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Who was the highest ranked American cyclist in the 2022 Tour de France?

The 2022 tour de france had strong showings by multiple american riders, with powless as the best in the general classification..

Jonas Vingegaard won the Yellow Jersey, Pogačar won three stages and fought till the end , Wout Van Aert led the race at some point of almost every stage, but this Tour de France gave us many more storylines to remember, such as an American rider finishing better than anyone, even his team, expected: Neilson Powless

Powless, a Native American domestique turned into leader

EF Education-Easy Post is an American team founded by Jonathan Vaughters and are well known by their eye-catching jerseys. They came to this Tour de France with Magnus Cort Nielsen as their prospective stage winner and Rigoberto Urán as their best hope for a good result in the overall standings. One worked out, the other did not. Nielsen won stage 10 after a long breakaway, but he had to withdraw five days later due to Covid-19. Urán, who finished second in 2017, had a top-10 GC finish as his objective, which he had achieved in the last three seasons, but he was nowhere near it this year, ending up 26th at +1h48′18′'. This left Neilson Powless, a rider who was supposed to help Urán, as the strongest one in the team and finishing way higher at 13th.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by EF Education–EasyPost (@efprocycling)

Powless became the first Native American to take part in the Tour de France in 2020, and he has not stopped progressing. He is just 25 years old, an age at which cyclists usually start to show their potential and achieve results. In modern cycling, there are titans like Pogaçar or Evenepoel who are able to dominate from way earlier in their careers, but that does not mean that Powless cannot keep improving as he ages. The American rider only has one professional win so far, albeit an impressive one, the Clásica de San Sebastián 2021 , ahead of 2022 Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohoric.

Powless came close to wearing the Yellow Jersey during the first week of this Tour, just 13″ behind Van Aert at stage five and 4″ behind Pogaçar after the seventh. Finishing just +46′57″ behind Vingegaard, Powless has proved that he can be more than a simple domestique and that he may not yet be ready to fight for grand tour victories or podiums, but he is already a better bet to finish in the Top-10 than his teammate Urán.

Kuss and McNulty, deluxe domestiques

The two other Americans who had a great role in this Tour de France were Team Jumbo Visma’s Sepp Kuss and UAE’s Brandon McNulty, as they helped their leaders get through the most difficult stages and get to Paris safely. Kuss has been showing his climbing strength for years now, and he was just another incredible rider in a team full of them, making Vingegaard have a teammate with him at all times , either the American or Van Aert after Roglic withdrew.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sepp Kuss (@seppkuss)

McNulty had even more responsibility helping Pogačar due to UAE’s weaknesses and injuries. They both finished in good spots of the general classification even after all their work, with Kuss at 18th and McNulty at 20th.

• Vuelta Femenina

Tour de France 2023: the great American expectations

Seven Americans who we think will shake up this year’s Tour and spring some surprises

Logan Jones-Wilkins

Junior writer - north america.

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Velo Collection (Tim de Waele) / Getty Images

Sepp Kuss leading Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar on the Hautacam during the 2022 Tour de France

While the number and prominence of Americans at the Tour de France has fluctuated over the past decade, 2023 is set to be an edition where the American contingent will play an important role throughout the three weeks of racing.

America does not yet have a sprinter who can compete for Tour stages, nor a rider with the credentials to fight for a GC podium, yet the riders here are some of the most talented and dynamic racers within the entire peloton. Who are they and what will they be up to? Read on for our predictions.

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) – Durango, Colorado

Sepp Kuss during the Giro d’Italia where he assisted in Primož Roglič’s overall victory

When talking about Americans at the Tour de France, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) is the only name to start with. Not only has he won a Tour stage – which is one more than any other riders on this list – but he was also fundamental in Jonas Vingegaard’s 2022 Tour victory. Furthermore, Kuss is fresh off of pulling Primož Roglič around the mountains of the Giro d’Italia for three weeks, helping the Slovenian win his first pink jersey. By all accounts, and in particular his Strava account, Kuss’ fitness has only grown. The Durango native is, at this point in his career, becoming a signature figure in the Tour. Surely, 2023 will be no different.

What to expect

Sepp Kuss to do his Sepp Kuss thing: ride uphill faster than almost everyone. First in the Jumbo-Visma mountain train will be Christophe Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonck. Then will come Tiesj Benoot, Wout van Aert and Dylan van Baarle. Finally, Wilco Kelderman will raise the pace. Behind him, Kuss will be dancing away with a diminutive Jonas Vingegaard, most likely wearing a slightly more yellow jersey, trailing close behind. It will be, once again, a staggering line-up of talent punctuated by some of the peloton’s strongest pure climbers. In what will be Kuss’ fourth Tour, his MO is clear as day - help his leader win the race.

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) – Boise, Idaho

Velo Collection (Dario Belingheri) / Getty Images

Matteo Jorgenson during the stage 4 time trial at the Critérium du Dauphiné

Beyond Sepp Kuss, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) is the American who will probably make the biggest dent in the race, if his spring is any indication of where his fitness will be come July. Despite a good spring, though, June has not been kind to Jorgenson. While he started strong in the Critérium du Dauphiné, two hard crashes on the go-slow stage 3 dampened what was looking like an infallible build to the summer.

For those of you who may have missed it, his spring included second overall at the Tour de Romandie, a fourth place behind ‘the big three’ at E3 Harelbeke, and top 10 finishes at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Nice.For that very reason, Jorgenson is one of the most interesting riders in the peloton. He is almost old school in his slow, iterative development. Each year, the American just gets better. While his peers may have been more prodigious out of the junior ranks, Jorgenson had a graft that hasn’t slowed down. But progress at this point in his career seems to be more of a fork in the road – with one hand pointing to a one-day and stage hunting focus, and the other towards a GC focus – than a defined path forward.

Jorgenson is an enigma when it comes to expectations. Will Movistar demand the hearty all-rounder stays by leader Enric Mas? Will Jorgenson have a stage hunting role? Or, with his  burgeoning week-long stage race CV, will the Movistar man try his hand at his first Grand Tour top 10? For the man from Idaho, the Tour seems to be his oyster.

Likely, with the rumours circling overhead of a move to Jumbo-Visma for 2024, Jorgenson will be looking for every chance to grab personal glory. Thus, expect Jorgenson to be dutifully by Mas’ side for some of the days, and far in front of the peloton on others. A high GC place is much more likely to come from a ‘shoots and ladders’ approach and less likely to come from being a sticky mountain domestique.

Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) – Sacramento, California

Velo Collection (Luc Claessen) / Getty Images

Neilson Powless rolling to the start after the team presentation at the 2023 Fleche Wallonne

Three riders finished in the top 10 of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Nice this spring. One is Tadej Pogačar, and the other two are on this list: Matteo Jorgenson, and Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost). In any other year, with any lesser rider than Pogačar steamrolling the early season, Jorgenson and Powless’s exploits would be lauded sky high. But that is not the world we live in and cycling is very much about what one has done lately.

In Powless’s case, that has not been a whole lot. While the American Classics rider was active in the Tour de Suisse, it was a big step down from the competitiveness he showed at last year’s Tour dress rehearsal where he finished 4th overall. Nonetheless, Suisse is small fry compared to July and the American team EF Education-EasyPost will have big designs for their home rider and second-best UCI point-scorer.

What exactly those designs will be, however, is up for discussion. Similar to Jorgenson, Powless is stuck between moments to find his own stage options and in playing a more supportive role in a team that will have a former podium finisher in Richard Carapaz leading the GC charge. While Carapaz, on paper, would be very well suited for this year’s Tour route, the Ecuadorian had a shocker of a Dauphiné after a stop-start spring that has produced more questions than answers when it comes to his Tour form. While Powless may have started the summer Grand Tour season with the perspective of being more of a domestique than he was last year, the recent races suggest things might have to be more fluid in the EF camp.

If the American team was to relinquish its GC ambition with Carapaz, who is as adept as a stage hunter in Grand Tours as a GC man, Powless would be one of five proven winners. Between Carapaz, Magnus Cort Nielsen, Alberto Bettiol, Rigoberto Urán and Powless, EF have multiple options for any stage that doesn’t end in a group gallup. From that perspective, and with the questions around Carapaz, this Tour seems like a fantastic forum for Powless to elevate to Tour de France stage winner.

Quinn Simmons (LIDL Trek) – Durango, Colorado

Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Quinn Simmons climbing up Le Tolfe at the 2023 Strade Bianche

Quinn Simmons is back to the Tour de France and will come with a brand new shirt to boot! The American road race champion is coming off of a bit of a resurgence in form after an anonymous couple of months of racing and will be motivated to put on a show with the stars and stripes. That being said, Simmons often seems to prioritise the show and the audacity he is capable of in favour of being a shrewd racer, so on the biggest stages he is often left holding the bag as more experienced riders take the spoils. Yet, as shown by Simmons power file at the recent national championship, he has the power to be in almost any stage winning breakaway at the Tour. The key will be if this is the year his racing nous can translate being there to winning.

What to expect:

With motivation and momentum on his side, this year provides ample opportunities for Simmons to come good from a breakaway. It is his second Tour and only his third Grand Tour, so with some experience under his belt to boot, expect to see the American in better positions to perform at the pointy end of affairs. What might end up foiling him, and foiling any breakaway rider, would be Tadej Pogacar’s need for bonus seconds on the medium mountain days, but that might be premature speculation. There are certainly days that suit the powerhouse from the high mountains of Colorado and you can count on Simmons making a number of successful breakaways, and, possibly, stealing a march on those other top tier stage hunters.

Joe Dombrowski (Astana Qazaqstan Team) – Marshall, Virginia

Joe Dombrowski during the 2022 Tour de France, his first go at the race

Astana Qazaqstan has a clear objective but an awkward solution. With Mark Cavendish coming on board, and the Manx Missile chasing the all-time stage wins record this year, Astana will have a successful tour if they manage to get one win with one man. But sprinting is never that simple and, to be frank, Astana does not have the depth to field seven domestiques who can all capably support Cavendish in the sprints. Furthermore, Astana has had success with established riders on the roster, namely Alexey Lutsenko, and will be hoping to be competitive beyond the sprint stages.

With those diverse objectives in mind, Astana has tried to create a team with balance, despite their lack in depth, and are calling on Joe Dombrowski to double up this Grand Tour season with his second Tour start in as many years, following a ride at the Giro this May. While Dombrowski has had a subdued year so far, there will be at the very least opportunity to chase breakaways during the climbing stages at this year's Tour.

Unfortunately, the chances for pure climbers outside of the GC battle to win stages is expected to be sparse. Both Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates will have incentives to keep a tight leash on escapees and it seems likely that this will take the win away from potential breakaway riders on the few summit finishes on this year's route. With Dombrowski’s climbing characteristics, this means his chances of taking a stage to match the win he secured in the 2021 Giro are slim. Nevertheless, expect to see him up the road in the Alps and trying to find something special. Dombrowski often comes good in the final week of Grand Tours, so look out for him there especially.

Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM - fermanich) – Orange County, California

(Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)

Kevin Vermaerke leading Romain Bardet at the recent Tour de Suisse

Kevin Vermaerke is one of Team DSM’s numerous young riders who fit a similar mould. Vermaerke is a good climber, but not a stand out. Vermaerke is a rider who has made strong results at the U23 classics level, but has yet to develop into a rider that can withstand the classics at the World Tour level. Yet, he is starting his second Tour in two consecutive years with a fairly open role outside of duties to protect Romain Bardet. At only age 22, things are still progressing for the man from Southern California and there is a wide open horizon. The question is will this be the Tour where he can elevate his stock through an individual performance or in a supporting role?

Vermaerke’s selection was a bit of a surprise, but with strong climbing performances at the Tour of Suisse it seems as if he earned his way onto the team by being present and able to help Bardet to a top-five overall when the going got tough. In the Tour, where DSM will have the split agenda of a high GC result for Bardet and sprint wins for Sam Welsford, Bardet will need a few riders to be there constantly for the three weeks. In the battle for the Tour GC, little moments of support can pay dividends as contenders rise and fall. For Vermarke, his objective in this tour will be to help manage the falls and springboard the rises.

Lawson Craddock (Team Jayco-AlUla) – Austin, Texas

Lawson Craddock during the stage 3 time trial at the Tour de Romandie

Lawson Craddock has ridden the Tour twice during his career and is best known for the pain he endured to make it through one of them. The Texas native was badly hurt in the early days of the 2018 Tour de France and soldiered on, raising money along the way. It was a fight that drove lots of buzz and goodwill, but ultimately has not been followed by a great deal of further success for Craddock beyond the consecutive US TT championships he won in 2021 and 2022. That being said, Craddock has been a staple of Jayco-AlUla’s roster at important races throughout his two seasons with the Australian outfit, and has the potential to continue to grow into that domestique role.

With a single Grand Tour top three to his name, do not expect Craddock to play a huge role in the fight for stages at the 2023 Tour, but that doesn’t mean he won’t have an impact on the race. It is likely that Craddock will be in a breakaway or two along during the race, but his main role will be to support sprinter Dylan Groenewegen and GC hope Simon Yates. That hierarchy at Jayco seems fairly set in stone, and Craddock will be a key domestique.

