Quinn Simmons : "It was a long break and I am excited to be racing again"

Quinn Simmons is back in action in the Tour de Suisse, hoping to make his Tour de France debut next month. The Trek-Segafredo cyclist competed for the first time since missing the spring classics due to illness in the Grosser Preis des Kantons Aargau.

“It’s good to be back. It was a long break and I am excited to be racing again, You never plan to get sick for that long or that serious, but what can you do? That’s how this sport goes sometimes.” he said. Today at the Tour de Suisse he went into the day's breakaway and caught the KOM jersey which he will now defend.

“I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish, It was a bit frustrating, but all you can do is train hard. I have a busy program from here on out, so maybe the break will do me some good. I’ve had five or so good weeks. To take that long off in the middle of the season, it’s almost as if you start from zero again. That’s not ideal, but I am close to where I need to be.” he said. He became ill, and he was unable to recover. He returned home to relax after three consecutive DNFs in the spring classics.

A successful Tour de Suisse can give him a spot on his first Tour .“It will be nice to get the legs going again and get some intensity,” Simmons said. Simmons enjoyed a breakout 2021 season when he won the overall at the Tour de Wallonie and finished his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España, where he rode to third in a stage 19 breakaway. “I want to leave here healthy and with some intensity. The goals are in a few weeks. Now I'm just preparing,” he concluded.