June 28, 2021

Chaotic Stage 3 Leaves 2021 Tour Still on Cusps

Hugo Houle of Astana-Premier Tech at 89th position and Nils Eekhoff of Team DSM at 90th moved into the middle of the peloton on Stage 3 of the 2021 Tour de France.

The race remained in les Cuspides after two more cyclists abandoned, again leaving an even number of 178 riders to finish on the day.

Three crashes near the end of the day left the barn door open for one of the few cattle still standing to amble through. Tim Merlier of Alpecin-Fenix one the stage.

Standings at the top of the general classification are the same but the bottom reflects a new Lanterne Rouge: Clément Russo of Team Arkea-Samsic, who was injured during the second big crash of Stage 1 with chest trauma and possibly broken ribs. Nevertheless he has continued forward.

Unable to finish the day were Robert Gesink of Jumbo-Visma and Jack Haig of Bahrain Victorious

June 27, 2021

Van der Poel Skips Ahead to Yellow Jersey; Midpoint Falls Into Les Cuspides

Only 180 riders started Stage 2 of the 2021 Tour de France, after Marc Soler of Movistar Team was unable to continue in the race. All 180 came safely home after two ascents of Mur-de-Bretagne, a steep but relatively short climb that Mathieu van der Poel owned.

With an even number of riders, there was no Point d’Appui awarded for Stage 2. Julien Simon of TotalEnergies in 90th place and Connor Swift (GBr) Team Arkea-Samsic shared les cuspides on the stage. Simon shared les Cuspides on Stage 3 of the 2018 Tour de France as well.

Tony Martin of Jumbo-Visma and Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Team BikeExchange shared the Lanterne Rouge with a time of 29 minutes and 46 seconds behind the leader, van der Poel, who due to time bonuses was able leap past Julian Alaphilippe and pull on the yellow jersey.

June 26, 2021

Wallays Takes Point d’Appui in First Stage of 2021 Tour

After two large crashes — one spectator induced and a second that occurred after a touch of wheels near the head of the peloton — three riders were unable to finish the day, leaving 181 finishers. The first Point d’Appui as a result is Jelle Wallays of Cofidis.

He has been riding professionally since 2011 with some success as part of a Belgian racing family. Wallays won the Paris-Tours Espoirs in 2010 and then the Paris-Tours in 2014 and 2019. He rode the Vuelta a España 2016 through 2019 for Lotto Soudal, winning Stage 17 in the 2018 edition. He finished as high as 92nd and down as far 144th. This is his first Tour de France.

Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck-QuickStep avoided the second crash and led a charge up the final uphill finish. Marc Soler of Movistar Team was the last rider to come home and holds the Lanterne Rouge.

May 30, 2021

Pasqualon

Andrea Pasqualon of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux won the Point d’Appui of the 2021 Giro d’Italia, finishing 72nd among the 143 riders who came safely home in Milano. Pasqualon previously was on the cusps of the fulcrum during Stage 4 of the 2017 Tour de France.

The Lanterne Rouge for the race was also a rider on Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, Riccardo Minali of Italy, who came home 5 hours, 35 minutes and 49 seconds adrift of the winner, Egan Bernal Gomez of Ineos Grenadiers.

Riders at the fulcrum position after each stage:

Stage 1 – No fulcrum
Stage 2 – Matteo Fabbro of Bora-Hansgrohe
Stage 3 – Stefano Oldani of Lotto Soudal
Stage 4 – Tejay van Garderen of EF Education-Nippo
Stage 5 – No fulcrum
Stage 6 – No fulcrum
Stage 7 – Jens Keukeleire of EF Education-Nippo
Stage 8 – No fulcrum
Stage 9 – No fulcrum
Stage 10 – No fulcrum
Stage 11 – No fulcrum
Stage 12 – No fulcrum
Stage 13 – No fulcrum
Stage 14 – Tejay van Garderen of EF Education-Nippo
Stage 15 – No fulcrum
Stage 16 – No fulcrum
Stage 17 – No fulcrum
Stage 18 – Harm Vanhoucke of Lotto Soudal
Stage 19 – No fulcrum
Stage 20 – Jan Tratnik of Bahrain Victorious
Stage 21 – Andrea Pasqualon of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux

September 20, 2020

2020 Tour Finishes Without a Fulcrum

After the fireworks of Stage 20 in the 2020 Tour de France, it will come as no surprise that the middle of the peloton was shaken a bit, too, on the final day, although no Point d’Appui could be awarded since an even number of riders came home on the Champs-Élysées.

Finishing on les Cuspides of the Point d’Appui were Michael Valgren of NTT Pro Cycling finishing 73rd and Imanol Erviti of Movistar Team finishing 74th. Neither of them had been on the cusps after Stage 20. Valgren, who finished last on the final stage, fell back four spots, and Erviti gained rose one placement. Both Valgren and Erviti have found themselves on the cusp at the end of various stages of previous tours, but this is their first time to arrive in Paris at the middle of the peloton.

