27 June 2013

Americans at the Tour

Looking to those who now represent American Cycling

There are not many of them, but six talented Americans are honored to be slected by their teams to compete in the 2013 Tour de France. Six riders who are members of just 3 of the 22 total teams to compete in the Tour. Follow these riders as they compete in 21 stages across France in the next three weeks.

As fans we acknowledge that to be selected as one of 9 riders on a carefully chosen team is not only an incredible honor, it is a huge vote of confidence from the rider's team, it means they are the elite, ready to compete at the highest level in the sport of cycling. Plus it can be a money-maker for a rider.

The fact remains that the riders chosen to race in the Tour de France will make far more in this one race than many other races combined for the year. The prestige of winning a stage of the TDF or earning a classification jersey is huge. A rider can create their legacy in cycling history in one to twenty-one glorious days of extreme effort and victory.

198 riders will compete in the Tour de France this year, six were born in the United States of America.

Vive aux Americains!

Look for these riders on these teams in these jersey numbers:

Cannondale
#14Ted King USA
This will be Ted's 1st TDF, Read more about Ted King, follow him on Twitter @IamTedKing, or on his I am Ted King blog, or his King Me column at Bicycling.com.

BMC
#32Brent Bookwalter USA
This is Brent's 3rd TDF,  Read more about Brent Bookwalter, follow him on Twitter @BRentBookwalter, or on his website, or (blog)

BMC
#39Tejay Van Garderen USA
This is Tejay's 3rd TDF,  Read more about Tejay van Garderen, follow him on Twitter @TejayVan.

Garmin-Cervelo
#173Tom Danielson USA
This is Tommy's 3rd TDF,  Read more about Tom Danielson, follow him on Twitter @TomDanielson, or his website

Garmin-Cervelo
#178Andrew Talansky USA
This will be Andrew's 1st TDF,  Read more about Andrew Talansky, follow him on Twitter @AndrewTalansky, or his column for VeloNews.

Garmin-Cervelo
#179Christian Vande Velde USA
This is Christian's 11th TDF,  Read more about Christian Vande Velde, follow him on Twitter @ChristianVDV


Recommended Reading: Andrew Talansky Journal: On the verge of a dream, for VeloNews. Andrew Talansky will be journaling for VeloNews during the entire Tour de France.

Recommended Reading: Ted King is on the adventure of his first Tour de France and writes a column at Bicycling.com, read: My First Tour de France.

Number of Riders by Country

With 198 riders total from 43 different countries, team Omega Pharma-Quickstep receives the award for bringing the most diverse squad of riders to the Tour with a rider from Great Britain, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Slovakia, and 2 riders from France all on the same team. I would also like to mention that I too have an extremely diverse fantasy team on BikeRadar. 

France - 42
Spain - 27
Italy - 18 
Netherlands - 17
Belgium - 12
Australia - 11
Germany - 10
Great Britain - 6
United States - 6 
Kazakhstan  4
Norway - 3
Belarus - 3
Switzerland - 3
Denmark - 3
Poland - 3
Russia - 3
Canada - 3
Luxembourg - 3
Slovakia - 2
Slovenia - 2
Ireland - 2
New Zealand - 2
Portugal - 2
Columbia - 2
Japan - 1
Sweden - 1
Brazil - 1
Czechoslovakia - 1
Lithuania - 1
Uzbekistan - 1
Latvia - 1
Costa Rica - 1
Estonia - 1
South Africa - 2 (Chris Froome & Daryl Impey!)

Full roster / start list of riders for the Tour de France: Tour de France 2013 official start list

ProCycling Stats lists the top ranked competitors (not necessarily GC contenders) as:
  1. Christopher Froome
  2. Peter Sagan
  3. Alejandro Valverde
  4. Joaquim, Rodriguez
  5. Alberto Contador
  6. Andre Greipel
  7. Tony Martin
  8. Mark Cavendish
  9. Edvald Boasson Hagen
  10. Rui Costa
  11. Tejay van Garderen
  12. Sylvain Chavanel
  13. Philippe Gilbert
  14. Richie Porte
  15. Alexander Kristoff 
See other interesting stats for the TDF by PCS, including top white jersey contenders and top GC contenders. The oldest rider is Jens Voigt (41), the youngest is Danny Van Poppel (age 19).

Also see a list of 2013 Pro Teams, and Social Media links (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Team Websites) By Pedal Dancer.]

Americans in Paris (circa 2010)
These same fans have shown up in Paris for years and years in a row.  Photo and short video clip by Karen of Pedal Dancer