Yes, the 2012 Tour de France is a melting pot of bicyclists of all nationalities. In fact, only two teams are made up of cyclists of one nationality — Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain) and Saur-Sojasun (France).
George Hincapie
Even so, I’ve always liked to look through the roster of nearly 200 cyclists and see who is competing from the US.
There are eight this year, riding on four different teams.
The most notable of these cyclists is George Hincapie, who set a record on Saturday by starting his 17th Tour de France. It’s surprising that an American, not a Frenchman, would be the most prolific Tour de France cyclist ever in the 99-year history of the bike race.
Of those 17 starts, he finished all but his first. Along the way, he rode for Tour squads that achieved championships 9 times — 7 for Lance Armstrong, 1 for Alberto Contador and 1 for Cadel Evans.
He wore the yellow jersey for two days at the 2006 Tour de France, participated in three team time trial wins, and won Stage 15 in 2005 on his own. Also, he met his wife during the 2003 Tour de France, and they have two children.
At 39, Hincapie now makes his home in Greenville, South Carolina.
Other US cyclists
Tejay Van Garderen
Tejay Van Garderen — BMC The native of Tacoma, Washington, is already riding in his second Tour de France. A strong time trial cyclist, he finished fourth overall in the Prologue of the Tour de France on Saturday in Leige, Belgium.
He grew up in Bozeman, Montana, and now spends much of the year at a home in Turkey.
At 23, he’s the youngest American at the Tour de France this year. With his fourth place in the Prologue, he’s wearing the “best young rider’s” jersey. He held that honor throughout this year’s Paris-Nice.
Chris Horner
Chris Horner — RadioShack-Nissan It’s good to see Horner back in the peloton at this year’s Tour, especially after last year’s crash that left him asking “where am I?” hours after the stage finished.
At 40, Horner is the oldest cyclist among the Americans at the Tour. He lives in Bend, Oregon. After some wins on US soil earlier in his career, such as the 2003 Tour de Georgia, he competed in a few Tours de France.
In 2011, he won the Tour of California and this year finished second at the Tirreno-Adriatico.
Tom Danielson
Tom Danielson — Garmin Danielson is another cyclist who has done well on US soil, including a championship at the 2005 Tour de Georgia as a member of the Discovery Channel team.
A strong climber, his abilities helped him to a 3rd place finish at the Tour of California and 7th place at the Tour de Suisse this year.
The 34-year-old was born in Connecticut.
Tyler Farrar
Tyler Farrar — Garmin The big question every year is whether Garmin’s lead sprinter can take a stage win from his rival, Mark Cavendish.
Cavendish usually wins the contest, but Farrar is always close by in case Cavendish makes a mistake or gets caught in a crash. Farrar won Stage 3 of the Tour de France in 2011, and he has wins at the Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana and other races.
The 28-year-old grew up in Wenatchee, Washington, but spends the season in Belgium.
Christian Vande Velde
Christian Vande Velde — Garmin The cyclist from Illinois has seen quite a few Tours de France as a member of Team CSC, then Garmin. One of his career highlights came in 2008 when, as the first across the line in a team time trial for the newly minted Slipstream (Garmin) team, he became only the second US cyclist ever to wear the overall leader’s pink jersey at the Giro d’Italia.
He also won the Tour of Missouri that year. Often touted as the Garmin team leader at the Tour de France, Vande Velde’s best finish came in 2008 — 4th overall.
David Zabriskie
David Zabriskie — Garmin Rounding out the Garmin squad is time trial special Zabriskie, a Utah native.
An early member of the US Postal Service team, Zabriskie gained fame at the Tour de France by winning the Stage 1 time trial (too long to be considered a prologue) as a member of Team CSC. He lost the yellow jersey on Stage 4, when he crashed near the finish of the team time trial.
That Stage 1 victory made Zabriskie only the third US cyclist to ever wear the yellow — after Greg Lemond and Armstrong. He also became the first US cyclist to win stages in all three Grand Tours.
A 7-time US national time trial champion, Zabriskie is still going strong with a 2nd overall finish at the Tour of California.
levi Leipheimer
Levi Leipheimer — Omega Pharma Suffering a broken leg in a collision with a car during a training ride in April, Leipheimer has surprised many by continuing to race this year. A question mark for the Tour of California, he ended up finishing 6th overall.
The Tour of California has been good to the 38-year-old cyclist who makes his home in Santa Rosa. He’s won the race three times.
Leipheimer also has a long career at the Tour de France that include four top 10 finishes. His best was 3rd in 2007. The 2011 Tour was a disaster for Leipheimer, who was involved in several crashes.
Top 10 at Tour de France after Prologue
1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
2 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 7 seconds behind
3 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 7 seconds
4 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 10 seconds
5 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 11 seconds
6 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 11 seconds
7 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos – Shimano 12 seconds
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 13 seconds
9 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 13 seconds
10 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 15 seconds
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