July 24, 2016

Late Abandon Leaves Tour without Fulcrum; Jeannesson, Bárta on Cusps

Jan Bárta leads an escape group of eight on the Champs-Élysées during the final stage of the 2016 Tour de France. Bárta finished on the cusps of the Point d’Appui.

An abandon of the race by Tony Martin on the Champs-Élysées put the 2016 Tour de France back in les Cuspides for the finish, meaning that no Point d’Appui could be awarded this year.

On the cusps of the fulcrum were Arnold Jeannesson in 87th place and Jan Bárta in 88th place. Bárta held the Point d’Appui at the end of three stages and might rightly be considered the most deserving of the honor.

Jeannesson, a Cofidis rider, fell back during the last week to arrive a place ahead of Bárta, who rides for Bora-Argon 18.

Martin abandoned due to knee problems after getting to Paris, but with eyes toward healing in time to ride in the Olympics. His abandon probably affected the lead out, or lack thereof, for sprinter Marcel Kittel, who seemed absent in the final bunch sprint of the tour.

The entire in peloton stayed in the race through Stage 7, the first time that has happened, and it proved to be highest number of riders to finish the entire tour. It was also the longest run in the Tour de France before a fulcrum occurred, at least in modern history. Only seven riders held the Point d’Appui during the course of the race, a lower number than usual because of the repeated middle finishes by Peter Sagan and Bárta.

The stage-by-stage general classification:

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 – Pierre-Luc Périchon of Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
Stage 9 – Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Team.
Stage 10 – No fulcrum.
Stage 11 – No fulcrum.
Stage 12 – No fulcrum.
Stage 13 – Arthur Vichot of FDJ.
Stage 14 – Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre-Merida.
Stage 15 – Tony Gallopin of Lotto Soudal.
Stage 16 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 17 – Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Team.
Stage 18 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 19 – Anthony Delaplace of Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
Stage 20 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 21 – No fulcrum.

Chris Froome, of course, won the Maillot Jaune, with Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana in second and third, respectively. The Lanterne Rouge was Sam Bennett, who finished last overall but among the top ten riders at the end of the stage. Great to see he has mended after the early crash that set him low in the overall standings.

July 22, 2016

Frenchman Delaplace Takes Fulcrum on Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc in the distance, the final destination for Stage 19.

Another mountain stage and another shift in the Point d’Appui standings. Anthony Delaplace, the Fortuneo-Vital Concept rider who was on the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 11, now holds the general classification Point d’Appui at the end of Stage 19.

Anthony Delaplace

Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant-Alpecin and Daniel Navarro of Cofidis had to abandon the race due to crashes. Dumoulin had a touch of wheels when the peloton slowed down and bunched up. He broke his wrist. Navarro came down with two other riders in a hard downhill turn after the rain had slickened the route.

They weren’t the only riders to meet the pavé on Stage 19, but the only two who had to abandon mid-stream.

Romain Bardet of AG2R La Mondiale took a flier on the final climb, catching up with Rui Costa, who had been in the escape group and escaped them. Bardet, though, had enough gas in the tank to continue past Costa and win on Mont Blanc.

Chris Froome, despite a fall on the same rainy descent that caught other riders, was able to stay with the lead group after teammate Geraint Thomas handed off his bicycle to Froome. Bauke Mollema was not so lucky, falling twice and losing enough time to drop him from second place overall to tenth.

Sam Bennett remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 15, 2016

Fans Atop Mont Ventoux Nearly Derail Tour

Anthony Delaplace

Alexey Lutsenko

The climb up Mont Ventoux got steeper and steeper while the crowd pressed tighter and tighter until it all came to a stop. For a few brief minutes. Richie Porte of BMC, Chris Froome of Sky and Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo were caught behind a motorbike that had to stop during the last kilometer because of the crowds in the road. Porte hit the motorbike pretty hard, and Froome’s bike was damaged. He began running up the course and eventually was supplied a bicycle from the neutral car. It didn’t fit well and his team car caught him in the 500 meters to supply him a bike of his own.

All said, Froome and Porte would have lost time to the other GC contenders except that the race judges decided to award everyone time based on their time at the 1 kilometer mark, meaning Froome stays in yellow.

It is no consolation to the riders who finished the stage 30 seconds ahead of their rival but lost 19 or 20 seconds on the recalculated general classification.

None of this affected the middle of the race much. Marcus Burghardt, on the cusp after Stage 11, moved up a spot, and Anthony Delaplace of Fortuneo-Vital Concept joined Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team on the cusp of the fulcrum. Lutsenko was also on the cusp after Stage 11.

Two riders who contended for the Point d’Appui early in the race – Simon Gerrans and Wouter Poels – took falls together in a sharp turn. They managed to get back in the main group to support Froome before the climb.

The Lanterne Rouge remains Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18. Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal won the stage, his first in the Tour de France.

Jurgen Van Den Broeck of Team Katusha didn’t start the stage and Angelo Tulik of Direct Energie wasn’t able to finish after taking a fall and injuring his wrist.