2015 Tour de France Ends Without Fulcrum; Martens, Perichon on Cusps

An even number of riders finished the 2015 Tour de France on the streets of Paris, so a Point d’Appui can’t be awarded this year. Because of the rain and a likely heightened danger if the entire peloton charged the oily cobbles of the Champs, race officials declared all riders to have the same time for the day, meaning that the two riders on the cusp of the fulcrum after Stage 20 retained their position.

Paul Martens of Team LottoNL-Jumbo and Pierre-Luc Perichon of Bretagne-Séché Environnement are Les Cuspides for the 2015 Tour.

The leader of the race, Christopher Froome of Sky, and the last rider in, Sébastien Chavanel of FDJ, remained in their respective positions as well. Sylvain Chavanel of IAM Cycling, possibly riding his last tour, had the time closest to the median of all racers.

Twelve riders held the Point d’Appui during the course of the race, an average number for the Tour.

The stage-by-stage general classification:

  • Stage 1 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 2 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 3 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 4 – Adriano Malori of Movistar.
  • Stage 5 – Armindo Fonseca of Bretagne-Séché Environnement.
  • Stage 6 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 7 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 8 – Haimar Zubeldia of Trek Factory Racing.
  • Stage 9 – Serge Pauwels of MTN-Qhubeka
  • Stage 10 – Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo, who took a hard fall the next day and had to abandon.
  • Stage 11 – Rohan Dennis of BMC.
  • Stage 12 – Wouter Poels of Team Sky.
  • Stage 13 – Wouter Poels of Team Sky.
  • Stage 14 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 15 – Angelo Tulik of Team Europcar.
  • Stage 16 – Paul Voss of Bora-Argon 18.
  • Stage 17 – Brice Feillu of Bretagne-Séché Environnement.
  • Stage 18 – Perrig Quemeneur of Team Europcar.
  • Stage 19 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 20 – No fulcrum.
  • Stage 21 – No fulcrum.

Dennis at Fulcrum Point on Fulcrum Stage of Tour

Rohan Dennis of BMC

Rohan Dennis of BMC, the new leader in the Point d’Appui competition.

The fulcrum stage of the 2015 Tour de France, Stage 11, saw a new leader in the contention for the Point d’Appui after the previous holder crashed and had to abandon. Rohan Dennis of BMC moved several spots up in the general classification to land on fulcrum point of the fulcrum stage of a difficult mountain stage.

The hot, steep climbs over the Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet put the placement of riders below the top 20 into the jackstraws.

Rafal Majka of Tinkoff-Saxo won the stage atop the hill of Cauterets, riding solo much of the afternoon and dedicating his win in part to his teammate Daniele Bennati, who had led in the Point d’Appui competition after the Stage 10. Bennati crashed hard relatively early in the stage and had to abandon.

Along with the loss of Bennati, the Tour saw five more abandons on the day: Dominik Nerz of Bora-Argon 18, Rui Costa of Lampre-Merida, Daniele Bennati of Tinkoff-Saxo, Johan Van Summeren of AG2R La Mondiale, Ben Gastauer of AG2R La Mondiale and Rein Taaramae of Astana Pro Team.

Chris Froome of Sky still leads the general classification and Michael Matthews of Orica GreenEdge still holds the Lanterne Rouge, but he has gained time on other riders in le autobus. He is less than a minute behind Alex Dowsett of Movistar Team.