Stage 20 turned the rest of the tour upside down when Tadej Pogačar destroyed the field on the time trial climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, moving ahead of fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič by nearly a minute to take the yellow jersey for the first time in the race. Pogačar also picked up the polka dot jersey as best mountain climber and the white jersey for the best young rider. Pogačar is the youngest rider to win the Tour de France since 1904 and the youngest rider ever to win the polka dot jersey.

Sam Bennett of Deceuninck-Quickstep won the green jersey for best sprinter, punctuating the win by also winning the bunch spring of Stage 21 in Paris. Marc Hirschi of Team Sunweb won the most-combative rider award.

Movistar Team won the team championship with a team time more than 18 minutes quicker than runner-up Team Jumbo-Visma.

Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal was the Lanterne Rouge. Kluge fell into last place on the mountainous Stage 16 after dropping back to help pace teammate Caleb Ewan through the climbs and keep Ewan in contention for sprint stages.

Only six stages ended with an odd number of riders in the race. The leaders in the Point d’Appui at the end of each stage:

Stage 1 — Krists Neilands of Israel Start-Up Nation
Stage 2 — Dayer Quintana of Team Arkea-Samsic
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — No fulcrum
Stage 5 — No fulcrum
Stage 6 — No fulcrum
Stage 7 — No fulcrum
Stage 8 — No fulcrum
Stage 9 — No fulcrum
Stage 10 — No fulcrum
Stage 11 — Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
Stage 12 — No fulcrum
Stage 13 — Michael Schär of CCC Team
Stage 14 — Nans Peters of AG2R la Mondiale
Stage 15 — No fulcrum
Stage 16 — No fulcrum
Stage 17 — No fulcrum
Stage 18 — Andrey Amador of Ineos Grenadiers
Stage 19 — No fulcrum
Stage 20 — No fulcrum
Stage 21 — No fulcrum

The winner of the 2019 Tour de France Point d’Appui, Élie Gesbert of Arkéa–Samsic, was unable to defend his title in the Tour de France this year. He suffered a fractured kneecap at Challenge Mallorca in February and is still recovering. Winners of the Point D’Appui in other recent major races finished in the following placements:

2018 Tour de France — Nikias Arndt of Team Sunweb finished 126th.
2019 Paris-Nice — Tim Declercq of Deceuninck-Quickstep finished 127th.
2020 Milan-San Remo — Felix Grossschartner of Bora-Hansgrohe finished 63rd.
2017 Milan-San Remo — Luke Rowe of Ineos Grenadiers finished 129th.

August 29, 2020

Crashes Plague Opening Stage of the 2020 Tour de France, Neilands at Middle

Rain, narrow roads and first-day jitters stretched the peloton frequently after several crashes during Stage 1 of the 2020 Tour de France, the result being our first Point d’Appuit of the race: Krists Neilands of Israel Start-Up Nation.

2019 was an impressive year for Neilands, who won the Latvian National Road Championships, the general classification for Tour de Hongrie and the Grand Prix de Wallonie. He looked quite strong during the first three stages of Paris-Nice during March. He rides in support of team leader Dan Martin.

The winner of the overall 2019 Point d’Appui, Élie Gesbert of Arkéa–Samsic, is notable to defend his title in the Tour de France this year. He suffered a fractured kneecap at Challenge Mallorca in February. Good wishes for his continued return to racing.

Stage 1 started in Nice and followed loops that took riders over the Aspremont three times before ending in a wild sprint finish in Nice as well. Alexander Kristoff won the stage over the 176-rider field with a strong push during the bunch sprint along the long straight-away.

A crash just after the 3-kilometer flag winnowed the field, but the 3K rule allowed the fallen to collect the same time as the leading riders. John Degenkolb of Lotto Soudal finished outside the time limit, so only 175 riders were scored.

Michael Schär of CCC Team, part of the three-person break, scored enough points on the two trips over the Class 3 Ĉote de Rimiez to win the polka dot jersey on the stage. The peloton caught the break with about 35 miles left on the day.

Rafael Valls Ferri of Bahrain McLaren is the Lanterne Rouge.

July 28, 2019

Elie Gesbert Takes Point d’Appui in 2019 Tour de France

Elie Gesbert

In a year when the Tour de France did not have a repeat stage winner until Stage 13, it’s perhaps a turn of favor that only six riders held the Point d’Appui during the tour. On the Champs Elysees, the winner of the grey jersey turned out to be Elie Gesbert, the 24-year-old rider for the Breton team Arkéa Samsic.

