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 16, 2016

Vichot at Fulcrum after Stage 13 Time Trials

Arthur Vichot during the 3rd stage of the Tour de Romandie 2010. Photo by Fanny Schertzer.

During the individual time trials of Stage 13 of the 2016 Tour de France, Arthur Vichot of FDJ did well enough to land in the fulcrum position. He was 94th of the 187 riders still in the tour and becomes the third rider of this year’s tour to hold the Point d’Appui.

Vichot, who won the French National Road Championship earlier this year, has raced in the Tour de France four previous times, finishing as high as 66th in the general classification and as low as 103rd. He had to withdraw from the race in 2014. He has also twice won the Tour du Haut Var, a two-day race in the early season run through the region in which the tour is currently passing.

Alexey Lutsenko, who has been on the cusp during the last two stages moved up one place above Vichot and remains in strong contention for the fulcrum.

Three riders abandoned the race Friday. Neither Thibaut Pinot of FDJ nor Simon Gerrans of Orica-BikeExchange started the stage, and Edward Theuns of Trek-Segafredo was unable to finish the 37-kilometer time trial.

Mikel Nieve of Team Sky finished as the Point d’Appui of the time trial. Teammate Wouter Poels was just a second behind him.

Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant-Alpecin won the stage by more than a minute over the second-place rider on the day, Christopher Froome of Sky. Froome looks unbeatable for the overall yellow jersey this year, excelling in the mountains, on the flats and now in the time trial.

Froome remains the overall leader and gained almost a minute over his top rivals. Meanwhile, Sam Bennett still retains the Lanterne Rouge, but finished 160th on the stage, showing that he is on the mend.

July 3, 2013

Team Time Trial Puts Katusha’s Brutt in Fulcrum

Judges for the Tour de France refused to reverse course on their decision that Eddie King would be dropped from the race, leaving the tour with its first odd number of racers to come home. Pavel Brutt of Katusha proved to be the rider at the center of the pack.

It’s a bad way to crown the first Point d’Appui of the 100th edition of the Tour de France, but we live with what we are given. Team Katusha finished in 10th place on the team time trial, just enough ahead of Radioshack Leopard to pull Brutt into the fulcrum position.

During the first three stages, an even number of riders came home each day. The Cuspides on each stage:

Stage 1 – Aliaksandr Kuchynski of Katusha, who held a similar position in the 2012 Tour de France, and Thomas Voeckler of Europcar.
Stage 2 – Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas of Movistar and Markel Irizar of RadioShack Leopard. Irizar won the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France.
Stage 3 – Arthur Vichot of FDJ and Peter Kennaugh of Sky Procycling.