Matteo Jorgensen and Will Barta credit the Boise Young Riders Development Squad for them becoming professional cyclists.
It’s a long way from Boise, Idaho, to the biggest stage in professional cycling. Still, not one but two products of a long-running youth biking program in the city will be in the peloton when the Tour de France starts Saturday.
Matteo Jorgenson and Will Barta are among five Americans competing in the 2025 edition of the world’s most prestigious bike race.
“These are two young men who are obviously living the dream,” said Douglas Tobin, founder and president of the Boise Young Rider Development Squad, or BYRDS, the program where the two got their start.
And not to be outdone, Sepp Kuss and Quinn Simmons both hail from Durango, Colorado. The fifth, Neilson Powless, grew up in Roseville, California, and is the only tribally recognized Native American to compete in the Tour de France.
The five Americans — two more than in last year’s race — is on par with U.S. participation the past decade or so. The all-time high is 10 riders, reached in 1986 and 2011.
What the U.S. lacks in quantity in the grandest of Grand Tour races, is made up in quality. The five — two of whom are teammates — will play vital roles for their squads and perhaps chase stage wins, though none are among the favorites for the overall title.
The Tour de France race starts Saturday in the northern French city of Lille for the first of 21 stages covering 2,070 miles through quaint towns, sprawling countrysides and big mountains. The final stage on July 27 will break from tradition with three laps around the narrow cobbled streets of Montmarte Hill in Paris but still finish on the Champ-Elyees.
Slovenian Tadej Pogačar or Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard have won the last five Tours in epic battles — Vingegaard in 2022 and 2023 and Pogacar in 2020, 2021 and 2024. They figure to be the race favorites again this year.
The Boise boys
Close friends Jorgenson, 26, and Barta, 29, grew up racing with BYRDS and have known each other since they were kids. Jorgenson started in the program when he was 7; Barta was around 10. As professionals, they were even on the same team for a couple of seasons.
“They were both really excited about cycling. There were students of the sport. They paid attention to everything. They paid attention to equipment. They paid attention to all of the things with the pro racers. They idolized many of the pro racers at the time,” Tobin told the Deseret News.
Jorgenson said in 2022 that BYRDS basically taught him everything he knows about riding.
“For years, every day after school, I would ride with people my age. It’s definitely the only way an American gets into cycling is through a program like BYRDS where you have people around you doing it. Without BYRDS, I definitely wouldn’t be a cyclist.”
Tobin started BYRDS 26 years ago to give kids and their families an opportunity to see the sport, challenge themselves, set and reach goals and develop lifetime skills and healthy habits. It has both racing and recreational programs.
He said it’s “amazing” and “quite humbling” to see Barta and Jorgenson racing in the Tour de France. He keeps regular contact with both.
Jorgenson took to riding — and racing — quickly, first on a mountain bike before transitioning to a road bike. Tobin said there wasn’t a recreational part to his focus. He wanted to be with the racers.
“He always wanted to ride with the older riders, even in his younger years when he wasn’t able to keep up with them. He was determined to work as hard as he could to keep up with them,” Tobin told KTVB in Boise. “Pursuing higher goals, and putting in the extra work. He was just that type of personality.”
Jorgenson, who rides for Visma-Lease a Bike, finished eighth overall in the Tour de France last year, the first time an American placed in the top 10 since 2014. He spent much of the race riding shoulder to shoulder with pro cycling’s biggest names — and he can now arguably be counted among them. “He’s just that rider, that personality that comes up in those conversations,” Tobin said.
Tobin described Jorgenson as a contender and possibly a rider a team could build around.
“I believe there’s a possibility for him. I don’t think he’s someone you should count out. Knowing his personality, he’s not someone you cannot consider for that potential,” he said.
Also in 2024, Jorgenson won the highly regarded Paris-Nice, an eight-day race in France that serves as a proving ground for future Grand Tour contenders. He defended his title this past March in a race hampered by snow, sleet and rain. He is the first American to win it twice.
“Paris-Nice is turning into an American race,” said Jorgenson, who just signed a contract extension that will keep him with Visma-Lease a Bike through 2029.
Another American, Magnus Sheffield, 23, a former skier turned cyclist from New York who rides for Ineos Grenadiers, finished just off the podium in fourth. Barta crossed the line in 15th.
Tour de France rookie
While Jorgenson will start his fourth Tour de France on Saturday, Barta will make his debut in the world’s biggest bike race on the Movistar Team, based in Spain.
