NICE, France — Matteo Jorgenson claimed overall victory at the Paris-Nice race after distancing fellow American Brandon McNulty in the rainy hills around Nice.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider began the eighth and final stage four seconds behind McNulty but he and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) attacked on the Cote de Peille with 40km left.
Belgium’s Evenepoel took the stage win as he outsprinted Jorgenson along the Nice seafront but was 30 seconds behind in second place in the overall standings. McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) hung on for third place overall.
“Until this year, I never would have thought this was possible but here we are,” Jorgenson said according to Reuters.
“It couldn’t have gone any better today and the whole week. I could barely sleep last night, I was so nervous. For the first time I felt the pressure. To win and to ride in with a champion like Remco is a special moment.”
Jorgenson, 24, is only the third American rider to win Paris-Nice and the first since Floyd Landis in 2006.
“To be honest, I never expected to win Paris-Nice. Until this year, I never thought it was possible. But here we are,” Jorgenson said.
Evenepoel beat him in a sprint to the line to win Sunday’s eighth stage, a hilly 109-kilometer (68-mile) trek with two big climbs starting and finishing in Nice on France’s Côte d´Azur.
Evenepoel and Jorgenson were both giving the same winning time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 3 seconds, with Russian cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov crossing the line 50 seconds behind in third spot.
“I´m not going to get ahead of myself. It´s already a great achievement in my life,” the jubilant Jorgenson said according to AP. “I will now try to enjoy it and keep my feet on the ground.”
Evenepoel praised Jorgenson for staying with him when he surged ahead in the climbs.
“If you´ve seen my attacks, only one guy could follow, it was Matteo,” he said. “Matteo is the deserved winner of this race.”
Vingegaard said it had been “a perfect week for the team”, and the Danish two-time Tour de France champion has claimed he is “in better shape than last season at this time”. The Australian Jai Hindley completed the podium at Tirreno-Adriatico, 1min 52sec behind Vingegaard.
Former Giro and Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic of Slovenia, on his first outing in Bora colours, had a race to forget ending in 10th at 5min 53sec.
On the comeback trail from life-threatening injuries, former Tour de France and Giro champion Egan Bernal showed glimpses of a return to form and ended in seventh place at 5min 33sec.
On the run-in to Nice, the final duo exchanged a few words, and sealed their own destinies. Jorgenson, the champion-elect, began his celebrations to the TV motorbikes, while Evenepoel pushed ahead to take the stage victory.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” the Visma-Lease a Bike rider said afterwards, asked if he now had bigger ambitions. “This is a really nice victory and a really good achievement in my life. I’m just going to try and enjoy it, and keep my feet on the ground.”
Victor Campanaerts (Lotto Dstny) started proceedings with an early rampage, ripping up the front of the race, before being reeled in just after the halfway point.
As Campanaerts rejoined the pack, Evenepoel put in two thrashing digs to try and wriggle away.
The former world champion, known for his long-range attacks, began the day in fourth, 36 seconds behind the race leader, McNulty, whose team-mates helped quash the initial attempts to go solo.
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