Who are the Americans riding the Tour de France 2021?
There is less than a week until the start of the 2021 Tour de France and teams have already started announcing their squad line-ups with some American riders making the cut. Currently, just four US rider have been put down on the start list with three of them being officially selected by their teams. Each rider is at a different team with varying levels of expectations going into the race, with some being key support riders with chances of stage wins and good GC placings to riders likely looking to get into a breakaway. >>> Amazon Prime Day cycling deals: The best discounts in 2021  Sepp Kuss  Sepp Kuss on the attack at the Critrium du Dauphin 2021 (Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)  Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) is probably the biggest name in US cycling at the moment due to his success as a support rider for two time Vuelta a Espaa winner and Tour runner up, Primo Rogli. However, he has shown that his climbing ability is one of the best in the world, with his time trialing ability potentially keeping him away from the team leader's limelight. Kuss has impressed once again this season with strong climbing performances throughout the season starting at the UAE Tour all the way up to the Critrium du Dauphin. Kuss will be the last man in the mountains for Rogli with Steven Kruijswijk, Jonas Vingegaard, Robert Gesink and Wout van Aert expected to be the build-up riders. Brandon McNulty  Brandon McNulty in the yellow leaders jersey at the Tour of the Basque Country 2021 (Image credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)  Brandon McNulty has shown that he could be the next big general classification rider for the US as he has a very good time trial as well as an amazingly fast kick, which he has used on a few occasions to get surprisingly good stage placings. The UAE Team Emirates man took the leaders jersey at the Tour of the Basque Country through a breakaway much to the surprise of the likes of Rogli, but he will be one of the key men for defending champion, Tadej Pogaar in the mountains. Neilson Powless  Neilson Powless on the final stage of the Tour de Suisse 2021 (Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)  Neilson Powless is another talented young rider who shows a lot of promise in the general classification with a strong time trial and good climbing legs on his day. However, the EF Education-Nippo rider does look like he needs work on consistency as he yoyoed about at the recent Tour de Suisse. Powless, who wore the best young riders jersey for a few stages in Switzerland, will be the key man for leader Rigoberto Urn as well as pocket rocket Sergio Higuita in the high mountains with potential opportunities for break success also coming his way. Sean Bennett  Sean Bennett on the attack at the Critrium du Dauphin 2021 (Image credit: Bas Czerwinski/Getty Images)  Sean Bennett is not as well known as the three above but he can still create some very exciting racing for a team that looks set to be in every break at the Tour. Bennett, who is a bit of a puncher/Classics rider, will hope that he can maybe get into the breaks in the early stages and perhaps get hold of the mountains jersey. There are a few lumpy stages later on in the race that would suit him very nicely too for a potential stage win. He doesn't really have a leader to support apart from maybe trying to set up Max Walscheid for a tilt in the sprints. Other Americans that we could possibly see in the Tour who have not yet been confirmed are Quinn Simmons, Kiel Reijnen (both Trek-Segafredo), Will Barta, Lawson Craddock, Logan Owen (all EF Education-Nippo), Ian Garrison (Deceuninck - Quick-Step), Chad Haga and Kevin Vermaerke (both DSM). Canada also has three riders at the race with Israel Start-Up Nation leader Michael Woods being the headline name. Other names are from the French-speaking side of the country with Hugo Houle lining up for Astana-Premier Tech and Guillaume Boivin joining Woods at Israel Start-Up Nation.