Upon boarding the team bus, Movistar sporting director Patsy Villa shared a long embrace with Matteo Jorgenson and described the American as "a brave athlete."

Jorgenson won the Combat Award for his solo attack, but was cruelly caught and passed by Michael Woods (Israel Premier Tech) just 400 meters from the finish line at the top of the Puy de Dome.

"I'm proud of what I did, it didn't pay off at the end of the day, but one day it will," Jorgenson told Cycling News and Flobikes before boarding the Movistar bus.

Jorgenson knew the breakaway group behind him would close the gap in the steep last 4km of the extinct volcano as the gradient of the Puy de Dome became increasingly tougher.

"There were no fans, the radio went dead, and it was silent the whole climb. [I didn't know the time difference or anything, so I was a little freaked out when Mike Woods passed me. When Mike Woods passed me I just heard the sound of his chain and got scared. That was it.

Jorgenson won the spring Tour of Oman and rode impressively in Paris-Nice and the Tour de Romandie.

He will join Jumbo-Visma in 2024, but is eager to try for stage wins in hard races after Movistar lost team leader Enric Mas early in the Tour de France.

Jorgenson, in the break of 13 riders who had shaken off the peloton, attacked alone with 50km to go. He knew he had to use his power and time trial skills to build an advantage before the pace slowed down on the final steep section of the Puy de Dome and the race turned in favor of the climbers.

"I wasn't planning on going into the break. But then I found myself there and I had to look around and make a plan on the fly," Jorgenson explained. [I knew that Woods and Powles were faster than me on the uphills. Especially at 12% and 13%, it's their territory. So I knew I had to get ahead of them somehow. I was hoping to get more time with Mohoric and Kampenaerts, but it was tough because I only had a minute on the downhill."

"You just have to hope the back doesn't blow up on you. As we climbed the mountain, the radio didn't work, so all I could tell was the time difference from the bike. He told me 1 minute, 40 seconds, 35 seconds. With a kilometer to go, that was the last time."

"I started to feel empty and before I knew it Mike was there and passed me. I was surprised, but there was nothing I could do about it."