Gesbert was named most combative rider Stage 14 of this year’s tour. He got in the break on the day that the tour went over the Col du Soulour, staying with Vincenzo Nibali and Tim Wellens over the top and then making his own mad dash up the Col du Tourmalet. He won most combative rider on Stage 12 of the 2018 Tour de France and won best young rider in this year’s Tour of Oman and the same award twice earlier in separate editions of the Tour du Limousin.

The Point d’Appui through the stages so far:

Stage 1 — No fulcrum
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — No fulcrum
Stage 5 — No fulcrum
Stage 6 — No fulcrum
Stage 7 — No fulcrum
Stage 8 — No fulcrum
Stage 9 — Dylan van Baarle of Team Ineos
Stage 10 — Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal
Stage 11 — Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal
Stage 12 — No fulcrum
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 — Toms Skujins of Trek-Segafredo
Stage 20 — Elie Gesbert of Arkéa Samsic
Stage 21 — Elie Gesbert of Arkéa Samsic

Egan Bernal of Team Ineos won the general classification after strong work in the Alps, including a clear stamp of authority going over the Col de l’Iseran more than 2 minutes ahead of the yellow jersey, Julian Alaphilippe, on Stage 19 when the race was cut short as a result of snow, sleet, hail, rain and mudslides further along the route, real wrath of God kind of stuff. Bernal, the youngest rider in this year’s race, is the first Colombian to win the Tour de France. Sebastian Langeveld of EF Education First held the Lanterne Rouge on the final run into Paris.

July 18, 2019

At Mid-Point of 2019 Tour, Keukeleire Holds Point d’Appui

Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal. [Harelbeke – E3 Harelbeke, 27 maart 2015 (B051).JPG from Wikimedia Commons by Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick, CC-BY-SA 3.0]

Stage winners of the 2019 Tour de France continued to change daily through the Stage 11, the mid-point of the race, but the stage brought the first repeat winner of the Point d’Appui of the race, Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal.

Keukeleire won a stage in the 2016 Vuelta a España as well as finishing as the stage Point d’Appui during Stage 15. He also won general classification in the Baloise Belgian Tour in 2017 and 2018. This is his third Tour de France.

The crash by Alessandro De Marchi of CCC Team during Stage 9 left the race with its first odd number of racers finishing the day and the first Point d’Appui of the race. De Marchi crashed heavily and had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. He suffered a broken collarbone, ribs and a small collapse of his lung.

Riders had abandoned in earlier stages but coincidentally they had gone out in pairs, leaving the race with an even number of survivors each day until Stage 9.

The Point d’Appui through the stages so far:

Stage 1 — No fulcrum
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — No fulcrum
Stage 5 — No fulcrum
Stage 6 — No fulcrum
Stage 7 — No fulcrum
Stage 8 — No fulcrum
Stage 9 — Dylan van Baarle of Team Ineos
Stage 10 — Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal
Stage 11 — Jens Keukeleire of Lotto Soudal

The yellow jersey of the race so far is Julian Alaphilippe of Deceuninck-QuickStep, and the Lanterne Rouge is Yoann Offredo of Wanty-Gobert, who has held the red jersey since Stage 6. Offredo held the GC Point d’Appui after Stage 6 of the 2017 Tour de France.

July 11, 2018

Tour Returns to Les Cuspides on Nasty Stage 5

The winding, hilly route of Stage 5 of the Tour de France saw a reduction in the field of riders, leaving an even number of 170 at the finish and throwing the race back into the cusps.

Julien Bernard of Trek-Segafredo and Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg of Dimension Data wound up as Les Cuspides of the general classification, sitting at 85th and 86th places respectively.

Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team remains in the yellow jersey, and Lawson Craddock of EF-Drapac continues as the Lanterne Rouge. Peter Sagan widened his lead for the green jersey with the stage win.

July 10, 2018

Naesen Becomes First Point d’Appui of 2018 Tour

Oliver Naesen of AG2R La Mondiale finished in 87th position on the general classification of Stage 4 of the 2018 Tour de France to gain the fulcrum for the first time in the race.

The 2017 Belgian National Champion in the road race, Naesen is racing in his third Tour de France. He finished 83 and 63 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. He had top 10 finishes in a dozen European road races, primarily classics.

Greg Van Avermaet of BMC Racing Team holds the yellow jersey, and Lawson Craddock EF-Drapac continues as the Lanterne Rouge, although he looks better each day.

Stage 2 and 3 of Tour de France continued in the cusps with an even number of riders finishing. Teammates Kristijan Durasek and Darwin Atapuma, both of UAE Team Emirates, finished 87th and 88th on Stage 2 to earn distinction as Les Cuspides.

The team time trials on Stage 3 reordered the peloton, and Guillaume Martin of Wanty-Groupe Gobert and Julien Simon of Cofidis, Solutions Credits wound up on the cusps of the fulcrum.