July 14, 2014

French Rider Takes Point d’Appui into Bastille Day

20140713-182421.jpg
France’s Jeremy Roy starts a breakaway in the rain of Stage 4 of the 2011 Tour de France. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Jérémy Roy of FDJ found his way onto the fulcrum by the end of Stage 9 of the 2014 Tour de France even as a fellow Frenchman, Tony Gallopin of Lotto-Belisol, took hold of the yellow jersey as overall leader of the tour.

Roy, who finished on the cusp of the fulcrum during Stage 1, has continued to finish near the middle of the pack in successive stages. In 2011, Roy was named most aggressive rider in the Tour de France, in large part due to his success at getting into the breakaways and then attacking his fellow escapees. He also won a stage of Paris-Nice in 2009 and the mountain climbers’ polka dot jersey in Critérium International in 2013.

This first heavily mountainous stage was won by Tony Martin, who got into a two-man break and stayed away for more than 100 kilometers to finish first and alone on the straight-away at Mulhouse. Martin was helped by Astana’s decision not to protect Vincenzo Nibali’s yellow jersey, a strategy that allowed an intermediary group of riders including Gallopin to build a large enough lead that Gallopin became the tour leader on the eve of Bastille Day. Members of Astana apparently assume that they can regain the jersey in the mountainous stages ahead, but letting go of it temporarily lets them off the hook for making pace and chasing breakaways.

Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel of Cofidis withdrew from the tour on Sunday, leaving 183 riders in the race. Heinrich Haussler of IAM Cycling finished on the fulcrum for the stage.

Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 12, 2014

Tour Enters Mountains Without a Point d’Appui

Rudy Molard of Cofidis and Florian Guillou of Bretagne-Seche Environnement finished on the cusps of the Point d’Appui in 92nd and 93rd positions, respectively, at the end of Stage 8 of the 2014 Tour de France.

The climbs at the end of the day stiffened up the general classification standings of the leaders, with pretenders to the yellow jersey falling back when the Tinkoff-Saxo team jammed to the fore on the mountain climbs, leading Alberto Contador as far as they could before leaving him to his own devices. Vincenzo Nibali, however, kept calm and carried on, marking Contador pedal stroke for stroke and allowing Contador a couple of seconds at the very top of the climb. Richie Porte of Team Sky stayed right behind Nibali.

As for the stage win, none of the leaders could catch Blel Kadri of Ag2r-La Mondiale, who got into the five-man break about 35 kilometers into the race and proved to be the only survivor. The radiance of Kadri’s smile and the day-glo color of Contador’s jersey were the only bright spots in the gray fog of the finish atop la Mauselaine.

Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale remained the Lanterne Rouge, 1 hour, 34 minutes and 47 seconds adrift of Nibali.

Two more riders dropped before the end of Stage 8, leaving the race with an even number of finishers and without a fulcrum.

Mathias Frank of IAM Cycling broke his femur on Stage 7 and was unable to start Stage 8. Bart De Clercq of Lotto-Belisol abandoned the race due to pain in his ankle, the result of a crash early in the tour.

Speaking of crashes, American Andrew Talansky took another fall, this time on the rain-slickened descent of the Col de Grosse Pierre. His loss of time very likely puts him out of contention for a podium spot in Paris, but crazier things have happened. He might get back on if he can stay in the saddle.

July 12, 2014

Stage 7 Slips Back into les Cuspides

Three abandons due to crashes on Stage 7 put the 2014 Tour de France off the fulcrum again. Finishing at the middle of the 186 survivors were Bartosz Huzarski of Team Netapp-Endura in 93rd place and Julien Simon of Cofidis in 94th place.

The route, the second-longest of this year’s tour, ran from Epernay to Nancy, relatively level except that there were a couple Category 4 climbs near the end of the day that cut most sprinters out of contention for the final run into Nancy. Not so Peter Sagan, whose Cannondale teammates put pressure on the front of the peloton to give him a better shot at the stage win. It was not to be. By the width of your pinkie, Matteo Trentin of Omega Pharma-Quick Step took the stage on the line, leaving Sagan holding nothing but the green jersey.

No one quite expected the heavy toll of crashes on these dry roads after two days of rain, one of them on cobbles. Stef Clement went out in the first hour of the ride after a crash left him unable to get to his feet. Danny Van Popple, the youngest rider in the tour, abandoned due to knee pain.

Both top Americans, Tejay van Garderen and Andrew Talansky, suffered crashes in the latter part of the race, but both were able to finish the stage. In van Garderen’s crash, his teammate Darwin Atapuma also went down and had to abandon. Talansky sits at 2 minutes behind tour leader Vincenzo Nibali. Van Garderen is 3 minutes off the leader’s pace.

