"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

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.”