Jake Germann

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Stage 1 of the race formerly known as the Dauphine is in the books. A pretty quiet and straightforward day overall - especially compared to the drama in today’s Women’s Giro where Demi Vollering stormed back to take the overall win. Definitely a #WatchTheFemmes moment!👏

On the American side, a big early blow...😬Matthew Riccitello was dropped early and abandoned with what appears to be food poisoning. Hope it’s an isolated incident and the rest of the team stays healthy. Tough luck for him and @decathloncmacgm — this looked like a great chance for Riccitello and Seixas to get a good trial run ahead of the Tour. Get well soon, Matt!

The 🇺🇸🐺of the day was Kevin Vermaerke — great late attack and finishes 4th on the stage! Matteo Jorgenson came home safely with the GC group, Sean Quinn just behind them, while Quinn Simmons rolled in a dozen minutes back. Looks like Simmons is positioning himself for breakaway opportunities in the days ahead.

Tomorrow’s stage could definitely suit an aggressive rider like Simmons. Good chance for a break - especially with the TTT coming up in Stage 3. Or maybe it’s also a day for Wout van Aert before Visma shifts its focus to Jorgenson and the GC later in the week?

Do you think it’s a real chance for the breakaway tomorrow or will the GC giants wake up and come ready to play? As always, would love to hear your thoughts although rarely does anyone do so lol 🤷‍♂️

🇺🇸🐺

#TARA #Dauphine #WoutVanAert #QuinnSimmons #Vollering #GirodItaliaWomen

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇺🇸Double Dipping in Belgian Classics🇧🇪

Obviously the big stories right now are the Women’s Giro wrapping up and the Men’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly the Dauphiné) kicking off with an absolutely loaded start list. I’ll dive deeper into that race with a post early tomorrow (try to contain your excitement lol). But don’t sleep on a couple of other one-day races happening June 7 with two 🇺🇸 riders each based on what I can find on provisional start lists.

Dwars door de Westhoek (Women)

Abigail Miller @UAETeamADQ
Kaia Schmid (O’Shea Red Chili Bikes)

Brussels Cycling Classic (Men)

Riley Sheehan @NSNCyclingTeam
Colby Simmons @EFprocycling

Riley and Colby are both looking to bounce back from recent setbacks. Sheehan literally flipped into the guardrail in the final stage of the Tour de Wallonie after being in strong contention all week, while Colby is returning after a minor injury setback and aiming to regain competitive form.

Rooting for strong (and safe) rides for them all!

🇺🇸🐺
#USACycling #DwarsDoorDeWesthoek #BrusselsCyclingClassic

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇫🇷 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Preview: The Fall and Rise of Juan Ayuso? 🇪🇸

I've been watching the TV show "The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkens" lately, and a big part of the show is that potential isn't what people remember. Reputation is.

Which brings me to Juan Ayuso.

If I'm being honest, Ayuso has been an easy rider for me to criticize. Not because of a lack of talent - it seems like few riders of his generation have more of it. But because there always seemed to be something ELSE going on with him.

Questions about teamwork particularly irked me. Moments where things didn't go his way. Illnesses, crashes, bee stings (yeah...), bad luck, bad timing. Fair or unfair, the narrative became bigger than the results. So heading into the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, he's the rider I'm most interested in watching.

And that's saying something for me!

Of course I'm really excited to see how the Americans perform. Let's go boys! I really want to see how Matteo Jorgenson does as he works his way back from injury.

I'm also intrigued by the hype surrounding some guy name....Paul...Paul Seixas? I'm curious to see Isaac del Toro's return, João Almeida's form, and how things develop between Ayuso and his Lidl-Trek teammate Mattias Skjelmose.

But Ayuso alone is the guy I keep coming back to. Can he finally turn his talent into a body of work that changes the conversation around him?

Now at Lidl-Trek, with leadership responsibility and a long-term commitment behind, the opportunity is his. No Pogačar. No UAE hierarchy. Just a chance to prove what kind of rider he really is.

This race won't define his season. But it might tell us whether the conversation around Juan Ayuso is finally about to change, especially as we head toward the Tour.

What do you think? Is this finally Ayuso's moment - or are the same questions (and more bee stings) going to follow him for another season?

#TourAuvergneRhoneAlpes #JuanAyuso #ProCycling #CyclingTwitter #CyclingCommunity #LidlTrek #MatteoJorgenson #PaulSeixas #IsaacDelToro

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇮🇹Stage 15 Preview: RIP…but the Giro must go on 🪦

I think Stage 14 officially ended the GC battle. Vingegaard took pink on what looked like a casual Sunday ride.

