The 2016 Tour de France is upon us and five Americans will be riding in the event this year including most of top finishers from the 2016 UCI World Tour system. Leading the pack of Americans is Tejay Van Garderen who just finished sixth in the Tour de Suisse last month and also finished fifth earlier in the year in the Volta a Cataluyna. The other American in the field who has a top 10 finish this year is Lawson Craddock who finished ninth in the Tour of the Basque Country.

Peter Stetina and Alex Howes each have top 25 finishes this year, Stetina was 22nd in the Tour de Suisse and Howes was 21st in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race. The final American in the field is Brent Bookwalter whose best finish of the year was 35th in the Tour de Romandie.

None of the five Americans who are racing participated in the Giro d’Italia last month. The only American with a top 25 finish this season who is not participating in the tour is Andrew Talansky who finished fifth in the Tour de Suisse last month.

Beginning Saturday with the flat 117 mile opening stage the Tour de France will open with nine straight days of racing followed by a day off and seven more days of racing. After a second day of rest the races ends with five final days of racing. There are two time trials, one in stage 13 for 23 miles and one in the mountains in stage 18 for 11 miles.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Tour de Suisse Recap

Andrew Talansky wasn’t able to maintain his second place position at the Tour de Suisse during the final stage as he couldn’t stay with the leading pack of seven riders and finished in eighth, 56 seconds back. Those 56 seconds were enough to drop him from second to fifth overall, 1;04 back, still a great result for him. Talansky finished in the top eight of the last five stages of the race.

Finishing 22 seconds behind Talansky overall was Tejay Van Garderen who moved up one spot on the day after finishing fifth in the same time as the race winner. Van Garderen has now been in the top 10 of the last three races he entered on the UCI World Tour. Joe Dombrowski also finished the race on a good note with a 10th place finish Sunday, finishing with the same time as Talansky. Dombrowski ended up 26th, 29:16 back, a season best finish for him as well.

Peter Stetina was the fourth American in the top 30 as he was 3:54 back in 28th. He finished a season best 22nd overall, 23:56 back, and became only the fifth American to finish in the top 25 of a race this season. Kiel Reijnen finished 66th, his best stage of the race and only his second top 100 finish, while Ian Boswell rounded out the six top 100 American finishers with a 90th place finish. Boswell was 37th overall, 39:53 back.

The next race on the UCI World Tour is the big one, the Tour de France, starting July 2nd and running through the 24th.

Previous Tour de Suisse Coverage:
Preview
Stage One Recap
Stage Two Recap
Stage Three Recap
Stage Four Recap
Stage Five Recap
Stage Six Recap
Stage Seven Recap
Stage Eight Recap

Andrew Talansky is in position to notch the top finish by an American so far this year on the UCI World Tour, and maybe even win, as he moved into second place of the Tour de Suisse after a fifth place finish in the 10 mile time trial on Saturday. Talansky was 23 seconds back of the winner but only dropped five seconds to the new leader, Miguel Angel Lopez of Colombia. Talansky now trails Lopez by eight seconds in the overall standings with only a 73.1 mile mountain stage between them and the finish.

Tejay Van Garderen, who had won stage seven, finished 34 seconds back in 10th. Van Garderen kept his seventh place spot in the overall standings but is now 1:26 back. For the first time since stage four there wasn’t a third American in the top 30 as the next American to finish was Peter Stetina who ended up 65th, 1:59 back. Stetina stayed in 24th and is 20:02 back overall. No other Americans were in the top 100 but Joe Dombrowski and Ian Boswell are in 32nd and 33rd overall while trailing by 28:20 and 28:52 respectively.

The race wraps up with a 73.1 mile mountain stage on Sunday.

Previous Tour de Suisse Coverage:
Preview
Stage One Recap
Stage Two Recap
Stage Three Recap
Stage Four Recap
Stage Five Recap
Stage Six Recap
Stage Seven Recap

For the first time this year an American has won a stage on the UCI World Tour. Tejay Van Garderen was 16 seconds clear of the field on the tough 139.4 mile mountain stage Friday to earn his first stage win, or even top three finish so far this season. Van Garderen’s win topped Joe Dombrowski’s third place finish in the 20th stage of the Giro d’Italia as the best finish by an American in 2016. The win was nice for Van Garderen but didn’t help him make up too much ground as new leader Warren Barguil of France was 16 seconds back in third. Andrew Talansky remained the top American overall by finishing 33 seconds back in fifth, his best stage finish of the season, and is still third overall but now just 24 seconds back.

Peter Stetina was 26th, 5:22 back, and moved up six spots to 24th, now trailing the leader by 18:42. Dombrowski finished 42nd, 11:50 back, and swapped spots 31 and 32 overall with Ian Boswell, who finished 54th. Dombrowski is now 25:53 back with Boswell 26:47 back.

The race continues with a 10 mile time trial on Saturday and then wraps up with a 73.1 mile mountain stage on Sunday.

Previous Tour de Suisse Coverage:
Preview
Stage One Recap
Stage Two Recap
Stage Three Recap
Stage Four Recap
Stage Five Recap
Stage Six Recap

Andrew Talansky became the lead American in the Tour de Suisse on Thursday as a sixth place finish allowed him to move into third place, just 19 seconds behind the new leader, Wilco Kelderman of the Netherlands. Talansky, along with Kelderman, was 4:31 behind the winner of the stage and finished sixth. Joe Dombrowski, who had not had a finisher higher than 39 until this stage, was 4:42 back in 11th and jumped up 18 spots to 32nd, 14:31 back.

Tejay Van Garderen slipped out of the top five and fell to 13th overall, 2:09 back, after a 28th place finish 6:22 back. Peter Stetina was the fourth American in the top 50, 10:18 back in 42nd, and improved his standing by five spots to 30th, 13:48 back overall. Stetina in 30th and Dombrowski in 32nd are separated by a 3rd American, Ian Boswell, who is 14:22 back after finishing 51st on Thursday.

The race continues with the longest stage, a 139.4 mile mountain stage, on Friday and continues through Sunday with only mountain stages and a 10 mile time trial on Saturday to come.

Previous Tour de Suisse Coverage:
Preview
Stage One Recap
Stage Two Recap
Stage Three Recap
Stage Four Recap
Stage Five Recap