Remember me
American riders have waited years for another Tour de France stage win and decades for another official yellow jersey.
On Tuesday, they nearly landed both.
Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) came within 28 seconds of the yellow jersey and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) sprinted to second.
No U.S. rider has won a Tour stage since Sepp Kuss in 2021.
And no American has donned the yellow jersey — at least officially — since three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond last wore it in 1991.
Both streaks nearly fell on Tuesday in a scorching transition stage along the edges of the Pyrénées.
Quinn couldn’t quite snag the maillot jaune but climbed into second overall.
Simmons sacrificed his chances for the win to set up Lidl-Trek teammate Mads Pedersen for victory and still finished second.
“It’s a good thing we have a lot of confidence in Mads or else I’d be a bit nervous not trying on the climb but I was quite certain once we got him over, we’d win the stage, so that was nice,” Simmons said at the line.
Simmons celebrates second
Pedersen and Simmons celebrate victory at the Tour de France. (Photo: Szymon Gruchalski / BELGA MAG / Belga / AFP via Getty Images)
Simmons comes to this Tour determined to win a stage in the U.S. champion’s jersey.
On Tuesday, he played the loyal teammate and delivered Pedersen to the line before rolling across in second, matching his best Tour stage result after second on stage 6 last year.
“It’s no secret anymore what I can do on a good day, so I don’t need to pretend,” Simmons said.
“I told Mads when we were pre-selecting the team in the winter there would come a day that he would need me to help him win a stage and I’m happy we could do that.”
TOUR DE FRANCE FACT FILE
Last American Tour stage winner
Sepp Kuss — Stage 15 (2021)
Last American to wear the yellow jersey (officially)
Greg LeMond — Stage 11 (1991)
The Coloradan hopes another chance will come before this Tour is over.
“When you have someone like Vacek and Mads, and with me, with our horsepower combined, on a good day, it’s hard to beat us,” he said. “We came here for a stage and for a good GC, so far we’re doing both.”
Of the six American racers in this year’s Tour, it’s Simmons and Quinn who may have the best chance of ending the U.S. stage-win drought.
Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson are fully committed to Jonas Vingegaard, while Matthew Riccitello and Brandon McNulty are riding in support of Paul Seixas and Tadej Pogačar, respectively.
Both Quinn and Simmons have the freedom to chase breakaways, and both seized that opportunity Tuesday in the first successful escape of the 2026 Tour.
Quinn dreaming of yellow
Sean Quinn, left, climbed into second overall at the Tour de France. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Quinn bridged across to the winning move and was soon caught up in a duel for the yellow jersey with Uno-X’s Torstein Træen to ride into yellow.
“I didn’t have it on the climb to get rid of the Uno-X guy so he deserves the jersey,” Quinn said. “I thought we had a chance for yellow, but we stayed calm because you never know what the peloton wants to do. We kept following the moves but I just didn’t have the legs to drop Torstein.”
Quinn started 26th at 5:34 back, but Træen also snuck into the break, starting at 5:06 back at two places on GC ahead of the Californian.
Quinn put everything into attacking over the final Cat. 2 with 40km to go, but with three from Lidl-Trek and two more from Movistar, he knew the odds were against him.
“I didn’t have it on the climb to get rid of the Uno-X guy so he deserves the jersey,” Quinn said. “It would have been great to get up the road. I knew I was not going to beat Mads in the sprint. I didn’t really have the legs to try a solo move, but I didn’t have the snap after a long day like that.”
Yellow jersey dreams will burn for the next few days.
Quinn might be 28 seconds back, but he’s more than 7 minutes ahead of the GC kings like Tadej Pogačar.
After Wednesday’s expected bunch kick into Pau, there’s an outside chance he could still snag yellow in Thursday’s climbing stage to Gavarnie if Træen is dropped and he can stay close to the big favorites.
“It’s nice to be in the mix, but I am also disappointed,” Quinn said. “I’ve had a few tough years, but I’m back where I belong.”
Quinn and Simmons did almost everything right Tuesday, but neither landed the headline prize.
American fans will have to wait a little longer to celebrate a U.S. winner.
Don’t miss a moment of the Tour de France. Get stage previews, insider recaps, and expert analysis from Velo delivered straight to your inbox with the Velo Tour Daily email newsletter.