Boise cyclist enters Tour de France with a ‘bionic arm.’ What are his chances?
Boise High graduate Matteo Jorgenson will compete in his fifth Tour de France when the race kicks off Saturday in Spain. But the Idaho cyclist heads into this year’s tour as a wild card and a popular dark horse pick after a hectic start to the 2026 season.
His Dutch team touted him as a potential Grand Tour threat in January, only to reveal days later that he’d skip two of the three events in the Grand Tour this year. Jorgenson then broke his collarbone during a crash at April’s Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands, sidelining him for most of the spring.
But Jorgenson returned to his seat ahead of schedule earlier this month, finishing fourth at France’s Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Nursing what he joked was his “bionic arm,” Jorgenson now finds himself back in the Visma | Lease a Bike lineup as cycling’s premier event takes the stage throughout July.
The former Boise Young Rider Development Squad rider has proved himself to be one of the top Americans in years at the Tour de France. His eighth-place finish in 2024 stands as the best for a U.S. rider since 2014. He also took 19th last summer and helped lead Visma to the team title while battling bronchitis.
But Jorgenson enters in a familiar role as a support rider. Known as a “domestique,” his success is often defined by his ability to shield and chase down threats for Jonas Vingegaard, a two-time Tour de France winner.
Jorgenson’s well-rounded skill set makes him a versatile rider to shield Vingegaard. Jorgenson remains one of the Tour’s rare talents, excelling in mountain stages, time trials, tactical races and breakaways. And he earned rave reviews last summer after openly challenging four-time Tour winner Tadej Pogačar.
Jorgenson and the rest of Team Visma regularly broke out to wide early leads to try to wear out the perennial Tour favorite. Those full-throttle techniques earned plenty of critiques from Pogačar and commentators. But Jorgenson defended the strategy, saying, “You’re obligated to try to beat him.”
“If people want to see a bike race where we sit in the wheels and wait ’til the last climb and then let (Pogačar) ride away, then it would be a really, really boring bike race,” Jorgenson told reporters last summer, according to Velo magazine. “If you don’t try, then you never know.”
Jorgenson’s flexibility also makes him a threat to capture a stage victory when afforded freedom under the right conditions. Jorgenson owns a pair of podium finishes at the Tour de France, scoring a second place in 2024 and a third in 2023. He pointed to a stage victory as a lifelong goal in 2024.
“I really have a fire in my stomach to win a stage at the Tour de France,” Jorgenson said. “It’s been my dream since I was a little kid. … I feel like every year I’ve gotten closer and closer.”
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 4:02 PM.
