A handful of past Redlands Bicycle Classic riders are key cyclists at this year’s Tour de France, which opened in Spain last week.
Four-time champion Tadej Pogacar of UAE Team Emirates includes one- time Redlands runner-up Brandon McNulty.
Two other past Redlands duelists, Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss, are racing on two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard Team Vingegaard’s squad.
Following July 12 ninth stage, Pog- acar had a 2-minute, 42-second overall lead against Vingegaard. Juan Ayuso, fifth overall, is teammates with the U.S.’s Quinn Simmons, a past Redlands stage winner.
Monday, July 13, was an off day, this year’s race continuing through July 26.
Redlands-based connections with this year’s Tour de France seems strong, according to Redlands Bicycle Crace director Craig Kundig.
“Some of those guys who raced here had a nice start,” he said, noting plen- ty of non-Redlands success beyond Tour de France connections.
UF Education-Easy Post cyclist Sean Quinn, who took 10th in Sun- day’s Tour de France stage, a hilly ter- rain that left him first in team points. At 12th overall, Quinn is tops on his squad.
In team battles, UF Education’s lead was chased by a trio of squads by 6 seconds apiece. Each of those four top teams — Lidl-Trek, UAE Emirates and Team Visma — includes U.S. cy- clists who have raced at Redlands.
Mattieu van der Poel, who took Sun- day’s 104-mile stage, is 56th overall.
Five of those U.S. cyclists are fairly close to Tour de France leaders, indi- vidually, after nine stages — Quinn (12th), Kuss (20th), McNulty (25th), Jorgenson (28th) and Simmons (41st) — have delivered strong finishes racing at Redlands.
Another U.S. cyclist, Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) has not raced at Redlands. Said Kundig: “His dad raced here on team Tri years ago.”
Riccitello’s father, Jimmy, is former professional triathlete and XTerra World Champion.
Cyclists at this year’s Tour de France have provided past success at Redlands.
In 2016, Kuss won a hill-climbing Oak Glen stage.
McNulty, meanwhile, took second overall in 2017 at Redlands, losing by 44 seconds to T.J. Eisenhardt. That same year, now-retired Spanish cyclist Francisco Mancebo, a two-time Redlands champion and multiple top-10 Tour de France finisher, took first in this city’s final stage, Sunset Road Race.
Two years later, in 2019, Quinn (EF Education – Easypost) was Redlands’ opening stage time trial winner. That same year, Simmons (LIDL Trek) scored a Sunset stage win.
“(Simmons) won the climber’s jersey and the sprinter’s jersey that year,” said Kundig. “He was riding for Landis Shop in Arizona at the time.”
Redlands, meanwhile, has produced one triumphant Tour de France champion. Australian Cade Evans, runner-up at Redlands in 1998, captured the 2011 Tour de France. Redlands’ Classic, which started in 1985, has been filled with dozens of cyclists who rode in the Tour de France. Redlands’ 1986 champion, Davis Phinney of the U.S., scored two stage wins in that 113-year-old French race.
Slovenia’s Pogacar, Denmark’s Vingegaard, and Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro — top three heading into Tuesday’s stage — lead a lengthy list of cyclists who have never raced at Redlands.
This year’s Tour de France concludes on July 26 in Paris.