What happened to Visma | Lease a Bike's 'number two' Matteo Jorgenson on the way to Hautacam?

Jorgenson attacked frequently in the first eleven stages of the race, putting Pogacar and co under pressure on several occasions, but had to drop back on the Col du Soulor when his own teammates Simon Yates and Sepp Kuss accelerated.

Visma | Lease a Bike therefore decided to slow things down a bit to give Jorgenson another chance. On the final climb, the American had to drop back again, as sports director Grischa Niermann also noticed. “He didn't have a good day. We had a plan, and suddenly he was dropped. That was obviously not what we wanted,” said the German.

“Personally, I have no excuses for my performance. I just had a terrible day,” Jorgenson himself told Sporza. “I knew it from the start. I had to go all out to stay at the front on the first climb. In hindsight, that turned out to be a mistake.”

“On the last climb, I was completely exhausted. Then I thought it was better to forget about the GC. I couldn't be of any use to Jonas anymore,” said Jorgenson, who is now tenth in the GC.

Vingegaard was also unable to challenge Pogacar and is now more than three minutes behind. “I didn't talk to Jonas much, so I don't know if he had a good day. Tadej was just stronger. Congratulations to them, said Jorgenson. “I don't know the time differences yet. We'll have to come up with a new plan.”