When American Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) took home the red jersey at La Vuelta in 2023, he was met by parades in his hometown of Durango, Colorado and surprising praise from American actor Ben Stiller who had followed the entire La Vuelta, cheering Kuss on along the way.
Compatriot Veronica Ewers has risen to prominence in the past two years with a top 10 finish at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after having spent most of her cycling career as an amateur.
We know there is talent in the legs and hearts of American riders. With the road season now upon us, here's who to follow in 2024. And who know? These riders may just spark an American cycling revival.
The Men
Sepp Kuss
Despite his team’s seeming unwillingness to let a domestique claim a grand classification victory, Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) ended up winning La Vuelta a Espana in 2023, much to the happiness of his hometown in Durango, Colorado and American cycling enthusiasts nationwide. Kuss’ win made him the first American in a decade to win a Grand Tour. As such, thousands came out to celebrate Kuss when he returned to the Mountain West to celebrate his La Vuelta victory.
Kuss also finsihed 12th overall in the 2023 Tour de France, where his strength on key climbing stages helped secure teammate Jonas Vingegaard’s win. After being in the top 10 overall for much of the Tour, a nasty crash in stage 20 bumped Kuss down to 12th, where he remained for the rest of the Tour.
Kuss is undoubtedly a talented rider with more grand classification wins in the realm of possibility. But knowing that Team Visma-Lease a Bike's focus is on Vingegaard, will he ever get another opportunity to go for the win like at La Vuelta? Time will tell.
Neilson Powless
Neilson Powless (EF Education-Easypost) is now in his fifth year with EF Education-Easypost and arguably had his best year yet in 2023.
He started 2023 with a win at Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille as well as the overall at Étoile de Bèsseges. He continued to impress at Dwars door Vlaanderen where he finished third and then rounded things out with a fifth place finish at the Tour of Flanders.
At the 2023 Tour de France, Powless wore the polka dot jersey for a whopping 13 days, becoming the first American to do so since 2017. Powless’ climbing prowess makes him sure to be a key player in this year’s Tour de France, whose route is notably hilly with five summit finishes.
Matteo Jorgenson
Another American known for his climbing skills, Idaho native Matteo Jorgenson (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) made his Tour de France debut in 2022 with Team Movistar, where he came dangerously close to winning stage 16.
In 2023, Jorgenson was poised to win the stage at Puy de Dôme, but ran out of gas with about 1km to go, ultimately finishing in fourth. Still, though, Jorgenson noted he was pleased with his effort and felt there was more effort to be given on another day.
This year will be Jorgenson’s first on Team Visma-Lease a Bike and he’s wasted no time getting acquainted with teammates like Wout van Aert, cruising around the Tour of Flanders route with van Aert in November.
Brandon McNulty
Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) is the current U.S. National time trial champion after finding the top step at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships in 2023. And McNulty won by a good chunk of time, too - silver was nearly 90 seconds back. Also in 2023, McNulty won Stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia.
McNulty has started 2024 off with a bang, winning the Grand Classification at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in Spain. He has also been given the go-ahead by his team to go for more wins this season.
The Women
Veronica Ewers
Another Idaho native, Veronica Ewers (Team EF Education-Cannondale) has had a meteoric -and unorthodox- rise to prominence in professional cycling.
She attended her first-ever group road ride in 2018 on a used Kona Jake the Snake cyclocross bike in tennis shoes. Despite her unassuming appearance, Ewers’ talent for cycling was undeniable, and by mid-2021, she stood atop the U.S. Pro Nationals podium with a bonze medal.
In 2022, Ewers finished ninth overall at the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and many eyed her for another top 10 finish - if not higher - in 2023. Unfortunately, Ewers was unable to show her prowess fully at the 2023 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift when a race-ending crash in Stage 6 sidelined her.
This year, there will certainly be a focus on Ewers to see if she can find redemption at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after the physical and emotional rollercoaster of dropping out last year.
Chloe Dygert
After two years of career-threatening injuries and illnesses, American cycling star Choé Dygert made one hell of a comeback in 2023.
The multi-discipline star won the U.S. national time trial and road race in dominant fashion before taking home two additional World Titles in Glasgow later that summer in the Individual Pursuit event on the track and in the time trial race on the road.
Heading into an Olympic year, Dygert is favored to win gold in the women’s time trial and individual pursuit, bringing back shades of when fellow and her former coach American Kristin Armstrong won three Olympic golds in the individual time trial in the early and mid-2000s.
Kristen Faulkner
Kristen Faulkner (Team EF Education-Cannondale) is no stranger to stage wins, having racked them up at the Tour Féminin de l’Ardèche, the Ladies Tour of Norway, the Tour de Suisse and the Giro Donne.
A string contender in the race against the clock, Faulkner finished sixth in the individual time trial at the World Championships in 2022, and in 2023 became the Pan American TT champion, after covering the 20.1km course in 25:45.
Faulkner had a rollercoaster year in 2023, which saw her struggle with injury and make headlines with a disqualification at the March 2023 Strade Bianche after being caught wearing a continuous glucose monitor, whose use is banned in-competition by the UCI. As a result, Faulkner lost a podium spot in the race.
Faulkner is likely hungry to avenge her disqualification in 2024 for her new team, EF Education-Cannondale and will probably be just as hungry to not forget to remove her continuous glucose monitor before a race, too.
Coryn Labecki (née Rivera)
Coryn Labecki is the most veteran of the American women listed here, having spent nearly 20 years as a professional cyclist and earning the title of Olympian at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
In 2023, Labecki won the U.S. National Criterium Championships (her 73rd national title, we might add), so you’ll find her sporting a stars-and-stripes edition of the EF Pro Cycling kit in any criterium until she’s unseated.
Always dangerous in a sprint, the five-foot-nothing "Pocket Rocket" is perhaps best known for winning the Tour of Flanders in 2017,and remains the only American, male or female, to have done so.
After riding in service of Marianne Vos for the Jumbo-Visma team, Labecki signed on to join the newest American team, Jonathan Vaughters' EF Education-Cannondale.
Labecki knows the ins and outs of most races on the circuit - and that, along with her decades of experience makes her an incredibly valuable rider and teammate. Don’t sleep on Labecki for any sprint finish.
Pro cyclists from the U.S. are poised to make a splash in 2024 with the right team, tactics and, of course, a little bit of luck. We'll be rooting for our U.S.A compatriots as they bring the stars, stripes, polka dots and whatever else this year has in store.
