"If they don't win, they should be embarrassed": Jogernson on Belgium at the Olympics

Interviewed in the days leading up to the road race of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Matteo Jorgenson is perfectly clear that the duo Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel are the top favorites to win in the challenging race that will take place on the morning of Saturday, August 3.

Matteo Jorgenson tags the Belgian team as favorites to win the Olympic gold

While most bets point to Mathieu van der Poel as the main favorite to win the Olympic road cycling race, in a pre-competition interview, Matteo Jorgenson is very clear. For him, the Belgian team, made up of Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel, Jasper Stuyven, and Tiesj Benoot, are superior as a group to any other selection, so much so that "they should be ashamed if they don't win."

Jorgenson, who will lead the American team in the Paris 2024 event alongside Brandon McNulty and Magnus Sheffield, stated that he was in spectacular form for this event, although he has doubts about how his body will cope with the accumulated fatigue from the 2024 Tour de France, where he finished in eighth position overall.

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Among his arguments for pointing out Belgium as favorites over Mathieu van der Poel are the feelings he had about the Dutchman during the Tour de France, something that also happened to him last year and which surprised him quite a bit when he won in Glasgow. "It's not that he was training, he just couldn't get into the lead group. I can't predict what he will be capable of on Saturday but it's impressive that he can improve so much in such a short time."

Aside from the undeniable power of Wout van Aert and Remco Evenepoel as key players for the Belgian team, Jorgenson points out Jasper Stuyven as a dark horse, who showed great strength in the final part of the Tour de France, even coming close to winning a stage. The American notes that he had heard that Stuyven had done a couple of spectacular motor-paced sessions in Monaco as preparation for the Olympic event in Paris 2024.

"With the team they have, they can afford to take risks. I think a solo rider will win. They can afford to attack with the confidence that they will have teammates behind them," Matteo Jorgenson stated.

He was also asked about how he expects such an atypical race with a peloton of just 90 cyclists to unfold. "The race could start from very far away, even from the middle. From there, we will see a festival of attrition and, probably, a solo winner."

Jorgenson is fully aware of the importance that the Olympic Games have in a country like the United States. "It's not just another race. I will participate with the same mentality as I would race the Tour de France."