Stage 9 hero Matteo Jorgenson about his heartbreak on Puy de Dome: "I felt so empty"

Matteo Jorgenson was very close to victory on the mythical Puy de Dôme, but in the last hundreds of meters Michael Woods, Pierre Latour and Matej Mohoric passed him. At that time, the American had ridden alone at the front for almost fifty kilometers, after he had broken away from the original leading group on his own.

"I knew I couldn't compete with Michael Woods and Neilson, if I waited in that group," Jorgenson explained to Eurosport. "I knew I had to get away in a small group or solo. It became a solo. Then I went all in. At the end you have to hope that they blow themselves up behind you, because one minute at the bottom of the climb was not enough. But I did what I could."

Jorgenson didn't get much of the time differences during the climb. "From the moment we turned, the cars were left behind and I had no radio. I did get time differences through the motorcycle. It went from one minute to 40, then 35 seconds. That was the last I heard, with about a mile to go. I felt so empty at that moment. Before I knew it, Mike was there. It was a surprise, but there was really nothing I could do."