At the back end of the peloton, American Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale slipped behind Cheng Ji of Team Giant-Shimano to take the handle of the Lanterne Rouge, the rider in last place

July 11, 2014

Slagter Edges into Fulcrum on Stage 6

Tom-Jelte Slagter of Garmin-Sharp moved up five positions in the general classification to take over the Point d’Appui by the end of Stage 6 of the 2014 Tour de France. Slagter won the 2013 Tour Down Under and also won a stage of Paris-Nice this year. He rides well in the mountains, so he will probably not stay at the fulcrum for long.

Tom Veelers, who held fulcrum after Stage 5, moved up in the standings after a strong finish Thursday.

The tour had four abandons on Thursday. Ariel Maximiliano Richeze of Lampre-Merida, who had held the Lanterne Rouge since Stage 1, did not start Stage 6 after suffering through several crashes. Jesus Alberto Hernandez Blazquez on Tinkoff-Saxo, Egor Silin of Team Katusha and Xabier Zandio of Team Sky dropped out during the stage, which again had several crashes due to wet roads. The loss of Zandio further hurts Sky’s chance of keeping the new captain, Richie Porte, at the fore of the race, and Alberto Contador faces similar issues with the loss of Silin.

The new Lanterne Rouge is the first Chinese rider to race in the Tour de France, Cheng Ji of Team Giant-Shimano. Ji has helped lead out the peloton for Marcel Kittel and then fallen back after doing his work.

Vincenzo Nibali still holds the Maillot Jaune. Andre Greipel won the stage during the sprint finish. Nelson Oliveira of Lampre-Merida finished at the fulcrum for the stage.

Markel Irizar, winner of the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France, remains within striking distance of the fulcrum.

20140710-205157.jpg
Tom-Jelte Slagte

July 10, 2014

La Pluie, pas les Pavés, Doom Froome

Christopher Froome, winner of the 2013 Tour de France, abandoned the 2014 Tour on Wednesday after crashes amid the rains of northern France prior to reaching the first sector of cobblestones. His loss left 193 riders to come home, and provided the tour with its first fulcrum.

Tom Veelers of Team Giant-Shimano finished 97th to claim the first Point d’Appui of the 2014 Tour de France. He started the in 168th place, but Stage 5 threw the tour into chaos. In the general classification, Veelers is 24 minutes and 41 seconds behind race leader Vincenzo Nibali. The Lanterne Rouge is still in the hands of Ariel Maximiliano Richeze of Lampre-Merida, who 1 hour, 2 minutes and 49 seconds adrift.

Markel Irizar, winner of the 2011 Tour Point d’Appui, is in 102nd, just five spots out of the fulcrum. Vasili Kiriyenka, winner of the 2012 Point d’Appui, fell 50 places due in part to his quick drop off the back to support Sky teammate Chris Froome after Froome’s first crash and in part as a result of Kiriyenka’s own crash in a slick roundabout.

The number of crashes Wednesday was legion, and that was before les pavés, the seven cobblestone sectors. Two sections of cobblestones were eliminated from the race due to the rain and “bad” conditions, as if there were any good conditions on the route across Flanders and finishing in Arenberg. Well, Stage 5 winner Lars Boom of Belkin Pro Cycling might say the last kilometer was pretty swell.

Greg Van Avermaet of BMC took the Point d’Appui on the stage.

20140709-214702.jpg
Tom Veelers

July 9, 2014

Tour Enters France, Remains in les Cuspides

The scenery seen by the seekers of tour glory shifted from the linseed fields of Great Britain to the historic battlegrounds surrounding Armentières as Stage 4 of the 2014 Tour de France resumed in the host country.

Outcomes for the day, however, seemed like a replay of Stage 3. Vincenzo Nibali still holds the yellow jersey; Marcel Kittel won the stage again, though with more difficulty; a GC contender hit the deck hard; Ariel Maximiliano Richeze still holds the Lanterne Rouge; and two more riders abandoned.

Andy Schleck, the leader of Trek Factory Racing, bowed out before the start of Stage 4 after taking a hard fall on Stage 3, and Gregory Henderson of Lotto-Belisol abandoned during Stage 4 after a late crash that also brought down two of his teammates and spoiled lead-out hopes for Andre Greipel in the sprint finish.

The two abandons left 194 riders to come home on the day, leaving the race in les Cuspides for the fourth straight day. The two riders on the cusp are John Gadret of Movistar Team at 97th and Peter Stetina of BMC Racing Team at 98th. Gradet also held the leading cusp after Stage 2.

