September 20, 2020

2020 Tour Finishes Without a Fulcrum

After the fireworks of Stage 20 in the 2020 Tour de France, it will come as no surprise that the middle of the peloton was shaken a bit, too, on the final day, although no Point d’Appui could be awarded since an even number of riders came home on the Champs-Élysées.

Finishing on les Cuspides of the Point d’Appui were Michael Valgren of NTT Pro Cycling finishing 73rd and Imanol Erviti of Movistar Team finishing 74th. Neither of them had been on the cusps after Stage 20. Valgren, who finished last on the final stage, fell back four spots, and Erviti gained rose one placement. Both Valgren and Erviti have found themselves on the cusp at the end of various stages of previous tours, but this is their first time to arrive in Paris at the middle of the peloton.

Stage 20 turned the rest of the tour upside down when Tadej Pogačar destroyed the field on the time trial climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, moving ahead of fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič by nearly a minute to take the yellow jersey for the first time in the race. Pogačar also picked up the polka dot jersey as best mountain climber and the white jersey for the best young rider. Pogačar is the youngest rider to win the Tour de France since 1904 and the youngest rider ever to win the polka dot jersey.

Sam Bennett of Deceuninck-Quickstep won the green jersey for best sprinter, punctuating the win by also winning the bunch spring of Stage 21 in Paris. Marc Hirschi of Team Sunweb won the most-combative rider award.

Movistar Team won the team championship with a team time more than 18 minutes quicker than runner-up Team Jumbo-Visma.

Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal was the Lanterne Rouge. Kluge fell into last place on the mountainous Stage 16 after dropping back to help pace teammate Caleb Ewan through the climbs and keep Ewan in contention for sprint stages.

Only six stages ended with an odd number of riders in the race. The leaders in the Point d’Appui at the end of each stage:

Stage 1 — Krists Neilands of Israel Start-Up Nation
Stage 2 — Dayer Quintana of Team Arkea-Samsic
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — No fulcrum
Stage 5 — No fulcrum
Stage 6 — No fulcrum
Stage 7 — No fulcrum
Stage 8 — No fulcrum
Stage 9 — No fulcrum
Stage 10 — No fulcrum
Stage 11 — Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
Stage 12 — No fulcrum
Stage 13 — Michael Schär of CCC Team
Stage 14 — Nans Peters of AG2R la Mondiale
Stage 15 — No fulcrum
Stage 16 — No fulcrum
Stage 17 — No fulcrum
Stage 18 — Andrey Amador of Ineos Grenadiers
Stage 19 — No fulcrum
Stage 20 — No fulcrum
Stage 21 — No fulcrum

The winner of the 2019 Tour de France Point d’Appui, Élie Gesbert of Arkéa–Samsic, was unable to defend his title in the Tour de France this year. He suffered a fractured kneecap at Challenge Mallorca in February and is still recovering. Winners of the Point D’Appui in other recent major races finished in the following placements:

2018 Tour de France — Nikias Arndt of Team Sunweb finished 126th.
2019 Paris-Nice — Tim Declercq of Deceuninck-Quickstep finished 127th.
2020 Milan-San Remo — Felix Grossschartner of Bora-Hansgrohe finished 63rd.
2017 Milan-San Remo — Luke Rowe of Ineos Grenadiers finished 129th.

July 26, 2014

Time Trial Puts Kadri, Ollo on Cusp Going into Paris

Blel Kadris

Imanol Erviti Ollo

Blel Kadri of AG2R La Mondiale and Imanol Erviti Ollo of Movistar Team finished on the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 20, the only time trial in the 2014 Tour de France.

Placement is unlikely to change on the ceremonial run into Paris, although time gaps do sometimes make modest changes. Lars Bak of Lotto-Belisol is only 18 seconds ahead Kadri.

Both Kadri and Ollo have shared les Cuspides on previous stages. Ollo shared the cusp of the fulcrum with Vasili Kiryienka of Team Sky after Stage 18, and Kadri shared the cusp with Matthieu Ladagnous of FDJ.fr after Stage 15.

The riders on the cusps after the previous stage split in separate directions during today’s time trial. Lieuwe Westra of Astana Pro Team gained a couple of spots in the general classification, Kiriyenka dropped a couple of spots.

The time trial posed little threat to the leader of the tour, Vincenzo Nibali, but the podium positions and top five overall were in doubt due to the close quarters kept by the also-rans. Two French riders, Jean-Christophe Péraud of AG2R-La Mondiale and Thibaut Pinot of FDJ.fr secured second and third in the general classification, the best showing by French competitors in a quarter century. Alejandro Valverde of Movistar rode poorly in the time trial and was unable to gain on the two Frenchmen.

American Tejay Van Garderen, however, eked out fifth place, slipping past Romain Bardet of AG2R-La Mondiale, who suffered a puncture on the 54 kilometer route through the hills leading from Bergerac to Périgueux.

Cheng Ji, the Lanterne Rouge, appears to have survived the time cutoffs and will ride to the Arc de Triomphe tomorrow as the first Chinese rider not only to compete in the Tour de France but to finish as well. Ji rode on the front end of the peloton on most flat stages, helping Team Giant-Shimano put their sprinter, Marcel Kittel, in position to win the sprint finishes.

The rider with the time closest to the tour median is Roy Curvers of Team Giant-Shimano. His time of 3 hours, 57 minutes and 50 seconds is just 2 seconds off the median.

July 24, 2014

Winner of 2012 Fulcrum Back in Middle for 2014 Tour

Vasili Kiryienka, the Belorussian rider for Team Sky who won the 2012 Point d’Appui, is now on the cusp of the fulcrum along with Imanol Erviti Ollo of Movistar Team. They finished 82nd and 83rd in general classification, respectively, after Stage 18 of the 2014 Tour de France.

One hundred and sixty-four riders are still in the race after two riders failed to finish the day.

Heinrich Haussler of IAM Cycling left the stage early due to illness. José Joaquin Rojas Gil of Movistar Team was disqualified, apparently for drafting off a team car for too long or too obviously or too well.

Kiryienka is the top rider so far this decade for the Point d’Appui, having won the Point d’Appui in the 2012 Tour de France and the 2012 Tour de Romandie, as well as looking as though he would win the 2013 Tour de France Point d’Appui prior to being eliminated on time. With a flat stage and time trial to go, he seems like the odds-on favorite to win the fulcrum again this year, if the tour gets out of les Cuspides.

For Ollo, this is the first time he has been on the cusp, although his placements in his two previous tours put him at 88th in 2010 and 77th in 2009, respectable middle placement. His 2014 tour has been one of improving placement since Stage 8, including a climb of 8 places over yesterday’s finish.

Vincenzo Nibali won the stage and remains the leader of the race. Cheng Ji remains the Lanterne Rouge.