2015 Tour de France Ends Without Fulcrum; Martens, Perichon on Cusps

An even number of riders finished the 2015 Tour de France on the streets of Paris, so a Point d’Appui can’t be awarded this year. Because of the rain and a likely heightened danger if the entire peloton charged the oily cobbles of the Champs, race officials declared all riders to have the same time for the day, meaning that the two riders on the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 20 retained their position.

Paul Martens of Team LottoNL-Jumbo and Pierre-Luc Perichon of Bretagne-Séché Environnement are Les Cuspides for the 2015 Tour.

The leader of the race, Christopher Froome of Sky, and the last rider in, Sébastien Chavanel of FDJ, remained in their respective positions as well. Sylvain Chavanel of IAM Cycling, possibly riding his last tour, had the time closest to the median of all racers.

Twelve riders held the Point d’Appui during the course of the race, an average number for the Tour.

The stage-by-stage general classification:

  • Stage 1 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 2 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 3 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 4 – Adriano Malori of Movistar.
  • Stage 5 – Armindo Fonseca of Bretagne-Séché Environnement.
  • Stage 6 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 7 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 8 – Haimar Zubeldia of Trek Factory Racing.
  • Stage 9 – Serge Pauwels of MTN-Qhubeka
  • Stage 10 – Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo, who took a hard fall the next day and had to abandon.
  • Stage 11 – Rohan Dennis of BMC.
  • Stage 12 – Wouter Poels of Team Sky.
  • Stage 13 – Wouter Poels of Team Sky.
  • Stage 14 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 15 – Angelo Tulik of Team Europcar.
  • Stage 16 – Paul Voss of Bora-Argon 18.
  • Stage 17 – Brice Feillu of Bretagne-Séché Environnement.
  • Stage 18 – Perrig Quemeneur of Team Europcar.
  • Stage 19 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 20 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 21 – No fulcrum.

Malori Is First Competitor to Grab Point d’Appui in 2015 Tour

Adriano Malori in the Tour de Romandie 2010, Stage 3. Photo by Fanny Schertzer and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Adriano Malori in the Tour de Romandie 2010, Stage 3. Photo by Fanny Schertzer and licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

After three riders were unable to start Stage 4 of the Tour de France, 191 riders were left to come home on a long but fast day, quiet sizzle after the furious pop of Stage 3. Adriano Malori of Movistar sat at the fulcrum of the peloton at the end of the stage and is the first rider of the 2015 Tour to hold the Point d’Appui.

Malori, the Lanterne Rouge of the 2010 Tour de France, has won three of the last five National Time Trial Championships of Italy, including this year’s contest. He also won the final time trial, Stage 21, in the 2014 Vuelta a España.

With his strong finish, Tony Martin of Etixx-Quick-Step was able to just finish enough ahead of Chris Froome to gain the maillot jaune. Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge remained the Lanterne Rouge, although if he mends enough he will assuredly climb out of last place.