The story behind Simmons's latest win — and what it means for his Tour de France hopes

Cycling fans always love it when a breakaway makes it to the line. And Wednesday's stage at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes delivered exactly that. Quinn Simmons won from the break and, in doing so, took his first victory in a year. IDL Pro Cycling sat down with him to hear the story behind the ride and what it means for the Tour de France.

As Simmons had already indicated immediately after the finish: he had actually wanted to go earlier in this race, but the team needed him to hold back. The reason? Tuesday's team time trial. A day later, he made up for it in Montrond-les-Bains, winning the sprint from the front group. "It's my first sprint win, so that's nice," he said afterwards.

Wednesday had been a tough day from the start. "It was a big fight, and I believed today was going to be a big opportunity. When the peloton only gave us two minutes, I thought it was just going to be a hard training ride." But the breakaway proved to be a powerful one — and the wind in the finale helped too.

"We arrived at the tailwind section with a strong group," Simmons said, also taking a moment to acknowledge his fellow escapees. "We didn't play games. I think we can all take credit. I think it's pretty special when a break holds on like that. It's really a lot of fun to do."

He returned to that theme moments later. "I'm not the biggest fan of a big bunch sprint — that's hectic. When there are twelve of us up the road, that's fun, because you're just racing. That part of cycling I really love. I hate the fight to get into the break, but once we're there, I genuinely love cycling. To do that at the highest level — that's really special."

And so the American champion won for the first time in a year. IDL Pro Cycling asked him whether he had seen it coming. "My spring was okay, but not special," he said. "After the Ardennes I went home to the States and did some altitude preparation." That turns out to have been the winning formula.

Because, as Simmons explained: "I think I've shown every summer now that if I take the time to prepare properly, I can have a really good summer. It's been a year since I last won a race, so you start to feel some pressure from that," he admitted.

And yet Wednesday had not even been a target in itself. "To be honest, today wasn't one I had chosen. I was looking at other stages, but the team gave me the green light to go. When you're here with strong GC riders like Juan [Ayuso] and Skjell [Mattias Skjelmose] and you get a chance — you thank them for the opportunity and make sure you take it."

Ayuso and Skjelmose are the men tasked with delivering a strong general classification result for Lidl-Trek at the Tour de France. Simmons would love to play his part in that — but will he actually be there in July? "I hope so. I think we have a really strong team. It's no surprise that there's a lot of money and pressure on us to be good in July. Everyone in our group thrives on that."

"I hope I'll be part of it," the American repeated, having also said earlier: "I was quite sure I was going to be there, but you have to show your form. Yesterday and today I showed that, I think." A stage win at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is certainly a compelling argument to put in front of the Lidl-Trek management.

The management picture at the team has shifted considerably, with Grischa Niermann joining and Luca Guercilena departing after sixteen years at the helm. Has that affected Simmons? "The group of riders is who you deal with day to day, and my sports directors and coaches haven't changed — so for me, that's what matters most."

That said: "I always had a special relationship with Luca, so I won't pretend I'm not sad to see him go. Ultimately we have to trust the team, and right now we are seven here and eight at the Tour. We all have a really good relationship — that hasn't changed."

Author: Guathier Ribeiro