July 9, 2016

Périchon Takes First Point d’Appui of 2016 Tour

The mountains of the Pyrenees turned the middle inside out, and the final descent, of course, secured the yellow jersey for Christopher Froome of Sky. Froome — instead of pausing at the top of Col de Peyresourde, final mountain climb of the day — kicked in the after-burners and flew down mountainside into the town Bagnères-de-Luchon.

The brilliance of Froome’s surprise move was the highlight of the day. The low point was the abandon of the race by Michael Morkov of Katusha, who crashed hard during Stage 1 but courageously continued in the race through Stage 7 and even made it over the Col du Tourmalet.

Pierre-Luc Périchon

Morkov’s abandon left 197 riders to come home and the first GC Point d’Appui of the 2016 Tour de France. Pierre-Luc Périchon of Fortuneo-Vital Concept finished at the middle of the peloton to claim the fulcrum position. Périchon finished the 2015 Tour de France on the cusps of the fulcrum and has bobbed in the middle third of this year’s peloton, finishing in the general classification as high as 64th after Stage 3 and as low as 116th after Stage 4. He took a fall while making an attack during the Paris-Nice race earlier this year and cracked his clavicle, but he appears to have recovered fully from it.

The riders on the cusp after Stage 7 were Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg of Dimension Data in 99th place and Simon Gerrans of Orica-BikeExchange in 100th place.

Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18, who went down in the Stage 1 crash with Morkov, takes over the Lanterne Rouge.

July 4, 2016

Tour de France Remains in les Cuspides for Third Day

Paolo Tiralongo

Cyril Lemoine

The peloton took its time on Stage 3 of the 2016 Tour de France, allowing a chance for injured riders to nurse wounds and come home safely. All 198 riders finished the day, although Michael Morkov, who took perhaps the worst of the crashes on Stage 1 dropped into the Lanterne Rouge.

Les Cuspides shifted to two new riders, although one is no stranger to the Point d’Appui. The Italian rider Paolo Tiralongo of Astana Pro Team moved into the 99th spot. Tiralongo won the Point d’Appui in the Tour de France a decade ago. Since then, he joined the Astana team in 2010 and has a string of first-place finishes on stages, three of them in various editions of the Giro d’Italia.

Joining Tiralongo on the cusp of the fulcrum is French rider Cyril Lemoine of Cofidis.

The 223-kilometer course between Granville and Angers saw only one bit of excitement during the day, when Thomas Voekler made the cross from the peloton to the lone rider on the break, Armindo Fonseca of Fortuneo-Vital Concept. That’s how placid the pace was on Stage 3.

The finish of the stage, however, offered a little anxiety while Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel waited to see who won the photo finish. It was Cavendish by a wheel rim.

The two riders on the cusp after Stage 2 — Gorka Izagirre and Vasil Kiryienka — remained near the middle. Izagirre climbed slightly in the standings while Kiryienka fell back 11 spots, leaving les Cuspides open for Tiralongo and Lemoine.

July 18, 2014

Bennati Lands on Fulcrum During First Alpine Stage

Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo slipped back three spots and into the overall Point d’Appui during Stage 13 of the 2014 Tour de France as more abandons narrowed the field to 173 finishers. Vincenzo Nibali again rode in complete command of the race, finishing first atop Chamrousse, the first beyond-category mountain climb.

Bennati, a sprinter, has won two stages in the 2007 Tour de France and the green jersey in half a dozen stage races, including the Vuelta a España. Although Bennati suffered slightly on this year’s first day in the Alps, he did much better than most of the sprinters. He has finished in the general classification this year as high as 70th and as far back as 150th.

Daniel Navarro Garcia of Cofidis, Arthur Vichot of FDJ.fr and Janier Alexis Acevedo Calle of Garmin-Sharp abandoned the race during the stage, . Alexander Porsev of Team Katusha, who helped lead out teammate Alexander Kristoff to the Stage 12 win the day before, had not the energy to finish within the time limit of Stage 13 and was eliminated.

Cheng Ji of Team Giant-Shimano continues to hold onto the Lanterne Rouge, three and a half hours adrift of Nibali.

On the stage, another Tinkoff-Saxo rider, Michael Morkov, won the Point d’Appui. Morkov previously held the general classification Point d’Appui in Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France.

March 3, 2013

Paris-Nice Prologue Unlikely to provide Fulcrum

With 13 teams, eight riders per team and only 2.9 kilometers of prologue, the odds seem highly in favor of all 184 riders coming home later today, leaving us without a fulcrum after the first leg of the 2013 Paris-Nice.

The start and finish in Houilles, just outside of Paris, portends unpredictability though, so who knows what might happen by the end of today’s ride.

There are several riders expected to race who have proved their middle in earlier seasons, such as Michael Morkov and Vasili Kiryienka.

July 12, 2012

Morkov Hits the Fulcrum After Tap Dancing Around It

Michael Morkov

Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank finally caught hold of the general classification Point d’Appui in Stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France. Morkov finished in Les Cuspide on Stage 9 and tip-toed around both sides of the fulcrum on other stages. He finished 1:19:10 behind the leader of the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins, and 1:01:30 ahead of the new Lanterne Rouge, Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda.

