Showman Simmons criticizes "boring’ cycling: "You need to give people something to watch"

This is Simmons’ third time riding La Grande Boucle. As an outsider in the mostly European peloton, he feels the sport could use a bit more bravado. “I grew up with American sports, where you have real superstars,” he told Wielerrevue. “Those are quite the personalities. Maybe it’s a bit of a show, but sometimes it’s real. That’s what’s missing here.”

Even huge stars like Tadej Pogacar, who make cycling fans’ hearts race, are relatively boring to the average sports viewer, especially compared to outspoken stars in football, basketball, or elsewhere. “When a rider wins a classic, he sits down and says, ‘Yeah, the legs were good’ or ‘The team was great.’ That’s boring for a 15-year-old kid watching at home. That’s why it was Sagan who made me want to become a cyclist.”

It’s not just bad for viewers, but also for the riders themselves. Because if you make yourself more visible, the money will follow. “If you look at the whole model of the sport, you see we don’t earn big salaries compared to the number of people watching. But that’s partly our own fault, we’re not very good entertainers. You have to give people something to watch.”

Is that why he keeps his hair and mustache the way they are? “No, I just like it,” laughs the winner of stage three at the Tour de Suisse. But he does point something else out. “You often see American riders come over here and start acting like Europeans. We need to respect the sport, but we don’t have to copy the Europeans.”

With his appearance and aggressive riding style, Simmons certainly always stands out. He’s long been seen as a huge talent, but now he hopes to stand out with results too. “The only thing left for me to do is win big races, haha. But the American influence often goes too far with the entertainment side. People forget you have to perform first. You need to win a big cycling race before you start working on your entertainment.”

For an American, the Tour de France is the most important race – even more so than for riders from other countries. In a country with a limited cycling culture, it’s the one race almost everyone knows. He had to fight hard just to make it to the start line. “In this team, it’s always a battle to get selected for the Tour,” he said. In the Tour of Switzerland, he secured his spot with an impressive stage win. “If I hadn’t shown a high level in Switzerland, I would’ve been left out. I wanted to show myself so well that they couldn’t ignore me.”

Lidl-Trek’s main goals are the green jersey and stage wins with sprinter Jonathan Milan. “With Johnny, we have a guy with a huge chance. Even if he doesn’t win the first stage, he’ll definitely strike on another day. A Tour stage win is amazing for the team, not just for the rider who wins.”

On stages where the Italian can’t compete, the American will get his own chances. “I told Steven de Jongh back in December that I didn’t even want to ride the Tour if I wasn’t at 100 percent. Right now, I feel like I’m in the best shape of my life.”