Visma | Lease a Bike impressed by strong Ardèche weekend led by Matteo Jorgenson

It had been a few years since we did not see Jorgenson on the start line of Opening Weekend. This year, the Dutch squad chose to overhaul the American’s programme and leave the cobbled Classics off his calendar. And so, he began his season in the Ardèche.

That worked out well for the versatile 26-year-old. On Saturday, Jorgenson finished fourth on his season debut at the Faun-Ardèche Classic. On Sunday, he went one better with second place, after being beaten in an uphill sprint by Romain Grégoire.

After his second-place finish, the American commented on the Visma | Lease a Bike website. “Second place is obviously not what I came for, but today I was beaten by a better sprinter,” he said realistically. Jorgenson praised his team in France afterwards.

“Tactically, we rode a strong race as a team. At one point we had four riders in the lead group in the finale. That numerical advantage allowed me to accelerate at the right moment, but unfortunately I just missed out on the win." Jorgenson was also positive about Visma | Lease a Bike’s showing in France. Alongside him, Davide Piganzoli and Ben Tulett were present deep into the finale, although the Brit was involved in a crash late in the race.

Overall, satisfaction dominated afterwards for Jorgenson. “I’m happy with my form and the feeling in my first two races of the season. It’s great to be on the podium right away,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the upcoming Italian races on my schedule.”

Sports director Frans Maassen also looked back positively on the Ardèche weekend. “We wanted to race more aggressively than we did yesterday at the Faun-Ardèche Classic. In the final hour, we aimed to raise the pace with Matteo, Ben, and Davide, and we executed that well,” he explained. “Ben opened things up with a strong acceleration. Shortly afterward, all three of them were in the front group.”

“In the end, Matteo and Grégoire managed to stay clear, but Grégoire was just a bit stronger today,” Maassen added. “As a team, we rode an excellent race and showed ourselves at our best. We’ll take that with us.”