How the Americans fared at the Tour de France

Published July 25, 2023 04:15AM

Six Americans started in Bilbao, and four arrived in Paris to celebrate the end of the Tour de France.

Sepp Kuss capped another spectacular season by helping to chaperone Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard to overall victory.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) carried the King of the Mountains jersey into the third week, while Lawson Craddock (Jayco-AlUla) and Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich) rode into breakaways and pulled the hard yards for their captains.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), 12th overall

Kuss finished his fourth Tour with bandages and stitches, yet celebrated the team’s second straight overall title with Vingegaard all the same.

The Colorado climbing ace tumbled out of the top-10 early in Saturday’s stage, but bravely pushed all the way to the line. No way was he going to miss out on the big party in Paris.

Kuss, 28, confirmed again that he’s the peloton’s best climbing domestique and one the most valuable teammates inside the team bus.

After helping Primož Roglič win the Giro d’Italia, Kuss chaperoned Vingegaard across the Tour’s steepest climbs.

“I know I gave it my best, especially for Jonas. That’s what matters most. I’m just happy I got through the day, considering the circumstances,” Kuss said Saturday. “It’s nice to see your name there on the results but when you have the yellow jersey, it’s fine.”

Before crashing Saturday, Kuss was toying with the idea of racing the Vuelta a España next month. Right now, he will recover and reconsider when and where he will race next. First is a big celebration with his teammates, family, and friends.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), 66th overall

In a perfect tactical play, he won the King of the Mountains jersey in the opening stage, and then held it daily except for one day well into week three.

Giulio Ciccone eventually had better legs in the high mountains across the Alps, but Powless, 26, was content with the big effort to chase the polka-dot jersey.

“I hold the KOM jersey to a super high regard, everyone I know thinks it’s an amazing opportunity to go for it,” Powless said. “It was incredible to wear it but I really would like to come back and win it. in my opinion, the win is still the top praise, holding the jersey is incredible but it’s not satisfied my itch to win the jersey.”

Lawson Craddock (Jayco-AlUla), 84th overall

Craddock made the most of his third Tour start. He started as a helper for Simon Yates in a push for the final podium, and helped out on the sprint stage to control things for Dylan Groenewegen.

Jayco-AlUla hit fourth overall with Yates and Groenewegen kicked to third in Paris as the team notched a handful of top-5s across the race.

The 31-year-old Texan made his contribution in stage 15 when he rode to a career-best fourth in a grueling mountain stage in the shadow of Mont Blanc high in the French Alps.

“One of my favorite moments was when I was in the break and race all the way to the line for a result. I was up there for the win with some of the biggest names in the peloton,” Craddock said. “We really raced well here as a team. Cycling is truly a team sport, and unless everyone is working 100 percent, you won’t win.”

Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich), 61st overall

The 22-year-old finished off his first complete Tour and saved the best for last, riding well in the last hard mountain stage Saturday with his Tour-best 23rd.

Team leader Romain Bardet crashed out in the second week, opening up the team for more attacks. Vermaerke attacked into several breakaways across a Tour that will lay the groundwork for future success.

“It seems like such a long time ago we were in the Basque Country. It’s been almost a month, it all just blurs into one big memory. There’s only 12 months in a year and we spend one whole month in this crazy bike race. It’s gone by pretty quick but it’s definitely a big personal achievement for me,” Vermaerke said. “I rode all day pounding away on the front, even just to follow a big day in the mountains with another big day on the front three weeks into a race showed me the physical level is going to take a big step up after this. I’m happy with how I felt, definitely now starting to feel it a bit.”

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) — DNS stage 16

Due to injury, Movistar officials confirmed Jorgenson did not start stage 16. Officials said he has a muscular injury to his left thigh and pain in the saddle area that requires rest to heal properly.

Jorgenson lit up the first week with a long-distance attack that nearly saw him come up a winner on the Puy de Dome. Fourth that day matched his two fourth-places in last year’s Tour to equal his career-best in the Tour.

With Enric Mas crashing out in the first stage, Movistar is all-in for breakaways, and Jorgenson took full advantage by chasing a move in stage 12 in the 168.8km rollercoaster from Roanne to Belleville-en-Beaujolais.

Ion Izagirre spoiled the script by riding away with the win, but Jorgenson hit his first Tour de France podium with third.

“Frustrating — I had the legs to win, but I was the most-marked man in that group,” Jorgenson said at the line in stage 12. “It just didn’t play out. It pisses me off. Every move I made I was covered by Thibaut [Pinot]. Ion went up the road, and he marked me for whatever reason, and the day was over from there.”

Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) — DNS stage 9

Simmons came into the Tour with his freshly minted U.S. national champion’s jersey and arrived in Bilbao determined to go on the attack in breakaways and bring home a stage victory.

The opening profiles in the Basque Country didn’t suit him, and then his team held him in check to work for the sprints once back in France. Things went wrong when Simmons crashed heavily in stage 5, and he did not start Sunday’s stage after struggling through the Pyrénées.