Quinn Simmons was shivering after the long, hard, and very cold stage over Monte Carpegna from Tirreno-Adriatico, but as the sun set over the Apennines, he added an extra jersey to keep warm, and as the leader of the mountains for stage 6, he took the distinctive green jersey and climbed onto the podium.

Going into the early break of the day, the 20-year-old Trek-Segafredo rider knew he needed to score as many points as possible on the first climb of Monte Carpeña. He did more than that, beating rival and early leader Davide Bace (Eolo Cometa) on the early Mombaloccio climb to take five points.

He then dropped all of his breakaway companions, including world champion Julian Alaphilippe, and led the summit on the first climb of Monte Carpeña.

This gave him 20 points for the day and a total of 35 mountain points. This is 10 points more than Tadej Pogachar, who extended his overall lead with a stage win on his second Monte Carpegna.

Simmons and Trek-Segafredo were able to celebrate their mountainous success a day early, as they earned only five points in the only mountain point of stage 7.

"At the start and with the team, the goal was to get at least one rider in the breakaway group and keep the jersey. Local Italian fans also recognized his performance and asked for autographs and selfies.

"It was hard to get into the breakaway, but we managed it, it was a long day for sure, 215km, and these climbs are never easy."

"It was a hard day. But I was able to help Chicco [Giulio Ciccone] on the last climb and I hear he is now in the top 10 in GC.

Simmons dominated the Junior World Road Race in Yorkshire in 2019, winning the title that season. He soon turned pro with Trek-Segafredo and accelerated his career, but his neo-pro days were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was also suspended for several months by Trek Segafredo during the fall rescheduling of the 2020 season due to several social media posts deemed "divisive, inflammatory, and harmful" by the team.

Last season he won a stage and overall at the Tour de Wallonie and looks to be stronger and smarter on the bike in 2022. He finished seventh in Strade Bianche and took the mountains jersey in Tirreno-Adriatico.

"It's great to win the mountains jersey in a World Tour race. I'm happy."

"This is only my second season as a professional. It's hard to count the first year because of the coronavirus. But I like racing and today was a real race."