"They care more about Mads winning the green jersey than about me winning a stage" - Quinn Simmons' honest admission after Tour de France breakaway heartbreak
CyclingTuesday, 21 July 2026 at 11:10
Quinn Simmons is once again one of the most active rider in the Tour de France. After his breakaway exploits last summer, the American champion has once again come to the fore as he was the last surviving member of the breakaway on Sunday's stage 15.
Leaving behind some high-caliber breakaway rivals on Plateau de Solaison, Simmons survived until roughly 4 kilometers to go before Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Isaac del Toro tagged the Lidl-Trek rider, but earned the day's combativity award.
Breakaways haven't been the only way the all-rounder has featured in this year's tour, he's also been working in service of teammate Mads Pedersen in his fight for the green jersey. Wearing the jersey for the majority of the race, the team have tried to split the peleton and craft breakaways to help Pedersen score points either at intermediate sprints or sprint stages featuring some hilly parcours.
Simmons has come close to his first Tour de France stage win on multiple occasions, and although he quite clearly still gets opportunities to do so, he made it clear the team's priority in an honest admission.
“The team has made it obvious that they care more about Mads winning the green jersey than about me winning a stage,” Simmons told The Tour de France website.
“At the end of the day, they write my paycheck, so I have to do what I am told.”
Quinn Simmons on "special" Pedersen green jersey bid
Pedersen is trying to complete the grand tour sweep of points classification wins and Simmons is content to put his personal goals aside to help the Danish rider do so.
“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,” he said.
“If I can play a big role in that, that’s pretty special too.”
With a final week featuring plenty of climbing, Simmons is one of the riders expected to feature heavily. While some riders fade, the American excels when fatigue accumulates - something he attributes to his physiology and ability to adapt to harsh final week conditions.
“I always become better and better towards the end of Grand Tours,” Simmons said.
“I think it’s my physiology. I really struggle in the first week, and then ride into the race. I’m just happy I’m still going on that note this year.”
Quinn Simmons on stage 9
Simmons on the podium with parents
Although caught in the stage 15 finale, Simmons battled to the finish where he was awarded the combativity award, for the rider who animated the stage best and showed the most attacking intent.
His parents were at the finish line in what was a welcome treat for the Lidl Trek rider, who admitted that despite lasting until the end, finished 2:16 off the blistering pace of Pogacar and Evenepoel.
“It’s super nice to have my parents here,” he said.
“They’ve come to all four of my Tours de France. I’m trying to win a stage while they are still here. At least today I’m on the podium, so that’s a step in the right direction. I was pretty far from winning, though.”
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- What a terrible crash. May he recover quickly and well. He’s been racing very well, and Remco was going to need him in the coming mountain stages.RidesHills21-07-2026
- OK, this is my take: Jonas didn't want to crash and break his collar bone... BUT ... at this moment Jonas, despite his injury, looks like he's in a good mood. Do you all know why? Because he knew, his team knew, they will never beat Pogačar...NEVER !!! Jonas is thinkig; "Thank god, it's over. My suffering against Pogi is over. Officially I didn't lose TdF, because I didn't finish." There will always be some people who will say "Maybe Jonas would have won if he hadn't crashed, you never know." We all see what BS is coming out of Marc Reef's mouth: "We had the race in our hands, and we were ready to give it a shot with him." ... He's trying to tell us between the lines: "Pogi is lucky, that Jonas crashed, he would have beaten him in week three, and won TdF." What a clown!!!mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales21-07-2026
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PogiFan2Day21-07-2026 - If Paul rides within himself and only nears red on the final three mountain stages he will be on the podium. I said before the Tour started I didn't expect anything from him this Tour and that a top five, even a top ten would be an absolute success beyond imagination, being this is his first GT, if he podiums he needs to take a deal with Ineos immediately and he needs to run that team like Wiggins and Froome did.awp21-07-2026
- They didn't have the race in hand, they had the podium in hand.awp21-07-2026
- INEOS is getting worse. Not a top dog anymore.
KerisVroom21-07-2026 - They are testing but are they Lance era testing or active testing. Lance era was "oh, looks a bit high but he is a big drawl...it's fine". Active is, positive pull them out of the race and banmd197521-07-2026
- it hinders recover if you're using epo for recoverywhkman21-07-2026
- Success usually corrupts and makes one arrogant. This is very impressive.KerisVroom21-07-2026
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