Morkov is pedaling an interesting line during this year’s tour, a track rider who manages to grab the mountain climber’s polka dot jersey for several stages and yet still slides into the middle just past the midway point of the tour. Also nibbling around the edges are Yaroslav Popovych and Vladimir Karpets, two riders whom we have been watching for the GC Point d’Appui.

On the stage, Dimitry Fofonov of Astana turned in the Point d’Appui performance of the day, finishing one place behind Jérôme Pineau, who finished as a Cuspide on the Prologue.

Notes on Stage 11:

Cyril Gautier, who held the Point d’Appui GC on Stage 10 continued his climb up the rankings, finishing another 20 places higher after the climbing through the beyond-classification mountains of Stage 11.
Jimmy Engoulvent of Saur-Sojusan climbed a spot to escape the Lanterne Rouge, leaving it to Tyler Farrar.

July 11, 2012

Gautier Climbs into Point d’Appui for Tour de France

The peloton climbing into the Alps on Stage 10

Cyril Gautier

Cyril Gautier of Europcar climbed 70 positions from his general classification standing after Stage 9 to gain the Point d’Appui by the end of Stage 10 of the Tour de France. Gautier was in 158th place in GC after the time trials on Monday, but finished well up on the mountainous Stage 9 to find his way to the fulcrum. His team leader, of course, Thomas Voeckler won the stage.

Les Cuspides after Stage 9 rode in opposite directions with Michael Morkov moving up in the standings and Lars Bak slipping back an equidistant.

On the stage, Fedrigo Pierrick came in at the exact middle of the pack on a day in which the riders hit their first beyond-category climb, going over the Col du Grand Colombier about three-fifths of the way through the day.

July 9, 2012

After Near Misses, Morkov and Bak Find Les Cuspides

Michael Morkov

Lars Bak

Lars Bak of Lotto-Belisol and Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank are the new general classification Cuspides after Stage 9 of the 2012 Tour de France. They finished 89th and 90th respectively in the overall time in a field of 178, both of them coming home more than 38 minutes behind the leader, Bradley Wiggins, and more than 40 minutes ahead of the new Lanterne Rouge, Jimmy Engoulvent of Saur-Sojasun.

Morkov has danced around the Point d’Appui position the last couple of stages, working his way to the middle from deep in the general classification after Stage 1. His early work in the tour to join breaks and then grab the polka dot jersey counted for naught in the GC contention. However, he is proving to have some sticking power and has found his way to Les Cuspides. Bak has made a similar progression, although his proximity to the fulcrum has been wider and more unpredictable than that of Morkov.

On the stage, Christian Vande Velde of Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda finished 89th and Martin Velits of Omega Pharma-Quickstep finished 90th to take Les Cuspides on the day. Velits has come close to GC contention for the Point d’Appui as well, especially during the sprinters’ stages. The mountains might allow him to step out of the middle.

Other notes from Stage 9:

Brice Feillu proved his mettle, escaping the Lanterne Rouge during Monday’s time trial, finishing 88th on the day and squeezing ahead of two other riders, Tyler Farrar and Engoulvent, on the GC time.
Vladimir Karpets and Bernard Eisel, our predictions for improvement in Stage 9, instead slipped further back in the GC standings.
Marco Marzano and Christophe Kern, who held Les Cuspides after Stage 8, also slipped back but are still within striking distance of the Point d’Appui.

July 7, 2012

Mountain Stage Brings New Point d’Appui in Tour de France

Sébastien Hinault at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné

The steep mountain finish on Stage 7 of the 2012 Tour de France has reshuffled the deck and put a new rider — Sébastien Hinault of AG2R La Mondiale — in the general classification Point d’Appui.

The sprinters fell back in overall time and the hill climbers moved forward. The Point d’Appui spun like the revolving door at Macy’s. By the end of the day, 17 riders had abandoned the tour, leaving 181 riders to come home.

Hinault, a sprint specialist, slipped back 15 positions from his Stage 6 finish to land on the fulcrum, 21:12 behind the new tour GC leader, Bradley Wiggans of Sky, and 34 minutes ahead of Brice Feillu, who has suffered illness through the first week of the tour and still holds the Lanterne Rouge.

The Point d’Appui on the stage is Nicki Sôrensen of Team Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank. Sôrensen started the tour a little off the average pace, crept into the front half of the by Stage 3. In Stage 6, he slipped down the general classification significantly, another rider slowed by the late crash in the day. On Stage 7, his finish at the fulcrum brought him closer to the GC Point d’Appui. Expect him to move further up on Saturday.

Major riders who abandoned overnight included Ryder Hesjedal and Robbie Hunter, both of Garmin, and Oscar Freire of Katusha.

Notes on Stage 7:

Les Cuspides on Stage 6 — Sammy Dumoulin and Juan Haeda — both slipped down the GC rankings.
Michael Morkov of Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank unexpectedly held the polka dot jersey through several early stages. Morkov is much better on the track and is hoping to better his 2008 Silver finish for the team pursuit in the upcoming Olympics. The mountains of Stage 7 took the polka dot jersey away from him and pushed him back to within two spots of the fulcrum.