Here’s Where the American Riders in the 2023 Tour de France Stand After the First Week of Racing
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A few days ago, there was no way to know that a pair of Americans would spend most of Sunday’s Stage 9 putting on an absolute thrill of a show up the Puy de Dôme. And though it was not to be for Matteo Jorgenson, who spent nearly thirty miles leading the race solo only to be caught with five-hundred meters to the finish, or Neilsen Powless, who looked in as good a position as anyone at the bottom of the absolutely brutal climb, it was a treat to watch a pair of American racers at the front of the pack, fighting for a stage win in the 2023 Tour de France.
It's been a banner year for the Yanks, mainly due to the fact that Powless has spent much of the first week in the polka dot jersey. But it’s also impossible to ignore the work of Sepp Kuss, who has been arguably the most important domestique in this year’s Tour (of course, you have to factor in Mathieu van der Poel’s stunning work as a leadout man for Jasper Philipsen).
And so here, on the 2023 Tour de France’s first rest day, is a State of the Union, a recap of where all of the American Tour riders sit after one week of racing.
Neilsen Powless
The 26-year-old Californian and a tribal member of the Oneida Nation, took the polka dots on the race’s opening stage. Other than one stage in which he was back in his EF Education-EasyPost’s traditional pink jersey, he’s been the King of the Mountains ever since. Through one week of racing, he has forty-six total points in the KoM competition, eighteen ahead of AG2R Citröen’s Felix Gall and twenty clear of Uno-X’s Tobias Johannessen.
Though he hasn’t dominated many major climbs (he was sixth on both the Tourmalet and Puy de Dôme) Powless’s points lead has a lot to do with the fact that he’s trying to nick points everywhere he can. But that nickel-and-dime strategy might only take Powless so far. He’ll likely need to win at least one HC climb if he wants to hang on to the polka dots until Paris.
Sepp Kuss
Durango, Colorado’s Sepp Kuss is one of the Tour’s most elite climbers, which is why you see him in every mountain stage, carving a path for his teammate Jonas Vingegaard and pulling his leader as far up the hill as he is able or ordered.
Despite the fact that he’s racing in service of Vinegegaard (or perhaps because of it), Kuss is currently ninth in the overall standings, six-minutes-and-forty-five-seconds behind his race-leading teammate. So long as Vingegaard is in the fight for the yellow jersey, an overall top-ten is a very real proposition for Kuss.
Matteo Jorgenson
Regardless of how devastating it was to watch California’s Matteo Jorgenson get caught with just a few hundred meters to the top of the Puy de Dôme, it was thrilling to watch him take such a big a shot at winning yesterday’s stage. It was also reminiscent of last year’s summit finish at Megève, where he came within ten seconds of winning his first Grand Tour stage.
The breakaway specialist-slash-climber is currently fortieth in the overall standings and has netted twelve KoM points, which is good for fifteenth in the race for the polka dots.
As his Movistar is a team without a leader—Enric Mas was forced to abandon on the Tour’s very first stage with a fractured scapula—and as the mountains continue to pitch up over the next two weeks, watch for more attacks from the ever-aggressive Jorgenson. Hopefully, he’ll have just a bit more in the tank next time.
Kevin Vermaerke
After a 2022 rookie season which Kevin Vermaerke described as “a year with ups and downs,” the California native came into this year’s Tour hoping to build on those ups.
He’s already made it further than he did last year, when the DSM-Firmenich rider crashed out on Stage 8, suffering a broken collarbone in a high-speed wreck.
Though he’s currently ninety-sixth in the overall standings, continuing to learn is no doubt a large goal of Vermaerke’s Tour de France, as he is, at 22-year-old, the third youngest rider in the race.
Vermaerke recently told Velo that the proof is in his output of late, saying, “I physically took a step up (from last season). I can see that in my numbers. It hasn’t translated into a result quite yet but I’ve been close. I’m hoping I can create an opportunity here in the Tour and take a win on the biggest stage.”
Lawson Craddock
At 31-years-old, Houston’s Lawson Craddock is the elder statesman of this year’s crop of Yankees. However, despite his age, this is only his third appearance in the Tour de France; his first since 2018.
So far this year, he’s played an essential role for Jayco-AlUla’s team leader Simon Yates, helping the Aussie to a place on the GC podium in each of the Tour’s first four stages. After the first week, Yates sits in sixth place overall, thanks in large part to the role of Craddock, who is one of his main lieutenants.
Currently in eighty-third place in the general classification, Craddock will continue to play the role of domestique for Yates, hoping to get his American-backed team on the podium in Paris.
Quinn Simmons
American national champion Quinn Simmons crashed hard on Stage 5. He valiantly suffered through the following few days but eventually abandoned before the start of Sunday’s ninth stage.
The Durango native was in France to support his Lidl-Trek teammates Giulio Ciccone and Mattias Skjelmose, however he still had his eyes trained on his own stage win.
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