Matteo Jorgenson Won't be on Water Bottle Duty in 2024: 'Everyone Gets Their Chance'

Matteo Jorgenson moves to Visma-Lease a Bike next season to learn, to race, and to progress.

He won’t be giving up his promising trajectory to be on water bottle duty for the team’s superstar leaders Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert.

That’s the guarantee from sport manager Merijn Zeeman, who tells Velo that the 23-year-old will have an open road during the 2024 season.

Zeeman shot down suggestions that Jorgenson will slot into a superdomestique role.

“Those kind of comments are not correct,” Zeeman told Velo. “People who are saying that he will only work for the others don’t really follow our team.”

The 24-year-old moves to super team Jumbo-Visma — set to be called Visma-Lease a Bike for 2024 — after four spectacular seasons at Team Movistar.

At the Spanish squad, Jorgenson confirmed his talent with a string of high-profile results that saw him banging on the door for big wins at the Tour de France, Tour of Flanders, and a host of one-week stage races.

Zeeman and his staff see the Idahoan as a diamond in the rough.

“Obviously, he is a very strong rider,” Zeeman said. “I think he can really have the possibility to keep developing in GC. Over the winter we will see if he gets a spot in the spring and the classics team, or we will focus on the stage races. That is still on the table.”

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Victory at the Tour of Oman and second at the Tour de Romandie caught Zeeman’s attention in 2023, but so did a solid fourth place at E3 Saxo Classic and ninth at the Tour of Flanders.

The team wants to tap and develop that tremendous skill set, and Zeeman promises he won’t be relegated to the trenches.

“That framing is not correct,” Zeeman insists. “We have a lot of riders who are making results on our team.

“Our classics team is not focused on one leader. If you look at all the riders who have won a classic on our team, not many teams can say that,” he said. “With Christophe [Laporte], with Tiesj Benoot, [Olav] Kooij, Wout [van Aert], we have a lot of riders who won a race or had a possibility to go well all across the year.”

There’s a clear distinction during the Tour de France, but even Zeeman says there’s wiggle room for individual glory when the cards stack up.

“When we are in the Tour de France, it’s very clear it was this year with Jonas,” Zeeman said. “Even in the Tour de France team, you can always see, and maybe it’s difficult for people to see our strategy, it’s always very well thought out, it’s not conservative, many times we are in breakaways, and guys get the opportunity to win stages.

“There are a lot of riders getting possibilities to work on a team where no one is bigger than the team, but it also counts for the leader.”

Talks began early in 2023: ‘We were following his progress’

Whether Jorgenson lines up at the Tour de France, the spring classics, or chases GC across the season all remains to be seen.

What’s sure is that the team was convinced it wanted to sign Jorgenson.

“A few years ago already we were following his progress. He caught our attention, and step by step, we started to follow him. Early in 2023, we had the talks with him and the conversations. I think in March I had the first really long talk with him, and just after that, we found an agreement.”

After a series of conversations that included a personality test to confirm he’d fit into the team, Zeeman said everyone is convinced it’s the right move at the right time.

“It’s a combination of his personality and his qualities as a rider,” he said. “First of all, most important for us, was his mindset and his eagerness to get better, and what we can offer, training-wise, equipment-wise, nutrition-wise, and having a real strong lineup of riders who are super professional; that’s what he was looking for.”