Edward King

July 15, 2014

Contador Abandons, Putting Tour Back on Cuspides

Team picture of Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador

Alberto Contador abandoned the Tour de France on Stage 9 after crashing, breaking his shinbone and riding another dozen kilometers before pain forced him out. He followed former tour winners Chris Froome and Andy Schleck as the third tour champion to crash out of the race. Along with two other abandons, his loss left 180 riders to come home at the end of the day put the 2014 Tour de France back in les Cuspides.

Jan Barta of Team Netapp-Endura and Matteo Trentin of Omega Pharma-Quick Step finished 90th and 91st, respectively, to be come the sixth pair of riders to share the cusp at the middle of the peloton. Barta won the combativity award in Stage 3, and Trentin, of course, surprised everyone including himself when he edged out sprinter Peter Sagan to win Stage 7. Their overall times, however, place them in the exact middle of the pack.

The other two riders who had to abandon were Mathew Hayman of Orica Greenedge and Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale. King held the Lanterne Rouge for several days, and his abandon returns Cheng Ji of Team Giant-Shimano to the last place position.

Vasili Kiryienka, the winner of the 2012 Point d’Appui, and Markel Irizar, winner of the 2011 Point d’Appui, are both within shouting distance of the middle. Jérémy Roy, who held the Point d’Appui after Stage 8, moved up a couple of places to escape the fulcrum momentarily.

All this comes amid the stamp of Vincenzo Nibali upon the finish of Stage 9, winning what is arguably the most difficult mountain stage of the tour — just seconds ahead of his nearest overall competitors — to take back the yellow jersey he put on loan to Tony Gallopin for Bastille Day.

Tomorrow, the tour enters its first rest day, a welcome relief for the riders who have survived thus far.

July 14, 2014

French Rider Takes Point d’Appui into Bastille Day

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France’s Jeremy Roy starts a breakaway in the rain of Stage 4 of the 2011 Tour de France. Photograph: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Jérémy Roy of FDJ found his way onto the fulcrum by the end of Stage 9 of the 2014 Tour de France even as a fellow Frenchman, Tony Gallopin of Lotto-Belisol, took hold of the yellow jersey as overall leader of the tour.

Roy, who finished on the cusp of the fulcrum during Stage 1, has continued to finish near the middle of the pack in successive stages. In 2011, Roy was named most aggressive rider in the Tour de France, in large part due to his success at getting into the breakaways and then attacking his fellow escapees. He also won a stage of Paris-Nice in 2009 and the mountain climbers’ polka dot jersey in Critérium International in 2013.

This first heavily mountainous stage was won by Tony Martin, who got into a two-man break and stayed away for more than 100 kilometers to finish first and alone on the straight-away at Mulhouse. Martin was helped by Astana’s decision not to protect Vincenzo Nibali’s yellow jersey, a strategy that allowed an intermediary group of riders including Gallopin to build a large enough lead that Gallopin became the tour leader on the eve of Bastille Day. Members of Astana apparently assume that they can regain the jersey in the mountainous stages ahead, but letting go of it temporarily lets them off the hook for making pace and chasing breakaways.

Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel of Cofidis withdrew from the tour on Sunday, leaving 183 riders in the race. Heinrich Haussler of IAM Cycling finished on the fulcrum for the stage.

Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 12, 2014

Tour Enters Mountains Without a Point d’Appui

Rudy Molard of Cofidis and Florian Guillou of Bretagne-Seche Environnement finished on the cusps of the Point d’Appui in 92nd and 93rd positions, respectively, at the end of Stage 8 of the 2014 Tour de France.

The climbs at the end of the day stiffened up the general classification standings of the leaders, with pretenders to the yellow jersey falling back when the Tinkoff-Saxo team jammed to the fore on the mountain climbs, leading Alberto Contador as far as they could before leaving him to his own devices. Vincenzo Nibali, however, kept calm and carried on, marking Contador pedal stroke for stroke and allowing Contador a couple of seconds at the very top of the climb. Richie Porte of Team Sky stayed right behind Nibali.

As for the stage win, none of the leaders could catch Blel Kadri of Ag2r-La Mondiale, who got into the five-man break about 35 kilometers into the race and proved to be the only survivor. The radiance of Kadri’s smile and the day-glo color of Contador’s jersey were the only bright spots in the gray fog of the finish atop la Mauselaine.

Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale remained the Lanterne Rouge, 1 hour, 34 minutes and 47 seconds adrift of Nibali.

Two more riders dropped before the end of Stage 8, leaving the race with an even number of finishers and without a fulcrum.

Mathias Frank of IAM Cycling broke his femur on Stage 7 and was unable to start Stage 8. Bart De Clercq of Lotto-Belisol abandoned the race due to pain in his ankle, the result of a crash early in the tour.

Speaking of crashes, American Andrew Talansky took another fall, this time on the rain-slickened descent of the Col de Grosse Pierre. His loss of time very likely puts him out of contention for a podium spot in Paris, but crazier things have happened. He might get back on if he can stay in the saddle.

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.