Matteo Jorgenson predicts 'big explosion' on Bastille Day at Tour de France
The first mountain stage of the 2025 Tour de France takes place on Monday, on Bastille Day, and is expected to produce fireworks.
Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) expects significant time gaps to be created on Monday's Bastille Day battle on stage 10 of the Tour de France. The stage in question features 4,300 metres of elevation gain across 7 second-category climbs, with hardly a metre of flat in the 165.3km route from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy in the Massif Central. You can read Domestique's stage 10 preview here.
Speaking to reporters, including Daniel Benson, at the start of stage 9, Jorgenson was clear about the importance of the first mountain stage of the 2025 Tour and was asked if he expected big gaps, to which he responded, "Yes, tomorrow for sure."
"Tomorrow, my expectations are that it will be a very key and decisive stage, the first mountains we have seen in the Tour de France, which is always a big explosion, and we will see big time gaps," Jorgenson said.
With Jonas Vingegaard sitting 4th in the general classification, currently trailing Tadej Pogačar by 1:17, Jorgenson was asked if the initiative would be with Vimsa | Lease a Bike to make the stage aggressive.
"That I don't know, we will have to see in the meeting tomorrow," Jorgenson responded, keeping relatively tight-lipped about the team's tactical approach.
Jorgenson was also asked about Visma's strategy to try and close the gap on Pogačar and whether it would be a case of chipping away at the time deficit or a case of one major day in the mountains where the race could be turned on its head.
"I think it will be a bit of both," Jorgenson replied. "I think that we will probably approach every single day as an opportunity."
Jorgenson himself has made a really strong start to the Tour, featuring in the mix on all the hilly stages, and currently finds himself one position and 17 seconds behind his team leader Vingegaard, in 5th after nine days of racing, and the American described his own feelings so far.
"Good, great, really enjoyed this Tour so far, and felt really good, and it's been going super well," Jorgenson said.
Beyond the Tour de France, Jorgenson was asked about a potential appearance at the Vuelta a España, to which he confirmed, all being well. "Vuelta, yeah, I will do the Vuelta," Jorgenson said.
He gave a more light-hearted answer when asked if he would go for the general classification, "That remains to be seen. If I can somehow bridge the gap between the Tour and Vuelta without gaining 5 kilos, then maybe," he joked, as well as stating that Vingegaard would be the leader if the Dane decided to also go to the Spanish grand tour.
"Yeah, for sure, if he decides to do it, then he will be the leader for sure."
Finally, it was announced at the start of July that Jorgenson had signed a contract extension that will keep him at Visma | Lease a Bike until the end of 2029, after a successful year and a half since his move from Movistar and the American was asked about the new deal.
"Yeah, I'm really happy in the team, and there's really not another team that I even considered," Jorgenson explained.
"I just wanted to make sure I could find a good agreement with this team because I wanted to stay."
