Matteo Jorgenson almost hits Tour de France jackpot: 'I had to play my hand early'

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France — With 1km to go in a brave solo attack to win atop one of the Tour de France‘s most famous climbs, Matteo Jorgenson knew it could go either way.

Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech) was closing in fast, and the Idahoan on Movistar was leaking gas after looking solid on nine of the final 10km of the famous Puy de Dome.

With 500m to go, the 23-year-old Jorgenson was racing on fumes, and Woods turned on the turbos to win.

One rider’s disappointment is another’s ecstasy.

“I started to feel empty with 1k to go. And then before I knew it, Mike was there passing me,” Jorgenson said at the summit. “It was a surprise, but there was absolutely nothing I could do.”

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The lights went out quickly on the 12-percent grades of the Puy de Dome, the famous mountain where the legends of the sport from Anquetil to Merckx have sparred for victory.

The Idahoan hit the final wall up the Puy on the volcano that hadn’t been raced in the Tour since 1988.

The 24-year-old wouldn’t be born for another 10 years, but on Sunday, it was the here and now, and he was closing on snatching the first American stage win at the Tour since Sepp Kuss in 2021.

Jorgenson threw the dice early, and went all-in for glory in Sunday’s brutal stage across France’s volcano country.

“I had to play my hand a little bit early,” he said. “I knew if I was in that group I wouldn’t be able to match Mike Woods and Neilson [Powless]. So I knew that I had to get away in a small group or solo.”

The Movistar rider drove into the day’s winning breakaway, and then tore away alone. It was pure calculus. He knew riders like Woods could climb faster than he could, so he wanted a head start.

“I ended up getting solo, so from there I went all in. In the end you just have to hope that behind they blow up or whatever, because a minute at the bottom of that climb wasn’t quite enough.”

But it could have been.

Radio silence, white heat

Jorgenson was spinning up the lower flanks of the climb with a confident cadence. After spending months at altitude to prepare for the Tour de France, Jorgenson looked fluid on the bike, and even stronger than his rookie version last year that saw him ride into three winning breakaways.

The final 4km of the climb were closed off to the public, so it went from mayhem to splendid isolation. It was like ticking off one hard effort a training ride, but with a peloton full of pursuers in his wake.

“It was way harder having no people and it made it absolutely a mental battle,” he said. “And having no information, you’re just there, suffering, suffering, and in the end, you felt like you were on a training ride because you are so quiet. It was a weird atmosphere.”

Making it even worse was radio silence. The Movistar car’s radio wasn’t working, so Jorgenson was racing in a weird vacuum, without any real data or time splits.

“The radio didn’t work the whole climb,” he said. “As soon as we started around the corner [of the mountain], the cars were at the bottom and I didn’t have any radio. So the only time gap I had was the moto.

“He was telling me a minute, then 40 seconds, then 35. And 35 was the last one I got with 1k to go.”

By then, it was Matteo vs. the mountain, and the mountain won. Woods caught him with 450m to go, and then two more swept past.

Jorgenson was ashen and empty when the cross the line fourth, matching two fourth places in his spectacular 2022 debut.

Jorgenson: ‘I am happy with the risk I took’

There were no regrets, only the passion to try another day.

“I had to play my hand and go early. I am happy with the risk I took. It could have paid off. Today they were too strong,” he said. “It was so steep and we were going go slow. He just had better legs. At that point, I was completely, completely empty.”

Monday’s rest day will allow Jorgenson to fill up the tank. The back half of the Tour is loaded with breakaway opportunities.

“I was close, but chapeaux to Mike; 500m at 12 percent is something difficult,” he said. “I had good legs, that’s a positive sign. There are plenty of opportunities.”

Jorgenson won the most combative prize on a big day for North Americans.

Woods joins teammate Hugo Houle, a winner last year, as Canada’s latest Tour stage victor. Jorgenson’s compatriot Powless was sixth and held the King of the Mountains jersey, while Kuss climbed into ninth overall Sunday while defending yellow for Jumbo-Visma teammate Jonas Vingegaard.