6 riders from American contingent could help decide Tour de France

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

The six riders from the U.S. that will start the Tour de France on Saturday give the Americans perhaps their strongest contingent in the grand tour in years. None of them necessarily have overall ambitions, but each is capable of winning a stage, and all of them will be counted upon by their teams in the fight for the yellow jersey. The biggest names to know are Sepp Kuss, who has a stage win to his credit and will try to help Jonas Vingegaard defend his title, and Neilson Powless, who will try to help Richard Carapaz and Rigoberto Uran mount a challenge through three weeks of racing.