A good year for American success

Sepp Kuss’s stage win in the 2021 Tour was only the second American stage win since the ill-fated years of Lance Amstrong and Floyd Landis, but the current generation could change that soon. From the Americans on Tour this year, to the young riders who did not make this year’s cut – namely Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) – there is a sea change in the expectations of Americans on cycling’s biggest stage. These riders are, undeniably, rubbing shoulders with the best riders in the world.

This seven rider line-up illuminates the state of American cycling by providing the perfect contrast between the two generations of the country's cycling talent. On one side are the two relative veterans in their early thirties in Dombrowski and Craddock. Solid riders with solid upside (Dombrowski’s emphatic Giro stage win is still fresh in many American die-hard fans minds), but not world beaters. On the other side are four world-class talents in their twenties who all can win stages. This year it seems increasingly likely that the Americans will go from knocking on the door of Tour success to bursting through the threshold. Expect, as a whole, for this to be the year where Americans win multiple stages at the Tour de France and end up with a rider back in the top 10 in the GC by Paris.

• Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• Nationality United States of America
• UCI Wins 10
• Height 1.8m

Matteo Jorgenson

• Height 1.9m

Neilson Powless

• Team EF Education-EasyPost
• UCI Wins 11
• Height 1.83m

Quinn Simmons

• Team Lidl-Trek
• Height 1.82m

Joe Dombrowski

• Team Astana Qazaqstan Team
• Height 1.85m

Kevin Vermaerke

• Team Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Height 1.79m

Lawson Craddock

• Team Team Jayco-AlUla
• Height 1.78m

Tour de France

• Dates 1 Jul - 23 Jul
• Race Length 3,401 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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Logan Jones-Wilkins is GCN’s North American junior writer. From Denver, Colorado, he covers North American and European cycling for the website.

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2022 Tour de France: Who are the Seven Americans Competing?

As the 2022 tour de france kicks off, here’s everything you need to know about the seven americans competing this year., by julia elbaba • published july 1, 2022.

The 2022 Tour de France is officially underway.

The event, known to be the world's "most prestigious and most difficult" race, includes seven determined Americans seeking the iconic Tour de France trophy and a cash prize of $528,000. 

The action, consisting of 176 riders from around the world, kicks off on Friday, July 1 with the Grand Depart in Copenhagen, Denmark and concludes on July 24.

Americans competing in the different stages of the epic competition can be watched on Peacock and the NBC Sports app.

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Here are the seven Americans competing in the 2022 Tour de France:

Sepp Kuss 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sepp Kuss (@seppkuss)

Sepp Kuss is the American to watch.

Last year, the 27-year-old won stage 15 of the Tour de France, becoming the first American to win a stage of the event since Tyler Farrar, who won stage 3 in 2011.

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Making his third appearance at the prestigious event, Kuss has also won a stage of the Vuelta de España.

Kuss currently rides for Jumbo-Visma.

Neilson Powless

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Neilson Powless (@neilsonpowless)

Neilson Powless was the first US Native American to compete in the Tour de France. He is a member of the Oneida Indian Nation.

Now competing in his third Tour de France, the 25-year-old Powless won the 2021 San Sebastian Classic in Spain, becoming only the second American to achieve that.

Powless currently rides for EF Education-EasyPost.

Brandon McNulty

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Brandon McNulty (@brandon_mcnulty)

Brandon McNulty is competing in his second Tour de France.

The 24-year-old’s first tour was in the 2022 Giro d'Italia where he finished 15th overall.

In 2021, he rode in the Tour de France, serving as a domestique for teammate and race winner Tadej Pogacar. A domestique is a rider who works to help and lead their team.

McNulty currently rides for UAE Team Emirates.

Joe Dombrowski 

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Joe Dombrowski (@joedombro)

Although Joe Dombrowski has been around for a while, he is making his Tour de France debut this year. 

The 31-year-old won a stage in the 2021 Giro d'Italia and has made four appearances in the Vuelta de Espana.

Dombrowski currently rides for Astana Qazaqstan but has spent time with Team Emirates, Splitstream, Bontrager-Livestrong and Team Sky.

Matteo Jorgenson

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Matteo Jorgenson (@matteojorgenson)

Matteo Jorgenson is also making his Tour de France debut and will ride in a support role for Spanish Movistar Team lead rider Enric Mas.

The 23-year-old has competed in one other tour in his young career -- the 2021 Giro d'Italia.

Kevin Vermaerke

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kevin Vermaerke (@kvermaerke)

Kevin Vermaerke is making his Tour de France debut this year.

The 21-year-old has competed in two other tours, winning the ub-23 Liege-Bastogne-Liege and finishing fourth in the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Vermaerke currently rides for Team DSM.

Quinn Simmons

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Quinn Simmons (@skin.quimmons)

Quinn Simmons is the youngest American competing at this year's Tour de France.

In 2021, the 21-year-old got himself in some trouble for actions he took on Twitter. In the incident, Simmons tweeted a black hand emoji and said "Buh-bye" in response to a cycling journalist who told supporters of former president Donald Trump to unfollow her.

Simmons was reinstated after issuing an apology and denying racist intent.

Simmons currently rides for Trek-Segafredo.

This article tagged under:

Saturday, April 27, 2024 2:22 am (Paris)

• Tour de France

Tour de France: The new wave of American cycling

Seven riders from the United States were on the starting line for this year's Tour, the most since 2014. The new generation has finally freed itself from the shadow of Lance Armstrong.

By  Aude Lasjaunias

Time to 3 min.

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When he was a child, Quinn Simmons wasn't really into cycling. The American from Durango, in the mountains of Colorado, was a little "annoyed" to see his father spending so much time in front of the television watching the Tour de France. Young Quinn was more into skiing and mountaineering.

Five years later, however, the 21-year-old is sporting a smile – rarely masked despite the threat of Covid-19 – as he takes part in road cycling's premier event for the first time. "The final decision was made during the Tour de Suisse [which he finished on June 21, with the polka-dot jersey of best climber]. In my head I had prepared as if I was going, but you are always a little nervous until the last yes," the Trek-Segafredo rider said.

Simmons is the youngest rider in this year's Tour de France, and one of seven Americans who left from the starting line in Copenhagen on July 1 – a first since 2014. "I'm convinced that this number will continue to grow," said Kevin Vermaerke (DSM), who was forced to pull out on the 8 th stage, between Dole (Jura) and Lausanne (Switzerland), on July 9.

