Right from the start, Jorgenson and Kelderman, along with Christophe Laporte and others, chose the race route. On the Cime de la Bonette, with its summit at more than 2,800 meters above sea level, the duo formed a strong group of six.

On the first lanes of the final climb of Isola 2000, Jorgenson decided to attack after Kelderman had done a lot of work in the previous dozens of kilometers. Little by little, the American gained further on strong climbers Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates, among others.

In the group of favorites, meanwhile, Pogacar could no longer hold back. The general classification leader rode off a bite of Jorgenson's lead kilometer by kilometer. With the final kilometer in sight, the American of Team Visma | Lease a Bike was outpaced by the unleashed Slovenian. Two minutes behind, Vingegaard reacted strongly to an attack by rival Remco Evenepoel, with whom he eventually crossed the line together at the top of the ski resort.

“Of course I'm disappointed. I was so close,” are Jorgenson's first words after the finish. “Last year I also came very close to a stage win. I did everything I could today, but in the end it wasn't to be. I rode very focused and wanted to squeeze everything out of it. When I heard that Pogacar was getting closer in the finale, I could already feel the pressure. I kept fighting for it with every fiber of my body. Unfortunately that was not rewarded today.”

The American is quick to praise teammate Kelderman. “We chose the attack today with a clear plan. I have to thank Wilco from the bottom of my heart. He is a fantastic teammate, as well as a great person. When I indicated to him that I was feeling good and wanted to go for it, he didn't think twice. He completely sacrificed himself for my chances. That's to his credit. I am more than grateful,” Jorgenson said to his Dutch teammate.

“The motto today was simple: attack,” stated sports director Grischa Niermann. “We had the plan to send Matteo and Wilco ahead. Initially that was to act as a possible springboard for Jonas. Of course, that did depend on how Jonas would feel. Because the leading group got a nice gap, we could also possibly have a shot at the stage win. Jonas made it clear during the stage that we had to fight with Matteo and Wilco for the stage win. He also saw how the uphill conditions were and that the competition could not be caught on a bad day. We tried again as a team today, but we went down fighting in an intense battle. That too is cycling.”