It was a nerve-racking final stage of the 2025 Tour de France for Durango’s Quinn Simmons on Sunday.
Not only was it the end of the Tour in tricky, wet conditions on cobblestone roads as riders rode 132.3 kilometers from Mates-la-Ville, France, to Paris (Champs-Élysées), but Simmons had something planned at the finish.
After the finish, Simmons guided his girlfriend, Sydney Berry, to the middle of Champs-Elyséss. With the Arc de Triomphe behind them, Simmons got down on one knee and proposed to Berry. She said yes as the crowd cheered for “Captain America” and his fiancée.
Simmons’ proposal went viral online, with a post of the moment by the Tour de France Instagram account garnering over 513,000 likes and 12.9 million views.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat that,” Simmons said in an interview with Eurosport. “I just asked my girlfriend to marry me … Who gets to do that on this road? It’s super special; she’s been there with me at all the training camps eating all the boring dinners every night with me to make it here … to add a Simmons to the family is pretty special.”
Simmons had the proposal planned for several days and wanted the day to be over in the morning; he was a little distracted but once he got in the race his competitive instincts and focus took over.
There was plenty of good vibes for Simmons before his proposal. The Tour organizers gave Simmons the best teammate award before Stage 21 on Sunday.
He helped Lidl-Trek teammate Jonathan Milan win the points classification and take home the green jersey. Simmons spent countless hours at the front of the peloton, controlling the pace so Milan could be in the right position to use his sprinting skills for stage wins and eventually the green jersey.
Simmons finished Stage 21 in 125th, 11:34 behind stage winner Wout Van Aert. Simmons finished the Tour 59th in the GC; it’s his best Tour finish in his career.
The national champion was one of the most aggressive riders in the peloton, wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on issues like the influence of motorbikes and finished the Tour with his first two top-10 stage finishes in his Tour career.
Simmons also finished 10th in the points classification and 14th in the youth classification.
Fellow Durangoan Sepp Kuss bounced back this year after missing the 2024 Tour de France with COVID-19. Kuss finished 17th in the GC as he rode as a domestique for Visma-Lease a Bike team leader Jonas Vingegaard.
The Visma-Lease a Bike team didn’t have the ultimate result it wanted, with Vingegaard finishing second in the GC behind rival and UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader Tadej Pogačar.
However, Kuss had some strong moments, especially leading Vingegaard through the mountain stages. Kuss reaffirmed his status as one of the top climbers in the peloton.
Kuss’ 17th-place in the GC was his fourth top-20 GC finish in his Tour career. He finished the final stage of the 2025 Tour in 70th as his Visma teammate Van Aert took the stage win.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
