"I'll be there for Paul in the high mountains" - Matthew Riccitello assures his role will come in Tour's third week
CyclingFriday, 17 July 2026 at 01:00
Matthew Riccitello completes his collection of Grand Tour participations this July with Tour de France as last to be added to his resumé. And the American is definitely enjoying the experience, even though consequences of a crash on third stage have been limiting his performance in the first week.
"I haven't felt quite like myself since the fall on the third stage, but I'm feeling better and better, and yesterday I started to have some positive feelings, so hopefully it just continues this way," Riccitello told Cyclingnews after tenth stage to Le Lioran where his leader Paul Seixas took a third place.
That is very important looking ahead to the mountain stages still to come. In particular the final block will be brutal and his young French leader will need every ounce of quality from his teammates to secure a spot on Champs-Élysées podium.
And for Riccitello, the positive feelings are important too. After all, the fifth rider from last year's Vuelta a Espana did not come to France just to tick off the Tour. "I knew I was feeling good coming into the race and that form doesn't just disappear, so, I think for sure that I had a little bit of percentage taken off. It should be all good and I'll be able to be there for Paul in the high mountains."
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Meanwhile, the sprint stages of last two days have been an opportunity to recover even further for the 24-year-old, because his responsibilities in such stages are minimal.
"There's not much I can do in the leadout for Olav," he says with a slight grin given his out-and-out climber's physique, "it's not in my characteristics, so for sure I can just look forward to the coming days."
Olav Kooij won Decathlon's first stage at the 2026 Tour de France
As for the Tour, his tasks are centered solely around Paul Seixas. But Riccitello's season does not end here. In just three weeks after the Tour finishes, the American returns to Vuelta, aiming to - at the very least - repeat his 2025 success.
"The Tour was always for Paul, to be there in the high mountains for Paul," he explains. "So right now, it's full focus on the Tour, but the plan is to go to the Vuelta and ride for GC there. But yeah, let's get this out of the way first."
"Just as I imagined it"
There's a total of four Grande Boucle debutants in Decathlon's Tour lineup. Besides their two climbing aces, sprinter Olav Kooij and his leadout Daan Hoole have been thrown in the deep end as well. But despite the team's lack of experience and the weight of expectations, they've barely made any mistakes thus far.
"It's lived up to the hype. I mean, everyone before the race talked about how big it is compared to other races and it's lived up to that, but it's been a super cool experience," Riccitello highlights that the team copes well with the pressure.
"It's the first Tour for Olav and for Daan [Hoole], too, so it's something new for all of us, we're all kind of going through the same experience together. It's super special, something to try to enjoy as much as we can."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Does the Tourmalet not count as one of the high mountains? Decathlon made a big mistake in not bringing Gregor Mühlberger, who actually showed an immense climbing level (Tour of Austria - dominant GC win)
Rafionain-Glas17-07-2026 - UAE had their reasons. They didn't want teammates from Visma to get up the road to help Jonas later and it kept aggressiveness down in the main peloton. plus it preserved the stage should they want to go for it. they can race as they wish based on the best tactics for them, they are not there to please you, or the peloton.mij16-07-2026
- it isn't the intermediate sprint that is the leg crusher, it is getting up the road to be a part of it. that burns a lot of matches.mij16-07-2026
- I think there is more resentment because they didn't end up going for the stage win on stage 9. Then it ends up being unsportsmanly as they help the peloton against the breakaway, without actually trying to win, as I said in my other comment. It is also possible that Pogačar wants to show van der Poel that he can fight it out with him I'd he wanted to, but doesn't because it's the Tour de France and he can't exactly join in in the breakaway.Rafionain-Glas16-07-2026
- Merlier has been going for the intermediate sprints but not at the cost of the stage win. He never sprints fully. Although I don't see how a little sprint would mean he can't sprint later. But maybe it does. It was like that last year, where Milan always outsprinted him at the intermediate sprints but Merlier was faster at the finish.Rafionain-Glas16-07-2026
- They have a strong team indeed but it is not really UAE to WHAT or WHO Pogacar is. You could pick his supportive riders from any team and make several hundreds of variations and yet he would still win. About the salary cap: Pogacar is extremely underpaid despite being the most paid rider:) Just look at price / performance. How much captains of rival teams earn and how much they actually win? Put all their achievements in one bag and directly compare it with his bag. Just to have idea of what he should have earned... People have a lot of money they cannot really spend, or better to say, don't really know how to enrich it. If smart, one would just buy out the player clause and put his name in "eternity", relying on Pogacar already having a legendary status in the cycling industry. Then start something greater. Anyone? It's peanuts!Bublubublu16-07-2026
- His sprints are unbelievable - coming out of the back row and winning by substantial margins. really impressive.mij16-07-2026
- so it is interesting - everyone complains about UAE attacking and resisting the break aways to protect their yellow. where are the haters for Lidl Trek doing the same to protect their green? and BTW, I don't have an issue with either team dictating the tempo that is best for their team. go for it.mij16-07-2026
- The good news for Mads is that I don't think Merlier has any interest in green - so him winning is great. Merlier won't go after the intermediate points.mij16-07-2026
- was anybody injured?Ketterechts16-07-2026
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