For a while, it looked like Matteo Jorgenson would deliver a second Tour de France stage win for Visma-Lease a Bike as he soloed away from the day's breakaway on the final climb to Isola 2000.
However, with 9.5km to go, race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) attacked and closed down a three-minute gap inside the final kilometre, passing the American and going on to win the stage.
Jorgenson finished second on the stage, 21 seconds behind the maillot jaune, holding off Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
It was heartbreak for Jorgenson, who had spent the day in the escape along with teammate Wilco Kelderman, in search of a stage win on his training grounds, but even more so for Visma-Lease a Bike leader Jonas Vingegaard, who was visibly upset after finishing 1:41 behind Pogačar together with third-placed Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep).
"You gave everything, that's all that matters," Jorgenson told a visibly upset Vingegaard.
Missing the stage win wasn't the end of the world for Jorgenson, who moved back into the top 10 overall, climbing into 9th ahead of Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).
Jorgenson told NBC Sports that he and teammate Wilco Kelderman purposely went into the breakaway to be up the road if Vingegaard needed them, but on the final climb, their strategy pivoted to trying to go for the stage win.
"We originally just wanted to be in the break for Jonas as satellite riders. And then we got the call that we should switch and go for the stage."
However, the attack from Pogačar, while not surprising, ended his day in disappointment.
"I just came so close," Jorgenson said. "I feel like this the Tour de France and me have a pretty bad relationship with coming close on stages. I feel like I give my best and it just hasn't come yet."
Jorgenson had three minutes on the maillot jaune and a handful of seconds over his breakaway companions on the final climb, and said he was "just thinking how are my legs and trying to do the best possible effort from bottom to top".
When he heard Pogačar was coming, he said, "I had a bad feeling. When he passed me, I knew even if I stayed in his wheel, he would beat me. So, yeah, it's just disappointing for the moment."
What a ride Matteo 👏#TDF2024 l @MatteoJorg pic.twitter.com/1G4K9gxlHfJuly 19, 2024
