Idaho’s Matteo Jorgenson gave it all for a Tour de France he could never win – and triumphed anyway

Assigned an unwinnable task, battling illness and fatigue, the American rider’s sacrifice helped bring down a giant. His Tour was not about glory, but purposeTadej Pogačar’s victory looked certain as he flew up Butte Montmartre for the second of three times on the Tour de France’s final stage. His lead in the race’s general classification (GC) stood at four minutes and 27 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard, more than 10 minutes clear of everybody else, and GC times had been frozen for the final stage. He had won four stages already; that he hadn’t won at least six seemed more his choice than anybody else’s. There was no need to be at the front here, to add a fifth cherry atop the ice cream, but Pogačar’s unquenchable competitive spirit demanded an attempt. He stamped on his pedals on the cobblestoned hill, scything riders off the back of the bunch. By the time he crested Montmartre, he had just four others for company.Among them were the American Matteo Jorgenson and Wout van Aert, both of Vingegaard’s Visma Lease-a-Bike team. Thanks to superb climbing performances and helming the deepest team in the race, Vingegaard managed to defeat Pogačar at the 2022 and 2023 Tours de France – given Pogačar’s dominance since, these Tours now feel like distant memories from an obsolete world. Back then, Visma used Pogačar’s raw aggression against him. With the knowledge that he would respond to every acceleration, Vingegaard and his teammates threw jab after jab and Pogačar exhausted himself trying to counter with haymakers. Continue reading...

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