But we’ve still got an ACTUAL Sunday sprint stage left — and Milan finishing in Milan feels almost too scripted ✍️

🇫🇷 Paul Magnier (🇺🇸Laredo Paul) lost cyclamen to Narváez and wants to take it back. Jonathan Milan is also massively due…but I don’t trust the Giro luck this year.

So I’m backing the man with the tree-trunk thighs: 🇳🇱 Dylan Groenewegen 🚀

Maybe the Unibet Rose Rockets @rockets_cycling content has me fully brainwashed at this point. Thanks @BasTietema 😂

Who’s your pick for Stage 15? 👇
#Giroditalia #Giro #Stage15 #Groenewegen #Vingegaard

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

@HugoDaniel_23 Some of the best stories are the support riders! I love the big stars but guys like Caruso, Sepp, Piganzoli, Rex, etc. are easy to root for!

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Top 10 for Artem Schmid at the @4JDDunkerque ! Great week overall for the @NetcompanyINEOS rider. 🇺🇸🐺

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Sepp beats the pink jersey. I believe he gets it now correct? 😂 In all seriousness massive respect to Eulalio and all the 🇵🇹 fans!
#Giroditalia #Eulalio

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

This is something that I find interesting in cycling as I get more into it. It's kind of amazing to me that a break can be NINE MINUTES ahead! And then you basically get 2 races in way. Although I don't imagine there will be much GC action behind with the mountain stage tomorrow.

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

The Best? of Cycling X This Week (May 17–22)

Ok, trying something new on here. Obviously there’s a lot of us posting good (or in my case, not so good) content. There are so many stories to keep track of in a week just about the various men’s and women’s races, plus the random chaos that shows up along the way.

So I thought: why not end the week (Friday) with an overview of some of the top or most interesting stories from Cycling X. Normally I’d start with the racing, but this week the number 1 story was…

- Victor Campenaerts becoming the undisputed main character of Cycling X after the entire peloton basically confirmed he’s Mr. pee bottle. 🍼https://t.co/KZoPExmHVo

- Next up, the TT helmet memes reached peak status. Cycling fans spent the entire week comparing helmets to, among other things: dolphins, vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances. 🐬https://t.co/2qG23yCJp6

- Tadej Pogačar being spotted training with Juan Ayuso was not on many people's bingo cards. ❌https://t.co/rbAfxF5Jnu

- And of course Benji Naesen finishing Harry Potter and I think people were ready to assign riders Hogwarts houses. 🪄https://t.co/sspJc6TCOd

Now, to the actual racing stories!

- Jonas Vingegaard allegedly “still sick” which is why he isn't destroying the field this Giro...yet? 🤒https://t.co/Uq91s7oG80

- Jhonatan Narváez pulling off the unofficial “hat trick” of appearing in literally every important race prediction this week and going forward now. 🏒https://t.co/fkSILEgWZG

- Eulalio somehow STILL in pink. But I think we all agree it ends on Stage 14 tomorrow. 🩷https://t.co/tD8PxXqCCv

- Mischa Bredewold descending while Lorena Wiebes with back to back sprint wins (so far). 🌬️https://t.co/DuSJyzL2Cz

- Artem Schmid - need I say more? 🥇https://t.co/YB6xa0nOPE

What were some of your favorite racing story of the week? And more importantly… what was your favorite non-racing cycling story? 👇🇺🇸🐺

#CyclingX #CyclingTwitter #GirodItalia #WomensCycling #UCI #CyclingMemes #RoadCycling #Pogačar #Vingegaard

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇺🇸 American Preview: Vuelta a Burgos Feminas 🇪🇸
@VueltaBurgos

The Spanish 4-stage race starts today and features rolling roads, hills, and likely a decisive showdown on the final climb to Lagunas de Neila. From what I can find haha. Thanks to @MaschBasch for keying me into the race🙌

3⃣US riders in the race:

Megan Jastrab (@UAETeamADQ )
Caroline Wreszin (@Auber93Cyclisme )
Allison Mrugal (@MayenneCycling )

Expect the GC fight to center around these 3⃣ 🇮🇹 Évita Muzic, 🇳🇱Elisa Balsamo, and recent winner 🇳🇱Mischa Bredewold.

Hoping to see some Americans in the mix starting with @JastrabMegan on Stage 1!

