As the countdown to the 2024 season gathers pace, Cyclingnews looks at some of the key storylines that will define the coming year in cycling.
In 2023, Sepp Kuss gave the United States their first Grand Tour victory in a decade and only the second since Greg LeMond won the Tour de France, and in doing so, inspired fans around the globe. But GC Kuss didn't rise out of total obscurity. There are an increasing number of top talents from the USA in the WorldTour, and two of them are ready for a big breakthrough: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) and Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike).
Jorgenson traded Movistar for the 'killer bees' after an outstanding season in 2023 that included a stage win, the overall, youth and points classification wins at the Tour of Oman, a top 10 overall in Paris-Nice, two top finishes in the cobbled Classics, and second overall at the Tour de Romandie before he swapped roles to working domestique duties for Enric Mas at the Tour de France.
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After funding his own altitude training camps, nutritionist and time trial setup, Jorgenson will get more support in the Dutch team and is expecting to reach his "highest physical level" and is convinced he still has plenty of room to grow.
He raced through the Tour of Guangxi in October to prepare for 2024 after taking a forced break when he tore a muscle in a crash at the Tour de France.
Visma utilise Jorgenson's in the Classics as an important foil for Wout van Aert after an impressive ninth in the Tour of Flanders after being in the breakaway for the final 100km.
He will also compete in Paris-Nice for the overall classification after finishing eighth there in 2023 and 2022. After coming third and fourth in stages from breakaways at the Tour de France this year and fourth twice and fifth once last year, he will step into Van Aert's shoes as the Belgian will skip the Tour to prepare for the Olympics.
That gives Jorgenson a chance to potentially be on a Tour-winning team and more opportunities to fight for his first stage win, which would raise his stakes considerably.
Also knocking on the greatness door is Powless, who opened 2023 with a win at the GP La Marseillaise and the overall at Etoile de Bessèges, third at Tour des Alpes, sixth in Paris-Nice and top 10s in Milan-San Remo, and Tour of Flanders and third at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Since his victory in the San Sebastian Classic in 2021, Powless has been on an upward trajectory, nearly taking the maillot jaune at the Tour in 2022 and finishing 12th overall, and being agonisingly close to making the winning move at Worlds in Glasgow.
Powless will likely be the main hopeful for the USA at the Olympic Games in Paris, but before then, he intends to go for a win in the Classics and hopes to win a Monument.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise if Powless were to win Milan-San Remo in the style of Jasper Stuyven or land on the podium at Tour of Flanders.
Similarly, Jorgenson has been going into breakaway after breakaway over the past few years, and it's only a matter of time until his efforts hit pay dirt.
Both riders are at the perfect nexus of reaching a peak of physical development gaining self-confidence and experience. They're ready to hit the big time, it's just a question of when.
