Tadej Pogačar pedaled away from his chief rival and the rest of the field in the big mountains of the Alps on the way to his third Tour de France win in five years, while an American placed in the top 10 for the first time in a decade.
Pogačar, of Slovenia, capped his dominating Tour victory Sunday winning the closing Monaco-to-Nice time trial, marking his third stage win in a row and sixth overall in the 2024 race. The Slovenian, who rides for the UAE Team Emirates, ended Jonas Vingegaard’s two-year hold on the title in the world’s most prestigious bike race. Vingegaard finished second overall, 6 minutes, 17 seconds behind. Pogačar finished second to the Danish rider in 2022 and 2023.
“I cannot describe how happy I am after two hard years on the Tour de France — always some mistakes — and then this year, everything to perfection. I’m out of words. Incredible. This is the first Grand Tour when I was totally confident every day. Even in the Giro I had one bad day but I won’t tell which one,” Pogačar, who won the Giro d’Italia earlier this year, said, per Eurosport.
“This year, the Tour de France was amazing. I was enjoying it from day one till here. Today, I felt super good over the first climb. I’ve done the climb so many times in training — I did not waste any of my preparations. Maybe some people thought the Giro was a safety net for me if I didn’t win the Tour. And for sure, it would have been an incredible year. But to win the Tour is another level, and to win both together, is another level above that level.”
How did Americans do in the Tour de France?
Vingegaard stayed close to Pogačar through much of the 21-day race, thanks in large part to his Visma-Lease A Bike teammate Matteo Jorgenson, of Boise, Idaho. Jorgenson pulled Vingegaard, who hadn’t raced since a horrific crash in April, through the toughest stages, giving his team leader a chance to win.
Riding with the race leaders over much of the 2,173-mile course, Jorgenson finished eighth overall, the first time an American has placed in the top 10 since Teejay Van Garderen came in fifth in 2014. Riding in his third Tour de France, Jorgenson nearly pulled off his first stage win Friday in the Alps but Pogačar powered past him in the final kilometer.
Though disappointed after taking second on Stage 19, Jorgenson bounced back to finish fourth in Sunday’s time trial, solidifying his place in the top 10 overall.
“I didn’t let it get to my head and I just kept going full, really suffered and got everything out of myself and just relieved and happy to finish this tour,” he told reporters. “I really have a fire in my stomach to win a stage of the Tour de France. It’s been my dream since I was a little kid.”
Van Garderen, now an NBC Sports commentator, and others say Jorgenson could do more than just take a stage but is a future contender for winning the Tour overall. He won Paris-Nice this year, the first American to do so since 2006. He also won Dwars door Vlaanderen and finished second in the Critérium du Dauphiné.
Jorgenson was one of three Americans in the Tour de France. Neilson Powless and Sean Quinn finished 59th and 78th overall, respectively. Both ride for the EF Education-Easypost team. The race started with 176 riders and ended with 141.
Olympic cycling coming up
Jorgenson will go from the Tour de France to the Olympics in Paris next week. He and Magnus Sheffield were named last month to fill the last two spots on the U.S. Olympic road cycling team for the Paris Games. Both are first-time Olympians.
“The Olympics were always a part of my childhood,” Jorgenson said, according to USA Cycling. “I remember spending entire summers watching sports I had never heard of and admiring the athletes. For sure it had a big effect on me and was one of the reasons I decided to pursue a career as a pro athlete. Being able to race in Paris, especially following the best year of my career, is a dream come true.”
Jorgenson earned his Olympic spot at Dwars door Vlaanderen in Belgium, the only American man to win a top-level international one-day road race this season. He and Sheffield join Chloé Dygert, Taylor Knibb (who also qualified in triathlon) and Brandon McNulty on the Olympic team.
Dygert qualified by winning the 2023 World Championships time trial. Knibb and McNulty, who finished third in Paris-Nice, earned spots by winning U.S. time trial titles in May.