July 17, 2022

Burgaudeau Takes Point d’Appui in 2022 Tour de France

*Mathieu Burgaudeau during an earlier race.*

Mathieu Burgaudeau of B&B Hotels-KTM won the Point d’Appui on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées during the final stage the 2022 Tour de France. He finished 68th, the middle of the 135 riders who survived to the finish.

Andreas Kron of Lotto Soudal, who held the fulcrum position at the end of Stage 19 slipped back to 73rd place by the end of Stage 21. Burgaudeau, on the other hand, spent the entire Tour slowly gaining placement, finishing in 171st place on Stage 1 individual time trial. He slowly chipping away at his deficit, gaining more than 100 places over the course of the 21-stage race.

The French rider Burgaudeau won Stage 6 of the 2022 Paris-Nice race on the ride from Courthézon to Aubagne, France. In 2015, he won the mountain-climbing classification in the Tour du Pays de Vaud, a couple of stages in the 2016 Tour du Valromey, the green jersey in the 2016 Aubel–Thimister–La Gleize, and the white jersey in the 2018 Tour de Gironde, where he finished 3rd overall.

This was his second Tour de France, finishing 131st during the 2020 edition.

Toms Skujiņš, a rider for Trek Segefredo who won the Point d’Appui in the 2021 Tour, finished in 61st place overall this year, several spots above last year’s fulcrum finish.

The winner of the yellow jersey in this year’s tour, Jonas Vinkegaard of Jumbo-Visma, who slipped 2 minutes ahead of Tadej Pogacar on Stage 11 and never faced a real threat during the remainder of the race, matching all attacks by Pogacar in the Pyrenees. Pogacar, who won the 2020 and 2021 Tours de France, retained the white jersey for best young rider again. Vinkegaard also won the polka dot jersey for best mountain climbing. His teammate, Wout van Aert, won three stages on the way to winning the green jersey for best sprinter.

Five American riders out of seven starters finished the 2,068-mile stage race with Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost placing highest at 13th overall. Seth Kuss of Jumbo-Visma was next at 17th place.

Here’s the leader stage by stage in the GC contest for the Point d’Appui:

Stage 1 — No fulcrum
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
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 — Pierre-Luc Périchon of Cofidis
Stage 10 — Matis Louvel of Team Arkéa-Samsic
Stage 11 — Philippe Gilbert of Lotto Soudal
Stage 12 — Jonathan Castroviejo of INEOS Grenadiers
Stage 13 — Kristian Sbaragli of Alpecin-Deceuninck
Stage 14 — Quinn Simmons of Trek-Segafredo/USA
Stage 15 — No fulcrum
Stage 16 — No fulcrum
Stage 17 — Stan DeWulf of AG2R Citroen Team
Stage 18 — No fulcrum
Stage 19 — Andreas Kron of Lotto Soudal
Stage 20 — No fulcrum
Stage 21 — Mathieu Burgaudeau of B&B Hotels-KTM

The Lanterne Rouge was held by Anthony Turgis of TotalEnergies from Stage 3 through Stage 12 of the race until sprinter Caleb Ewan of Lotto Soudal suffered his second crash of the tour and landed him at the back of the pack.

Somehow Ewan managed to stay close enough to the finishers during each following stage to stay within the time cutoff and continue in the race. In the second crash, which happened during State 13, he suffered knee trauma but tried to catch the peloton without success. To add insult to injury, though, Ewan was fined and docked 1 minute of time and points in both the sprinting and mountain-climbing competitions for drafting off a motor vehicle while trying to get back to the peloton. The team car that he followed, from another team no less, was also fined. Despite being the last-place rider for the general classification, Ewan made it into the mix for the sprint finish on the Champs-Élysées.

August 30, 2021

Frain Wins Joe Martin Point d’Appui; Men’s Race Ends Without Fulcrum

Nicole Frain of Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank won the Fulcrum position in the women’s general classification of the 44th annual Joe Martin Stage Race.

Frain, a racer from Australia, finished third in this year’s national time trial championships and eighth in the national road race championship. In the Joe Martin time trial Saturday, she finished 12th on 3-mile hill-climb time trial.

