Down in Italy, Jonas Vingegaard took victory in Tirreno-Adriatico. The two-time defending Tour de France winner put in such a dominant performance his competitors were left to question his very mortality. More important, the pasty Dane earned the right to wield the Trident of Maritime Justice for the coming year.
I care not at all, because up the coast, a pair of young Americans stormed to a 1-3 finish at Paris-Nice. Sepp Kuss winning the Vuelta last year ruined all of my “biggest win for an American man since…” fun facts, but if not for that one outlier, this would be the biggest win by an American man in a decade.
Tell ‘em, Zoidberg.
The man in question is 24-year-old Matteo Jorgenson, who came home 30 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel and a little under two minutes ahead of Brandon McNulty, who finished third after two different stints in the race lead.1 Jorgenson had previously finished eighth at this race in 2021 and 2023, and who came close to tasting World Tour GC victory with a second-place finish at last year’s Tour de Romandie. Earlier this year, I neglected to comment on Jorgenson’s potential grand tour or monument ambitions while discussing some of the up-and-coming Americans in the peloton, and a commenter pushed back.
I responded that I didn’t know exactly what to make of Jorgenson yet. As exciting as his young career was, I didn’t feel like I had a handle on what shape that breakthrough win would take, when it inevitably came.
It’s here now. And I still don’t really know what to make of Jorgenson, but that’s a much more exciting prospect than it was three months ago.