Playing against type seems to suit Quinn Simmons. The American’s default setting is aggression, but his Trek-Segafredo directeur sportif Adriano Baffi suggested adding a little patience to his repertoire this week at the Vuelta a San Juan.
Those notes paid dividends in Villicum, where Simmons delivered a canny late attack on the motor racing circuit finale to fend off the sprinters and win stage 3.
“As hard as it is for me to sit in the bunch bored all day, it pays off, I think,” Simmons joked when he took a seat in the press conference tent after the podium ceremony.
The Villicum circuit has built a reputation as a springboard for late attackers, and Simmons was one of several riders who eyed replicating Zdenek Stybar’s successful heist here in 2020. World champion Remco Evenepoel was another, but Soudal-QuickStep ultimately opted to try to set up Fabio Jakobsen for the sprint.
Although Trek-Segafredo had Jon Aberasturi – third the previous day – in their ranks, Simmons was their focal point on Tuesday afternoon. “The first thing today when I woke up, my coach sent me a video from when this race was won the same way, and I told my roommate Mathias [Vacek], ‘If you bring me there to this point, I’ll win today,’” Simmons said.
He was as good as his word, powering out of the final corner in the last kilometre to open what proved to be a winning margin. Max Richeze (Argentina), riding his last professional race, gave chase in search of a grand send-off on home roads, but he had to settle for second, while race leader Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) won the sprint for third.
On crossing the line, Simmons reached for his radio to thank his teammates, though the precise wording was not for public consumption. “If I say exactly what I said, I’m probably in trouble on the internet again,” he smiled. “No, I said thank you to the team. Two riders spent the whole day going back to the team car to keep getting us bottles, and the team protected me all day, so it was easy to do a one-minute effort at the end when I hadn’t hit the wind yet.”
Simmons’ general classification ambitions suffered an early setback when he crashed on the opening day and was then handed a 20-second penalty for drafting as he chased back on. “I don’t want to criticise anyone, but this gave him extra motivation to bring out what he had,” Baffi told Cyclingnews. Last season, Simmons might have taken that time penalty as an invitation to go on the offensive early, but the 21-year-old cut his cloth carefully here.
“Compared to previous years, he looks like he’s managing himself better. That was his weak point, he raced a lot on instinct, which is normal for a young rider, but today he was excellent,” Baffi said. “Cycling isn’t mathematical, everybody has his own character and it’s hard to change it, but if a rider is intelligent, he’ll understand and make alterations to go in the right direction.”
Simmons graduated directly to the WorldTour from the junior ranks in 2020, and he underlined his potential in the Classics when he punctured out of the decisive move at the following year’s Strade Bianche. After placing 7th in 2022, the Tuscan race is again a goal this season.
“Two years ago, he punctured just when there were five riders in front and they went to the finish,” Baffi said. “It’s a race he likes so that will be his main target. Afterwards, a race like Roubaix might be different, they are more variables, but I think he’s on the right path to aim to be at the level.”
In the here and now, Simmons will look to finish as high on general classification as possible, despite his earlier time loss. His winner’s time bonus lifts him to 51st overall, 24 seconds down, though the pivotal day will come on stage 5 up the Alto Colorado. “He’s not a climber, but at this point in the season, when you’re going well, you can do well on the Alto Colorado,” said Baffi. The name and the altitude are certainly auspicious for the Coloradan – “I’m climbing home,” Simmons joked – and the steady gradient might play to his strengths too, though he downplayed his prospects.
“As much as I want to suffer, I think it's difficult for me,” Simmons said. “It's a very hard climb and with my weight I can suffer a lot next to the little Colombians or Remco Evenepoel, who can fly. But I'm sure we'll arrive with a very tight general classification and we'll risk everything on the last climb.”
