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The 6 American and Canadian riders at the Tour de France 2024
The Tour de France is back and it features a strong selection of North American riders. With established names in form and with expectations surrounding several young riders ready to make the leap into the upper echelons of cycling’s best riders, expect the riders from the United States and Canada to be featuring heavily at the business end of stages this July.
While sadly Sepp Kuss has been a late withdrawal from the squad due to illness, North America is represented by six riders in this year’s Tour de France peloton. They will act as teammates for the reigning champion Jonas Vingegaard, breakaway daredevils and potential GC wildcards, and that’s all just Matteo Jorgenson. So who are the three Americans and three Canadians looking to salvage their continent’s reputation in cycling’s biggest race?
American riders at the Tour de France
Last year we saw the first American Grand Tour win for a decade, ushering in a new generation free of ties to cycling’s dark age. Sadly, due to Covid, the Vuelta winner Sepp Kuss will miss the Tour. This means that there will be three riders from the USA, which is three fewer than last year’s tally of six.
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Matteo Jorgenson has taken a huge leap forward in 2024. The California-born, Idaho-raised Jorgenson took a big win earlier this year at Paris-Nice, winning the general classification. And his versatility was on disaply as he also won the spring Classic Dwaars door Vlaanderen.
Jorgenson arrived at the Critérium du Dauphiné earlier this month as the team’s leader and he rose to the occasion with strong rides in the mountains on top of sewing up the young riders’ classification. The time-trial was the only obstacle between him and another major GC win as he lost out on the yellow jersey by just eight seconds to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Primož Roglič.
Jorgenson will play a crucial role in Jonas Vingegaard’s title defence. His versatility and engine will prove problematic for UAE Team Emirates to contain. The hopeful could predict a top-ten for Jorgenson, but in his third Tour de France, it would be a massive step up. He’s previously come close to wins from the breakaway, but he hasn’t cracked the GC. Yet.
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost)
Nevada’s Neilson Powless has been scoring some good results for EF Education-EasyPost in the past few years. He took big wins at San Sebastian Klasikoa in 2021 and the Grand Prix La Marseillaise in 2023. He also brushed up his GC legs with an overall win at the Étoile de Bessèges and a top-ten at Paris-Nice last year.
In 2023 he held the polka-dot jersey for a number of days before fading in the final week. He will likely try to strike out at more breakaway success and jersey points. The EF rider is a strong puncheur with good Classics legs; he’s eager to attack and he can sprint well at the end of a long day of racing.
Powless comes from a family of real athletic performers – his mother ran for Guam for at the 1992 Olympic Games. He’s also the first Native American to compete in the Grande Boucle.
Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost)
Fresh from being crowned American road race champion last month, Sean Quinn will make his Tour de France debut this year.
Quinn’s stars and stripes-inspired jersey will be easy to spot in the peloton, and his versatility will make him east to make out too. Quinn is a solid sprinter who can also climb. He is not afraid to go in the break and has a track record against the clock. In short, he can do a bit of everything.
Los Angeles-born and raised, Quinn will bring an earnestness to the Tour de France. He grew up watching the Tour de France with his parents, lives in France, and also DJs in his spare time. I guess he’ll be in charge of the EF team bus playlist.
Canadian riders at the Tour de France
Thanks to the pull of its Canadian sponsor, all three riders from Canada at this year’s Tour de France rider for Israel-Premier Tech. No prizes for guessing which sponsor is Canadian. The newly crowned Canadian road race champion Michael Woods will not ride the Tour de France this year.
Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech)
Derek Gee has been one of the great discoveries in Canadian cycling. Now set to make his Tour de France debut, Gee has the chance to add his name to an exclusive list of Canadian Tour de France stage winners.
Recently at the Critérium du Dauphiné Gee proved that he is more than a ‘one tour wonder‘ and climbed up to third place in the overall classification while notching his first professional win outside of North America on Stage 3.
Now as a glimmering GC talent, Gee may try to chase a top ten at the Tour de France. However, breakaways could favour him like they did at the 2023 Giro d’Italia. In that race, Gee finished second on four stages on differing terrain. The Canadian has a great knack for resisting fatigue in stage races, and I expect him to be chasing a stage win late into the race.
Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech)
Hugo Houle is a stalwart of the professional peloton having participated in Grand Tours for AG2R La Mondiale, Astana and Israel-Premier Tech over the past decade. That said, Houle was often in the shadows at his previous teams until 2022.
The Québecois took an emotional stage win in Foix that year, dedicating the victory to his late brother who was killed in a drink-driving accident. During 2022, Houle rode through the ranks to become one of Israel-Premier Tech’s top UCI point scorers after finishing inside the top 20 of GC at Paris-Nice and the Tour de Suisse. Since Houle’s win in Foix, he has been chasing more breakaway wins.
Within an aggressive Israel-Premier Tech squad lined with breakaway hopefuls, Houle’s place in their Tour roster is well-deserved. He is one of two Québecois riders at the Tour de France this year.
Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech)
The other Québecois rider on the startline is Guillaume Boivin. Now 35 years of age, Boivin played ice hockey to a high level until his teenage years when he turned to cycling aged 15. Since then, the man from Montréal has claimed three Canadian national titles on the road and has started six Grand Tours. This will be his fourth consecutive Tour de France.
Guillaume Boivin is a natural rouleur. He is a steady engine and has the capability to reach the top 20 in a sprint finish. His career highlights come from the Classics though, including ninth at the wet Paris-Roubaix in 2021 and podiums at Tro-Bro Léon and Ronde van Drenthe in 2012. Expect Israel-Premier Tech to send Boivin in the breaks or act as part of the lead-out for German Pascal Ackermann.
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