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.

Stage 10 Takes Tour Back into les Cuspides

michael-valgren

Michael Valgren

simon-gerrans

Simon Gerrans

Even as his teammate was winning Stage 10 of the Tour de France, Simon Gerrans of Orica-Bike Exchange was reclaiming a spot at the middle of the pack.

Joining him on the cusp of the fulcrum was Michael Valgren of Tinkoff Team. Valgren was one of the first riders among the main peleton to cross the finish line in Revel, officially in 18th place on the stage. He gave a smiling, shy look back at race leader Chris Froome as if to ask whether he should be crossing the line ahead of the pack. No worries. All the time bonuses and points had been eaten up by the break, and the members of the peloton were all awarded the same time.

Two things conspired to put Gerrans and Valgren at the middle:

  • Peter Sagan of Tinkoff, who held the GC Point d’Appui after Stage 9, moved higher into the standings due to his luck at getting into the break and finishing second on the stage.
  • Sebastian Langeveld of Cannondale-Drapac had to abandon the race.

So, an even number of 192 riders finished the day and allowed Gerrans to move up a place in the standings and Valgren to fall back a place to 97th and 96th places respectively.

Gerrans might prove to be the best contender for this year’s Point d’Appui. He was on the cusp after Stage 7 as well, and he won the Point d’Appui in the 2013 Milan-San Remo Classic.

The winner of this Stage 10 proved to be Michael Matthews, whose teammates in the break helped him slip past Sagan during the cat-and-mouse finish. Sagan, however, recaptured the green jersey as a consolation. The overall leader of the tour continues to be Christopher Froome of Sky,  and the Lanterne Rouge continues to be Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18.