The 2022 season was another strong year of progression for Matteo Jorgenson, who stood on the podium at both the Tour de la Provence and Paris-Nice. Twice he only just missed out on doing the same at the Tour de France in his race debut. It was a season of strong results from the 23 year old, but as he stood on the sidelines in the heat and humidity of his final race of the year, the Tour de Langkawi in Malaysia, it was clear that while 2022 was a season for which he could be happy, in 2023 he wanted even more.
Jorgenson is heading into his fourth season with Movistar and while much of his late season was focussed on helping his team avoid relegation from the WorldTour by supporting other riders to chase results, he has his eye on his own chances in 2023.
“Looking ahead it is a pretty pivotal year for me,” Jorgenson told Cyclingnews. “It’s a contract year and I think I’m arriving to a point where I can finally be a leader at races and be confident in trying to win races.
“Next year will be really crucial, in either breaking through and being able to win races… or not, and also in just seeing what I can do in the sport. So I’m looking forward to a big winter of training and preparation and re-focussing.”
The US rider from Idaho has been working closer to the top of the results sheet in recent seasons, with a third place at the final stage of the Tour de Pologne in 2021 as well as a second place on stage 7 of the Tour of Britain. In 2022, he started the year with third in stages of both the Tour de La Provence and Paris-Nice before his two fourth places at the Tour de France.
Getting so close to the podium, and even victory at the biggest race on the calendar, was frustrating at the time, said Jorgenson, but looking back there is “not much to be unhappy about”. And while it may have left him depleted for some time afterwards, as he rounded out his season by supporting Ivan Sosa at the Tour of Langkawi, he was hopefully looking forward to another start in July with enthusiasm.
“I would love to do the Tour again,” said Jorgenson. “I loved it. It was the highlight of my year and it just felt really special to be acknowledged as a true professional athlete. You go to other races and it just doesn’t feel the same so I’d love to go back to the Tour.
“Otherwise Paris-Nice again would be super good to do, go for GC. I like that race and I would just like to continue going and seeking out that first pro win – that’s my big objective.”
As for the type of racer he hopes to develop into, this year of racing may not have delivered that sought-after professional victory but it has helped Jorgensen eliminate some options about where he’d like to head in the future.
“I don’t think I’ll ever go for GC at a Grand Tour,” said Jorgenson. “I just don’t want to – it just seems torturous to do that.
"But from what I saw at the Tour I think I could win a stage of a Grand Tour and I think that is something that my abilities lean towards so I’d like to focus on that – going for stages and races and maybe the GC at a one week race but focus more on stages. I like doing that more.”
