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“The entire peloton wants to do Tour California again, wants to do Utah,” Simmons said on the With Pacepodcast. “All the riders, we wanna be here racing. Let’s get rid of Guangxi and do a Tour California sometime end of the year or something.” Quinn Simmons on stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France Huge challenges in the way of reviving Tour of California Although there's appetite for an American stop on the schedule within the peloton, convincing American organisers to take on the race, with little finacial profit incentive, is the biggest challenge. Offering an alternative, Simmons sees a chance to capitalise on the fact that teams already travel to Canada every year - with the cycling world descending on Quebec and Montreal this week for one-day races. He thinks a Philadelphia or East Coast race could make logistical and financial sense. “The problem is convincing Americans to put something on that loses money." “If you want WorldTour teams there, you have to pay us to come. I think it would work maybe a second weekend with Philly, something on the East Coast. But in terms of a big stage race for WorldTour riders, I don’t see it happening.” Raising cycling's profile in the United States When it comes to raising cycling's profile, Simmons thinks a marquee Tour de France rider would bridge the gap between the sport's popularity in the US and appetite to revive a Californian stage race. “You need to win the Tour. And right now we don’t have someone that can do that. We need a Tour winner if they wanna bring it back here." For Simmons, the Tour is cycling's showcase, even more so than competing in the Olympic Games: “I would never trade having done the Olympics for having done the Tour, personally. What you do those three weeks, that makes the season and that makes your career,” he added.