When the Tour de France begins on Saturday, with riders zipping along the banks of the Rhine, their heads down and their legs churning, you’ll have to pay close attention to spot the Americans in the field of nearly 200. Very close.
That’s because only three of them are competing in the Tour this year, a total that continues a trend. Last year, five Americans raced. In 2015, it was three. Not since 1996, before Lance Armstrong began his improbable run of success, has the number crept so close to zero.
It’s a dramatic turn for a sport that once produced prime-time highlights in the United States, thanks to Armstrong and others who turned a European passion into one Americans could embrace.