Including the Grand Tours
Stage 5 of the 2013 Giro Rosa produced changes at all levels of the race: Jessie MacLean of Orica-AIS took over the Point d’Appui; Mara Abbott of the USA National Team sped into the maglia rosa; and Alessia Martini of Vaiano Fondriest became the new Lanterne Rouge.
MacLean is 40 minutes behind the race leader and 1 hour and 16 minutes ahead of the caboose.
On the stage, Anna Bianca Schnitzmeier of Wiggle-Honda won the Point d’Appui.
Sergey Lagutin of Vacansoleil-DCM rolled in with the post-crash autobus to finish 181st on the stage, good enough to drop him in the general classification to the Point d’Appui at the end of Stage 5. A large crash with about 15 kilometers left in the race put many riders off the main run-in, including Lagutin.
Lagutin, the national road race champion of Uzbekistan for eight of the last ten years, won the under-23 World Road Race Championship in 2003 and placed fifth in the 2012 Olympic road race.
Steve Morabito of BMC Racing Team took the fulcrum position on the stage.
Stage 3 of the 2013 Giro Rosa finished with an even number of riders and, so, no fulcrum. Seven abandons on Stage 4, however, brought the Point d’Appui back into play, and the Lanterne Rouge after the first stage, Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-Honda, has moved into the general classification fulcrum.
Bronzini, the team leader, is 20 minutes and 20 seconds behind the Giro Rosa leader, Marianne Vos, and 1 hour and 25 minutes ahead of the current Lanterne Rouge, Jasmine Dotti of Servetto Footon.
On the stage, Martine Bras of Boels Dolmans Cycling took the Point d’Appui.
Judges for the Tour de France refused to reverse course on their decision that Eddie King would be dropped from the race, leaving the tour with its first odd number of racers to come home. Pavel Brutt of Katusha proved to be the rider at the center of the pack.
It’s a bad way to crown the first Point d’Appui of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, but we live with what we are given. Team Katusha finished in 10th place on the team time trial, just enough ahead of Radioshack Leopard to pull Brutt into the fulcrum position.
During the first three stages, an even number of riders came home each day. The Cuspides on each stage:
For the second day in a row, the leader for the Point d’Appui has finished with the peloton. Dorleta Eskamendi of Bizkaia-Durango took over the general classification fulcrum on Stage 2 of the 2013 Giro Rosa. The winner of the Point d’Appui on the first stage, Anastasyia Chulkov, improved her standings significantly, leaving open the fulcrum position. Eskamendi moved up in the standings as well and into the exact center of the peloton.
American Ally Stacher of Specialized-Lululemon is the new Lanterne Rouge.
The opening stage of the 2013 Giro Rosa saw two abandons, which left an odd number of riders to come home and the race’s first Point d’Appui. Anastasiya Chulkova of RusVelo finished at the middle of the peloton to pick up Stage 1 honors.
She and most of the racers hung together throughout the stage, with the winner of the stage, Kirsten Wild, decided on the line and the leader of the race, Marianne Vos, decided by points accumulated out on the course. Chulkova’s official time, as a result, is exactly the same as that of Wild and Vos.
The Lanterne Rouge for this first stage was Giorgia Bronzini of Wiggle-Honda.
The 2013 Giro d’Italia ended with an even number of riders coming home, so no Point d’Appui could be awarded. Les Cuspides on the final stage were Danilo Wyss of BMC Racing and Pablo Lastras Garcia of Movistar, both of whom held the fulcrum at different stages during the race.
Steven Kruijswijk
Steven Kruijswijk, the leading racer for Blanco Pro Cycling Team in the 2013 Paris-Nice stage race, has won the Point d’Appui, finishing at the middle of all 151 riders who finished Stage 7, the final stage of the race.
Kruijswijk grabbed hold of the fulcrum during Stage 6 and staved off competitors during the final time trial at Nice, despite some jockeying among other riders to slip into the middle spot. He finished 36 minutes and 19 seconds behind winner Richie Porte and 47 minutes and 31 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, David Millar of Garmin-Sharp.
The rider with the time closest to the overall Paris-Nice median was Martin Elmiger of IAM Cycling.
A recap of the stages:
Australian Matthew Goss of Orica-GreenEdge holds the overall Point d’Appui of the 2013 Tirreno-Adriatico after Stage 4. He is 17 minutes 19 seconds behind the current leader, Michal Kwiatkowski of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, and 18 minutes and 32 seconds ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, American Joseph Dombrowski of Sky Procycling.
Miguel Minguez of Euskaltel-Euskadi holds the median time in the race.
Earlier results showed no Point d’Appui after Stage 3 and tracing off among Lotto Belisol riders before that:
Steven Kruijswijk
After 14 abandons during Stage 6 of the 2013 Paris-Nice spring classic, Steven Kruijswijk of the Blanco Pro Cycling Team found himself at the center of the overall race, the Point d’Appui, going into the final stage.
Kruijswijk is 33 minutes and 27 seconds behind race leader Richie Porte and 46 minutes and change ahead of Blanco teammate, Rick Flens, the latest Lanterne Rouge.
Surrounding Kruijswijk are notable contenders: Vasil Kiryienka, the Point d’Appui of the 2012 Tour de France, is just a place ahead, and Remi Pauriol, who held the Point d’Appui after Stage 2 of the 2012 Vuelta, is one second behind Kruijswijk.
Kruijswijk, who took a tumble earlier in the Paris-Nice race, saw some success in 2011 while riding under the RaboBank colors, reaching the podium of the Tour de Suisse as the third-place finisher. He also finished eighth at the Giro d’Italia. During Paris-Nice, he has been riding in support of teammate Robert Gesink, but Gesink bowed out of Paris-Nice before the end of Stage 6 along with two other Blanco riders, Mark Renshaw and Wilco Kelderman. This leaves Kruijswijk as the team leader for Blanco.
The rider with the time closest to median time for the overall race is once again Mattia Cattaneo of Lampre-Merida. Cattaneo held the median time after Stage 4 as well and also was on the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 3.
On the stage, Ivan Basso of Cannondale finished at the fulcrum.
Point d'Appui 