Jorgenson makes dream come true with overall victory Paris - Nice

Team Visma | Lease a Bike (France) - Press Release: Matteo Jorgensen has won the 82nd edition of Paris - Nice. The American rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike took over the leader's jersey from Brandon McNulty after a strong final stage. Despite attempts by Remco Evenepoel, the 24-year-old American did not budge on his way to Nice.

The final stage had a lot in store for the peloton with no less than six climbs in the French coastal region. Jorgenson parried all attacks along the way and, together with Evenepoel and Aleksandr Vlasov, was able to drop the remaining competition. Just so close to his home, Jorgenson rode seemingly effortlessly to victory. At the finish line, the explosive Evenepoel was allowed to win the stage, but the overall victory, after a strong week in the French stage race, went to the American rider of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.

Afterwards, the winner of the Race to the Sun was extremely happy. "I'm shaking on my legs," were the first words of the visibly emotional American. "This victory means so much to me. To be honest, I never thought for even a second that I could win a WorldTour stage race. However, a lot has changed this year with my move to Team Visma | Lease a Bike. In every detail and on every aspect I can point out a difference. This is a special milestone in my life. It still has to sink in, because I don't quite realize it yet. I am definitely going to enjoy it, but I will keep both feet on the ground."

"Last night I could barely catch any sleep. To be honest, I was quite nervous," Jorgenson continued about the run-up to the crucial final day. "For the first time in my life I felt pressure. It was a magical moment to feel so strong today, alongside a great champion like Evenepoel. Beforehand I told the guys on the bus that in my opinion there were three key moments in the course. At all three moments we were perfectly positioned as a team. I would like to thank the team from the bottom of my heart for all the work in the past week. I would also like to turn to our managing director Richard Plugge and sports director Merijn Zeeman. They not only brought me to the team, but also gave me the confidence to start as the leader in Paris-Nice immediately in my first year with the team. This is a very special victory. And that too so close to where I live. I'm not going to forget this for the rest of my life."

The final victory of Matty J, as Jorgensen's nickname goes, is part of a special piece of cycling history. Never before has a cycling team won both Paris - Nice and Tirreno - Adriatico in the same year. With Jorgenson's first win of the season, Team Visma | Lease a Bike now has fifteen wins in 2024.

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