Skylar Schneider of L39ION of Los Angeles won the women’s race while Merrill Thierman of Classic Cycling finished as the Lanterne Rouge after more than a dozen riders either did not finish Stage 4 or came in over the time limit.

In the men’s general classification, an even 66 riders came home on the final stage, meaning no Point d’Appui could be awarded. Chaz Hogenauer of Rio Grande Elite and Aidan Mcneil of Aevolo finished in 33rd and 34th respectively, claiming Les Cuspides.

Tyler Williams of L39ion of Los Angeles won the Yellow Jersey for the race, and Andrew Frank of Team California finished as the Lanterne Rouge.

The Joe Martin Stage Race, based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, U.S.A., runs four days with two rugged road races, a 3-mile mountain climb time trial, and a final criterium on a 1.2-mile loop around the Fayetteville Square and downtown, with a hill to the finish.

The WP women’s Point d’Appui after each stage:

Stage 1 — Gillian Ellsay of InstaFund Racing
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — Nicole Frain of Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank

The WP so men’s Point d’Appui after each stage:

Stage 1 — Walter Alejandro Alzate Vargas of Team Medellin EPM
Stage 2 — No fulcrum
Stage 3 — No fulcrum
Stage 4 — No fulcrum

July 25, 2021

Surprise Finish by Amateur for Gold in Women’s Olympic Race; No Fulcrum

*Anna Kisenhofer, who started the break near the beginning of the Olympic women’s road race, pushes up a short hill toward a Gold Medal finish.*

Omer Shapiro riding in the Olympic women's road race — *Omer Shapiro of Israel while in the break eventually dropped back to 24th position after being caught by the peloton in the last kilometers of the Olympic women’s road race.*

The Netherlands did better in the race for the Halfnium Medal than for the Gold in the women’s Olympic road race, with the Dutch rider Demi Vollering claiming half of Les Cuspides at 25th place among 48 riders who finished. Omer Shapira of Israel at 24th claimed the front half of the cusps.

The amazing Gold Medal finish of Anna Kiesenhofer of Austria, an amateur cyclist who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Lausanne, was the story of the race. Kiesenhofer was the first to make a break at the beginning of the race and was joined in the move by four more riders, including Shapira.

Kiesenhofer broke with her fellow escapists on the climb over the Kagosaka Pass and never looked back, putting her strength as a time trial racer to the test.

*The mathematician Anna Kiesenhofer going for gold in the final kilometers of the Olympic women’s road race.*

Behind her, the peloton and particularly the Dutch riders favored in the race made tactical mistakes that delayed and ultimately doomed any chance of making the catch, finishing more than a minute after Kiesenhofer.

The last time an Austrian won a medal in Olympic bicycle racing was 1896.

Soraya Paladin of Italy came home the Lanterne Rouge.

July 24, 2021

Olympic Men’s Race Ends With No Fulcrum; Iberians Claim Middle

Riders from Iberian peninsula claimed the fulcrum of the 2021 Olympic men’s road race. Olivera Nelson of Portugal and Alejandro Valverde of Spain as Les Cuspides finished 41st and 42nd among the 82 finishers in a race that ended up without a Point d’Appui.

Nelson and Valverde were part of a group of 19 riders who came home together a little over 10 minutes adrift of the gold medalist, Richard Carapaz of Ecuador.

More than 40 riders did not finish the race, many of them abandoning after a large crash with 150 kilometers still remaining.

The Lanterne Rouge went to Hugo Houle of Canada.

July 18, 2021

Latvian Skujiņš Wins 2021 Tour de France Point d’Appui

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

July 3, 2021

Barguil Gains Point d’Appui in Stage 8

Due to a heavy day of mountains and rain, considerable changes occurred in the rankings of the 2021 Tour de France with a change in the both the yellow jersey and the gray jersey, Warren Barguil of Team Arkea-Samsic becoming the latest rider to hold the latter.

Barguil is riding his seventh Tour de France. He won two stages in the 2017 edition as well the polka dot jersey and finished 10th overall that year. He also won two stages in the Vuelta a España way back in 2013. Although a strong mountain climber, he’s playing second fiddle to Arkea teammate Nairo Quintana.

Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates obliterated the field of general classification riders with impressive climbs over the Côte de Mont-Saxonnex, the Col de Romme and finally the Col de la Colombière, gaining almost 2 minutes over the next best rider, Wout Van Aert of Jumbo-Visma.

Dylan Teuns of Bahrain Victorious won the stage, and Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal remains the Lanterne Rouge, 1 hour and 33 minutes adrift of Pogacar.

July 2, 2021

Schär Is New Point d’Appui After Stage 7

Michael Schär of AG2R Citroën Team found his way to the Point d’Appui of Stage 7 of the 2021 Tour de France as Omar Fraile Mantannza fell four places.

Schär, one of the top Swiss riders for the past decade, is competing in his 11th Tour de France. He nearly always finishes in the top half of the peloton, winning stages in two previous tours. He has also won the combativity awards on three Tour stages, including Stage 3 this year. He also held the Point d’Appui in the 2020 Tour at the end of Stage 13.

Roger Kluge of Lotto Soudal finished 25 minutes behind all riders on the Stage 7 and wound up with the Lanterne Rouge, probably lucky to escape being cut on time.

Matej Mohoric of Bahrain Victorious won the stage, riding away from a large break-away group that included a goodly number of GC contenders, including Mathieu Van der Poel, who retained the yellow jersey.

July 1, 2021

Costa Moves Into Middle of Peloton After Time Trial

Rui Costa of UAE Team Emirates holds the Point d’Appui after Michael Woods slipped one spot during the time trials of Stage 5 of the 2021 Tour de France.

Mathieu Van der Poel, not a classic time trialist, rode well enough to retain the yellow jersey, although a flawless race by Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates allowed him to erase the time differences incurred earlier in the race.

Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Team BikeExchange retains the Lanterne Rouge.

June 30, 2021

Omar Fraile Drops Into Fulcrum as Cavendish Scores Second Stage Win

Omar Fraile Matarranz of Astana-Premier Tech fell seven positions from Stage 5 as numerous sprinters and their lead-outs moved slightly up in the standings during Stage 6, just far enough for him to land in the Point d’Appui.

Among the sprinters was an old guy from the Isle of Man who won his second stage of the race, rocketing into the lead at the last moment. Mark Cavendish won his 32nd Tour de France stage, closing within the record number of 34 held by Eddy Merckz.

Fraile, a mountain-climbing specialist, won the polka dot jersey in the Vuelta a España in 2015 and 2016, as well as stages in the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France. It’s his first time at the fulcrum of Le Tour.

Ide Schelling of Bora-Hansgrohe has moved into the Lanterne Rouge, less than a minute behind the previous holder, Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Team BikeExchange.

Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Fenix remains in the yellow jersey.

June 30, 2021

Once a GC Contender, Woods Is New Point d’Appui for Tour

Michael Woods, the GC hope for Israel Start-up Nation, got caught up in the second crash of Stage 1, losing nearly 9 minutes on the leaders. In Stage 3, he came home another 2 minutes adrift, leading to his arrival at the fulcrum position by the end of Stage 4 of the 2021 Tour de France.

Woods said after the end of the stage that the peloton was united in a desire for safer races. He told Cyclingnews: “I think more can be done and I think we need to be united in the future and take a bigger stance. … I think we need to be more united and more courageous and take bigger stands in the future.”

Just outside Redon, the riders staged a ‘sit-on,’ coming nearly to a stop near the start to protest the dangerous crashes through the early part of the race.

The Lotto Soudal rider Caleb Ewan, who went down hard at the end of Stage 3, did not start Stage 4, leaving 177 riders in the race.

Among them was the surprise winner of the stage, Mark Cavendish, the comeback quid. It was his first Tour de France win since the days when Donald Trump was still mostly known as a failure at building casinos, publicizing his college and giving to charities.

Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Fenix remains in the yellow jersey, and Amund Grøndahl Jansen of Team BikeExchange is the new Lanterne Rouge of the race, almost 36 minutes behind the leaders.