Story by Sean Mackinnon
The Tour de France, the biggest race in cycling, starts on Saturday, July 4th. This will be the 113th running of the race that starts, this year, in Barcelona, Spain and finishes in the traditional fashion in Paris. The outright favourite is Tadej Pogacar, the reigning champion and current world champion. Jonas Vingegaard, who won the Giro d’Italia in May, sits miles behind in bookmakers eyes, with young French superstar Paul Seixas slotted in as third favourite to win. The race is made up of 21 stages with 184 of the best road cyclists in the world competing. The best part about the Tour is that anything can happen and, with 21 opportunities to crown a stage winner, there is always a reason to tune into the action over the three weeks.
This year’s race includes one team time trial stage, one individual time trial, seven flat stages, four hilly stages and eight mountain stages. In terms of North Americans competing at the Tour this year, there are six riders from the United States, along with some notable mentions from other countries north and south of the border. A number of these riders will have an opportunity to compete for one of the 21 wins and they might even contend for one of the prestigious Yellow (GC), Green (Points), White (Young Rider) and Polka Dot (King of the Mountains) jerseys. Here are a few of the North American crew to keep an eye on at this year’s Tour:
Quinn Simmons (USA)
Quinn Simmons races for World Tour Outfit Lidl – Trek. He is the three-time National Road Race Champion and is making a third appearance at the Tour. A dramatic World Tour win on fourth stage of the Tour Auvergne – Rhone-Alpes race in June, followed by his successful defence of his National Road Race title in Charleston, South Carolina recently sets Simmons up to be a figure at the front of the race, trying to secure a stage win in the stars and stripes. While on deck to support teammates Juan Ayuso, who will be targeting the GC, and Mads Pederson, who is set to contend for the Green points jersey. Simmons is coined Captain America within the pro peloton. After a second place finish on stage 6 of last year’s Tour, it would be shocking to not see him fight for a win or two this year.
Sean Quinn
Sean Quinn is a 26-year-old racing for the American outfit EF Education – EasyPost. This will be Quinn’s second time starting the Tour having raced it last in 2024. The former national road race winner will be a key support rider in the opening stage Team Time Trial and will support the likes of Ben Healy and Richard Carapaz in the team’s ambitions for stage wins, not to mention the coveted yellow jersey. EF held the overall lead at the race for a number of days last year.
Brandon McNulty (USA)
Brandon McNulty races for UAE Team Emirates – XRG, one of the strongest teams, on paper anyway, at this year’s Tour. Making his third appearance at the race, he will support reigning champion Tadej Pogacar. The 28-year-old has been with the outfit since 2020 and has a contract inked until the end of 2030 after a string of impressive wins in 2025. Some highlights of last season included a win at GP Montreal, along with an overall win and stage win at the Tour of Polonge. McNulty will be an important engine in the opening Team Time Trial where his UAE team will try to set the fastest time. He will also be an important domestique in the mountains for team leader Pogacar, having just recently finished sixth overall at the Tour de Suisse stage race earlier this month.
Matthew Riccitello (USA)
Matthew Riccitello. Photo: Decathlon/ ©P.Ballet_A.Broadway
Mattthew Riccitello moved to Decathlon CMA CGM for the 2026 season. The promising 24-year-old American will make his tour debut in Barcelona and be a pure climbing talent to support teammate Paul Seixas on the mountain stages. Riccitello has won three races this year, two stages and an overall win at Tour de la Provence. All of his victories this season have happened on French soil, so look for the youngster at the pointy end of the race when the roads head uphill in support of team leader, or for a chance to win a stage for his French team.
Matteo Jorgenson (USA)
Matteo Jorgenson will make his fifth Tour start this year. The 26-year-old competes for Team Visma Lease a Bike and will help team leader Vingegaard contend for a third Tour win. A two-time Paris Nice stage race winner, Jorgenson had some strong finishing results this season with a second place overall at Tirenno and a fourth place at the newly coined TARA World Tour stage race in early June. The young American will be in a support role for most of the race, but could end up with some freedom on a few stages to chase a victory for himself.
Sepp Kuss (USA)
Another Visma Lease a Bike rider, Sepp Kuss, is coming into the Tour on the back of a successful Giro stage victory and was a crucial cog in Vingegaard’s Giro win. The 31-year-old is a veteran grand tour racer. In 2023 he competed in all three tours, winning the final grant tour of the season at Vuelta a Espana. His team took a hat-trick that year in three week races. Look to see him in the high mountains near the front of the race supporting the team leader, or in a breakaway as a satellite rider with the freedom to chase a stage win.
Derek Gee-West (CAN)
Derek Gee-West will join a number of riders queued up for the Giro-Tour double. The 28-year-old came off of a strong fifth place overall at the Giro, and followed that up with a win at the Canadian TT nationals just weeks before the start in Barcelona. The Canuck makes his second appearance at the Grand Depart after finishing ninth overall in 2024. He will support team leader Juan Ayuso among a strong team with a number of team ambitions. With the form current riders seem to carry from grand tour to grand tour, it would be no surprise to see the Canadian fighting for a win at the biggest race of the year.
Isaac Del Toro (MEX)
Isaac del Toro was the runner up at the Giro last year and will make his first appearance at the Tour in 2026. The UAE Team Emirates – XRG rider has accumulated 29 pro wins in his short career – he is just 22 years old. He recently won Tour Auvergne – Rhone Alpes and has won every stage race he has finished this year – a crash in April forced him to abandon the Itzulia Basque Country Spanish race. Del Toro makes his Tour debut and will be on deck as Tadej Pogacar’s last line of defence in the high mountains. He will also play an important role in the opening stage Team Time Trial in Barcelona. The Mexican has burst onto the scene over the last two years and, if given an opportunity to ride for himself, could end up on the podium after three hard weeks of racing.