July 27, 2015

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.

July 22, 2015

Feillu Dons Grey Jersey After Abandons on Stage 17

Six abandons on the very difficult Stage 17 of the 2015 Tour de France, including that of American T.J van Garderen, left 163 riders to come home. At the center of the peloton, in 82nd place, is Brice Feillu of Bretagne-Séché Environnement, the new holder of the Point d’Appui.

Chris Froome of Sky retains the yellow jersey. The Lanterne Rouge, however, passes from Sam Bennett, who also abandoned, to Sébastien Chavanel of FDJ.fr.

In addition to Van Garderen and Bennett, other racers who had to withdraw included Jerome Coppel of IAM Cycling, Nathan Haas of Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team, Laurent Didier of Trek Factory Racing, and Michal Kwiatkowski of Etixx – Quick-Step.

July 9, 2012

After Near Misses, Morkov and Bak Find Les Cuspides

Michael Morkov

Lars Bak

Lars Bak of Lotto-Belisol and Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank are the new general classification Cuspides after Stage 9 of the 2012 Tour de France. They finished 89th and 90th respectively in the overall time in a field of 178, both of them coming home more than 38 minutes behind the leader, Bradley Wiggins, and more than 40 minutes ahead of the new Lanterne Rouge, Jimmy Engoulvent of Saur-Sojasun.

Morkov has danced around the Point d’Appui position the last couple of stages, working his way to the middle from deep in the general classification after Stage 1. His early work in the tour to join breaks and then grab the polka dot jersey counted for naught in the GC contention. However, he is proving to have some sticking power and has found his way to Les Cuspides. Bak has made a similar progression, although his proximity to the fulcrum has been wider and more unpredictable than that of Morkov.

On the stage, Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda finished 89th and Martin Velits of Omega Pharma-Quickstep finished 90th to take Les Cuspides on the day. Velits has come close to GC contention for the Point d’Appui as well, especially during the sprinters’ stages. The mountains might allow him to step out of the middle.

Other notes from Stage 9:

Brice Feillu proved his mettle, escaping the Lanterne Rouge during Monday’s time trial, finishing 88th on the day and squeezing ahead of two other riders, Tyler Farrar and Engoulvent, on the GC time.
Vladimir Karpets and Bernard Eisel, our predictions for improvement in Stage 9, instead slipped further back in the GC standings.
Marco Marzano and Christophe Kern, who held Les Cuspides after Stage 8, also slipped back but are still within striking distance of the Point d’Appui.

July 7, 2012

Mountain Stage Brings New Point d’Appui in Tour de France

Sébastien Hinault at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné

The steep mountain finish on Stage 7 of the 2012 Tour de France has reshuffled the deck and put a new rider — Sébastien Hinault of AG2R La Mondiale — in the general classification Point d’Appui.

The sprinters fell back in overall time and the hill climbers moved forward. The Point d’Appui spun like the revolving door at Macy’s. By the end of the day, 17 riders had abandoned the tour, leaving 181 riders to come home.

Hinault, a sprint specialist, slipped back 15 positions from his Stage 6 finish to land on the fulcrum, 21:12 behind the new tour GC leader, Bradley Wiggans of Sky, and 34 minutes ahead of Brice Feillu, who has suffered illness through the first week of the tour and still holds the Lanterne Rouge.

The Point d’Appui on the stage is Nicki Sôrensen of Team Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank. Sôrensen started the tour a little off the average pace, crept into the front half of the by Stage 3. In Stage 6, he slipped down the general classification significantly, another rider slowed by the late crash in the day. On Stage 7, his finish at the fulcrum brought him closer to the GC Point d’Appui. Expect him to move further up on Saturday.

Major riders who abandoned overnight included Ryder Hesjedal and Robbie Hunter, both of Garmin, and Oscar Freire of Katusha.

Notes on Stage 7:

Les Cuspides on Stage 6 — Sammy Dumoulin and Juan Haeda — both slipped down the GC rankings.
Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank unexpectedly held the polka dot jersey through several early stages. Morkov is much better on the track and is hoping to better his 2008 Silver finish for the team pursuit in the upcoming Olympics. The mountains of Stage 7 took the polka dot jersey away from him and pushed him back to within two spots of the fulcrum.