti finished 2:21 behind race leader Enrico Gasparotto of Team Astana.

The end of the race was brought up by Italian Marco Bandiera of Omega Pharma-Quickstep, finishing 11 minutes and 31 seconds back of the winner.

April 8, 2012

Hincapie Again on Cusp at Paris-Roubaix

George Hincapie at the 2008 Tour of California, photographed by Thomas Fanghaenel. Hincapie has finished on the cusp of the point d’appui twice in 2012.

In the 2012 Paris-Roubaix, 86 riders finished the race, meaning no Point d’Appui was awarded; however, the cuspides on the day were George Hincapie, who finished 7.46 adrift, and Johan Le Bon at 7.48. Hincapie also finished on the cusp at the Tour of Flanders.

Tom Boonen of Belgium won the day for Omega Pharma-Quick Step with a time of 5:55.22.

The Lanterne Rouge went to Austrian Bernard Eisel of Sky Procycling finishing with Belgian Gert Steegmans of Omega Pharma-Quickstep, both of them 17.17 behind the leader.

April 1, 2012

Hincapie, Tankink Split Tour of Flanders

American George Hincapie of the BMC Racing Team and Netherlander Bram Tankink of the Rabobank Cycling Team finished on the cusp of the Point d’Appui in the Tour of Flanders. They finished 52nd and 53rd among the 104 riders who came home.

Hincapie and Tankink were adrift 3:26 of the winner, Tom Boonen. The last of the riders to finish, Dominique Rollin, came in at 15:34 behind Boonen.