It was an all-American scene in Nice on Sunday afternoon, as Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) defended his title at Paris-Nice, and Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) won the race’s final stage.
The pair, who hail from opposite sides of the USA, came through the same junior team – Hot Tubes – and celebrated together by the finish line on the seafront.
Sheffield’s victory marked a career first at WorldTour level, coming after he bridged across to the breakaway and attacked solo. Jorgenson crossed the line second in pursuit, scoring an American 1-2, and tying up a successful defence of his Paris-Nice yellow jersey.
"Paris-Nice is turning into an American race, I think," Jorgenson said afterwards with a wink.
"It was awesome seeing [Sheffield] just in front of me. I was really trying to catch him, but I couldn’t get him. I’m happy to see him win. He deserves this stage."
Twenty-two-year-old Sheffield, three years his compatriot's junior, gave an emotional post-race interview, choking up as he spoke.
"It’s really unbelievable. I’ve been second so many times now. It’s my first victory at the WorldTour level. It means so much," the Ineos Grenadiers rider said.
"It's just so hard to win any race. It means really so much. The team has really always believed in me through the tough times, and the same with my family. I think today we made a really good plan on the bus. We didn’t give up."
Sheffield's stage win nudged him up from sixth to fourth on GC, behind his Ineos Grenadiers teammate, Thymen Arensman.
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished second overall, one minute and 15 seconds adrift of Jorgenson, who held the race lead since stage five.
How it happened
After seven days of attrition at Paris-Nice, the 'Race to the Sun' found clearer skies at last on Sunday, starting and finishing on the French Riviera. There would be no final day procession, however, but a climbing feast, with three category-one ascents set to decide the general classification.
The peloton splintered over the first – the 7km Col de la Porte, pitched at 6.9% – before an unlikely escapee tore clear on the descent.
Dressed in green as the leader of the points classification, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) set out on a rare breakaway foray through the mountains, determined to secure his jersey.
That moment came over the Col d’Èze, a kicker between climbs two and three, where the Dane took maximum points through an intermediate sprint. Sheffield, who had bridged the gap to join him, followed behind, and went solo when Pedersen retreated with his points banked.
It was on the Col d’Èze, too, that Jorgenson launched his bid for victory behind. Having gone into the stage 37 seconds clear on GC, the American set out to solidify his title, and perhaps clinch a stage win, too.
In order to do the latter, the Visma-Lease a Bike rider would have to catch his compatriot and fellow Nice local, as two training partners became rivals on the road.
Jorgenson tried his best to tag Sheffield, but with a long descent to the line, it proved too tough of a challenge to claw back the 20-second gap. Inside 2km to go, confident the victory would be his, Sheffield waved his fist in celebration as he charged along the promenade.
Jorgenson sat up in his saddle behind, celebrating similarly, his second yellow jersey all sewn up.
Results
Paris-Nice stage eight: Nice > Nice (119.9km)
1. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, in 2:48:37
2. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +29s
3. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +35s
4. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +1:01
5. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, all at same time
8. Aleksandr Vlasov, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:04
9. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +1:40
10. Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, at same time
Final general classification
1. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 26:26:42
2. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +1:15
3. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:58
4. Magnus Sheffield (USA) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:17
5. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling Team, +3:03
6. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates XRG, +3:57
7. Clément Champoussin (Fra) XDS Astana, +4:00
8. Harold Tejada (Col) XDS Astana, +4:53
9. Tobias Foss (Nor) Ineos Grenadiers, +4:59
10. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:26
