"Jonas might have benefited from an even higher pace to numb Pogacar’s explosiveness" - Matteo Jorgenson analyzes Visma's defeat on Galibier

Matteo Jorgenson was unable to keep up with the better climbers in the first mountain stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday. The American sensation met his limits on the flanks of the Col du Galibier and had to concede almost three minutes to winner Tadej Pogacar in Valloire.

"It was a learning experience," the Visma | Lease a Bike rider reflected on the stage afterwards. "On the Galibier we couldn't pedal the same values ​​as UAE Emirates, that was clear. I didn't have the best day myself. I had the feeling that my saddle was too high along the way. That's often the case when the legs aren't so good. I went to the team car to fix it."

"I just had a bad day two days after my crash," Jorgenson said. He also commented on his leader Jonas Vingegaard losing some time to Tadej Pogacar. "We did our best. Jonas might have benefited from an even higher pace on the Galibier to numb Pogacar’s explosiveness. But I couldn’t push the pace any further. My bad, but the legs just weren’t good enough."

Jorgenson was still able to at least finish in the second group of favourites, at 2:42 behind Tadej Pogacar. Thus he's now 11th overall, at the same time as other stars like Felix Gall, Egan Bernal or Adam Yates.