Matteo Jorgenson Makes History with Paris-Nice Win

A few months after Sepp Kuss took a surprising victory at the Vuelta a España, a pair of American racers stood on the podium of another major European race.

This time, it was Californian Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), who won the 82nd edition of Paris-Nice. Beside Jorgenson stood Brandon McNulty, the 25-year-old from Phoenix, AZ, racing for UAE Team Emirates.

Going into the final soggy stage of a generally soggy race, eyes were on McNulty, who spent three of the race’s eight stages in the yellow jersey of its leader. However, with 40 kilometers left in Paris-Nice’s final day, Jorgenson and Soudal-QuickStep superstar Remco Evenepoel attacked up the Côte de Peille, putting enough time into McNulty to drop him from first to third.

And though Evenepoel won the stage in a head-to-head sprint beside the waterfront in Nice, he finished the day 30 seconds behind Jorgenson in the overall standings. With the win, Jorgenson became just the third American to win Paris-Nice, following Floyd Landis, who took victory in 2006, and Bobby Julich, who won in 2005.

“Until this year, I never would have thought this was possible, but here we are,” Jorgenson said after the race. “It couldn’t have gone any better today and the whole week. I could barely sleep last night. I was so nervous. For the first time, I felt the pressure. To win and to ride with a champion like Remco is a special moment.”

The 24-year-old Jorgenson made a name for himself when launching a heroic, nearly 50-kilometer attack up the Puy de Dôme in last summer’s Tour de France, the race’s first run up that hill since 1988.

And though the attack was ultimately in vain—he was caught with 500 meters to go and eventually finished fourth on the stage—it served to put the cycling world on notice that Jorgenson, then riding for Team Movistar, was a talent worth keeping an eye on.

While it’s far too early to say that we’re on the precipice of a new golden era of American cycling, it’s impossible to not prognosticate as much.

Given Kuss and Jorgenson’s recent results and the strength shown by riders like McNulty, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), and Nielson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), there is arguably more American talent in the peloton right now than there has been since the era of Landis and Julich, Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, and Christian Vande Velde.

Whether or not we’ll see any of those names contending for Grand Tour wins remains to be seen. The strongest amongst them will likely be working for others. Jorgenson and Kuss will spend the summer riding in support of Jonas Vingegaard (though the latter’s time should be in August when he’s set to defend his red jersey), and McNulty will be trying to help Tadej Pogačar pull off the Giro/Tour double. Powless spent a good chunk of time in polka dots during last year’s Tour de France, and Simmons has been looking strong in a handful of breakaways early this spring.

But even if it results in little more than Jorgenson’s Paris-Nice victory, it’s a thrill for American cycling fans to tune in to a race and see our homegrown talent back in the thick of things.

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