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Cycling Weekly
It's been 3 years since a US rider won a stage in the Tour de France, Powless hopes to break the drought
By Kristin Jenny,
22 days ago
With the Tour de France kicking off this Saturday in Florence Émilie-Romagne, American cycling fans are daring to whisper the question: “Will an American win a Tour de France stage this year?”
The last American to win a Tour de France stage was Coloradan Sepp Kuss who won stage 15 of the 2021 Tour de France , thereby ending a 10-year drought in which no American rider ever made it to the finish line of a Tour stage first.
Sadly, crowd-favourite “ GC Kuss ” is sidelined from this year's event due to a battle with COVID . However, an American stage winner is still possible with California-native Neilson Powless (EF Education - EasyPost) on the hunt.
"I really want to win a stage this year. I still haven't gotten one," the 27-year-old said .
The Polka Dot jersey signifies the rider who is currently leading the mountains classification. Points are awarded to those who reach the summit of each classified climb of the Tour de France first. The harder the climb, the more points offered.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
For Powless’ fifth appearance at the Tour, his sights are set not on the climber's jersey but on stage victory.
Despite a nagging knee injury preventing Powless from racing much so far this season, he did appear in good form at the USA Cycling National Road Championships where he helped teammate Sean Quinn take the road race title while Powless took home a bronze medal in both the road race and time trial championship.
“I think this was probably the hardest year I’ve had yet with injuries and illnesses…[but] Nationals and the first half of the Dauphiné reassured me I’m back to a really high level [of fitness] after the rocky spring,” Powless said. “Winning a stage is my first and foremost goal [at the Tour de France], and I think I’ve got the fitness to do it.”
And Powless won't be the only American with the potential of netting a stage win.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Jorgenson will help to fill in Kuss’ shoes at this year's Tour, serving as Jonas Vingegaard ’s righthand man — a hefty job for the Idahoan's first Tour with the Visma-Lease a Bike team.
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