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.

Zubeldia at Fulcrum After Stage 8 of Tour de France

Haimar Zubeldia

Haimar Zubeldia

Haimar Zubeldia of Trek Factory Racing finished in the top 30 on the stage with a good enough time to pull him up into the fulcum spot of the 2015 Tour de France after Stage 8. His time is 26 minutes and 35 sconds behind the leader Christopher Froome and 45 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge, Michael Matthews.

Luca Paolini of Team Katusha did not start Stage 8, putting the number of riders still in the race at 185.

The winner of the stage Alexis Vuillermoz of AG2R La Mondiale, who broke away from the lead group on the uphill finish. Daniel Martin of Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team reacted too slowly to catch Vuillermoz, and the leaders’ group had not reason to chase. Vincenzo Nibali, the 2014 Tour champion, was dropped on the final climb. Whether that showed a bad day or was indicative of general condition will get answered on the time trial and then the upcoming Pyrenees.