Matteo Jorgenson reaps reward of ‘special’ leadership opportunity at Paris-Nice

When a rider moves to a team as imperious as Visma-Lease a Bike, there’s no guarantee they’ll be given many chances to be a leader, no matter how strong they are. When you’re alongside the likes of Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert, riders who may be leaders elsewhere fit into team roles when they don the dominant black and yellow jerseys.

New signing Matteo Jorgenson shouldn’t be an exception to this rule, yet at Paris-Nice, the young American was given a chance to lead the team, and he duly delivered. Finishing second on Sunday’s final stage after a strong showing all week, Jorgenson secured the overall win in Nice – the biggest of his career, and his first for his new team.

“I have to say also thank you to all the boys this week, and to Richard Plugge and Merijn Zeeman who brought me to this team, and not only that but then gave me the opportunity to lead a WorldTour race like Paris-Nice in my first year. It’s really special,” Jorgenson said after the race.

Read more: Paris-Nice stage 8: Matteo Jorgenson rides to overall victory as Remco Evenepoel wins stage

In the end, it was a combination of teamwork, opportunity and pure strength that sealed the yellow jersey for Matteo Jorgenson. He had been strong all week – stronger than riders like Primož Roglič – and on Sunday’s final stage, he was the only rider to match Remco Evenepoel's attacks, looking every bit as strong as the former world champion.

“It was a complicated situation this morning,” he said of the team’s plans starting the day. “With this stage there’s just so many scenarios that could happen. I just had to expect the unexpected and be ready for anything.”

As a local Nice resident, Jorgenson’s familiarity with the course around the hilly countryside also helped him to dictate his own tactical approach to the day.

“We had three clear points on the course – I knew this course off by heart, I could tell you right now every single corner – so I told the guys in the bus three key points. We made it perfectly into all of them, we made sure to be in the front of all the splits, in front of the crashes.”

Jorgenson had a strong season in 2023 with Movistar, finishing eighth at Paris-Nice as a fairly new name, taking a top-10 in the Tour of Flanders, and nearly winning a stage at the Tour de France. Coming to a new team and almost immediately winning his first WorldTour stage race marks a significant step-up, though, and is the result of a wholly transformative change of teams for the 24-year-old.

“It’s hard to say one thing [that has changed],” he said. “Everything has changed. Every detail, to be honest, has changed.”

Read more: Matteo Jorgenson and the blessings of a lifetime of near-misses

Despite winning one of the biggest stage races of the year, Jorgenson was hesitant to suggest this meant a step-up in responsibilities for the rest of the year. Next up he will race the Classics, alongside the likes of Wout van Aert, Olav Kooij and Christophe Laporte, before a Tour de France by Vingegaard’s side awaits in June.

“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” he said. “This is a really nice victory and a good achievement in my life, and I’m just going to try and enjoy it and keep my feet on the ground.”