- Six Americans are competing in the Tour de France on five different teams.
- Sean Quinn is the highest American in the standings, sitting 12th overall.
- Riders are coping with record heat in the first third of the 2,063-mile race.
Americans in the Tour de France have acquitted themselves well in the Tour de France as the three-week bike race took its first of two rest days Monday.
Though it might not be reflected in the standings, each of the six riders have played integral roles in their team’s success in brutal heat through the first nine stages of the 21-stage race. Race organizers shortened Sunday’s mountain stage as temperatures again soared over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
On Sunday, more than a third of France was placed under the country’s national weather service’s highest level of alert.
The heat led the Association of Professional Cyclists, which represents professional riders, to say that race start times must “evolve” to “protect athletes’ health” given the increasing frequency of extreme heatwaves, per the BBC.
“It’s a big topic to discuss, but if I could have the power to change it all, I would change all the calendars, and I would not race in July and August in the hot places, and do a completely different calendar,” said Tour de France race leader Tadej Pogačar.
Here’s a looking at how the Americans in the race are doing:
American Brandon McNulty has helped pace his UAE Emirates teammate Tadej Pogačar to the overall race lead, a familiar spot for the four-time Tour winner from Slovenia. Yellow jersey wearer Pogačar has a 2-minute, 42-second lead going into Stage 10 on Tuesday. McNulty is 25th overall.
Jonas Vingegaard, of Denmark, sits in second overall with Americans Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson helping shepherd him through a couple of early mountain stages. On Stage 6, Kuss chipped a front tooth when the mouth of his water bottle struck his face over a bump, breaking off an existing crown. The Visma-Lease a Bike riders will look to cut into Pogačar’s lead when the race resumes. Kuss is 20th overall, while Jorgenson is 28th.
As usual, American national champion Quinn Simmons has been at the front of the peloton setting the pace for his Lidl-Trek teammate Mads Pedersen, who leads the green jersey competition as the best sprinter. Simmons also continues to hunt for his first Tour de France stage win. He is 41st overall.
Sean Quinn, who rides for the American team EF Education Easypost, found himself in second place overall after Stage 4 and again after Stage 5, only 28 seconds from dawning the yellow jersey. Pogačar seized control of the race on the steep Col du Tourmalet, ending Quinn’s place among the leaders. He currently sits in 12th overall, top among American riders.
Racing his first Tour de France, Matthew Riccitello continues to be a key mountain support rider for the Decathlon CMA CGM team leader Paul Seixas, a 19-year-old rising star who is chasing the yellow jersey and currently sits 6th. Riccitello is 90th among the 176 riders remaining in the race. Eight have dropped out due to injury or illness.