FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 10 - Vulcania to Issoire - France - July 11, 2023 Movistar Team's Matteo Jorgenson in action during stage 10 REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
NICE, France (Reuters) - Matteo Jorgenson claimed overall victory at the Paris-Nice race after distancing fellow American Brandon McNulty in the rainy hills around Nice on Sunday.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider began the eighth and final stage four seconds behind McNulty but he and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) attacked on the Cote de Peille with 40km left.
Belgium's Evenepoel took the stage win as he outsprinted Jorgenson along the Nice seafront but was 30 seconds behind in second place in the overall standings. McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) hung on for third place overall.
"Until this year, I never would have thought this was possible but here we are," Jorgenson said.
"It couldn't have gone any better today and the whole week. I could barely sleep last night, I was so nervous. For the first time I felt the pressure. To win and to ride in with a champion like Remco is a special moment."
Jorgenson, 24, is only the third American rider to win Paris-Nice and the first since Floyd Landis in 2006.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman)
