The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes gets underway on Sunday and consists of eight stages with several challenging finishes, a team time trial on the third day and a strong field of contenders. While Wout van Aert will pin on a race number for the first time since his victory in Paris-Roubaix, Jorgenson makes his comeback after recovering from a broken collarbone.

Jorgenson is eager to pin on a race number again after a period focused on recovery due to his unfortunate crash in the Amstel Gold Race. “I am really looking forward to racing again. I think this year I haven’t raced that much, which was by choice. Once I broke my collarbone, more races were removed. I’m really looking forward to getting back and to getting a number back on again”, Jorgenson says. “In the last three weeks I have trained really well with my teammates in Sierra Nevada. I have felt really supported by the team throughout the whole recovery process. I feel healthy and 100% so I am ready to race.”

The American is approaching the race with clear motivation. “I always want to try to win. It’s been my goal all season to win a race. In the end, I only missed two weeks of training. The injury set me back, but I was able to train really well and feel completely ready now.”

Sports director Maarten Wynants is also looking ahead with confidence. “It will become a tough Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, especially with this strong list of participants. We are also present with a strong line-up and as always we will do everything to get the best possible result out of it. For both our leaders it’s their first race back. For Matteo, it’s his first race after his injury. He has trained really good to be back in form. For Wout, it’s his first race back after his win in Paris-Roubaix, which means he is really motivated.”