'Less support in the US'

"There have been several American waves in the Tour: in the 1980s with Greg LeMond, then in the early 2000s with Lance Armstrong. We're on the third," said French-American photojournalist James Startt, the author of Tour de France/Tour de Force. A Visual History of the World's Greatest Bicycle Race (2000), who has 33 Tours under his belt.

What is striking about this new wave is both its youth and the fact that is shared throughout the peloton. Apart from climbers Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), 27, and Joe Dombrowski (Astana-Qazaqstan), 31, the other five riders are 25 years old or younger. Most importantly, they all ride for different teams, whereas in the past, the American contingent rode for US-based teams such as 7-Eleven, Motorola or US Postal.

Brent Bookwalter, who spent much of his career with one of them (BMC Racing), sees this as a sign of changing attitudes. "As a young rider, as an American, riding for a French or Spanish team means immersing yourself in a different culture, and that used to seem very intimidating," said the Albuquerque, N.M., native and Tour consultant for Flo TV.

There is another, more prosaic explanation: "There is less support for road cycling in the United States: fewer races, fewer teams, less infrastructure," he said. This is due to the economic situation, but also the doping cases that had a strong impact on sponsor engagement and the public's enthusiasm.

The ambiguous legacy of Armstrong

In the mid-2000s, the United States could boast of having won the Tour de France 11 times: Greg LeMond (1986, 1989 and 1990), Lance Armstrong (1999-2005), and Floyd Landis (2006), which at the time was more than Italy and Spain. But Floyd Landis was disqualified after being tested with a testosterone level 11 times higher than normal. He was followed by Lance Armstrong in 2012.

Former road rider Ian Boswell grew up watching the "boss." In his eyes, Armstrong's legacy remains ambiguous: "Lance is the reason why we have invested so much in cycling in the United States," said the 30-year-old. "This guy from Texas who managed to dominate the most prestigious event in the world showed us that it was possible."

His fall left a void and his countrymen have long been stereotyped as "dirty" riders. But the biggest problem, he insists, was that a good part of his generation wanted to be general classification riders, "when they would have been better on more specific terrain." Like Tejay Van Garderen, a time trial specialist, but rarely consistent over a three-week race.

Going forward, the ambitions are more subdued and varied. "I'll probably never be a general classification rider in a three-week race, but maybe after a few years on the road I can aim for the one-week races," said Simmons, for example.

'The image of the champion'

The results are starting to show. On July 7, 2021, Sepp Kuss crossed the finish line in Andorra la Vella solo, giving the United States its first Tour de France stage win since Tyler Farrar in Redon in 2011.

In the first week of the 2022 race, Neilson Powless (EF Education EasyPost) came within seconds of donning the yellow jersey. Not since Tejay Van Garderen in 2018 has an American been so close to the top of the overall standings, when Van Garderen was tied on time with Belgian teammate Greg Van Avermaet after the team time trial.

According to many followers, the Star-Spangled Banner of the United States is less visible on the roadside than during Armstrong's heyday. Throughout the country, "road cycling is still very much tied to the image of a champion," said James Startt. "I've seen it as a teammate of Tejay's, riding with him through the highs and lows of his career: the Americans loved him when he was doing well and booed him when he was doing poorly," said Brent Bookwalter. "This group, today, can share that burden. It's not as if any of them are being branded as 'the' new face of American cycling who is the focus of all hope." They will have time to find their strengths and build this new wave over time.

Aude Lasjaunias

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr ; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.

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Sepp Kuss in red was only the start: 8 American cycling pros to watch in 2024

Was “GC Kuss” just the start of reviving the American Dream in cycling?

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When American Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) took home the red jersey at La Vuelta in 2023, he was met by parades in his hometown of Durango, Colorado and surprising praise from American actor Ben Stiller who had followed the entire La Vuelta, cheering Kuss on along the way.

Compatriot Veronica Ewers has risen to prominence in the past two years with a top 10 finish at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after having spent most of her cycling career as an amateur. 

We know there is talent in the legs and hearts of American riders. With the road season now upon us, here's who to follow in 2024. And who know? These riders may just spark an American cycling revival .

Despite his team’s seeming unwillingness to let a domestique claim a grand classification victory, Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) ended up winning La Vuelta a Espana in 2023, much to the happiness of his hometown in Durango, Colorado and American cycling enthusiasts nationwide. Kuss’ win made him the first American in a decade to win a Grand Tour . As such, thousands came out to celebrate Kuss when he returned to the Mountain West to celebrate his La Vuelta victory.

Kuss also finsihed 12th overall in the 2023 Tour de France, where his strength on key climbing stages helped secure teammate Jonas Vingegaard’s win. After being in the top 10 overall for much of the Tour, a nasty crash in stage 20 bumped Kuss down to 12th, where he remained for the rest of the Tour. 

Kuss is undoubtedly a talented rider with more grand classification wins in the realm of possibility. But knowing that Team Visma-Lease a Bike's focus is on Vingegaard, will he ever get another opportunity to go for the win like at La Vuelta? Time will tell. 

Neilson Powless

Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost) is now in his fifth year with EF Education-Easypost and arguably had his best year yet in 2023.

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He started 2023 with a win at Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille as well as the overall at Étoile de Bèsseges. He continued to impress at Dwars door Vlaanderen where he finished third and then rounded things out with a fifth place finish at the Tour of Flanders . 

At the 2023 Tour de France, Powless wore the polka dot jersey for a whopping 13 days, becoming the first American to do so since 2017. Powless’ climbing prowess makes him sure to be a key player in this year’s Tour de France, whose route is notably hilly with five summit finishes.

Matteo Jorgenson

Another American known for his climbing skills, Idaho native Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) made his Tour de France debut in 2022 with Team Movistar, where he came dangerously close to winning stage 16. 

In 2023, Jorgenson was poised to win the stage at Puy de Dôme , but ran out of gas with about 1km to go, ultimately finishing in fourth. Still, though, Jorgenson noted he was pleased with his effort and felt there was more effort to be given on another day.

This year will be Jorgenson’s first on Team Visma-Lease a Bike and he’s wasted no time getting acquainted with teammates like Wout van Aert, cruising around the Tour of Flanders route with van Aert in November.

Brandon McNulty

Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) is the current U.S. National time trial champion after finding the top step at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in 2023. And McNulty won by a good chunk of time, too - silver was nearly 90 seconds back. Also in 2023, McNulty won Stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia .

McNulty has started 2024 off with a bang, winning the Grand Classification at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain. He has also been given the go-ahead by his team to go for more wins this season.

Veronica Ewers

Another Idaho native, Veronica Ewers (Team EF Education-Cannondale) has had a meteoric -and unorthodox- rise to prominence in professional cycling.

