Racing

TdF Daily: Rigo on the rise; Powless tied for the lead in the King of the Mountains competition

We came out swinging on stage 15 of the Tour de France

July 16, 2023

We said on day one that we were going to race this Tour de France with creativity and grit.

Today was no exception.

We put four out of our five riders in the break on a formidable day in the Alps. Rigoberto Urán was in the running, until he crashed on a descent. The Colombian veteran is fine and now looking forward to attacking in the mountains during the third week.

Heading into the Tour’s second rest day, Neilson Powless is even on points with the leader of the King of the Mountains competition. The American put in a gutsy ride to pick up points on today’s alpine stage. His form is back on the rise.

Although Richard Carapaz, James Shaw, and Esteban Chaves have had to abandon the race after crashes, their teammates are racing on with the same spirit with which they attacked the Tour de France.

Read our riders thoughts from after the finish of today’s stage.

Rigoberto Urán

My day was a good day and a bad day. It was 50/50, because I was in the break with three guys and my feeling was better, not super, because the last four or five days, I hadn't been feeling well. Today, it was better. I was in a good position with the break, and I was unlucky. I crashed. It is cycling. You need to go full gas every day. I will focus on the next week. I believe in it, I believe in it too much, maybe. I am focused on next week. This is normal for me. The first two weeks were not super, and now the third week, I hope it is better.

Neilson Powless

Today was actually quite a lot better. I thought we got a good move in the valley before the first climb. It was uncategorized, but the first real climb of the day. Alberto set me up for a really good move. We got up the road without Ciccone, without Woods, but unfortunately we had about ten kilometers to the first climb and he has a really strong team for flat roads, so his team kept us close and pulled us back. And that effort was killing me for the rest of the day. I took a couple points, not many, but I am tied for first, so still in it.

Ciccone is coming at me quick. But I am just hoping that my fitness continues to go up, and I am hoping that he has been using a lot of energy to take those points. He has been super aggressive, going one extra climb further than I am each stage, but I just have to hope that his energy runs out and I can take advantage of that when it happens.

My legs hurt more than this morning, but they are getting better. Honestly, they are getting better. And that gives me a lot of confidence. I want to go the whole way with this thing.

Magnus Cort

I am doing alright. It was nice to actually make it into a break and do something in this race. The stage was not for me, but we gave it a try with Rigo, so that was alright. I hope to go in the breakaway again. There are not that many stages left that are looking good for me, unfortunately, but I will try. It was pretty fun to have four out of five guys in the breakaway today, but in the end you have to have the legs. On a day like today, numbers don’t matter too much.

Andrey Amador

It was another day at the Tour de France. We tried. And we will try again. But this is cycling.

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Tour de France
Jul. 01, 2023 – Jul. 23, 2023
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Neilson Powless

When Neilson Powless started racing X-Terra triathlons with his sister back home in Northern California, he just wanted to spend time outside and rip around the trails near his house. His first love was mountain-biking. It was his best discipline in those off-road triathlons, and when he got to high-school, there were all sorts of chances for him to compete in California’s mountain-bike league. Soon, he was travelling with the US national team, racing junior world cups and championships against the world’s most talented mountain-bikers. Race in and race out, Neilson proved he was one of them.

Then he decided he wanted to have a go on the road.

Neilson has progressed steadily since he turned pro in 2018, thanks to his hard-work and diligent approach to training. In 2020, Neilson Powless became the first tribally recognized Native North American to race the Tour de France. The next year, our rising American star won Spain’s greatest one-day race, the Clásica San Sebastián, and finished fifth at the world championships in Belgium. Neilson was stellar in 2022. After a strong campaign in the Ardennes, he finished fourth on GC at the Tour de Suisse and lit up the Tour de France. He finished the year off with a victory at the Japan Cup.

The 2023 season was his best yet. Neilson won his first race of the year: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille. He then won the overall at Étoile de Bèsseges and stormed the Flemish classics, finishing third at Dwars door Vlaanderen and fifth at De Ronde in his debut campaign on the cobbles. At the Tour, he captured hearts with a stellar run in the King of the Mountains jersey.

Neilson lives in Nice, France with his wife and baby girl during the racing season. He enjoys exploring their new city and relaxing on the beach after hard rides through the Alps.

If he can find time in his schedule, Neilson would like to get back to his roots, and do some off-road alternative racing in 2024.

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Rigoberto Urán

There is now a Colombian TV show about Rigoberto Urán’s life. It is about more than Olympic medals and grand tour podiums, fashion shoots, and appearances in the celebrity pages of newspapers.

Rigoberto’s dad was killed by a paramilitary group three months after he introduced Rigo to cycling. Rigo was 14. All of a sudden, he had to work to support his mom and his sister. He took over his dad’s job, selling lottery tickets to support his family, while going to school and trying to race. He still won a lot.

At 16, it was too much. Rigo told his cycling team that he would either have to turn pro or quit and go back to selling lottery tickets. Technically, he was too young to become a professional. To get around that fact, the team offered his mother the contract. Three years later, Rigo traveled to Europe for the first time to race for a small Italian team.

He has never looked back. An Olympic silver medal and podium finishes at the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France are highlights from his illustrious career. Rigo is still a contender. In 2022, he won stage 17 of the Vuelta, completing his trifecta of stage wins in each of the grand tours, and was a force in the autumn classics.

Rigo continues to inspire his teammates and a whole generation of cyclists with his laid-back, fun-loving approach to the sport.

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Andrey Amador

Andrey Amador brings experience and climbing prowess to our team. We rely on the strong Costa Rican at key moments of the hardest races and learn all that we can from him. Andrey draws on 14 years of WorldTour experience. He has won a stage of the Giro and worn that race’s leader’s jersey, but above all made his name as a skilled and dedicated teammate, who is always ready to get the hard work done–with a smile.

Andrey has finished 18 grand tours so far during his career and ridden for some of cycling’s great champions, including his close friend and fishing buddy Richard Carapaz.

Andrey and Richie have been teammates ever since they were amateurs. No matter how hard the races get, they can make each other laugh. Andrey is Richie’s right-hand man. He’ll keep him out of the wind and get him water bottles and ride on the front whenever it could turn the race to Richie’s advantage.

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