Marzano Swings into Dauphiné’s Fulcrum

In the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné,  Marco Marzano moved up three positions in the final stage to win the Point d’Appui. Marzano finished 27:14:03 behind the winner, Bradley Wiggins of Sky Procycling, and 58 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Alan Perez Lezaun of Euskatel-Euskadi.

Always a threat to the middle, Irizar Markel finished two spots ahead of the Marzano, barely missing out on a second Point d’Appui.

The fulcrum changed hands five times during the race, and only two of the stages finished with an even number of riders and thus no fulcrum. The following are the overall Point d’Appui holders at the end of each stage:

  • Prologue: Stijn Vandenbergh
  • Stage 1: Arthur Vichot
  • Stage 2: No fulcrum
  • Stage 3: No fulcrum
  • Stage 4: Daniel Teklehaimanot
  • Stage 5: Alessandro Vanotti
  • Stage 6: Luis Angel Mate Mardones
  • Stage 7: Marco Marzano

No Point in the Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California has finished without a Point d’Appui, and even 110 riders coming home. Les Cuspides for the tour were Columbian Andrés Díaz Corrales of Team Exergy in 55th place and Austrian Wesley Sulzberger of Orica-GreenEdge finishing 56th, just 19 seconds back.

As with several other races this year, Irizar Markel chased the corners of the Point d’Appui up until the end of the race, finishing one spot out of the cuspides. Most of the stages also finished with an even number of riders finishing each day.

General classification finishes each stage:

  • Stage 1: No fulcrum
  • Stage 2: No fulcrum
  • Stage 3: Jasper Stuyven
  • Stage 4: No fulcrum
  • Stage 5: No fulcrum
  • Stage 6: No fulcrum
  • Stage 7: No fulcrum
  • Stage 8: No fulcrum

Point d’Appui for the stage:

  • Stage 1: No fulcrum
  • Stage 2: No fulcrum
  • Stage 3: Alex Howes
  • Stage 4: No fulcrum
  • Stage 5: No fulcrum
  • Stage 6: No fulcrum
  • Stage 7: No fulcrum
  • Stage 8: No fulcrum

Cadel Evans Starts Romandie in Fulcrum; Kiryienka Finishes It

Belarussian Vasil Kiryienka of Movistar Team finished in the Point d’Appui of the 2012 Tour de Romandie. Kiryienka finished in 67th place among 133 riders who came home. He was 2:35:95 behind the winner, Bradley Wiggins of Sky Procycling, and 4:45 ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Giacomo Nizzolo of RadioShack-Nissan.

Interestingly, or ironically, or coincidentally, the winner of the 2011 Tour de France, Cadel Evans, finished as the Point d’Appui at the end of the Tour de Romandie’s prologue. He didn’t stay there long, but he didn’t make a real run at the front either.

The general classification Point d’Appui included:

  • Prologue: Cadel Evans
  • Stage 1: Volodymir Gustov
  • Stage 2: Eduard Vorganov
  • Stage 3: No fulcrum
  • Stage 4: No fulcrum
  • Stage 5: Vasil Kiryienka

The Point d’Appui for each stage included:

  • Prologue: Cadel Evans
  • Stage 1: Jean Marc Marino
  • Stage 2: John Gadret
  • Stage 3: No fulcrum
  • Stage 4: No fulcrum
  • Stage 5: Yannick Talabardon

Paris-Nice Finishes Even Up

An even 156 riders finished Paris-Nice, meaning no Point d’Appui could be awarded. Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain, riding for Sky Procycling, won the race with a time of 22:31:52.

Les Cuspides for Paris-Nice were two Italians: Leonardo Bertagnolli of Lampre-ISD, who finished 21:52 behind Wiggins, and Paolo Longo Borghini of Liquigas-Cannondale, who finished 22:17 back.

The Lanterne Rouge for the race was Polish rider Jaroslaw Marycz of Team Saxo Bank, coming in 1:15:35 behind the leader.

Mondory Fights for Fulcrum at End of Vuelta

French racer Lloyd Mondory of AG2R-La Mondiale is the Point d’Appui of the 2011 La Vuelta a España, finishing 84th in a field of 187. He came home 2:46:03 behind the winner, Juan José Cobo of Geox-TMC.

