Visma-Lease a Bike racer Matteo Jorgenson is switching up his preparation for the Tour de France, with the American no longer set to ride the Tour de Suisse in June.
The US rider was set to make his debut in Switzerland, which this year has been shortened to a five-day race, which runs June 17-21.
Instead, he has been announced on the start list of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly the Critérium du Dauphiné) earlier in the month, running June 7-14.
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Visma-Lease a Bike have not yet announced their full line-up, nor confirmed to Cyclingnews why Jorgenson has changed his plans.
Jorgenson, who in spring finished second at Tirreno-Adriatico and eighth at Strade Bianche, is set to support Giro d’Italia champion Jonas Vingegaard as the Dane aims for a third Tour de France title in July.
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He hasn’t raced since crashing out of Amstel Gold Race in April, a fall which left him with a broken collarbone and out of his main spring goal, Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Now, his return won’t come at Suisse with a matchup against Vingegaard’s Tour rival, Tadej Pogačar. Instead, he’ll head to south-east France to race against a field including Paul Seixas, Juan Ayuso, and Isaac del Toro.
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His participation was confirmed by race organisers on Monday, with Oscar Onley, Kévin Vauquelin, and former winner Dani Martínez among the other major names tackling the race. Wout van Aert will also race for Visma-Lease a Bike.
Back in January, Jorgenson said that racing the Tour de Suisse was a “deliberate choice” by his Visma-Lease a Bike team in preparation for the Tour, with a GC bid the goal.
“The Tour is always the highlight of my season. I’ll do everything I can to be in top form and to support Jonas Vingegaard as best as possible,” he said.
“Before that, I’ll start in the Tour de Suisse. That’s a deliberate choice by the team. It’s an ideal opportunity to race as a leader for the general classification once again, something that really motivates me.”
He’ll now take a different route to the Tour, which starts in Barcelona on July 4. Vingegaard, meanwhile, is set to skip racing this month following his Giro victory. Instead, he’s expected to head to altitude for a pre-Tour training camp before doing battle with Pogačar once more.