Can one of these riders add to the American wins list this week? Drop your thoughts 👇

#VueltaaBurgosFeminas #WomensCycling #ProCycling #WTWomens #Cycling

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🐺 Just stumbled on this race thanks to @CalCiclismo : the Ronde de l’Isard! 🇫🇷

Been digging around online and wow — this race has some serious history. First held back in 1977, it’s a proper mountain classic for young riders. Nearly 50 editions in, it’s known as one of the toughest U23 stage races in France. It looks like lots of future World Tour riders have launched their careers here including 🇺🇸 @MatteoJorg (4th overall), Ben Healy (stage winner) and Pavel Sivakov (winner) to name a few.

The best part about this race to me is that Team Winston Salem (unfortunately not on X) is lining up for it. An American team (with a couple Canadians), here's a quick look at the roster for the race:

Owen Cole 🇺🇸
Nathaniel Gervez 🇺🇸
Adrian Groman 🇺🇸
Hubert Lamothe 🇨🇦
Caleb Maxham 🇺🇸
Carl Truffer 🇨🇦

Owen Cole is the stand out as the rider of the group with the strongest pedigree and previous results. Former US U23 National Road Race Champion, ex-UAE Team Emirates Gen Z rider, and already with strong stage racing performances (including a 2nd overall at Redlands Classic @redlandsClassic this year). He’s the obvious leader and protected rider for this race — the one most likely to deliver a strong GC or stage result.

For a development team like Winston Salem, the goals are experience against the top Euro U23 squads, keeping Cole safe early, and then seeing who can go deep when the real suffering starts. A top-15/20 GC (or better) for Cole would be a great result.

Rooting hard for these guys! 🇺🇸🇨🇦

#RondeDeLIsard #U23Cycling #TeamWinstonSalem #OwenCole

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Jonathon Narváez just won his THIRD stage of the Giro d’Italia....and here I am STILL celebrating Artem Shmidt winning Dunkerque yesterday because it brought American men’s riders to THREE total wins on the entire 2026 season. Three! And only two of those are actually World Tour wins because Shmidt’s was “just” ProSeries. Still a huge win in my book though.

The U.S. is obviously still nowhere near Belgium, Slovenia, Denmark, Team UAE, or France — a country that appears to have crash-landed onto Planet Cycling with its young alien Paul Seixas with an entire second line of killers right behind him lol.

To which with Paul Magnier and the whole “born in Texas” thing I've been hammering...since he has four wins this season (including two Giro stages) by the laws of desperate US cycling math, America now has five wins instead of three....right? 🙃

At this point, give me your best guesses on total wins for MEN's 🇺🇸 riders by the end of 2026!👇

And no, don't count "Laredo Paul" in the total....

#GirodItalia #WorldTour #ProCycling #AmericanCycling #PaulMagnier #CyclingTwitter

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇮🇹Stage 10 ITT wrapped up in the @giroditalia

The surprise of the day for me was 🇺🇸 Will Barta ripping to 14th! Not only a strong ride, but he put serious time into fellow American and pre-stage favorite Magnus Sheffield, who ended up in a somewhat disappointing 31st (over a minute back).

I'm learning fast that Barta has always been a proper time trialist — multiple US Nats medals, a near-miss Vuelta TT win by one second (2020) — but this feels like a big result and #tudorprocycling has to be happy.

Fellow Americans Sepp Kuss came in 52nd and Larry Warbasse 62nd — both solid and about where you'd expect them to be.

And credit where it’s due: 🇵🇹Afonso Eulálio hanging tough onto the pink jersey!

What was most surprising to you?

- Will Barta finishing 14th
- Magnus Sheffield in 31st
- Jonas Vingegaard in 13th
- Eulalia hanging onto pink
- Or something else

Would love to hear your thoughts and reactions! 👇 #Giro2026 #GiroDItalia #GiroITT #ProCycling #Vingegaard #Eulalio #Ganna

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Just before his @NetcompanyINEOS teammate 🇮🇹Filippo Ganna became the story of the day with a monstrous ITT victory in the Giro, 🇺🇸Artem Shmidt delivered his own huge moment with his win at the Classieque Dunkerque!

Soloing clear on the finishing circuits in soaking wet conditions and holding off the chase to take his first pro road victory!

Shmidt has been knocking on the door with strong early-season signs, a national TT title (2025) already on the books, and a tall, powerful build that bodes well as a possible future classics/punchy stage racer.

It’s also another reminder of the steady rise of young Americans. Shmidt's OTHER teammate, Andrew August, has already been lighting it up with stage wins at Valenciana and Itzulia Basque Country this year. Two (I feel spoiled 🇫🇷 fans 😂) talented young Yanks quietly (but not that quietly) putting themselves on the map, one solid ride at a time. ✅

Both riders are with @NetcompanyINEOS through the end of 2026, so there’s plenty of time to evaluate them yet this season. It’ll be really interesting to see if they resign or where they might end up for next season. I'm sure @dnlbenson @cycloben2 @ctcycling or @ineosfan08 might have more info on this at some point!

