Visma change pre-Tour de France plans as Matteo Jorgenson joins Wout Van Aert at Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes

In 2026, Matteo Jorgenson was handed a different schedule for the large part of the season, however not everything has gone to plan. The American rider has now changed his schedule ahead of the Tour de France, removing the Tour de Suisse from the calendar and adding the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes.

Jorgenson, resident in Nice, was a two-time winner of Paris-Nice since joining Team Visma | Lease a Bike back in 2024. But, eyeing a change in schedule, he started off this season in the Ardèche classics. He was later on eighth at Strade Bianche and rode Tirreno-Adriatico where he was second behind Isaac del Toro.

He raced Milano-Sanremo in support of Wout Van Aert, helping the collective ambition and putting it on the podium as the Belgian joined Tadej Pogacar and Tom Pidcock.

Jorgenson's priority in the spring would be the Ardennes classics, but after an altitude camp, he would return to racing at Amstel Gold Race and not finish it. His spring campaign ended abruptly with a fractured collarbone due to a crash in the decisive phase of the race, after he had proven his strong form already. Subsequently, he did not race Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he would be a podium contender.

Jonas Vingegaard will not race from the Giro d'Italia to the Tour de France, and Jorgenson was set to race the Tour de Suisse. The five-day race is the easiest of the two traditional Tour build-up races, where Tadej Pogacar will be headlining this year.

That has now changed. Matthew Brennan, Axel Zingle and Bart Lemmen remain on the lineup provisionally, but none of the Tour de France lineup look set to be part of the Swiss race. Instead, the race formerly known as the Dauphiné will be the main preparation choice.

Jorgenson has been added to the lineup, joining Wout Van Aert and Bruno Armirail who are riders that had the race lined up early on. Interestingly, Jorgen Nordhagen was also added to the team, signaling a potential Tour de France debut this summer after the news of the withdrawal of Christophe Laporte.