Visma and Jorgenson win Dauphiné TTT despite Van Aert struggles: 'It didn't go as planned'

Visma lost a sub-par Wout van Aert early in the 28km stage and Ben Tulett was forced to drop off when he suffered a high-speed rear wheel puncture on the main descent. 

And yet they weren’t to be denied, with Matteo Jorgenson powering up the final climb in Perreux to secure stage victory, nine seconds clear of Netcompany-Ineos, who will themselves rue the time lost when Oscar Onley slipped his chain in the finale.

“Actually no,” Jorgenson smiled when asked if Visma’s team time trial had gone to plan. “If I reflect on it, it didn’t really go as planned at all. First, we lost Wout pretty early, he wasn’t feeling super, and then Ben flatted and he almost crashed on the main descent of the day, so that was a hairy moment. 

“But I think we adapted to the situation, and we could kind of rearrange things and readjust. Honestly, I think the last 10k, we couldn’t have gone any faster. Bruno [Armiral], Edo [Affini] and Per [Strand Hagenes], they were all incredibly strong and I was given a free ride to the last climb.”

Like on the opening day of the Tour de France, each rider was timed individually in this team time trial, and Jorgenson still had plenty to do in the final kilometre to secure victory for Visma. The American showcased his form by dancing up the finishing climb alone to record the day’s quickest time, though he was adamant that this was entirely a collective triumph. 

“I think it’s seven times better than winning on your own,” Jorgenson said. “We get the moment together afterwards, which in cycling you don’t often get, where you win with your teammates. It’s a really cool discipline and a nice one.”

The Dauphiné is Jorgenson’s first race since he broke his collarbone in a crash at Amstel Gold Race, an incident that ruled him out of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, his main objective for the spring. Jorgenson had begun his campaign with some promising displays, including second overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, and he will hope this is an augury for the week and the summer to come.

“It feels good to win a race and it is really nice after the spring I’ve had to come back and be on top again,” Jorgenson said. “It’s a pleasure to be a part of a team like this, where people take care of all the details and make such a clear plan for us. I’m super happy to be a part of this team and take this win together.”

The result moves Jorgenson up to fourth overall, 15 seconds behind yellow jersey Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost). After finishing second overall at the Dauphiné two years ago, losing out by just eight seconds, Jorgenson will hope to go one better this time, even if he downplayed the prospect on Tuesday afternoon.

“I think we should take it one day at a time,” he said.