July 24, 2016

Late Abandon Leaves Tour without Fulcrum; Jeannesson, Bárta on Cusps

Jan Bárta leads an escape group of eight on the Champs-Élysées during the final stage of the 2016 Tour de France. Bárta finished on the cusps of the Point d’Appui.

An abandon of the race by Tony Martin on the Champs-Élysées put the 2016 Tour de France back in les Cuspides for the finish, meaning that no Point d’Appui could be awarded this year.

On the cusps of the fulcrum were Arnold Jeannesson in 87th place and Jan Bárta in 88th place. Bárta held the Point d’Appui at the end of three stages and might rightly be considered the most deserving of the honor.

Jeannesson, a Cofidis rider, fell back during the last week to arrive a place ahead of Bárta, who rides for Bora-Argon 18.

Martin abandoned due to knee problems after getting to Paris, but with eyes toward healing in time to ride in the Olympics. His abandon probably affected the lead out, or lack thereof, for sprinter Marcel Kittel, who seemed absent in the final bunch sprint of the tour.

The entire in peloton stayed in the race through Stage 7, the first time that has happened, and it proved to be highest number of riders to finish the entire tour. It was also the longest run in the Tour de France before a fulcrum occurred, at least in modern history. Only seven riders held the Point d’Appui during the course of the race, a lower number than usual because of the repeated middle finishes by Peter Sagan and Bárta.

The stage-by-stage general classification:

Stage 1 – No fulcrum.
Stage 2 – No fulcrum.
Stage 3 – No fulcrum.
Stage 4 – No fulcrum.
Stage 5 – No fulcrum.
Stage 6 – No fulcrum.
Stage 7 – No fulcrum.
Stage 8 – Pierre-Luc Périchon of Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
Stage 9 – Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Team.
Stage 10 – No fulcrum.
Stage 11 – No fulcrum.
Stage 12 – No fulcrum.
Stage 13 – Arthur Vichot of FDJ.
Stage 14 – Kristijan Đurasek of Lampre-Merida.
Stage 15 – Tony Gallopin of Lotto Soudal.
Stage 16 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 17 – Peter Sagan of Tinkoff Team.
Stage 18 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 19 – Anthony Delaplace of Fortuneo-Vital Concept.
Stage 20 – Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18.
Stage 21 – No fulcrum.

Chris Froome, of course, won the Maillot Jaune, with Romain Bardet and Nairo Quintana in second and third, respectively. The Lanterne Rouge was Sam Bennett, who finished last overall but among the top ten riders at the end of the stage. Great to see he has mended after the early crash that set him low in the overall standings.

July 24, 2016

Bárta Returns to Fulcrum after Penultimate Stage

Jan Bárta

Jan Bárta, the Czech rider for Bora-Argon 18, retained the general classification Point d’Appui after Stage 20 of the 2016 Tour de France. He has held the Point d’Appui twice during the tour, on Stages 16 and 18, and was on the cusp after Stage 9.

The 31-year-old rider finished one place ahead of the fulcrum on the stage, maintaining his status as the rider at the middle of the stage. Barring unforeseen disaster, Bárta will ride onto the Champs-Élysées in Paris tomorrow as the heir-apparent to the fulcrum of the 2016 Tour de France.

The mountainous stage broke the peloton into splinters, and created an amazing fight for the stage win among four great climbers and downhill speedsters — Ion Izagirre of Movistar Team, Jarlinson Pantano of IAM Cycling, Vincenzo Nibali of Astana Pro Team and Julian Alaphilippe of Etixx – Quick-Step.

At times, each looked as though he might survive an attack on the last climb of the day up the Col de Joux Plane. Izagirre, Pantano and Nibali went over the top together, and then Izagirre screamed down the backside to win the stage.

The rest of the standings were not affected much. Chris Froome of Sky remains the leader of the tour, and Bárta’s teammate Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 remains the Lanterne Rouge.

July 22, 2016

Jan Bárta Back in the Fulcrum Position

Jan Barta

The Point d’Appui came back to Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18 on Stage 18 of the 2016 Tour de France. Bárta was in 89th place after Stage 17, one place ahead of the general classification Point d’Appui, and remained in 89th place after Stage 18, but two riders abandoned the race before the start, meaning the fulcrum moved one spot up to Barta.

Bárta held the Point d’Appui after Stage 16, too, and appears to be the odds-on favorite for Paris. We still have two mountainous stages to go, though, so Bárta is not a sure thing yet.

Fabian Cancellara of Trek-Segafredo bailed out of the Tour de France boat to concentrate his training on the upcoming Olympics. Shane Archbold of Bora-Argon 18 did not start after suffering a fractured pelvis during a crash on Stage 17. Somehow he rode home yesterday.

Stage 18 was an individual time trial, only 17 kilometers long, but most of it was a strong mountain climb, so it was not necessarily suited to the usual time trialist.

Nevertheless, Chris Froome of Sky made it look like the usual time trial. He easily edged out Tom Dumoulin of Team Giant, who up to that point looked as though he were the sure winner of the stage, ahead of the next rider by more than 10 seconds.

Froome remains the tour leader, and Sam Bennett, the first rider to attack the Stage 18 course, remains the Lantern Rouge.

Here’s a list of today’s stage finishes for some of the contenders this year and past overall winners, followed by their overall standing:

24th – Alexey Lutsenko – 75th
26th – Jan Barta – 89th
27th – Tony Gallopin – 84th
30th – Michael Valgren – 92nd
37th – Daryl Impey – 42nd
42nd – Emanuel Buchmann – 21st
48th – Anthony Delaplace – 93rd
49th – Simon Geschke – 73rd
53rd – Pierre-Luc Perichon – 106th
56th – Wouter Poehls – 33rd
70th – Paolo Tiralongo – 68th
87th – Arthur Vichot – 80th
90th – Peter Sagan – 91st
98th – Kristijan Đurasek – 52nd
115th – Marcus Burghardt – 98th
138th – Cyril Lemoine – 134th
143rd – Vasil Kiriyenka – 115th
148th – Grégory Rast – 118th
151st – Andriy Grivko – 72nd
159th – Markel Irizar – 112th
176th – Armindo Fonseca – 147th

On the stage, Jan Bakelants of AG2R La Mondiale placed at the fulcrum position.

July 18, 2016

Barta Becomes Newest Point d’Appui Holder

Jan Bárta

It didn’t take a photo finish to determine that Jan Bárta of Bora-Argon 18 is the new general classification Point d’Appui after stage 16 of the 2016 Tour de France. He goes into Tuesday’s rest day more than a minute behind Thomas Voekler of Direct Energie and just about a minute ahead of Alexey Lutsenko of Astana Pro Team.

Tony Gallopin, the GC leader after Stage 15, fell back 10 spots on the hot, fast 206 kilometer stage from Moirans-en-Montagne across the Swiss border to finish in Berne.

Bárta has won the Czech National Time Trial Championships the last four years and also picked up the Czech National Road Race Championship in 2012. This is his third time in the Tour de France. He finished 71st in 2014 and 25th in 2015.

Peter Sagan of Tinkoff won his third stage of this year’s Tour de France, nipping Alexander Kristoff by just a few millimeters. Chris Froome of Team Sky remains the GC leader of the race, and Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18 holding the Lanterne Rouge.

July 15, 2014

Contador Abandons, Putting Tour Back on Cuspides

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.