Visma Lease a Bike started 2026 on a rocky note with the unexpected departure of Simon Yates. The Dutch team now finds itself without a key player in stage racing (the Briton won the Giro d'Italia in 2025 and could have been a valuable asset for Vingegaard at the Tour de France).

At this point, one of the reference men for stage races becomes Matteo Jorgenson who in the past has done well in one-week races (he won Paris-Nice twice), but has shown himself to be less brilliant in the three-week races (still achieving eighth place in the 2024 Tour de France and tenth in the 2025 Vuelta).

The American can also do well in the Northern Classics; in fact , he won a Dwars door Vlaanderen in 2024 and can do well on all terrains. Jorgenson risks being, in short, an excellent rider, but always remaining a bit halfway due to his versatility: "If you had asked me 12 months ago, I would have said I really want to win a Grand Tour. I think last season gave me a reality check to understand if this goal is realistic. If I want to win a Grand Tour in the future, I have to improve a lot in that direction. At this point in my career, I want to focus in one direction or the other. I have these four years in which I can follow a path. With the team, I just have to decide which one."

Jorgenson must quickly resolve these doubts if he doesn't want to be left halfway there and fully exploit his talents; even though Simon Yates' departure could leave him more room to be a protagonist in stage races: " For me, the Grand Tours are the greatest races in cycling. I really don't know if it's possible to win one, and that weighs on my mind a little, but the team and staff have told me it's possible and they believe in it, and that helps me believe. I think I'd like to race a Grand Tour as a leader in the future. I don't know about this year, but I'd like to try. Maybe it won't work out, but it would be nice. It's certainly a dream."

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency