“I tried my best to medal and it just didn't happen,” was the summary of the men’s road race at the Paris Olympic Games by debutant Matteo Jorgenson (United States of America). He finished ninth under the Eiffel Tower in a small group chasing the bronze medal, which went to France’s Christophe Laporte.
Before the road race, the 25-year-old had predicted the Belgians would be the team to beat, since they had a formidable foursome with Remco Evenepoel, who won the Olympic time trial last weekend, Wout van Aert, the silver medallist at the Tokyo Games road race, as well as Jasper Stuyven and Tiesj Benoot.
He was very familiar with the Belgians, as three of them ride for his trade team Visma-Lease a Bike, and his prediction rang true, as Evenepoel charged for a solo victory. Valentin Madous (France) took silver and left everyone else chasing one final podium spot.
“I had a really good fight. I put myself into position to win the race, but in the end, I got tactically outplayed. There were teams like France, Belgium, and the Netherlands with more numbers and I was in the right moves, but I think none of us worked well together. In the end, I used up a lot of energy in places where it was not necessary then I got attacked at the top," Jorgenson said in a USA Cycling statement afterwards.
“Wout [van Aert] was in a group with [Mathieu] Van der Poel and I, and then Remco [Evenepoel] attacked over the top of us. So in the end this is what they should do. They had more numbers in the final and they played it perfectly,” the young US rider said about the Belgian team, which along with the French squad was among the five countries with four riders each.
Heading up the Côte de la butte Montmartre for the second of three times on the decisive 18.4km finishing circuit, Jorgenson was among the contenders in the chase of breakaway rider Ben Healy of Ireland, who was reeled back after close to 100km out front. Then Evenepoel launched a vicious acceleration, and only Frenchman Valentin Madouas took off in close pursuit.
Jorgenson found himself riding with his Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Laporte at the front of the main chase with 9.5km to go. Van Aert had already dropped back but had kept the group together on that final lap and did not allow Van der Poel, Mads Pedersen (Denmark) and Julian Alaphilippe (France) to advance.
Jorgenson said while he rode in a front trying to reel back Madouas, he was mindful that a podium spot was in reach.
“We had Christophe Laporte sitting on, basically not working with us because he had a teammate up the road with Madouas, so this kind of destroyed, ruined our group dynamic. And guys didn't want to work as hard because they knew they were going to keep Christophe in the sprint. It all makes sense but was yeah, just tactically difficult there and there's nothing more I can do,” he said to Cyclingnews and other media at the finish.
“At a certain point, I was just trying to keep myself in contention for a medal and was trying to keep the groups behind from coming back.”
He said the most significant takeaway of the event that was fresh on his mind was the size of the crowds, which seemed to be tipped in favour of the Belgian and French teams. The thunderous sounds from the sidelines were distinctly different in the final segment of the 272km race when it returned to the narrow streets of Paris.
“The whole country of Belgium, the whole country of France - it felt like was out there. It was a wall, a tunnel of noise for six-and-a-half hours. I couldn't hear much else. All I heard was spectators,” Jorgenson said with a short laugh.
“I think they did a good job with the route, they found every little climb around Paris and the final circuit was also beautiful.
“When the Tour de France finishes on the Champs Elysées in Paris we do circuits in the city centre just like this. That's pretty comparable. I would say the Tour of Flanders is pretty similar with so many people out on the road. Those climbs were really cool and there were lots of people, so I really enjoyed the day.”
His US teammates Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield finished 24th and 42nd, respectively.
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