Quinn Simmons swaps Tour de France for Leadville MTB epic as World Championships loom

The American road champion will line up at the Leadville Trail 100 MTB on Saturday, returning to the Colorado race where he finished second as an 18-year-old in 2019. This time he arrives with three US road titles, four Tours de France and several seasons in the WorldTour behind him.

It also comes less than three weeks after a Tour de France in which Simmons spent much of his time racing for others.

Lidl-Trek arrived in France with several objectives and Simmons quickly became one of the riders asked to hold them together. He helped protect Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose in the general classification while also playing an important role in Mads Pedersen's successful pursuit of the green jersey.

His own ambition was different. Simmons had gone to the Tour looking for the stage victory that has so far escaped him.

At times, the tension between those two responsibilities was clear.

“The team has made it obvious that they care more about Mads winning the green jersey than about me winning a stage,” Simmons said after spending much of stage 15 on the attack.

“At the end of the day, they write my paycheck, so I have to do what I am told.”

Simmons nevertheless continued to commit to the team's objectives. Pedersen eventually reached Paris in green, while Lidl Trek also placed Skjelmose and Ayuso inside the top seven overall and won the team classification.

For the second year in succession, Simmons was awarded the Tour's Best Teammate prize for his work across the three weeks.

He left France without the personal victory he had wanted, but with another reminder of his value to Lidl-Trek.

At Leadville, the priorities will be very different. With no team leader to protect or green jersey campaign to support, Simmons will have the freedom to race for his own result.

Simmons is not the only major road rider using the weeks after the Tour de France to return to mountain biking.

Mathieu van der Poel is also planning to switch disciplines before making a bid for the mountain bike world title later this month. The Dutchman is expected to make his return to MTB racing at Les Gets before heading to the World Championships in Val di Sole. After that, Van der Poel is set to turn his attention back to the road for the World Championships in Montréal, where his path could cross with Simmons again.

For Simmons, Leadville appears to be a shorter off road detour before he too shifts his focus towards Canada.

The Road World Championships in Montréal have been firmly on the American’s radar since before the season began.

Simmons described the Canadian championships as “basically our home Worlds” and believes the demanding course could give the United States several realistic medal contenders.

There is good reason for his confidence.

Simmons finished third at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in 2025, staying in contention on a course featuring around 4,000 metres of climbing. Weeks later, he produced one of the most memorable rides of his career at Il Lombardia, spending much of the race out front before eventually finishing fourth behind Tadej Pogačar.

Those performances helped establish one day racing as one of the areas where Simmons believes he can make another step.

For now, Simmons has unfinished business in Colorado before attention turns back to the road.