Matteo Jorgenson claimed overall victory at the Paris-Nice race after distancing his American compatriot Brandon McNulty in the rainy hills around Nice on Sunday.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider began the eighth and final stage four seconds behind McNulty but he and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) attacked on the Côte de Peille with 40km left.
Belgium’s Evenepoel took the stage win as he outsprinted Jorgenson along the Nice seafront but was 30 seconds behind in second place in the overall standings. McNulty of UAE Team Emirates hung on for third place overall.
“Until this year, I never would have thought this was possible but here we are,” Jorgenson said. “It couldn’t have gone any better today and the whole week. I could barely sleep last night, I was so nervous. For the first time I felt the pressure. To win and to ride with a champion like Remco is a special moment.”
The 24-year-old Jorgenson is only the third American rider to win Paris-Nice and the first since Floyd Landis in 2006.
Jonas Vingegaard, meanwhile, took overall victory at the Tirreno-Adriatico race, finishing the seven-stage race, 1min 24sec ahead of Spain’s Juan Ayuso and completing a bright week for Team Visma-Lease a Bike.
Vingegaard finished the flat stage in San Benedetto del Tronto safely in the peloton to clinch the Maglia Azzurra on Sunday, having established a commanding lead over his closest challenger Ayuso by winning the mountainous queen stage on Monte Petrano on Saturday.
Vingegaard said it had been “a perfect week for the team”, and the Danish two-time Tour de France champion has claimed he is “in better shape than last season at this time”. The Australian Jai Hindley completed the podium at Tirreno-Adriatico, 1min 52sec behind Vingegaard.