USPro road champion Quinn Simmons was named the Best Teammate of the Tour de France for the second year in a row by the race jury, organisers announced via its official X profile ahead of the final stage.
Simmons’ stars-and-stripes jersey has been ever-present towards the front of the 20 stages raced so far at the 2026 edition, working for the likes of Mads Pedersen, Mattias Skjelmose, and Juan Ayuso as a loyal domestique.
A regular figure in the breakaways, Simmons played a huge role in helping the Dane secure the green points classification jersey, and finished second on stage 4 to Foix, when a masterclass from the break alongside Pedersen, who won the stage, and Mathias Vacek landed Lidl-Trek their only stage victory, so far.
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Simmons was presented his prize on stage in Thoiry this morning at the team presentation, also winning €3,000. He’d already won €2,000 for being named best teammate in the second week of the race. Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto -Intermarché) won the weekly prize after the opening nine stages, and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was named the best teammate in the week after helping guide Jasper Philipsen to a sprint victory.
While he never went rogue in his efforts to support Lidl’s team leaders, Simmons did vent his frustrations over the team’s priorities during the race, saying, “I think the team has made it quite obvious they care more that Mads wins the green than I win a stage,” after missing out from the break on stage 15.
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But he did caveat those comments by admitting, “at the end of the day, they write my paycheck, so I have to do what I’m told, and I’m fully here to support Mads in that in that goal to win the green jersey”.
Head DS Steven de Jongh responded to those comments after stage 17, telling Cyclingnews, “I can understand his frustration, and also I think for [Mathias] Vacek it’s the same. But we came here with a good goal and the goal was to win green with Mads”.
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Ultimately, Simmons and Vacek and the rest of Lidl’s squad all committed to that main goal of winning green, which Pedersen confirmed on Saturday with a huge effort in the mountains.
The work of Simmons and company also contributed to them winning the teams classification, highlighted in their yellow helmets, and finishing sixth and seventh overall through Skjelmose and Ayuso.
Simmons will have one last chance to try and get the maiden Tour stage win he so desperately wants, but Pedersen will also be a great option over the Classics-style course into Paris on stage 21. With that main goal secured, though, Simmons should be flat-out in Montmartre, and after proposing to partner Sydney and getting engaged at the final finish line of last year’s Tour, he won’t have the same type of stress going into the final 89km of racing.
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