Mondory sneaked into the fulcrum position during Stage 19, was edged out by 7 seconds during the next stage but clawed back into the point d’appui during the final stage.

Starting with 198 riders, the field only lost 11 riders over the course of its 21 stages. Below are the riders who sat in the point d’appui general classification at the end of each stage.

  • Stage 1: No fulcrum
  • Stage 2: Bert Grabsch
  • Stage 3: Murilo Fischer
  • Stage 4: No fulcrum
  • Stage 5: No fulcrum
  • Stage 6: No fulcrum
  • Stage 7: No fulcrum
  • Stage 8: No fulcrum
  • Stage 9: David López
  • Stage 10: Josep Jufré
  • Stage 11: Gert Dockx
  • Stage 12: Markel Irizar, winner of the 2011 Tour de France maillot gris
  • Stage 13: No fulcrum
  • Stage 14: No fulcrum
  • Stage 15: No fulcrum
  • Stage 16: No fulcrum
  • Stage 17: No fulcrum
  • Stage 18: No fulcrum
  • Stage 19: Lloyd Mondory
  • Stage 20: Mauro Santambrogio
  • Stage 21: Lloyd Mondory

Irizar Wins Point d’Appui at 2011 Tour de France

After striking the balance in Stage 17, Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack held onto the middle position through the remainder of the race to take home the Point d’Appui Award for the 2011 Tour de France. Irizar finished dead middle in the last five stages of the tour and also finished on the cuspide during the non-fulcrum Stage 15.

During the 2011 Tour de France, the lead for the point d’appui changed 6 times and 10 stages ended without a rider at the center. The following show the general classification for le point d’appui in the Tour de France.

  • Stage One – 198 riders come home – No fulcrum
  • Stage Two – No fulcrum
  • Stage Three – No fulcrum
  • Stage Four – William Bonnet of team FDJ is the first point d’appui of the 2011 Tour de France, coming home 4 minutes and 29 seconds adrift. The Lanterne Rouge, Vincent Jerome of Team Europcar, finishes 27 minutes and 53 seconds behind the leader.
  • Stage Five – Stuart O’Grady of Team Leopard-Trek becomes le point d’appui, 6 minutes and 10 seconds behind the leader.
  • Stage Six – Manuel Quinziato of BMC Racing Team is le point d’appui, finishing 8 minutes and 29 seconds behind the yellow jersey.
  • Stage Seven – No fulcrum
  • Stage Eight – No fulcrum
  • Stage Nine – No fulcrum
  • Stage Ten – No fulcrum. The number of riders is down to 178.
  • Stage Eleven – Sébastien Turgot of Team Europcar finishes at the middle of the pack — 33 minutes and 8 seconds behind the leader — on the middle stage of the race. The Lanterne Rouge, still Vincent Jerome, is 1 hour, 35 minutes and 50 seconds behind the leader.
  • Stage Twelve – Bauke Mollema of Rabobank becomes the new point d’appui, finishing 56 minutes and 6 seconds behind the leader.
  • Stage Thirteen – Rui Alberto Costa of Movistar finishes as the fulcrum, 1 hour, 2 minutes and 32 seconds adrift.
  • Stage Fourteen – No fulcrum.
  • Stage Fifteen – No fulcrum.
  • Stage Sixteen – No fulcrum.
  • Stage Seventeen – After an abandon by Paulo Tiralongo, the center of the field comes to rest on Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack, who finishes 1 hour, 34 minutes and 26 seconds behind the maillot jaune.
  • Stage Eighteen – For the second day in a row, Markel Irizar holds onto the maillot gris, although he lost nearly 50 minutes on the day to the leaders, ending at 2 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds behind the leaders.
  • Stage Nineteen – Markel Irizar finishes in l’autobus and continues to hold the fulcrum for the third day in a row.
  • Stage Twenty – Despite placing in the top third of the riders during the individual time trial on Stage 21, Markel Irizar remains the fulcrum.
  • Stage Twenty-One – Le point d’appui for the 2011 Tour de France is Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack. Igoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi claimed the middle of the pack for the final stage, finishing with the same time as 150 other riders on the day. The Lanterne Rouge, Fabio Sabatini of Liquigas-Cannondale, finished 3 hours, 57 minutes and 43 seconds behind winner Cadel Evans of BMC.