"Matteo Jorgenson deserves the freedom to go for the stage" - Jonas Vingegaard gives Visma teammate free role on stage 20 of Tour de France

With the fight for the Maillot Jaune having realistically reached it's conclusion on stage 19, Jonas Vingegaard is giving his teammates a free role to chase the win on stage 20 of the 2024 Tour de France. Notably, Matteo Jorgenson, who came so close on Friday, could get another chance in the breakaway.

“We are going to fight for that second place, that is the least we can do,” the Team Visma | Lease a Bike leader assesses in his pre-stage 20 interview. “But Matteo also deserves the freedom to go for the stage win. He was very close and showed a good level. He is also still in the running for the top 10, so it would be nice if he can still climb. That is why we have two goals in mind.”

Jorgenson got himself into the break on stage 19 as was a lone leader on the final climb of the day. Sadly for the American, despite riding the likes of Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz off his back wheel, a counter attacking Tadej Pogacar from the GC group spelled disaster for his chances of a first Tour de France stage win.

For Vingegaard meanwhile, any slim hopes the Dane may have had of taking a third successive Maillot Jaune were emphatically ended by the aforementioned Pogacar, as the Slovenian ran rampant on the slopes of Isola 2000, extending his general classification advantage to over five minutes from Vingegaard.

"I had a lot of emotions, because it was a long fight and everything came out. It was not from relief, because I felt that especially at the beginning of the Tour de France. I wanted to do as well as possible and with this preparation I can be more than happy. But I have to keep fighting for my second place," Vingegaard adds in his pre-stage 20 interview.