August 18, 2012

Astana, AG2R on Cusp after Vuelta Team Trial

The Vuelta a España began Saturday with a team time trial. With 22 teams finishing and 198 riders coming home, there was no Point d’Appui on the day. The teams Astana and AG2R la Mondiale finished 10th and 11th, respectively, to settle in as les Cuspides on the opening day.

David Boucher

Rémi Pauriol

Two members of FDJ-Bigmat — Rémi Pauriol and David Boucher — finished as the individual les Cuspides, 57 seconds behind leader Jonathan Castroviejo of Movistar. They finished more than 8 minutes ahead of Enrico Gasperotto of Astana, who finished as the Lanterne Rouge on the first day.

Using a team trial to start the Vuelta makes assessment of the fulcrum more difficult. Each team’s finish is a reflection of its team members’ ability to hang together and serve the weakest among themselves, the antithesis of most stage races, where the weakest protect the team leader for as long and as well as they can. Predicting the fulcrum for Sunday’s road stage is anything if not mediocre.

However, if we must guess, we would go with Team Radioshack’s Markel Irizar, who won the Point d’Appui in the 2011 Tour de France as well as one stage in the 2011 Vuelta, was only three places off the fulcrum. Radioshack appears to be setting him up for another run at the overall Point d’Appui in the Vuelta this year.

CyclingNews quotes Irizar thusly about the likely ease but possible difficulty of Stage 2: “I know this area well and it can be windy around. This should be one of the easiest stages but it depends where the finish is exactly. Often races finish on a short, 800m hill in Viana. It could complicate things for the sprinters.”

The defending champion of the Point d’Appui for the 2011 Vuelta, Lloyd Mondory of AG2R la Mondiale, finished in 130th place.

June 30, 2012

Preview of the 2012 Tour de France

The preview for the Point d’Appui in the 2012 Tour de France is not good, not bad, somewhere in between. The defending Point d’Appui, Markel Irizar, was left home by Radio Shack, perhaps because of his wonderful break on the first stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné. Irizar got in the break with five other riders at about the 4 kilometer mark. The peloton gave them almost too much room, but the escapees let the mob back in by fighting among themselves. Irizar, though, got a jump on the break group and stayed away until 5 kilometer mark.

Likewise, Fabio Sabatini, who won the fulcrum at the Giro d’Italia, is not at the Tour de France.

Other contenders include:

George Hincapie of BMC may have the best shot. He is clearly looking to ride in support of the BMC team leader, Cadel Evans, or whomever pedals forward if Evans isn’t back to his 2012 form. Hincapie finished on the cusp of both the Tour of Flanders and the Paris-Roubaix. This is his last chance to be the camel’s back.
Marco Marzano, riding for Lampre-ISD, is another possibility. Marzano finished in the Point d’Appui at the Dauphiné, riding with perfectly fine form.
Vasil Kiryienka of Movistar Team took home the Point d’Appui in the Tour de Romandie and is another possibility.
Robert Gesink of Rabobank is probably a long-shot, having won the Point d’Appui at Liége-Bastogne-Liége, and long-shots rarely fall to the middle, although several stages this year favor him.

July 24, 2011

Irizar Wins Point d’Appui at 2011 Tour de France

After striking the balance in Stage 17, Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack held onto the middle position through the remainder of the race to take home the Point d’Appui Award for the 2011 Tour de France. Irizar finished dead middle in the last five stages of the tour and also finished on the cuspide during the non-fulcrum Stage 15.

During the 2011 Tour de France, the lead for the point d’appui changed 6 times and 10 stages ended without a rider at the center. The following show the general classification for le point d’appui in the Tour de France.

Stage One – 198 riders come home – No fulcrum
Stage Two – No fulcrum
Stage Three – No fulcrum
Stage Four – William Bonnet of team FDJ is the first point d’appui of the 2011 Tour de France, coming home 4 minutes and 29 seconds adrift. The Lanterne Rouge, Vincent Jerome of Team Europcar, finishes 27 minutes and 53 seconds behind the leader.
Stage Five – Stuart O’Grady of Team Leopard-Trek becomes le point d’appui, 6 minutes and 10 seconds behind the leader.
Stage Six – Manuel Quinziato of BMC Racing Team is le point d’appui, finishing 8 minutes and 29 seconds behind the yellow jersey.
Stage Seven – No fulcrum
Stage Eight – No fulcrum
Stage Nine – No fulcrum
Stage Ten – No fulcrum. The number of riders is down to 178.
Stage Eleven – Sébastien Turgot of Team Europcar finishes at the middle of the pack — 33 minutes and 8 seconds behind the leader — on the middle stage of the race. The Lanterne Rouge, still Vincent Jerome, is 1 hour, 35 minutes and 50 seconds behind the leader.
Stage Twelve – Bauke Mollema of Rabobank becomes the new point d’appui, finishing 56 minutes and 6 seconds behind the leader.
Stage Thirteen – Rui Alberto Costa of Movistar finishes as the fulcrum, 1 hour, 2 minutes and 32 seconds adrift.
Stage Fourteen – No fulcrum.
Stage Fifteen – No fulcrum.
Stage Sixteen – No fulcrum.
Stage Seventeen – After an abandon by Paulo Tiralongo, the center of the field comes to rest on Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack, who finishes 1 hour, 34 minutes and 26 seconds behind the maillot jaune.
Stage Eighteen – For the second day in a row, Markel Irizar holds onto the maillot gris, although he lost nearly 50 minutes on the day to the leaders, ending at 2 hours, 23 minutes and 59 seconds behind the leaders.
Stage Nineteen – Markel Irizar finishes in l’autobus and continues to hold the fulcrum for the third day in a row.
Stage Twenty – Despite placing in the top third of the riders during the individual time trial on Stage 21, Markel Irizar remains the fulcrum.
Stage Twenty-One – Le point d’appui for the 2011 Tour de France is Markel Irizar of Team Radioshack. Igoi Martinez of Euskaltel-Euskadi claimed the middle of the pack for the final stage, finishing with the same time as 150 other riders on the day. The Lanterne Rouge, Fabio Sabatini of Liquigas-Cannondale, finished 3 hours, 57 minutes and 43 seconds behind winner Cadel Evans of BMC.