“Strange things are happening with Matteo Jorgenson at Visma” – Experts raise concerns over Jonas Vingegaard’s American Tour de France lieutenant

Matteo Jorgenson’s repeated attempts to reach the breakaway have raised fresh questions over Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s tactics and the condition of one of Jonas Vingegaard’s most important Tour de France lieutenants.

The American tried several times to force his way into the move on Stage 9 before eventually dropping back, adding to a difficult opening week in which Visma’s mountain support has struggled to match the strength surrounding Tadej Pogacar at UAE Team Emirates – XRG.

Vingegaard reaches the first rest day 2:42 behind Pogacar, with Eurosport Denmark experts Brian Holm and Matti Breschel now turning their attention to the riders expected to help the Dane recover that deficit.

Jorgenson’s presence near the front on Sunday quickly drew UAE’s attention. As one of Vingegaard’s strongest teammates and a former Tour top-10 finisher, he was never likely to be allowed into a dangerous break without resistance.

Holm was left unsure whether the American had been ordered to abandon the move or had simply been unable to maintain his position. “Why the hell does he keep sitting there and trying?” the former professional and Eurosport Denmark expert asked. “He knows UAE are not going to let him go. There are some strange things happening with Jorgenson at Visma right now. You have to wonder about it.”

“Why is Jorgenson going with it?” he continued. “Either they do not have the tactics under control, because if he was called back then he should never have spent that energy trying to get across, or he was dropped because he was not good enough. In that case, we have a problem as well.”

Jorgenson has already made more than one unsuccessful attempt to reach a break during this Tour, with each move costing energy without giving Visma a rider up the road.

Breschel has also seen a rider operating below the level expected after Jorgenson finished eighth overall at the 2024 Tour and arrived in France this year following second place at Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.

“He looks a little flat, or heavy-legged, as people say,” former Tour de France stage winner Breschel said. “But let’s see after the rest day whether they can generate some new energy. It is coming back to bite them a little. They are using energy, but they are also exposing themselves, and that is why we can sit here and have this discussion. We know what they have because they have put themselves out there without succeeding. They have certainly not been convincing so far.”

The rest day arrives with Jorgenson’s role under far more scrutiny than Visma would have expected before the Tour. He remains one of Vingegaard’s most valuable climbing helpers, but his attacks have so far revealed more about his limitations than they have unsettled UAE.

Jorgenson is not the only Visma rider under scrutiny. Sepp Kuss has also been quieter than expected, leaving Vingegaard without the depth of support Pogacar has enjoyed through the opening nine stages.

“Visma are missing a little something, so I think this rest day is coming at a good time,” Breschel said. “They need to work out how to use their energy because they are slightly outnumbered compared with UAE.”

Vingegaard’s position behind Pogacar does at least give Visma greater freedom to attack rather than control the yellow jersey. “Vingegaard is now in an attacking position,” Breschel explained. “It would have been more worrying if they were trying to defend a yellow jersey, so perhaps he can manage without a couple of riders.”

Breschel stopped short of writing either rider off before the second week. “The Tour is long, so let’s see whether they grow into the task or at least improve a little,” he said. “You should not underestimate Matteo Jorgenson and Sepp Kuss or write them off completely yet. The most important thing is that the key domestiques, Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson, are where they need to be when we return to the mountains.”

Stage 10 gives them little time to recover. Seven categorised climbs and around 3,800 metres of elevation await immediately after the rest day, with Visma’s two key mountain helpers facing an immediate test of whether the opening week was a warning or merely a slow start.