"I think tactically this guy is a lot better than Miguel Indurain" - Matteo Jorgenson draws comparisons to Spanish icon from Irish legend
Cycling
Matteo Jorgenson has been making big waves over the last year and a bit. Ever since making the move to Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the American has surged into his role as one of the team's leading stars. Following his recent GC win at Paris-Nice for the second year running, many are even touting the 25-year-old as a potential Tour de France winner of the future.
One man who knows exactly what it takes to win a Tour de France, is Irish legend Stephen Roche. When asked if Jorgenson has the potential to follow suit, Roche is confident that the American can indeed do so, drawing a comparison with an icon of Spanish cycling. “I’m going to contradict myself here and say he hasn’t got the build for it, although neither did Miguel Indurain. When you see what he was doing on that climb when Lenny Martinez won the stage last week, he drilled it there," the former world champion tells Cycling Weekly.
“If he’d ridden to win the stage then he’d have won the stage. He rode to put a gap between him and the other riders, he didn’t ride with the intention of winning otherwise he might have kept a little bit back for the sprint at the end," Roche continues. "But he rode from the front and everyone was absolutely swinging behind him. Ok, it’s early season, it’s cold, but nevertheless he’s doing incredible performances at the moment.”
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As touched upon there by Roche, the Irishman sees a lot of comparisons between Jorgenson and Indurain. But more than just a comparison, Roche can see the American actually better in some ways than the five-time Tour de France winner. “Definitely, but he [Jorgenson] could be even better. I think tactically this guy is a lot better than Indurain," says Roche. "Indurain was the kind of guy who had a big team around him and then he came out at the end and put down the power."
"This guy is very good, his approach is very elegant on the bike, and I think he’s a guy that can do climb after climb," Roche adds. "He’s done it for Jonas Vingegaard before, so I think he’s got a lot going for him. Those other big guys are pocket rockets, whereas this guy is a powerhouse.”
“But this guy doesn’t try to follow them, he just rides his own tempo. It’s a bit like me when I was against Pedro Delgado. If I had gone after Delgado every time he went on the attack then I’d never have seen the summit of so many climbs," continues Roche. "I always knew that I was better just making my own tempo and that would ultimately help me match him. This guy is the same. People used to say about me that I was like a TGV, if I got a gap, then nobody could close it. Jorgenson is similar.”
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- Two riders unlike any others over the past few decades, during this era of carb fueling, seems relevant to me.RidesHills23-03-2025
- Funny that they shorten women’s races but have no qualms about letting U23 do the same distances.Jumpyjohn23-03-2025
- Why is that relevant when discussing speed?Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- But he wasn’t the only one ;-)Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Obviously the questions are more important to some here than to them or the team so I suggest looking for answers instead of asking questions between ourselves. We’ll probably get them unless someone actually goes to ask the protagonists themselves. Here are some starters : They like riding together; they have their own rivalry that helps bring out the best in both; they might get more points helping each other compared to racing separate races. In any case, unless we hear MJ complaining about it, I don’t think it’s going to change, it’s the Sepp Kuss syndrome all over again, fans lobbying against the will of the rider.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Mine goes to MVDP for entertaining us all year round :-) Stellar race, Ganna impressive in his own way as many predicted after some oddly lacklustre times.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- i remember when not too long ago mathieu was regarded as a real tactical knucklehead. i’m not sure that was ever quite accurate, but it’s certainly the case that over the years he has become a real master tactician. in the biggest races, van der poel rarely makes choices that don’t fully optimize every specific advantage he has.OCexile23-03-2025
- Whatever the result, I believe the strategy by UAE to launch Pogacar was absolutely the right one. Unfortunately, they just were not able to execute it the way they must have planned, being all over the place at the start of the Cipressa.Cooldude23-03-2025
- They are without doubt not just the best two classics riders of this generation, but amongst the best of all time. MvdP is more suited to MSR and PR (which Pog has yet to race), while Pog is now almost untouchable at LBL and Lombardia. RVV is the only one where both basically have an equal chance to win.Cooldude23-03-2025
- bravissima!
maria2024202423-03-2025