She attended her first-ever group road ride in 2018 on a used Kona Jake the Snake cyclocross bike in tennis shoes. Despite her unassuming appearance, Ewers’ talent for cycling was undeniable, and by mid-2021, she stood atop the U.S. Pro Nationals podium with a bonze medal.

In 2022, Ewers finished ninth overall at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift , and many eyed her for another top 10 finish - if not higher - in 2023. Unfortunately, Ewers was unable to show her prowess fully at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift when a race-ending crash in Stage 6 sidelined her. 

This year, there will certainly be a focus on Ewers to see if she can find redemption at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after the physical and emotional rollercoaster of dropping out last year. 

Chloe Dygert

After two years of career-threatening injuries and illnesses, American cycling star  Choé Dygert  made one hell of a comeback in 2023. 

The multi-discipline star won the  U.S. national time trial and road race  in dominant fashion before taking home two additional World Titles in Glasgow later that summer in the Individual Pursuit event on the track and in the time trial race on the road. 

Heading into an Olympic year, Dygert is favored to win gold in the women’s time trial and individual pursuit, bringing back shades of when fellow and her former coach American Kristin Armstrong won three Olympic golds in the individual time trial in the early and mid-2000s.

Kristen Faulkner

Kristen Faulkner (Team EF Education-Cannondale) is no stranger to stage wins, having racked them up at the Tour Féminin de l’Ardèche, the Ladies Tour of Norway, the Tour de Suisse and the Giro Donne. 

A string contender in the race against the clock, Faulkner finished sixth in the individual time trial at the World Championships in 2022, and in 2023 became the Pan American TT champion, after covering the 20.1km course in 25:45. 

Faulkner had a rollercoaster year in 2023, which saw her struggle with injury and make headlines with a disqualification at the March 2023 Strade Bianche after being caught wearing a continuous glucose monitor, whose use is banned in-competition by the UCI. As a result, Faulkner lost a podium spot in the race.

Faulkner is likely hungry to avenge her disqualification in 2024 for her new team, EF Education-Cannondale and will probably be just as hungry to not forget to remove her continuous glucose monitor before a race, too.

Coryn Labecki (née Rivera)

Coryn Labecki is the most veteran of the American women listed here, having spent nearly 20 years as a professional cyclist and earning the title of Olympian at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

In 2023, Labecki won the U.S. National Criterium Championships (her 73rd national title, we might add), so you’ll find her sporting a stars-and-stripes edition of the EF Pro Cycling kit in any criterium until she’s unseated. 

Always dangerous in a sprint, the five-foot-nothing "Pocket Rocket" is perhaps best known for winning the  Tour of Flanders in 2017 ,and remains the only American, male or female, to have done so. 

After riding in service of Marianne Vos for the Jumbo-Visma team, Labecki signed on to join the newest American team, Jonathan Vaughters' EF Education-Cannondale .

Labecki knows the ins and outs of most races on the circuit - and that, along with her decades of experience makes her an incredibly valuable rider and teammate. Don’t sleep on Labecki for any sprint finish. 

Pro cyclists from the U.S. are poised to make a splash in 2024 with the right team, tactics and, of course, a little bit of luck. We'll be rooting for our U.S.A compatriots as they bring the stars, stripes, polka dots and whatever else this year has in store.

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Kristin Jenny is an elite triathlete based near Boulder, Colorado. Although most of her time is spent in aerobars somewhere in the mountains, she finds time to enjoy eating decadent desserts, hiking with her husband and dog, and a good true crime podcast. 

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American duo dominate race against the clock in Swiss race, Juan Ayuso nudges into overall lead ahead of decisive climbing stage.

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Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield delivered an American sweep Friday at the wet and rainy third stage of the Tour de Romandie .

Racing in more favorable conditions than later starters, the American duo roared to the top spots in the 15.5km race against the clock in Oron on mostly dry roads.

McNulty edged out compatriot Sheffield by just under 13 seconds with a winning time of 20:07 for an average speed of 46.244kph.

The victory is the fifth this season for the UAE Team Emirates star who’s enjoying a big step up in quality and consistency .

The results are another sign of the arrival of a new generation of American talent in Europe. Sheffield is slated to make his grand tour debut at the Giro d’Italia next month.

UAE teammate Juan Ayuso was best among the GC favorites, and raced into the overall leader’s jersey. The Spanish rider and other GC later starters rode in rainy, wet conditions that slowed their times.

McNulty and Sheffield both lost time earlier in the race, and had no chance to take the jersey.

The race continues Saturday with the decisive mountaintop finale in the 159.2km stage fro Saillon to Leysin. A first-category climb should see more separation in the GC.

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Team UAE prodigy Ayuso takes Tour de Romandie lead

A merican rider Brandon McNulty won the Tour de Romandie third stage individual time-trial on Friday as his UAE Emirates teammate Juan Ayuso took the overall lead.

Ahead of Saturday's decisive Queen stage in the high mountains McNulty was fortunate to cover the 15.5km course before the rain arrived.

"Yeah it's my first win here so I'm very happy, I had a good day and was lucky to go before the bad weather," said the American.

Belgian rookie Thibau Nys the overnight leader finished way down the field after his exertions Thursday in an all day escape took their toll.

The yellow jersey was taken by the 21-year-old Spaniard Ayuso who appears perfectly suited to go on and win the Tour in the mountains as the UAE prodigy continues to emerge from the shadow of the team's top rider Tadej Pogacar.

Ilan Van Wilder is second at seven seconds and Alexandr Vlasov third at 10sec, with Carlos Rodriguez and Lenny Martinez rounding out the top five.

Ayuso said at the start he was hoping to "take time back before Saturday" and he achieved that, taking all the time back and then some.

"I suffered, but I took some risks and I'm in a good position to defend the jersey now," he said after the stage.

Another up-and-coming all-rounder Frenchman Martinez was 16th on the day but was delighted with his overall fifth at 23sec, and his prospects given his 52kg weight and the mountain stage ahead.

"That was a good day's work, yes we lost time to McNulty but he raced in the dry. I put in a good shift and I'm looking forwards to tomorrow," said the 20-year-old FDJ man.

Saturday's run to Leysin features five climbs and two of them are category ascents including the final 14 kilometres long ascent to the finish line averaging six percent.

The top three across the line also gain time bonuses Saturday.

Rating the Tour de France top 10

From Caruso to Pogacar, we assess the performance of this year's best GC riders

The 2020 Tour de France standings were turned on their head in the final time trial on Saturday, with the youngest winner in over 100 years, Tadej Pogacar ( UAE Team Emirates ) coming out on top. 

