"In the end, I blew myself up a little" - Matteo Jorgenson and Visma have plenty to think about after Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Matteo Jorgenson and Team Visma" Lease a Bike are taking the good with the bad after a mixed Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The American suffered a slightly disappointing finale as he finished in tenth place but leaves the race with a fourth overall and plenty to be happy with.

Racing for the first time since his Amstel Gold Race crash, Jorgenson showed his level was almost where it needed to be as he fine tunes preparations for the Tour de France. Although he won't be leading Visma this summer in France, he certainly showed that he'll be a valuable mountain support for Jonas Vingegaard.

Sunday's stage 8 exploded the race with 4000 meters of elevation packed into 120 kilometers. Finishing on the Plateau de Solaison, Jorgenson was going strong as Isaac Del Toro turned up the pace. However, when the Mexican made his move, Jorgenson seemed the strongest of the chasers before fading in the final kilometers to finish tenth.

Reflecting on the finale, Jorgenson thinks he pushed himself just a little bit too much. However, he sees the drive to improve that aspect of his racing with July 4th and the Tour Grand Depart in mind.

“It wasn’t my best day,” Jorgenson said in a team statement. “The pace was incredibly high throughout the entire stage, so I quickly realised it was going to be difficult. I kept believing in myself and gave everything I had on the final climb.

"I fought for the win and tried to follow Del Toro for as long as possible. In the end, I blew myself up a little, but I have no regrets. I’m satisfied with my performance and it gives me motivation to improve myself on the longer climbs.”

From the Dutch team's point of view, Tulett was present in the final two stages to support Jorgenson while Bruno Armirail showed a high level to remain through tough medium mountain ascents. Nonetheless, losing Wout van Aert, Per Strand Hagenes and Jørgen Nordhagen were notable losses.

Sports Director Maarten Wynants said: “Our riders have shown a high level throughout the week. Hopefully, the riders who were forced to abandon can recover well. Ben, Per and Matteo, as well as Jørgen, showed in the mountains that they are in excellent shape."

"It’s unfortunate that we eventually lost Jørgen, but we will take the positives with us into the upcoming races.”