“I’m just so happy for him,” Tobin said, noting Barta has competed in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España, the other two major pro cycling races. “But for those of us who are cyclists, particularly road cyclists, the Tour de France is the one you want to be in”
Tobin said Barta joined BYRDS when he was 10 or 11 years old. He dreamed of competing at pro cycling’s top level from the start.
For years, Barta had stared at a photo of Luxembourgish rider Fränk Schleck winning atop Alpe d’Huez at the 2006 Tour de France, and envisioned himself doing the same. Alpe d’Huez is one Tour’s iconic climbs, though it won’t be part of this year’s course which changes every year.
Barta expressed a real love for the sport from the beginning and was a great student of the sport as well, Tobin said.
“Will is very experienced. Will has always been extremely good at tactical cycling. He really is a very, very smart cyclist, very good team organizer,” he said, adding he could see Barta as a team director when he retires from competition.
Barta competed with the U.S. Junior National World Team and won the Bogus Basin Hill Climb in 2013 when he was 17 years old. He snagged his first pro win in Spain last year.
“He just became a very strong competitive rider,” Tobin told the Idaho Statesman. “He was willing to punish himself to ride and race, ride and race again and again.”
The Durango kids
The strong cycling community in Durango, Colorado, also is well-represented in the 2025 Tour de France with Kuss, 30, and Simmons, 24.
Kuss rides for the Dutch team Visma-Lease a Bike alongside Jorgenson. Simmons is on the American squad Lidl-Trek.
Kuss won the Vuelta a España in 2023 and a stage of the Tour de France in 2021. He rode inconsistently and endured injuries last season. He missed the 2024 Tour de France due to COVID.
Touted as a potential team leader, Kuss acknowledged he’s more comfortable in a support role. “I find the best version of myself when I start to help other riders,” he said, per CyclingUpToDate.
The “Durango Kid” was a key domestique in teammate Vingegaard’s two Tour de France wins. He and Jorgenson will be working to put the Danish rider atop the podium in Paris again this year. But if Vingegaard falters, either Kuss or Jorgenson could take on the leader role.
“We all know that Jonas is the main guy,” Kuss told CyclingProNet. “He’s always relaxed, he’s focused, he’s won the Dauphiné before and knows what it means going into the Tour.”
The Critérium du Dauphiné is one of the big stage races leading up to the Tour de France. Vingegaard won it in 2023. He finished second to Pogačar this year.
Simmons, a two-time American national road champion, will also be riding to support his team leader, Mattias Skjelmose, and sprinter Jonathan Milan on the Lidl-Trek team. He won his second U.S. title earlier this year and also had a stage win in the Tour de Suisse.
“Quinn Simmons, who is coming into the race off the back of a really great stage win at Tour de Suisse, will be the team’s dedicated puller,” according to the team. “So, he has to ride a lot of kilometers in front to make it possible to have a sprint.”
Simmons will race in the stars and stripes jersey as the U.S. national champion.
First Native American rider
Powless, 29, has the distinction of being the first Native American to compete in the Tour de France, which he has done five times. His late grandfather belonged to the Oneida tribe.
Powless, who rides for the American team EF Education-EasyPost, has won several one-day races in his career and has top 10 finishes in the Tour of Flanders, Paris–Nice and Milan–San Remo.
Among the five Americans in this year’s race, Powless has the most starts. His best finish is 12th overall in 2022.
He said his best memory of the Tour de France so far is a stage on the cobblestones in 2022 when he was fighting for the yellow leader’s jersey.
“I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. It is so hard to get into that position. That has been the thing that has motivated me for years now, just that feeling of being within reach of the yellow jersey, even if just for a day,” Powless said.
“I want to win a stage (of the Tour de France) as well. That would definitely make my career feel complete.”
Americans in the Tour de France
Matteo Jorgensen
Age: 26
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Team: Team Visma-Lease a Bike
Tour de France starts: 3
Major wins: Paris-Nice 2023, 2024
Sepp Kuss
Age: 30
Hometown: Durango, Colorado
Team: Team Visma-Lease a Bike
Tour de France starts: 4
Major wins: Vuelta a Espana 2023, Stage 15 Tour de France 2021
Quinn Simmons
Age: 24
Hometown: Durango, Colorado
Team: Lidl-Trek
Tour de France starts: 2
Major wins: U.S. national road championship 2023, 2025
Will Barta
Age: 29
Hometown: Boise, Idaho
Team: Movistar Team
Tour de France starts: 0
Major wins: Stage 5 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 2024
Neilson Powless
Age: 29
Hometown: Roseville, California
Team: EF Education-Easy Post
Tour de France starts: 5
Major wins: Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025
Category: General Sports
