US Cyclists in the Grand Tours Quiz

Answer: Vuelta a España

An American first competed in a Grand Tour (specifically, the Tour de France) in 1981, but in less than ten years Americans had won both the Tour (Greg LeMond, 1986 and 1989-90) and the Giro d'Italia (Andy Hampsten, 1988). However, American success in Spain's Vuelta a España has come much more slowly. No American even achieved a podium (top-three) finish there in the 1980s or the 1990s.

Answer: George Hincapie

All four of the Americans to complete all three Grand Tours once rode for U.S. Postal Service, but George Hincapie, who has only ridden in the Giro d'Italia once (2007, dropping out after Stage 11), isn't one of them. Christian Vandevelde was the first American to successfully complete all three Grand Tours, completing the Vuelta in 1998 (90th), the Tour in 1999 (85th), and the Giro in 2005 (114th). David Zabriskie was next in 2006 when he finished the Tour (74th), after first finishing the Vuelta in 2002 (120th) and the Giro in 2005 (135th). Levi Leipheimer completed his set in 2008 by placing 18th in the Giro after achieving podium finishes in both the Vuelta (2001) and the Tour (2007). Lance Armstrong then did it in 2009, placing 12th in the Giro after placing 4th in the Vuelta in 1998, and winning the Tour (1999 through 2005).

Answer: Jonathan "Jacques" Boyer

Jonathan "Jacques" (usually Americanized as "Jock") Boyer had been riding professionally in Europe since 1977 when his team was invited to the Tour de France in 1981, making him the first American ever to ride in a Grand Tour. The management of the Tour convinced him to wear a stars and stripes jersey design that year instead of his regular team jersey, as a way to attract U.S. attention to the race.

His best finish was 12th in 1983.

Answer: David Zabriskie

Zabriskie won Stage 11, a road stage, in the 2004 Vuelta while riding for U.S. Postal and time trials in both the 2005 Giro (Stage 8), and the 2005 Tour (Stage 1) while riding for CSC to complete the first "official" triple by an American. Tyler Hamilton won Stage 14 in the 2002 Giro and Stage 16 in the 2003 Tour, but his win of Stage 8 in the 2004 Vuelta was officially stripped for an EPO doping violation.
The "point" in the question is a reference to Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, which was also the title of a 1970 film.

Answer: Floyd Landis

In 2004, Landis' last season with the U.S. Postal Service Team, he took the maillot oro at the end of stage 1 (a team time trial), and regained it at the end of stages 8, 9, 10 and 11 to become the first American ever to lead the general classification at the Vuelta and wear the gold jersey. Levi Leipheimer became the second American to claim the gold jersey when he led the 2008 Vuelta after Stage 5 (which he won) and Stage 8 en route to finishing second.

Answer: Christian Vandevelde

In May 2008, 20 years after Hampsten's win, the new American team Garmin-Chipotle (aka Team Slipstream-Chipotle, before Garmin became a sponsor) won the team time trial in stage 1, and Vandevelde, as the first member of the team to finish, became the second American to wear the pink jersey. Of the other three choices, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton were banned for doping offenses at the time of the 2008 Giro, and Fred Rodriguez was riding in the US.

Answer: David Zabriskie and George Hincapie

Zabriskie edged Lance Armstrong in Stage 1 of the 2005 Tour and held the yellow jersey until Stage 4. Hincapie took the lead after Stage 1 (following the prologue) of the 2006 Tour and held the maillot jeune for one stage. Later in that Tour, Floyd Landis appeared to become the fifth American to earn the yellow jersey, but his performances were subsequently erased for doping.

Answer: Greg LeMond

In his first Tour de France in 1984, LeMond finished third, as well as winning the white jersey for best young rider, on his way to six career Grand Tour podiums (5 at the Tour, including three wins, and one at the Giro). The other choices were the next three Americans to achieve Grand Tour podium finishes: Andy Hampsten (1st, 1988 Giro), Bobby Julich (3rd, 1998 Tour), and Lance Armstrong (1st, 1999 Tour).

Answer: Lance Armstrong

The seven victories placed him in a tie for fourth all-time among Grand Tour winners, behind only Eddy Merckx (11), Bernard Hinault (10), and Jacques Anquetil (8). However, all three of them won all three of the Grand Tour races, not just the Tour like Armstrong.
Years later, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his titles (in August 2012).

Answer: Levi Leipheimer

Leipheimer finished third in the 2001 Vuelta a España while riding for the U.S. Postal Service Team, and third in the 2007 Tour de France while riding for its successor Discovery Channel Team. He then finished second in the 2008 Vuelta a España while riding for Astana (a team from Kazakhstan), and his three podiums rank him third among American Grand Tour riders, behind only Lance Armstrong and LeMond.

Although Armstrong had eight podiums through 2009, they were all at the Tour de France, and Andy Hampsten's two podiums were both at the Giro d'Italia.

As an additional clue, note that Armstrong is from Texas, Tyler Hamilton from Massachusetts and Hampsten from Ohio.

Answer: All have finished fourth

Greg LeMond finished fourth in the 1986 Giro, Andy Hampsten finished fourth in both the 1986 and 1992 Tour de France, and Lance Armstrong was fourth in the 1998 Vuelta. A total of five Americans have finished fourth at a Grand Tour through 2009, with the other two being Giro runner-up Tyler Hamilton, fourth at the 2003 Tour, and Christian Vandevelde, fourth in the 2008 Tour (after a disqualification).

