Matteo Jorgenson soloed to his first cobbled Classic victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen after a stinging late attack on the final cobbled sector.
The American saved the day for his Visma-Lease a Bike team after Wout van Aert was forced to abandon the race after a huge crash which also took out Lidl-Trek’s Jasper Stuyven.
Jorgenson launched an attack from the remnants of a late breakaway - which also contained Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tiesj Benoot and Groupama FDJ’s Stefan Küng - on the final sector which the rest of the lead group were unable to answer.
Benoot, Küng and Tarling were unable to orchestrate the chase meaning that Uno-X’s Jonas Abrahamsen was able to snatch second with Küng grabbing third.
After already winning Paris-Nice in 2024, Jorgenson said post-race that adding another win was "just surreal."
"It’s unbelievable really," he said. "This whole season has been a dream so far."
Jorgenson explained that having Benoot alongside him in the closing stages was key in getting the job done and sealing the win for Visma-Lease a Bike.
"As a team our whole strategy is based around having numbers in the final," he added. "There was a moment there in one of the final cobbled sections where Stefan Küng was going in the gutter and Tiesj was just a little bit gapped. Thankfully I waited for him because I think without him I wouldn’t have won this race today."
The American explained that he was sitting on the wheel of his stricken team leader, Van Aert, just as the Belgian crashed.
"It was just before the Kanarieberg," Jorgenson said. "It was obviously a decisive moment in the race but It was just a racing incident. We had two trains, Trek and us, and basically we came together, Wout and Alex Kirsch, I think, came together and it was a really ugly fall.
"I saw the whole thing and I knew that Wout was going to be out of the race at that point."
"We were going so fast so Tiesj and I continued with the plan,” he explained. “But my thoughts are with Wout and the rest of the guys involved."
Jorgenson was quick to play down suggestions that in Van Aert’s potential absence, he would lead Visma-Lease a Bike at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
"I hope that's not the case," he said. "I hope everyone is good and Ill assess that later… I have no more news. On the radio after the finish they told me that Wout was in the hospital so my thoughts are with Wout. I really hope he’s ok”"
How it happened
As is always the case with Dwars door Vlaanderen, the race was highly charged from the gun as riders looked to get up the road ahead of the series of cobbled climbs that made up the course.
At 53 kilometres to go, a strong gust of wind took out a large group at the front of the peloton including Wout van Aert and Lidl-Trek’s Jasper Stuyven. Both riders were forced to abandon and taken away by ambulances.
Not long after the crash, the attacks started to fly from the main field as riders went off in search of the eight man break at the head of the race. Two chase groups formed behind the leaders.
EF Education-Easy Post were strongly represented in the first group with Alberto Bettiol and Michael Valgren both present. Josh Tarling made the selection for Ineos Grenadiers along with Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tiesj Benoot and Matteo Jorgenson.
The Jorgenson and Bettiol group joined up with the remnants of the breakaway and upped the tempo in a bid to keep Michael Matthews (Jayco-AIUla) and Tarling away from the front of the action.
With 22 kilometres to go, the leaders hit the Nokereberg and Bettiol launched a violent acceleration looking to force a further split. Moments later the Italian suffered a muscular cramp and was almost forced to a standstill.
In the end, Visma-Lease a Bike were the team that came out on top in the break after Bettiol had been left behind. On the final cobbled sector, Jorgenson powered clear from the rest of the lead group and soloed to the line to take a memorable victory on a day of mixed emotions for the Dutch team.
Results: Men's Dwars door Vlaanderen 2024 (188.6 km)
1. Matteo Jorgenson (Usa) Visma-Lease a Bike in 4:07:44
2.Jonas Abrahamsen (Nor) Uno-X Mobility at 29s
3.Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama FDJ
4.Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Dries De Bondt (Bel) Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale at same time
6. Joshua Tarling (Gbr) Ineos Grenadiers at 44s
7. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek at 1:47
8. Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost)
9. Mathias Norsgaard (Den) Movistar
10. Thomas Gachignard (Fra) Total Energies all at same time
