Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) won the Tirreno-Adriatico green climber jersey after a long attack on stage 4, less than an hour after compatriot Brandon McNulty had a similarly aggressive ride from Paris to Nice and won the stage He took the green climber's jersey from Tirreno-Adriatico.

Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar) also took the white best young rider jersey, finishing third in the Paris-Nice Saint-Sauveur de Montagut stage.

"Postal was the last time an American ran at this level," the 20-year-old Simmons suggested to Cycling News and VeloNews after donning the distinctive green jersey.

"McNulty's win is good news. He has had a great season so far. Magnus Sheffield also won and Nielson (Powles) won last year in San Sebastian."

While McNulty is rapidly building his stage racing career with UAE Team Emirates, Simmons is developing as a classic rider. He has yet to compete in a full spring campaign, but is eyeing a Trek-Segafredo position for Milan-San Remo, Belgium, and especially Paris-Roubaix.

"I am here to prepare for the Classics. Today's stage had a hard start, a hard break, and a hard finale. It was perfect preparation and it was a nice surprise to win the jersey," he explained, happy with the result and the surprise green mountain jersey.

"I had never worn the jersey in a World Tour race and I never thought the mountains jersey would be my first jersey. It was hard, long and a good last day. Chicco (Giulio Ciccone) also rode a realistic race.

"When I got into the breakaway early on, I was going for the stage win, but the way they chased me down with 100km to go, I knew it would be difficult. But I didn't give up and gave it my maximum effort."

Simmons worked in the break and raked in the early mountain points as he tried to escape the peloton's control. Sensing that the pace of the other riders was slowing down, he popped off alone on the three climbs to Bellante with 40km to go.

As he did when he won the junior world title in Yorkshire, Simmons focused on the attack.

"Last year at the Vuelta, the breakaway group I was in made it to the finish because seven of us gave it our all. I knew that with the same kind of cohesion today I could do the same thing and surprise them," he explained.

"I told them to go full throttle. I don't know if they were tired or simply didn't want to play, but they weren't all committed. Even if it didn't work out, you still have to put on a show, right? Simmons said with a smile.

"There's always a chance they'll miss something. It's not that I do the right thing; it's that they screw up in the end. I just do the best I can."

Simmons trained hard in the American high country in February for the spring classics, carefully adjusting his strength-to-weight ratio so that he can ride well on stages like Strade Bianche and today's Tirreno-Adriatico.

"I'm thinner than before, but still about 75 kg, which is a little more than the other riders.

"We had a long attitude camp, climbing with Steven (de Jong) and Strade Bianche as targets and training for the Tour de Flanders. I am happy with the work we did and the changes we made this winter. I've made some good steps and I'm looking forward to the next races."