Matteo Jorgenson has different goals and a different training plan for the spring of 2026, but again showed his stage racing talents and natural aggression on stage 5 of Tirreno-Adriatico.
On the road to Mombaroccio, he finished with Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), moving up to third overall with one last hilly stage in the Marche hills remaining on Saturday.
"This is a really great result. I'm extremely happy with it," the American said beyond the finish line.
"The boys did an excellent job today and kept me well-positioned at the front. That allowed me to save some energy. In the end, that helped me gain time and move up in the general classification. Near the finish, I tried to get away from Del Toro, but I couldn't make it stick."
Jorgenson revealed to Cyclingnews early in the week that he is reading the Metamorphoses by Roman poet Ovid. It is serious reading matter about the exploration of change. Ovid's prose pushes readers to recognise flux as fundamental to human experience and personal identity evolving in different stages of life.
It appears to be inspiring Jorgenson's transformation from a Paris-Nice winner to Tirreno-Adriatico contender, from a cobbled Classics rider alongside Wout van Aert to an Ardennes leader for Visma-Lease a Bike.
"I have different goals this spring. I'm targeting Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Ardennes, and so I had a much slower winter than I'm used to. I didn't go to altitude, I stayed at home," Jorgenson explained to Cyclingnews.
Jorgenson lost a few precious seconds to Del Toro and Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the stage 1 time trial and then slipped out on a corner on the stage 2 gravel when surging away with the two GC contenders and eventual stage winner Mathieu van der Poel.
He was down in seventh place after that stage, but moved up to third on Friday after joining Del Toro's attack that hurt and distanced Pellizzari.
Jorgenson is now 34 seconds down on new race leader Del Toro but is now only 11 seconds behind second-placed Pellizzari, with one final hilly stage to Camerino on Saturday.
The climb to the line is only 3km long but features sections at 13.1% and 18.6%, with 10, six and four bonus seconds up for grabs at the line. Sunday's final flat stage to San Benedetto del Tronto is one for the sprinters.
"There were some gaps in the TT, and I knew it'd be challenging to pull that back, but I knew that if I raced every day, like I've done at Paris-Nice in the last two years, there would always be moments to find time," he suggested.
"Saturday brings another final opportunity. I'll once again aim for the best possible result. Today's stage definitely gives me a lot of confidence," Jorgenson concluded.