Answer: Ron Kiefel

Kiefel's win in Stage 15 of the 1985 Giro for Team 7-Eleven (competing in its first Grand Tour), followed by Andy Hampsten's win a few days later in Stage 20, set the stage for future American cycling success at the Grand Tours. Kiefel and Hampsten escaped from the peleton and chased down a breakaway, and then Kiefel, an Olympic bronze medalist in the team time trial in 1984, sprinted ahead for the win. Here's what Hampsten (who was riding for Team 7-Eleven on a one-month contract) had to say in 2008 about Kiefel's win: "You can't downplay what Kiefel did.

His win kicked down the door for all of us. He rode away from the peloton and showed everyone on the team that we were capable of doing what we were there to do."

Answer: Davis Phinney

Phinney may have been America's best single-day road racer ever. He won Stage 3 at the 1986 Tour de France while riding for Team 7-Eleven, which had become the second U.S.-based team to compete in the Tour that year. He also won a road stage in 1987. Like 2005 Giro stage winner Ron Kiefel, he was part of the U.S. team that won a bronze in the team time trial at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Greg LeMond was the first American to win a Tour stage (Stage 21 of the 1985 Tour), but it was an individual time trial.

Answer: Guido Trenti

Trenti, who had an American mother and an Italian father, had dual Italian-American citizenship but rode under a license from the USA. In Stage 19 of the 2001 Vuelta, Trenti, riding for the Italian team Cantina, was part of an 11-man breakaway that established a 15-minute advantage over the peleton and then won a 4-person sprint to the finish by 2 seconds.

The other choices of Levi Leipheimer, Chann McRae, and Antonio Cruz, were also Americans in the 2001 Vuelta field.

Answer: Lance Armstrong

Guido Trenti won Stage 19 in 2001, David Zabriskie won Stage 11 in 2004, Tom Danielson won Stage 17 in 2006, Jason McCartney won Stage 14 in 2007 and Levi Leipheimer won Stage 5 and Stage 20 in 2008.

Answer: All three have won

U.S. Postal Service (1998-2004) won team time trials in the 2003 and 2004 Tours and the 2004 Vuelta, Discovery Channel (its continuation in 2005-2007) won one in the 2005 Tour (after which the team time trial was temporarily eliminated from the Tour because of U.S. dominance!), Garmin-Chipotle (aka Slipstream-Chipotle) won one in the 2008 Giro, and Columbia-High Road won one at the 2009 Giro.

Answer: Andy Hampsten

Greg LeMond won the Elite Men's Road Race in 1983 and 1989 (and placed second twice as well), and Lance Armstrong won it in 1993. Hampsten though, never placed in the top three. Perhaps he just needed some snow (as in his triumph in the 1988 Giro, where he built a huge lead during a fluke May snowstorm at the Gavia Pass).

Answer: 1986

A record 10 Americans lined up for the start in 1986, although only one (Greg LeMond) had ridden in 1985. Two rode for La Vie Claire (LeMond and Andy Hampsten) and 8 rode for 7-Eleven in its first Tour (Eric Heiden, Davis Phinney, Bob Roll, Alexi Grewal, Ron Kiefel, Chris Carmichael, Jeff Pierce and Doug Shapiro).

However, only 7 Americans rode in 1987, and the numbers kept dropping for the next ten years, until Lance Armstrong's 1999 victory. The next surge of Americans began with 9 competing in 2000, with 5 for U.S. Postal (Armstrong, Hincapie, Hamilton, Livingston and Andreu), 2 for Credit Agricole (Julich and Vaughters), and 2 for Mapei-Quick Step (McRae and F. Rodriguez). 9 also competed in 2002, with 3 for U.S. Postal (Armstrong, Hincapie and Landis), 2 for Telekom (Julich and Livingston), 1 for Rabobank (Leipheimer), 1 for CSC (Hamilton), 1 for Credit Agricole (Vaughters) and 1 for DFF (F. Rodriguez), and 8 competed in 1999 and 2001, but 1986 was never matched.

However, the introduction of Lance Armstrong's Team RadioShack in 2010, along with the existing American teams Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-HTC, should finally permit 1986 to be surpassed.

Answer: Greg LeMond

LeMond was unfortunately part of the 1980 Olympic team that boycotted that summer's games in Moscow at the instigation of U.S. President Jimmy Carter. He turned professional after that, and professional cyclists were not allowed to compete in the Olympics until 1996. Of the other choices, Lance Armstrong won a bronze in the 2000 Olympic men's time trial, Alexi Grewal won a gold in the 1984 Olympic men's road race, and Eric Heiden won five gold medals in the 1980 Winter Olympics (for men's speed-skating, although he was also a world-class cyclist and rode in the 1986 Tour).

Other American Grand Tour riders and Olympic medalists include Tyler Hamilton (gold) and Bobby Julich (bronze) in the 2004 Olympic men's time trial, Levi Leipheimer (bronze) in the same event in 2008, and Davis Phinney and Ron Kiefel (bronze) in the 1984 men's team time trial.

Answer: George Hincapie

Hincapie rode with Lance Armstrong on all seven of his Tour victories from 1999 to 2005, and then rode with Alberto Contador on his 2007 victory. In addition to his role as Armstrong's leading domestique, Hincapie won a stage during the 2005 Tour and wore the yellow jersey for one stage during the 2006 Tour.
Lance Armstrong tied Hincapie's record of being part of eight winning teams when he returned from retirement in 2009 and rode for Astana (with Contador, who won again), but he needed 11 years for those wins due to his retirement from 2006-08.