Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the overall general classification of the 82nd edition of Paris-Nice on Sunday, becoming the third American to do so since the race began in 1933.
“It really couldn’t have gone better the whole week. It hasn’t really sunk in yet, to be honest. Last night I could barely sleep because I was so nervous. Until this year I never thought this was possible, but here we are.”
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) won the stage ahead of Jorgenson and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) after the trio broke away on the Côte de Peille with 40 km remaining. Evenepoel appeared satisfied with his stage win and 2nd place in the GC and praised Jorgenson for his performance and victory.
“I have to be more than happy with the end of the week. Only one guy could follow me [Matteo]. So I think he deserves to win. I went all in three times on the Côte de Peille and he was the only one to follow. Matteo is the deserved winner of the race.“
Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) started the stage as GC leader, but was unable to follow the trio and finished 1:39″ down, dropping to third in the final GC standings. The poor weather seemed to affect the team more than anything else.
“The team were good, we were all together in position it was just a filthy day. The weather, the roads, it was just a super hard day so positioning was important and we were pulling, trying to but we didn’t get much help.”
Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) finished the stage more than 4 minutes down and 10th overall in the GC standings, but did not appear too concerned about his performance.
“Of course I came to Paris-Nice with the mindset of winning the race. But I also wanted to do a good block with intensity. I did that here. I have stayed healthy, I have stayed whole. This is important. On to the next races.”
Stage 8 Results
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/paris-nice/2024/stage-8
