THE US CAVALRY

Several of this year’s Tour de France favourites are drawing on the support of good old Uncle Sam in their quest for yellow. Paul Knott gets to know the helpers from the home of the brave

- Paul Knott

To say it has been a lean time for American riders in the Tour de France in recent years would be an understatement. Only five riders or less have lined up each year at the La Grande Boucle since 2014, thanks mostly to the American outfit EF Racing doggedly hanging on to their WorldTour status and sponsorship each season. The last US rider that finished within the top 10 on the GC was Tejay Van Garderen, who repeated his 2012 heroics to finish in fifth in 2014 as well.

If you start to go back any closer to the turn of the century then any performances of note have since had a very large asterisk placed next to the names – those of Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis. However, despite only four Americans lining up on the start line in Brest this year, there are signs there is a new breed of riders set to make names for themselves and raise the hopes of the American fanbase once again.

“I put expectations on myself”

Chief among them is Brandon McNulty, who is riding this year’s Tour as a key UAE Emirates lieutenant to defending champion Tadej Pogacar. “There is definitely an uprising, it’s nice to see every year,” says McNulty. “There’s two or three more young guys starting to come good so I think it’s promising for the future, which is nice because it has definitely been a bit of a down period.”

As well as recent the lack of American success in cycling’s biggest race, domestic races such as the Tour of California have been axed and American teams such as BMC have been forced to find new ownership and new identity in recent times. The American cycling scene seems to be bleeding momentum.