Quinn Simmons just after winning the junior road race title at the World Road Championships in Yorkshire last year (Photo: Sean Rowe)

Trek-Segafredo has withdrawn last year’s World Championships junior road race winner Quinn Simmons from racing until further notice due to some off his recent social media posts.

“Trek-Segafredo is an organization that values inclusivity and supports a more diverse and equitable sport for all athletes,” the team said in a statement.

“While we support the right to free speech, we will hold people accountable for their words and actions.

“Regrettably, team rider Quinn Simmons made statements online that we feel are divisive, incendiary, and detrimental to the team, professional cycling, its fans, and the positive future we hope to help create for the sport.

“In response, he will not be racing for Trek-Segafredo until further notice. The team and its partners will work together to determine how we will move forward and keep fans and the public informed as to the decisions made in the matter.”

The use by Quinn Simmons in this Twitter reply of a black hand has been criticised online and has resulted in Trek-Segafredo withdrawing the teenager from racing for now

On Wednesday cycling journalist José Been posted a tweet in the wake of the US presidential campaign debate between US President Donald Trump and the Democratic candidate for the presidency Joe Biden.

She said she hoped the current “horrible presidency” ended soon for Americans, adding that if anyone following her supported Trump “you can go”.

Simmons responded with his own Tweet with the word “bye” accompanied by an emoji of a waving black hand. He also confirmed he was a “Trumper”, as another Twitter user put it, and posted an emoji of the US flag, which he also added to his Twitter profile.

His use of a black hand emoji was criticised by some Twitter users and the incident comes several months after Trek was criticised for its supply of bikes to some US police forces that used them like offensive and defensive shields when clashing with Black Lives Matter protestors.

Quinn Simmons bypassed the U23 ranks and went straight from junior level to the WorldTour after his Worlds win last year, which was achieved in very dominant fashion.

He was also 4th in the junior TT at the Worlds and won four UCI-ranked stage races last year in Europe as well as junior Gent-Wevelgem among 10 major wins in 2019, which included US junior TT title.

Though having only turned 19 years in May he has ridden major pro races this season, including finishing La Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday. In August he was 6th in Bretagne Classic-Ouest-France and was 2nd overall in the Tour de Hongrie.