"Why can’t Matteo lead Grand Tours? He showed already he can do a strong third week” - Visma open door to future Jorgenson GC challenges
Cycling
For Matteo Jorgenson, his debut campaign at Team Visma | Lease a Bike was far and above the expectations of many. Wasting no time to settle, the American starred across 2024 winning Paris-Nice, coming a close 2nd at the Criterium du Dauphine and securing 8th overall at the Tour de France. It's fair to say Visma have been impressed.
“In the future, why can’t Matteo lead Grand Tours? He showed already he can do a strong third week in the Tour,” Team Visma | Lease a Bike's trainer Tim Heemskerk says in conversation with Velo. “We’re yet to realize Matteo’s potential. He did so well already this year, and we’ve become familiar now from working together in racing and at the training camps. So we know for sure there is more to come."
Having also proven his one-day capabilities, winning Dwars door Vlaanderen and claiming a top 10 in the Olympic road race among other results. As such, Visma aren't ready to pigeonhole Jorgenson as only a GC rider just yet. “We’re still discovering Matteo’s capacities,” Heemskerk explains. “We don’t want to try to focus him on any one thing just yet. We might only do that if we see he could really, really benefit from specializing. We want to keep Matteo’s calendar open for now. He just had an amazing season by doing a bit of everything, and he enjoys it. So for now, while he’s only 25, why change that?”
“Matteo is still developing,” Heemskerk adds. “The next years are when we might see him naturally going in a certain direction, like really going for a win in a Classic or Grand Tour. It’s at that point we will need to make choices for his program that give the best preparation toward that goal."
“Matteo’s direction will depend on how he grows with us, but also on management and how we need to fill roles for our plans,” concludes the experienced Visma coach. “But we’ll need to all agree it’s the right direction and if we need to change things. But we’re not at the time to need to do that yet.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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What a signing Matteo Jorgenson has been 😮 The American has been a force on all terrain this season 🇺🇸💪 📸 Getty Images
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