Jorgenson disappointed with 3rd place, but sees opportunities against sick UAE on Alpe d'Huez: 'Best day in this Tour'

Matteo Jorgenson has been playing catch-up throughout this Tour de France, but the 27-year-old American from Visma | Lease a Bike still seems to have some great legs left for the final weekend. In Stages 17 and 18, Jorgenson was part of the breakaway, and on Thursday that earned him a third-place finish. Is there more to come? Visma | Lease a Bike certainly hope so.

The Dutch team was, of course, devastated after Stage 15, following the withdrawal of team leader Jonas Vingegaard. There was still some anger surrounding the Dane’s crash around Stage 18, but the riders from Visma | Lease a Bike picked up the slack starting with Stage 16. Bruno Armirail finished eighth in the time trial, and Per Strand Hagenes rode a strong final stretch in Stage 17.

Jorgenson was still riding for Hagenes on Wednesday, but was given the green light to go for his own chance the very next day. In yet another grueling stage, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) proved too strong, but Jorgenson finished third behind him in a sprint against Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla). “By the time we reached the final climb, it was all about giving it everything I had.”

In his post-race analysis, Jorgenson was honest and matter-of-fact. “I didn’t have much left in my legs, and Carapaz was much stronger. I believed in it, for sure. I just needed to break away heading into the final climb, but I couldn’t find a way to make it happen. It’s disappointing, that’s for sure. I was riding pretty well and think I had my best day in this Tour. That’s good, but I just wasn’t strong enough.”

Team director Marc Reef saw a strong performance from Jorgenson in Stage 18, and that bodes well with two mountain stages leading up to Alpe d'Huez on Friday and Saturday. “I think Matteo rode a really good race; he was in the mix right from the start,” the Dutchman told NOS. “That was the goal; we’d already marked this stage for him even before the Tour. He reiterated that earlier this week as well.”

"It was his day, and he rode a really good race. He did all the right things, and we tried to attack," said Reef. “In the end, Matteo wasn’t quite as explosive as the others, and on the final climb, it came down to leg strength. He didn’t have it left. We competed well, made our presence known, and fought for the win. It’s frustrating to come up just short.”

With the stages leading to Alpe d'Huez, Reef sees opportunities for the breakaway riders, because the UAE Emirates-XRG team is sick, weak, and feeling unwell. Reef didn’t want to speculate on “what if” scenarios involving Jonas Vingegaard and a possible turnaround against Pogacar. Instead, he took a different, positive view of the situation with Pogacar and Del Toro’s team. “That’s why there was an opportunity today, too.”

"It's possible that other teams will try to take advantage of the situation to see if they can still make a move heading into the UAE. But Pogačar has been so strong that it will be difficult. That presents opportunities for us."