American riders have waited years for another Tour de France stage win and decades for another official yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, they nearly landed both.<\/p>\n
Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) came within 28 seconds of the yellow jersey and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) sprinted to second.<\/p>\n
No U.S. rider has won a Tour stage since Sepp Kuss in 2021.<\/p>\n
And no American has donned the yellow jersey \u2014 at least officially \u2014 since three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond last wore it in 1991.<\/p>\n
Both streaks nearly fell on Tuesday in a scorching transition stage along the edges of the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es.<\/p>\n
Quinn couldn\u2019t quite snag the maillot jaune<\/em> but climbed into second overall.<\/p>\n Simmons sacrificed his chances for the win to set up Lidl-Trek teammate Mads Pedersen for victory and still finished second.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing we have a lot of confidence in Mads or else I\u2019d be a bit nervous not trying on the climb but I was quite certain once we got him over, we\u2019d win the stage, so that was nice,\u201d Simmons said at the line.<\/p>\n Simmons comes to this Tour determined to win a stage in the U.S. champion\u2019s jersey.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, he played the loyal teammate and delivered Pedersen to the line before rolling across in second, matching his best Tour stage result after second on stage 6 last year.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s no secret anymore what I can do on a good day, so I don\u2019t need to pretend,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n \u201cI told Mads when we were pre-selecting the team in the winter there would come a day that he would need me to help him win a stage and I\u2019m happy we could do that.\u201d<\/p>\n TOUR DE FRANCE FACT FILE <\/strong><\/p>\n Last American Tour stage winner<\/strong> Last American to wear the yellow jersey (officially)<\/strong> The Coloradan hopes another chance will come before this Tour is over.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have someone like Vacek and Mads, and with me, with our horsepower combined, on a good day, it\u2019s hard to beat us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe came here for a stage and for a good GC, so far we\u2019re doing both.\u201d<\/p>\n Of the six American racers in this year\u2019s Tour, it\u2019s Simmons and Quinn who may have the best chance of ending the U.S. stage-win drought.<\/p>\n Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson are fully committed to Jonas Vingegaard, while Matthew Riccitello and Brandon McNulty are riding in support of Paul Seixas and Tadej Poga\u010dar, respectively.<\/p>\n Both Quinn and Simmons have the freedom to chase breakaways, and both seized that opportunity Tuesday in the first successful escape of the 2026 Tour.<\/p>\n Quinn bridged across to the winning move and was soon caught up in a duel for the yellow jersey with Uno-X\u2019s Torstein Tr\u00e6en to ride into yellow.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have it on the climb to get rid of the Uno-X guy so he deserves the jersey,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cI thought we had a chance for yellow, but we stayed calm because you never know what the peloton wants to do. We kept following the moves but I just didn\u2019t have the legs to drop Torstein.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn started 26th at 5:34 back, but Tr\u00e6en also snuck into the break, starting at 5:06 back at two places on GC ahead of the Californian.<\/p>\n Quinn put everything into attacking over the final Cat. 2 with 40km to go, but with three from Lidl-Trek and two more from Movistar, he knew the odds were against him.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t have it on the climb to get rid of the Uno-X guy so he deserves the jersey,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cIt would have been great to get up the road. I knew I was not going to beat Mads in the sprint. I didn\u2019t really have the legs to try a solo move, but I didn\u2019t have the snap after a long day like that.\u201d<\/p>\n Yellow jersey dreams will burn for the next few days.<\/p>\n Quinn might be 28 seconds back, but he\u2019s more than 7 minutes ahead of the GC kings like Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n After Wednesday\u2019s expected bunch kick into Pau, there\u2019s an outside chance he could still snag yellow in Thursday\u2019s climbing stage to Gavarnie if Tr\u00e6en is dropped and he can stay close to the big favorites.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s nice to be in the mix, but I am also disappointed,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cI\u2019ve had a few tough years, but I\u2019m back where I belong.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn and Simmons did almost everything right Tuesday, but neither landed the headline prize.<\/p>\n American fans will have to wait a little longer to celebrate a U.S. winner.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a moment of the Tour de France. Get stage previews, insider recaps, and expert analysis from Velo delivered straight to your inbox with the Velo Tour Daily email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\nSimmons celebrates second<\/h2>\n
![\"Pedersen](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2284526850-720x529.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
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\nSepp Kuss \u2014 Stage 15 (2021)<\/p>\n
\nGreg LeMond \u2014 Stage 11 (1991)<\/p>\n
\nQuinn dreaming of yellow<\/h2>\n
![\"Sean](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2285067009-720x480.jpg?width=1920&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
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