Last year’s winner of the Tour de France, Chris Froome took a hard fall early in the stage, skinning his hip and rattling his wrist bones. As a side note, Vasili Kiryienka, who won the Point d’Appui in the 2012 Tour de France and the 2012 Tour de Romandie, showed why he reliably finishes in the middle of the pack, serving Froome as a domestique par excellence, dropping back to the Team Sky car to retrieve a brace for Froome’s wrist. Froome regained the peloton easily and seemed to be in good shape to continue tomorrow, although Stage 5 will rattle both bones and brains.

Luis Mate of Cofidis, who was on the cusp after Stage 1, got into the two-man break with Thomas Voeckler of Europcar during today’s stage, and they stayed off the front together until Mate had a flat. Voeckler was caught by the peloton with about 15 kilometers to go. In the 2013 tour, Voeckler, a perennial French favorite, had the time closest to the median time among all finishers.

For tomorrow, viva les cobbles!

20140708-205754.jpg

20140708-205821.jpg
John GADRET © Presse Sports/B.Papon

July 8, 2014

Blasé Stage 3 Leaves Tour Without Fulcrum

After a day of raucous hills on Stage 2, Monday’s sonorous Stage 3 of the Tour de France finished up in London after 98 miles of yawn and just a dash of rain to dampen spirits further. The 196 riders who started the day finished the day, meaning we have a third day without a Point d’Appui. Benjamin King of Garmin-Sharp and Imanol Erviti Ollo of Movistar Team finished on les Cuspides in 98th and 99th places respectively.

Two riders broke away early in the race as it left Cambridge, and the peloton were happy to let them dangle off the front until the last six kilometers of the race, when the sprinters jumped to the fore, and Kittel won his second stage.

Poor Simon Gerrans hit the deck again today, going down with Andy Schleck and Ted King after a yawning spectator stepped off the bank and into the stream. All three were soon back on their bikes and finished without further incident.

Vincenzo Nibali and Ariel Maximiliano Richeze remained in the Maillot Jaune and Lanterne Rouge positions, respectively. Peter Sagan still holds the sprinter’s Green Jersey, but Bryan Coquard’s little nip at the heels during the intermediary sprint left us heartened.

July 6, 2014

Le Tour Remains in les Cuspides after Stage 2

In general classification, John Gadret of Movistar Team finished 98th and Kristijan Koren of Cannondale finished 99th to hold down the cusps of the fulcrum after Stage 2 of the 2014 Tour de France.
The withdrawal of Mark Cavendish before race resumed set the stage for an odd number of riders to come home, but Sacha Modolo of Lampre-Merida also abandoned due to a case of flu, leaving the field with 196 finishers on the day.
Lampre-Merida is having its share of difficulties: Ariel Maximiliano Richeze finished 22 minutes behind the leaders on the day and is now the Lanterne Rouge, some 36 minutes and 31 seconds behind the Maillot Jaune of Vincenzo Nibali.
Nibali, leader of Astana, made a daring charge at the end of ragged stage through the steep hills of Yorkshire, holding on at the end against one of the few sprinters to survive the sawtooth course, Peter Sagan of Cannondale.

July 5, 2014

Mate, Roy on Cusp After Stage 1 of Tour de France

All 198 riders came home, albeit a couple of them battered during the run-up to the finish, during Stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de France. As a result the first day ended without a Point d’Appui. Luis Mate of Cofidis and Jérémy Roy of FDJ took 99th and 100th places, respectively to place in Les Cuspides.

Marcel Kittel won the sprint decisively to gain both the stage and the yellow jersey. Hometown favorite Mark Cavendish hit the deck hard during the sprint along with Simon Gerrans. Both limped home, and Cavendish particularly looked as though the crash might put him off the rest of the tour.

The winner of the 2013 Tour de France Point d’Appui, Manuel Quinziato of BMC, rode for the team in the Giro d’Italia but – like Bradley Wiggins and Nairo Quintana – is not back at the Tour de France to defend his title.

However, the winners of the 2011 and 2012 Tour de France Point d’Appui are back.

Markel Irizar of Trek Factory Racing and winner of the 2011 Point d’Appui finished 75th during Stage 1.
Vasili Kiryienka of Team Sky, finished in 104th position, within striking distance of this year’s fulcrum.

Kiryienka was on track to contest for the 2013 Point d’Appui before being dropped from the tour after finishing outside the time limit on Stage 9 last year.

The Lanterne Rouge after Stage 1 is Alessandro Petacchi of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, who finished 14 minutes back of the leaders.

Stage 1, which started in Leeds, Great Britain, and finished at Harrogate, also took a break for members of the tour to meet members of the royal peloton, Prince William, Princess Kate, and Prince Harry.