With a smaller 🇺🇸 contingent in pro cycling, wins like this can be as big or bigger than one like Ganna had today to fans like me so I hope you can enjoy the excitement I share today!

🇺🇸🐺

#ClassiqueDunkerque #IneosGrenadiers #ArtemShmidt #AndrewAugust #Giro #Ganna #Giroditalia

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🐺Tuesday Howl🐺(yes on a Monday lol)

Tuesday Howl #5: More Grand Tour Clarity, Please?

Since the Giro is on a rest day today (Monday), I thought it would make sense to bump this (Tuesday Howl) up a day. Also, today’s howl doesn’t touch on the big races going on right now as I thought WITH the rest day, it might be a good opportunity to bring some discussion around something else. It's an issue I’ve seen pop up here and there: the constant uncertainty around who will be at what races?

I know 🇺🇸American football 🏈 isn’t big in the cycling world (gasp!) - but hear me out! Last week, the NFL just dropped a full prime-time Thursday night show breaking down their entire 2026 season schedule — exactly who plays who, when, and where. That level of upfront clarity and hype got me thinking.

The more I’ve gotten into cycling, the more I’ve noticed how different it is from other sports. You head into a new season with very little idea who’s racing what. Even when teams drop hints, injury, form, tactics, or last-minute decisions can flip everything overnight.

And there’s constant frustration on here about how rarely the absolute top riders face each other in their prime. 🧵1/3

#NFL #ProCycling #UCI #Giroditalia #Mashup

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇮🇹 Giro Stage 10: ITT💨

This is the 3rd or 4th stage of the @giroditalia that I've thrown my hopes into a @MagnusSheffield surge for @NetcompanyINEOS — I’m either getting desperate or the 🇺🇸American really has a chance this time!

Seeing others on here giving him a real look too, and based on his previous results I’m more confident in him here than any stage so far. Strong TT pedigree (Denmark ITT win, solid shorter efforts), this long flat course suits his sustained power well.

His teammate 🇮🇹Ganna is massive favorite at home and his other teammate 🇳🇱Arensman has a nice finish in Stage 9.

But where do you see Sheffield finishing:

- top 5
- top 10
- solid but unspectacular ride

Give me your thoughts! 👇
(and feel free to lie to make me feel better lol)

🇺🇸🐺

#GirodItalia #Sheffield #Ganna #ITT

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

@tadejmooric He should have this framed in his house

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

Kuss is just too much. He busts his ass and still gives credit to others on his team (which they deserve!) You make us proud Sepp! 🇺🇸🐺

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

🇮🇹 Giro Stage 9: Pink (or Blue) vs Perfect Kit ?

Stage 9 tomorrow in the Giro — punchy terrain before the rest day and Tuesday’s ITT. I don’t really have a strong prediction for the stage itself, but I’ve been seeing plenty of chatter on X about Jonas Vingegaard and the jersey situation ahead of the time trial.

Vingegaard has been doing well but I'm seeing Visma might quietly hope he loses the blue jersey (and also not go for pink).

Reason? So he can ride in Visma’s optimized team skinsuit rather than the race-provided leader version. It would make sense that custom team TT suits are wind-tunnel perfected for the rider’s exact position, fabric and seams.

Looking back, I remember that at the 2025 Tour de France, Pogačar/UAE tried to lose the mountains (polka-dot) jersey (to Tim Wellens?) before a key TT so Tadej could use his own preferred skinsuit instead of the race-issued version.

So what do you all think? 👇Seriously, let me know!

Will Jonas stay in black-and-yellow for Tuesday?

Or is it the helmet that matters more than the skinsuit anyway? 🙃

#Giro2026 #Vingegaard #GirodItalia #ITT #MagliaRosa

[An American Werewolf In Cycling @CyclingWerewolf]

I don't know if this is sacrilege to the 🇫🇷 and 🇳🇱 cycling fans, but Paul Magnier's finish in Stage 6 of the Giro today gave me vibes of van der Poel in Paris Roubaix. Both were incredibly strong and possible victors if not for unforeseen circumstances.

In thinking about this I learned they were 1-2 (VDP winning) at @GPSamyn in 2025.

Of course I probably just ticked off all the Wout and 🇧🇪 fans now too lol. Not my intention, just really impressed with how both finished those races. All respect!

#Giroditalia #Giro2026 #PaulMagnier #Wout #parisroubaix #vanderpoel