Joining the then 21-year-old on the podium were two riders in their 30s – Primoz Roglic and Richie Porte – while the rest of the top-10 was made up of experienced team leaders and valuable super domestiques.

Cyclingnews  takes a look at where the 2020 Tour de France leaves its top-10 finishers, and what now lies ahead.

10th: Damiano Caruso (Bahrain McLaren)

Age:  32

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  A consistently impressive third week in which the veteran held his form while several around him began to fade. His La Planche des Belles Filles time trial performance was one of the best of his career.

Tour report:  Caruso came into the Tour de France with no aspirations of his own as the Bahrain McLaren squad pinned their hopes on Mikel Landa. However, as the race evolved and Rod Ellingworth's men began to find their legs after a bruising first week, Caruso became the benchmark for their stability in the mountains. He was consistent and dependable – two factors that define his career – and although he's still missing a WorldTour win to his name, his reputation as a super domestique has been enhanced by his Tour performance.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Won the Circuito de Getxo-Memorial Hermanos Otxoa in early August

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Tour 2021? There are so many factors around this: not least whether Ellingworth wants to throw all his climbers into supporting Landa for the second time of asking. 

Route profiles will be key, but if WorldTour points become the team's main ambition and the team don't think Caruso's presence at the Tour would make the difference between Landa finishing fourth or fifth, then the Italian might be dispatched to the Giro d'Italia, where he has had top-10 success in the past.

9th: Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

Age:  28

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Several days in the yellow jersey.

Tour report:  The future Ineos rider came to win stages, but other than his third place to Julian Alaphilippe and Marc Hirschi in Nice, the Englishman never really threatened. 

It looked as though he was caught in two minds between losing time and retaining a top-10 position but as the race wore on, it was clear that his GC aspirations had overtaken stage hunting through long breaks. It made sense. Why give up a top-five in the final week when the race was demonstrating that a number of early breaks weren't surviving? 

Yates' game-plan wisely changed to solidifying a top 10, and then looking to exploit any weaknesses for possible stage wins. The latter part didn't come off, and his time trial saw him eventually drop two places to ninth, but that's still the equal-second best GC result in his career over three weeks, and proof that he can be a factor in major tours.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Beating Pogacar to win the UAE Tour.

Tour 2021?  Everyone thought that they had Ineos' Tour team dialled in two weeks prior to the race, and look what happened there. Yates is an exceptional rider, and one that could well benefit from the Ineos environment, but they've signed so many proven talents to complement an already exceptional squad that they could legitimately have competitive teams at all three Grand Tours and Yates would still play a secondary role.

8th: Rigoberto Uran (EF Pro Cycling)

Age:  33

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Vying for a podium spot all the way until the final few days.

Tour report:  Uran came into the Tour as one of three possible GC leaders for EF Pro Cycling but after Daniel Martinez crashed on stage 2 and Sergio Higuita crashed out on stage 15, the veteran became the American squad's focal point outside of stage hunting. 

Everything looked on course until the Alps, and when the favourites began to really test each other, Uran was found wanting. He rallied with a brave TT on the penultimate day, but his final place in Paris was a fair reflection of his performance. 

He has come a long way since his crash last year, but when the hammer went down, he just didn't have it. 

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Part of a winning TTT ride at the Tour Colombia.

Tour 2021?  Uran is a figurehead within the Slipstream organization, and he provided valiant cover for the team in this year's Tour when the rest of their GC cards folded. But the Colombian – who will be 34 in January – could find himself in the role of road captain and mentor to younger options next season, rather than the go-to guy for a top 10. 

That said, if Martinez does move to Ineos, then EF can't rely on Higuita at every turn. And while he may not be the force he once was, Uran is still a consistent performer.

7th: Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma)

Age:  29

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  It should have been his second place on the final time trial but it's probably best if he doesn't mention that in the Jumbo-Visma Whatsapp group.

Tour report:  Dumoulin effectively sacrificed his GC ambitions in the Pyrenees and then slipped into the role of super domestique as Jumbo-Visma built their overall challenge around Roglic. The Dutchman had several key cameos in the race, and on a personal level he should be proud of how he's bounced back from a terrible 2019. 

If Roglic had seen off Pogacar in the final time trial, the world would be hailing Dumoulin as the final piece in the jigsaw that helped Jumbo-Visma win the Tour. As things stand, the Dutch team will have to open an inquest into how they managed to lose the race despite their depth and domination. Was their strength in numbers a façade? Was Roglic simply undone by one bad day? Or could Dumoulin – as Steven Kruijswijk mentioned on the first rest day – have been utilised in a different way? 

Hindsight is wonderful, but those questions will loom large over the entire team for months to come.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Not much to choose from because he didn't race until post-lockdown, but probably seventh overall at the Criterium du Dauphine.

Tour 2021?  At some point, Dumoulin will want his chance at Grand Tour glory, so the question for Jumbo-Visma will be whether they repeat their plan for a second year running or opt for something else. 

George Bennett has already earmarked the Giro for next year, but once this year's postmortem is complete, the management will need to pick up their riders and devise a new plan.

6th: Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team)

Age:  26

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Winning stage 17 with one of the few major attacks from one of the GC riders in this year's race.

Tour report:  If you'd offered Lopez a stage win and sixth overall at the start, or when he got up off the floor having ridden into a lamppost and bush on stage 1, he probably would have taken it. But despite the success he gained in his maiden Tour, he arrived in Paris with some of the shine worn off. 

It's a shame, because this year's route was well suited to the Colombian, with no cobbles, just one day in the crosswinds and no time trial kilometres of any kind until the penultimate day. 

He seemed to improve as the race wore on, but his final time trial undid so much hard work. That said, only four riders inside the top 20 overall won stages, leaving the Colombian with plenty to savour.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Fifth overall in the Criterium du Dauphine or winning a stage in the Volta ao Algarve.

Tour 2021?  Lopez is a very underrated GC rider. Out of seven Grand Tours, he has finished six and never been outside of the top eight since an initial DNF. Outside of the Grand Tour winners, there are few riders with that level of consistency. Lopez's time trial, however, will always be an issue, and whether he returns to the Tour or heads back to his Giro/Vuelta comfort zone will very much depend on the routes once they are presented. At 26, though, he deserves another shot at the Tour.

5th: Enric Mas (Movistar)

Age:  25

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Moving into the top-five after coming good in the Alps.

Tour report:  Mas was barely visible in the opening half of the race, and either conceded time or fell towards the back of the group of favourites during a number of the early skirmishes. But he found his form on the Grand Colombier with a dogged ride, and then backed that up with two more top 10s in the Alps and then an excellent time trial ahead of Paris. 

