In his first stage win on French soil, Remco Evenepoel won a dramatic final day of Paris-Nice 2024. However, the Belgian from Soudal Quick-Step could not pull away from a Matteo Jorgenson who, justifying his departure from Movistar Team to Visma – Lease a Bike, took the yellow jersey and with it the biggest win, so far, of his career.
Belgian Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) took a brilliant victory on Sunday after a devastating attack on the Col des Quatre Chemins (Four Roads), the last pass of the eighth fraction of the race of the sun, which was contested over 109.3 kilometers starting and finishing in Nice.
Behind the wheel of the “little ogre” entered the American Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) who took the title of the French race after a week of duel with his compatriot Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) who today could not follow the wheel of his rival and finished third on the podium behind Evenepoel himself.
“Only one guy could follow me and that was Matteo Jorgenson, so I think he deserves the win,” Evenepoel, who finished second on the final podium behind Jorgenson, reflected in his post-stage interview. “Aleksandr Vlasov jumped the other side, but I think he spent some energy on the move. So I think Matteo is a deserved winner of this race,” he said.
The performance of the brilliant Matteo Jorgenson at Paris-Nice 2024 will long be remembered. Racing with consummate control throughout, the American secured the biggest overall win of his career. Speaking after taking the coveted yellow jersey, the rider explained how glad he was to have traded Movistar Team for Visma – Lease a Bike, noting that until this year he never would have imagined getting a win like this.
“To be honest, no. Honestly, never. Until this year, I never would have believed this was possible, but here we are,” Jorgenson reflected when asked by several media outlets if he could believe what he had done. “It couldn’t have gone any better today, and all week. To be honest, it still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Being the only man able to match an ultra-aggressive Remco Evenepoel on the final stage, Jorgenson refused to budge from the Belgian’s side until the finish line. “I could hardly sleep last night, I was very nervous and felt, for the first time in my life, pressure,” Jorgenson continues. “To have it all go like that, and to go in with a champion like Remco, was a really special moment.”
For America, Colombian Egan Bernal (Ineos-Grenadiers) entered the finish line in the main group that arrived 2:13 behind the Belgian, clinging to seventh place in the Top 10 overall. The 2019 Tour de France champion continued to show the great level of the Tour Colombia and O Gran Camiño a little more than two years after the accident that almost cost him his life.
General Classification Paris-Nice 2024
1. Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) 27h50’23”.
2. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) +30”.
3. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) +1’47”
4. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +2’22” +2’22”
5. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2’57” +2’57”
6. Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) +3’08” 7.
7. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +4’03” +4’03”
8. Wilco Kelderrman (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4’04” +4’04”
9. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +4’35” +4’35”
10. Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) +5’33” +5’33”