Tim Declercq

Toms Skujiņš of Trek-Segafredo won the Point d’Appui on the ride into Paris during the final stage of the 2021 Tour de France. The race had been without a fulcrum for four stages, but the abandonment of the race by Jakob Fuglsang of Astana-Premier Tech before the start of Stage 21 left 141 riders to come home in Paris.

The grey jersey changed hands 13 times during the race, with two riders — Omar Fraile Matarranz and Rui Costa — holding the Point d’Appui after two separate stages each.

Skujiņš, 30, has raced in the Tour de France since 2018, holding the polka dot jersey for five stages during the 2018 edition and being awarded the combativity award on Stage 5 of both the 2018 and 2019 editions. He finished in 81 or 82 in previous tours and finished at 71st place this year. Skujiņš held the Point d’Appui briefly during the 2019 Tour de France when he landed at the middle of the peloton at the end of Stage 19.

Trek-Segafredo’s support of GC leader Vicenzo Nibali lasted until the second rest day, at which point Nibali abandoned to begin preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. Skujiņš made the best of the tour by jumping into several breaks on the latter stages.

The winner of the three-week race was the Slovenian incumbent, Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates, who had a comfortable lead over other competitors since midway through the race, having won four stages of his own. As in the 2020 Tour de France, Pogacar also won the white jersey for best young rider and the polka dot jersey for best mountain climber of the tour.

The Lantern Rouge went to Tim Declercq of Deceuninck-QuickStep, who finished nearly 5 hours behind the leader, Pogacar. The team title went to Bahrain Victorious, which incurred a hotel raid by French police after Stage 17 looking for evidence of doping.

Highlights of the tour include:

The across-the-board range of Wout van Aert, the Belgian rider for Jumbo-Visma who won a flat stage, a mountain stage, the Stage 20 time trial and then the sprint finish on the next day’s final stage on the Champs-Élysees of Paris.
The return of Mark Cavendish of Deceunink-QuickStep to the sprints winning the green jersey and five stages, bringing his career total to 34 and tying the career record stage wins of Eddy Merckz. Despite
The top-25 finish of the oldest rider in the peloton this year Alejandro Valverde of Movistar Team, who won his first stage of the Tour de France in 2005 during his first appearance in the tour.
A strong showing and win on Stage 15 from the top American in the race, Sepp Kuss of Jumbo-Visma, during his first time in the tour.

The Point d’Appui through the stages:

Stage 1 — Jelle Wallays of Cofidis
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
Stage 3 — Michael Woods of Start-up Nation
Stage 4 — Omar Fraile Matarranz of Astana-Premier Tech
Stage 5 — Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates
Stage 6 — Omar Fraile Matarranz of Astana-Premier Tech
Stage 7 — Michael Schär of AG2R Citroën Team
Stage 8 — Warren Barguil of Team Arkea-Samsic
Stage 9 — Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal
Stage 10 — No fulcrum
Stage 11 — No fulcrum
Stage 12 — Connor Swift of Team Arkea-Samsic
Stage 13 — Benoit Cosnefroy of AG2R Citroën Team
Stage 14 — Tao Geoghegan Hart of Ineos Grenadiers
Stage 15 — Lorenzo Rota of Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux
Stage 16 — Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates
Stage 17 — No fulcrum
Stage 18 — No fulcrum
Stage 19 — No fulcrum
Stage 20 — No fulcrum
Stage 21 — Toms Skujiņš of Trek-Segafredo

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.

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