Quinn Simmons: The Team Cares More About Pedersen's Green Jersey than Me Winning a Stage

As the Tour de France goes on, Lidl-Trek’s do-it-all American racer Quinn Simmons seems to get stronger and stronger.

The US champion was the last man standing from an elite breakaway which fought for 85 kilometers to escape on Sunday’s stage 14.

He put in a determined ride that mixed grit with selfless teamwork. After leading out green jersey Mads Pedersen to help him defend his lead in the points classification, he got in the day’s big move.

He attacked on the cat-1 Col de la Croisette and finally shook free his breakaway rivals on the final, HC climb of the Plateau de Solaison.

Ever the entertainer, Simmons even found time to give a long-haired fan a high-five mid-stage.

Only passed beyond the five-kilometer marker by leaders Tadej Pogačar, stage winner Remco Evenepoel and Isaac Del Toro, he then dropped back to help pace leaders Juan Ayuso and Matthias Skjelmose, who are sixth and seventh on GC respectively.

Climber, sprinter, big engine on the flat, strong on the hills: Simmons puts the v in versatile and is gaining plenty of admirers – even Tadej Pogačar.

“Quinn Simmons. Chapeau to him today, he was supersonic today,” the yellow jersey wearer said post-race.

Simmons: Lidl-Trek pay me so I have to do what I’m told

In quotes given to Letour.fr post-race, Simmons said: “The team has made it obvious they care more about Mads Pedersen winning the green jersey than about me winning a stage.

“At the end of the day, they write my paycheck so I have to do what I am told.”

“I’m fully here to support Mads on his quest to win the green jersey after ticking off the points jersey in the Giro and the Vuelta.”

Speaking further after collecting the day’s combativity prize, in recognition of his attacking, Simmons said he was not expecting such a grueling day out.

“I wasn’t really that prepared for an effort like this,” he told media, including Velo’s Hannah Knapp, after the finish.

“The plan was just to stay in the front, to be there to support the GC guys as long as I can. Once you’re there, you have to keep pushing and make the most of it.”

“Even to take the breakaway in the Tour, people don’t understand how hard this is. Once you do that first step, then you need climbing legs, then you need to make it hard.

“You never know how you’re going to wake up and feel in the morning. Three weeks is a lot of bike racing: of course you have bad days on good stages [for you] and have good days on stages that maybe aren’t so good [for you]. Yeah, we just hope to have that special day.”

Making mum and dad proud

Several days after sharing a feelgood high five which went viral, his parents Scott and Holly are still on Tour, riding their bikes and watching on with pride.

“They fly all the way here so I might as well give ‘em something to watch,” Simmons said. “There’s been quite a few times they come to Europe and I kind of suck it up. It’s nice to be performing a bit.”

Simmons is riding high in 25th overall. He finished second on stage four to Foix and this seemingly-tireless attacker has made it into four breakaways. Stage 15 was another step in the right direction for the man from Colorado.

“I know what I can do on a day like today. Luckily or unluckily, I have really good days and really bad days. For me, there’s quite a big swing between the two. I can be all the way from in the first dropped group to what I did today. Luckily today, the good legs showed up.”

He is one of Lidl-Trek’s “three big engines”, together with Pedersen and Vacek. “It’s not a secret that we have three of the strongest riders in the race. So it makes it a bit easier to manage because we can do more than our share of the week.”

You can pretty much bet on three things in the Tour de France’s next week: a hot sun, more Pogačar dominance and Quinn Simmons doing his damndest by going up the road in his eye-catching stars and stripes jerseys.