He may have ghosted his way through much of the race, and only on the road to La Roche-sur-Foron did we see some aggression, but the rider from Mallorca answered many of his critics with a fifth-place finish in Paris.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  20th in the Dauphine, which demonstrates Mas' incredible turnaround.

Tour 2021?  When it mattered most, Mas rose to the challenge. He came into this race with huge pressure on his shoulders, because not only was he replacing Landa and Quintana at Movistar but he also had to spearhead a team that hadn't taken a single win since the opening weeks of the season. 

Having Alejandro Valverde's shadow looming over him probably didn't help, but the 25-year-old did enough to not only suggest that his 2018 Vuelta result wasn't a fluke and that he should be Movistar's leader for both the short and long-term.

4th: Mikel Landa  (Bahrain McLaren)

Age:  30

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Equalling his best-ever result and being part of a team that actually did more than follow.

Tour report:  There were always questions over Landa's podium credentials heading into the Tour, and they only amplified when most of the Bahrain-McLaren team crashed on stage 1, and then Landa himself lost time in the crosswinds on stage 7. 

To his and Bahrain McLaren's credit, they showed resilience with the former Movistar man moving from 19th to fourth overall by the time the race reached Paris. There were flashes of his ability in the mountains, but when the final selections were made, Landa was found lacking that one or two per cent that would have made his podium chances more realistic. 

His attitude and application to alter his tactics on repeated days in the Alps were admirable, but it's quite possible that Landa has reached the limits of his Tour potential.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Second overall in the Vuelta a Burgos.

Tour 2021?  If Bahrain McLaren had the funds to sign another Grand Tour leader to provide competition or an alternative for Landa, they probably would, but due to financial pressures, they'll probably return to the Tour in 2021 with a squad once more built around the Spaniard. 

They might provide less cover, with Dylan Teuns and Sonny Colbrelli allowed to target stage wins, but Landa is their best and only proven Tour de France leader over three weeks.

3rd: Richie Porte (Trek Segafredo)

Age:  35

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  The comeback on the gravel and the time trial of his life to seal third overall.

Tour report: Porte came into this race with little to no pressure after a 2019 that was plagued by illness and a number of setbacks. However, as a GC rider in the Tour, he saved his best for last, with a string of consummate performances in the mountains that led to a fully deserving spot behind the Slovenian pair at the top of the standings. 

There was a mini-wobble in the crosswinds, but the way he and Trek kept their heads, especially after losing Bauke Mollema to a crash, deserves credit. Mads Pedersen was immense when it came to protecting the Australian, but it's Porte who deserves the spotlight. After all the hard knocks and brutal crashes, he finally has a Grand Tour placing his talent deserves. What a great way to end your time as a GC leader.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning a stage and the GC at the Tour Down Under.

Tour 2021?  Unlike Yates, the Australian heads to Ineos with no aspirations of leadership in major three-week stage races, as he looks to find stability and calmness in what are likely to be his final two years as a pro cyclist. 

There's honour in that: dropping down into a previous role and admitting that family life and needing to find enjoyment in cycling are major priorities, so if Porte does return to the Tour in 2021, it will be as a super domestique. If you think that's a step backwards, re-watch the footage of from 2013 and 2014 and see just how important Porte was for Chris Froome.

2nd: Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  It's hard to look for positives after such a crushing defeat, but there's still plenty for Roglic to be positive about, including his stage win and the fact he came so close to winning a second Grand Tour in a row.

Tour report:  He fell heartbreakingly short of fulfilling his and his team's quest to win the Tour de France with a performance that flipped between the unbeatable to the unthinkable in just 36.2km of racing. 

This was not a classic Tour by any means, but the final individual test provided a stark reminder that no matter how dominant a rider and especially his team can look, it can all unravel in the blink of an eye. 

Roglic and Jumbo-Visma will have a long, hard winter in which to analyse where they lost this race, and there will be no easy answers. For Roglic, this signifies a much tougher blow than his Giro defeat last year, but it's often forgotten that despite being 30, he is still learning how to lead. 

For now, the overriding feeling will be one of bitter disappointment, but he will not argue with the result: Pogacar simply rode a better race.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning the Tour de l'Ain.

Tour 2021?  The knee-jerk answer would be yes. Roglic can time trial and climb, and if there's a team time trial next year, then he instantly has an advantage over all of his rivals. 

Whether Jumbo-Visma suit up all their stars for the Tour for a second concentrated tilt remains to be seen; sprinter Dylan Groenewegen will only sit on the sidelines for so long, but dispatching Roglic back to the Giro might knock his confidence significantly, and even though Dumoulin is improving, the Slovenian remains the team's best rider.

1st:  Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)

Age:  22

Highlight of the 2020 Tour:  Providing the best smash-and-grab performance the Tour de France has ever seen, and taking the mountains classification and the best-young-rider prize alongside yellow.

Tour report:  If you're still struggling to understand exactly what happened at La Planche des Belles Filles, don't worry – you're not alone. But what you witnessed was a standout performance from a highly rated 22-year-old (21 when he won) who decimated the entire field with a time trial that only Eddy Merckx apparently saw coming. 

Until that point, Pogacar had ridden a near-perfect race. Other than the loss of time in the crosswinds, he was imperious in the Pyrenees, and he demonstrated both calmness and a clinical mindset as he slowly chipped away at Roglic's lead. 

Whether Jumbo were oblivious to the danger or simply couldn't put enough distance into the UAE rider is a question only they can answer, but his win at the Grand Colombier showed that he wasn't in the mood for settling for second overall.

Best non-Tour result of 2020:  Winning two stages and the overall in Valenciana.

Tour 2021? Never in doubt, but those comparing him to Merckx need a timely reminder that they were saying the exact same thing 12 months ago in relation to Egan Bernal.

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Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.

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These Are the American Pro Cyclists We’re Most Excited to Watch This Season

Is it just us, or does it smell like team spirit?

For the first time in a long time, there is a crop of young American cyclists making noise in both the men’s and women’s WorldTour pelotons.

And whether they’re seasoned veterans like Sepp Kuss or Krista Doebel-Hicock, or aggressive upstarts like Matteo Jorgenson and Veronica Ewers, it’s thrilling to tune in to a Grand Tour or a one-day-race and see the United States once again being represented amongst the world’s fastest bike racers.

As we head toward the season’s final spring Classics and its first Grand Tour, here are the men and women representing America in this year’s UCI WorldTour pelotons.

Nielson Powless

Throughout this entire spring, there has been a ton of excitement around EF Education-Easypost racer Nielson Powless. The 26-year-old already has two wins this season—GC victories in Etoile de Bessèges and the Grand Prix Marseille—along with third place at Tour des Alpes-Maritimes, third at Dwars door Vlaanderen, fifth at the Tour of Flanders, sixth overall in Paris-Nice, and seventh overall in Milan-San Remo.

