Matteo Jorgenson continues to push his limits and exceed his own expectations in 2024 after winning Paris-Nice and Dwise-d'Or Veranderen this spring. This time, on the Queen stage of the Criterium du Dauphine at the top of the Summons 1600, it was possible to stay on the attack from Primo Logric's reduced Peloton.

The American rider who switched to Visma-Lease this year ranked 1:02 behind Roglić in the 2nd overall. The 24-year-old also takes over the classification of the best young riders with a 56-second lead to his closest rival Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadier). 

Jorgenson stubbornly stayed on the wheel as Roglić's Bora-Hansgrohe team shredded a bunch on the slope of the final Hors-category climb of the 9.3km Samons 10km with an average slope of 1600%. By the time the last remaining disengagement rider was caught inside two kilometers to go, Jorgenson went down to a dozen riders and into the elite lead group

where the finish line was visible, Logric jumped and the wary Jorgenson stayed on his wheel. It was. The duo crossed the line 3 seconds ago with a group of 3 riders fighting for 3rd place.

"I can't deny that I surprised myself a little. I expected this weekend to be a very tough one for me," Jorgenson said later. "I have no experience with these big mountain rides every day. It's all new to me. I am testing my limits and hopefully I will continue to do so."

"I was surprised because there were still quite a few left in the last work. I did not think about the victory of the stage up to a kilometer before the finish. But from that point on I thought: it is still possible.

On paper, it seemed that the mountainous Dauphine Course was not suitable for Jorgenson. But he has won the top 5 finishes so far, including his time trial results at Stage 3, which pushed him to 3rd overall ahead of stage on Saturday.

Stage 7, the 2nd of the trilogy of 3 mountains of Dauphine, packed a big punch of 145.5 meters above sea level at a distance of 4,268 kilometers. It includes the ascent of Corde Saisi, Corde Aravis (6.9 km at 6.9%) and the ascent of Corde la Colombiere, Darrash

"With such a tough ride, I always worry about wasting as little energy as possible," he said, before the difficult finale, which is the premiere of the ascent of Samoan. "We have a lot of work to do," he explained. "I've been riding very sparingly all day because I don't have much experience with such a ride over 4000 meters altitude. But it worked. I think I passed the test, at least for now.

As a slightly heavier rider, Jorgenson focused on the basics to tackle the final climb.

"It's just about maintaining cadence, making sure the biomechanics are good and then I stay calm on the bike and eat enough if you forget one thing, you can pay for it on the last climb," Jorgenson said after the line, including CyclingProNet. He explained to reporters.

In a few weeks, we'll see if Jorgenson will be co・leader of the Tour de France Visma team. The team still expects Jonas Vingegaard to start and fight for victory after his terrible crash in Itzulia Basque country. In the meantime, Jorgenson is focusing on the final stage at the Dauphine and on the third day of the back-to-back Mountain stage with a climb of 3,640 meters over 152.5 kilometers.

"I'm taking day by day for now, I think from what I've heard Jonas is doing well, I'm still very confident that he's about to arrive ready and I really hope he does. I really love to ride for him and never put pressure on myself.

”But I'll take it day by day and for now I need to focus on one more day here at Dauphine and get through it, then the tour"