After six stages without a fulcrum, three abandons left 195 riders to come on Stage 7 of the 2014 Vuelta a España, Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo is this year’s first Point d’Appui.

Bennati, an accomplished sprinter, has won six stages at the Vuelta, most recently in 2012, and won points classification in 2008. He also won two stages of the Tour de France back in 2007.

Bennati held the Point d’Appui after Stage 13 of this year’s Tour de France and shared les Cuspides after Stage 9 of the 2012 Tour de France.

Alejandro Valverde of Movistar Team remains the leader of the race although several riders are tucked in close behind.

Matteo Pelucchi of IAM Cycling holds onto the Lanterne Rouge, finishing 1 hour, 44 minutes and 6 seconds behind Valverde.

The three riders who abandoned due to injuries were Romain Sicard of Team Europcar, Aleksejs Saramotins of IAM Cycling and Ivan Santaromita of Orica GreenEdge.

On the stage, the. British racer David Millar of Garmin Sharp won the fulcrum.

Cuspides on the first six stages:

Stage 1 – Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R La Mondiale and Lloyd Mondory of AG2R La Mondiale
Stage 2 – Elia Favilli of Lampre-Merida and David Arroyo Of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
Stage 3 – Paolo Longo Borghini of Cannondale and Manuel Quinziato BMC Racing Team
Stage 4 – Luis Leon Sanchez of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Bart De Clercq of Lotto Belisol
Stage 5 – Lawrence Warbasse of BMC Racing Team and Yauheni Hutarovich of AG2R La Mondiale
Stage 6 – Greg Henderson of Lotto Belisol and Paolo Longo Borghini of Cannondale