Considering as much, many eyes are trained on Powless—who, as a member of the Oneida Indian Nation became the first Native American to compete in the Tour de France—hoping he’ll make some noise in the coming Grand Tours.

Matteo Jorgenson

There was a bunch of excitement last year around the 23-year-old Jorgeson, with several American pundits predicting he would win at least a stage in the Tour de France. Of course, that didn’t happen. However, Jorgenson—who grew up in Walnut Creek, California—did solidify himself as a breakaway specialist in the 2022 Tour, putting his team Movistar at the center of the broadcast for hours on end, and finishing ahead of the peloton on three separate stages.

He’s already notched a few wins this year, with a stage victory leading to an overall GC win in February’s Tour of Oman. He also took the points classification and the young rider jersey in that race. Jorgenson has continued his strong spring, finishing fourth in the E3 Saxo Classic thirty-three seconds behind only Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, and Tadej Pogačar. He also finished eighth at Paris-Nice and ninth at the Tour of Flanders.

Brandon McNulty

It can’t be easy being on a team with a rider many already consider to be one of the greatest ever. But for 24-year-old Phoenix native Brandon McNulty, there may be no greater learning curve than working as a domestique for Tadej Pogačar on UAE Team Emirates.

A talented time trialist, McNulty is finding his own time to shine as well, winning the young rider classification in this year’s Tour of the Basque Country, where he finished eighth overall.

At 28-years-old, Sepp Kuss is the seasoned veteran amongst America’s elite cyclists. Known as one of the world’s most talented climbers, Kuss’s team Jumbo-Visma leaned on the Durango, Colorado product to help get their eventual GC winner Jonas Vingegaard up several grades in last year’s Tour.

And while Kuss finished fifth overall in February’s UAE Tour, his focus this spring has been more on training than it has on racing, prepping to work towards Jumbo’s hopeful defense of Vingegaard’s yellow jersey. We’ll get a look at his form in the coming weeks during the Giro.

Of course, American women are making their presence felt in the women’s peloton this season, too. And with some major races on the horizon, they’re poised to have perhaps their best season ever.

Veronica Ewers

Within one season of becoming a UCI Women’s WorldTour professional, 28-year-old Veronica Ewers has gone from a rookie to the highest-ranked American rider in the peloton.

Last season saw the Moscow, Idaho native notch a win at the Clasica Femenina Navarra, a second place in the Grand Prix Elsy Jacobs, a fifth in the Tour de Romandie, an eighth in the Women’s Tour, and a ninth in the Tour de France Femmes. And though she finished thirty-third in the Amstel Gold Race, the EF Education-Tibco-SVB rider is considered a threat in the Grand Tours to come.

Megan Jastrab

Just 21-years-old, Apple Valley, California’s Megan Jastrab is one of the biggest hopes for American women in the future of the WorldTour stage. After winning Junior World Championships in both the road race and a pair of track categories (Madison and Omnium), Jastrab signed with Dutch racing outfit Team DSM.

Jastrab spent the following two years learning the ins and outs of racing in the WorldTour peloton and her 2023 is off to a promising start. She finished Paris-Roubaix—a feat unto itself—the Tour of Flanders, and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. But her best results were a second-place finish in Gent-Wevelgem and a fourth in Brugge-De Panne.

Ayesha McGowan

At 36-years-old, you might assume Atlanta’s Aeysha McGowan has more experience than any of her American counterparts. However, her route to professional racing was more circuitous than most. She didn’t start racing until her mid-twenties, when she entered the first women’s field of the fabled Red Hook Crit. She raced domestically for a few years after that, signing with Liv Racing.

In 2021, she made her WorldTour debut racing in the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche. And while she hasn’t enjoyed many successes on the bike in regards to wins, podiums, or classifications, she does hold the most important distinction of anyone on this list: McGowan is the first Black American woman to race bikes professionally.

Coryn Labecki

Garden Grove, California’s Coryn Labecki is coming back from injury, hoping to rebound with a strong season for her Jumbo-Visma team this year.

Though her 2023 campaign has been off to a bit of a rocky start, with DNFs in Amstel Gold, Gent-Wevelgem, and Strade Bianche, the 30-year-old Labecki is always a threat anytime a sprint finish is part of the equation.

Krista Doebel-Hickok

Though she’s been a highly regarded professional since 2015, EF Education-Tibco-SVB racer Krista Doebel-Hicock burst onto the scene last season with an absolutely dominant performance in the Tour Fèmenin International des Pyrénées.

It was there that the 33-year-old native of Marina del Ray, California captured the general classification, the mountains classification, and the points classification, along with two individual stages and the team time trial. Her best result this season came with a fifth-place showing in the GC competition in January’s Santos Tour Down Under.

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Texas MS 150 Bike Tour Returns To Aggieland

Texas A&M University will once again serve as the finish line for thousands of cyclists riding in the Texas MS 150 when the 40th annual charity bike tour concludes Sunday on Houston Street between Kyle Field and Aggie Park.

The two-day event benefiting people with multiple sclerosis — a condition that damages the body’s nervous system by eroding the protective coating of nerves — will run April 27-28, with a variety of routes beginning in Houston and Austin before converging in La Grange and again in College Station. Texas A&M Transportation Services is advising drivers to anticipate multiple road closures and potential delays beginning early Sunday as the riders make their way through campus.

A section of Lamar Street starting at the bell tower will be closed to drivers throughout the day, while Houston Street will remain closed from George Bush Drive to Joe Routt Boulevard. Riders will make their way down Olsen Boulevard and Old Main Drive before passing the Memorial Student Center and Kyle Field on their way to the finish line. A map of the route through campus, as well as accompanying road closure and parking information, can be found at transport.tamu.edu/ms150 .

Visitors planning to watch the participants finish are invited to park in one of the three nearby garages: Gene Stallings Boulevard Garage and University Center Garage will both charge a flat $10 entry fee, while West Campus Garage charges an hourly visitor rate. Additional parking information is available on Transportation Services’ event parking page .

The National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s Bike MS, which encompasses the Texas MS 150 and a variety of other charity rides across the country, traces its roots to 1980, when the first MS 150 was held in Minnesota. Today, it is the largest fundraising cycling series in the world. Participants in this year’s Texas MS 150 have already raised nearly $7 million to fight multiple sclerosis, with an overall fundraising goal of $9.425 million. More information about the Texas MS 150 and Bike MS is available at events.nationalmssociety.org .

Media contact: Tad Fifer, Texas A&M Transportation Services, [email protected]

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