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
| #14 | Ted King |  |
USA |
BMC
| #32 | Brent Bookwalter | |
USA |
BMC
| #39 | Tejay Van Garderen | |
USA |
Garmin-Cervelo
| #173 | Tom Danielson | |
USA |
Garmin-Cervelo
| #178 | Andrew Talansky | |
USA |
Garmin-Cervelo
| #179 | Christian Vande Velde | |
USA |
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:
- Christopher Froome
- Peter Sagan
- Alejandro Valverde
- Joaquim, Rodriguez
- Alberto Contador
- Andre Greipel
- Tony Martin
- Mark Cavendish
- Edvald Boasson Hagen
- Rui Costa
- Tejay van Garderen
- Sylvain Chavanel
- Philippe Gilbert
- Richie Porte
- Alexander Kristoff
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)
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| 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 |