Visma tick off 'small goal' on opening stage of Paris-Nice 2025: "Matteo Jorgenson managed to grab some bonus seconds"

Stage 1 of Paris-Nice 2025 finished in the expected circumstances with a bunch sprint being won by Soudal - Quick-Step's European champion Tim Merlier. It was by no means a 'boring' sprint stage though, with especially the final 30km seeing a number of attacks from big name riders, including Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Matteo Jorgenson.

On each of the final two climbs of the day, Jorgenson was active at the front of the race. On the Côte de Villiers-Saint-Frédéric, Julian Alaphilippe made a big acceleration, but in the end, the King of the Mountains points at the top went the way of Jorgenson. Then, with bonus seconds on offer atop Les Mesnuls, the racing was brought to life once again with Jorgenson bagging himself 4 bonus seconds.

"We can be very pleased with our performance," sports director Grischa Niermann reflects to Team Visma | Lease a Bike's official website in a post-stage press release afterwards. "We rode a strong race as a team. Just like last year, Matteo managed to grab some bonus seconds in the opening stage, which was one of our small goals for today. It’s also a nice extra that Axel Zingle could compete in the sprint, although our main focus remains the general classification. We’re happy that our leaders, Jonas Vingegaard and Matteo, finished safely."

As mentioned by Niermann there, in the final sprint Visma were also active through Zingle, who joined the team from Cofidis over the recent off-season. "I was able to start the sprint in a good position”, Zingle said afterward. "I had to stop pedalling for a second, but I can definitely be satisfied with this fifth place. It feels great to show myself immediately in my new colours. It took some getting used to, but I’m getting to know my teammates better every day. There will be more sprint opportunities in the coming week, and I’ll definitely try my luck again."