عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

American Rider Matteo Jorgenson Wins Paris-Nice Stage Race for 1st Time

Matteo Jorgenson of the US wearing the overall leaders jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the general clasification of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Nice, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Matteo Jorgenson of the US wearing the overall leaders jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the general clasification of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Nice, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
TT
TT

American Rider Matteo Jorgenson Wins Paris-Nice Stage Race for 1st Time

Matteo Jorgenson of the US wearing the overall leaders jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the general clasification of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Nice, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)
Matteo Jorgenson of the US wearing the overall leaders jersey celebrates on the podium after winning the general clasification of the Paris-Nice cycling race in Nice, Sunday, March 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

American rider Matteo Jorgenson won the Paris-Nice stage race for the first time on Sunday, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel clinching the final stage to finish second overall.
The 24-year-old Jorgenson, who races for the Visma–Lease team and lives in Nice, secured the biggest victory of his career after winning the Tour of Oman last year.
“To be honest, I never expected to win Paris-Nice. Until this year, I never thought it was possible. But here we are,” Jorgenson said. “I could barely sleep last night. I was so nervous. I felt pressure for the first time in my life. To ride with such a champion as Remco was a very special moment.”
Evenepoel beat him in a sprint to the line to win Sunday's eighth stage, a hilly 109-kilometer (68-mile) trek with two big climbs starting and finishing in Nice on France's Côte d’Azur.
Evenepoel and Jorgenson were both giving the same winning time of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 3 seconds, with Russian cyclist Aleksandr Vlasov crossing the line 50 seconds behind in third spot.
“I’m not going to get ahead of myself. It’s already a great achievement in my life,” the jubilant Jorgenson said, according to The Associated Press. “I will now try to enjoy it and keep my feet on the ground.”
In the overall standings, Jorgenson finished 30 seconds ahead of Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) and 1 minute, 47 seconds clear of countryman and childhood friend Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), the overnight leader.
Evenepoel praised Jorgenson for staying with him when he surged ahead in the climbs.
“If you’ve seen my attacks today, only one guy could follow, it was Matteo,” he said. “Matteo is the deserved winner of this race.”

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Townsend, Siniakova Win Women's Doubles at Australian Open

TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
TT
TT

Townsend, Siniakova Win Women's Doubles at Australian Open

TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)
TOPSHOT - USA's Taylor Townsend (L) and Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova celebrate with the trophy after their victory against Taiwan's Hsieh Su-wei and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko in their women's doubles final match on day fifteen of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin KEEP / AFP)

Taylor Townsend of the United States returned to the court on which her career first took flight, teaming with Katerina Siniakova to beat Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in the women's doubles final Sunday at the Australian Open.
“This is super-special to me,” The Associated Press quoted Townsend as saying. "The last time I played on this court I was 15 and in 2012 I won the juniors here and that was the kick-start.
“Honestly, being here is so special to me because this tournament was the beginning of me being able to live out my dream.”
Top-seeded Townsend and Siniakova of the Czech Republic led 6-2, 5-3 and served for the match for the first time at 5-4 in the second set. But third-seeded Hsieh and Ostapenko rallied to take the second set in a tie-break and to hold an early break in the third.
Taylor and Siniakova were able to fall back on proven teamwork on crucial points. This was their third Grand Slam together: they won Wimbledon last year and reached the semifinals of the US Open.
They were also able to exploit a hint of weakness on Hsieh's serve with Ostapenko at the net, breaking her four times in the match including in the ninth game of the final set. Siniakova then served out the match, with Townsend providing the finishing touch at the net.
The match was played in warm conditions on the Australia Day national holiday. The temperature was around 22C (71.6F) mid-afternoon and the court was warm, causing the ball to skip through quicker, particularly from the left-handed Townsend.
Siniakova and Townsend raced to a 5-1 lead inside 30 minutes and while Hsieh managed to hold at 5-2 in the best game of the set, Siniakova held to love to close out the first set in 37 minutes.
Win or lose Siniakova was going to extend her stay atop the WTA doubles rankings to 136 weeks, the fifth-best run of all-time. She has reached the semifinals or better at the last five grand slams.
The second set, much the same as the first, began with Ostapenko and Townsend holding serve, then Hsieh was broken at 2-1.
Ostapenko held at 2-3 and there was noticeable lift in intensity from the third seeds, a recognition of the importance of the moment and they managed to break Townsend to level at 3-3.
But another Hsieh service break gave Townsend the opportunity to serve for the match at 5-4 but again, Ostapenko and Hsieh rallied to level at 5-all. Hsieh then managed a crucial hold with Ostapenko occasionally starting at the back of the court, rather than at the net.
Siniakova's hold sent the set into a tie-break in which Ostapenko and Hseih picked up two points off Townsend at 5-4 and 6-4 to level the match.
The complexion of the game had changed and the third seeds were able to break Siniakova for the first time in the opening game of the third set, though Siniakova and Townsend immediately broke Ostapenko to level at 1-all.
Hsieh was broken again in the ninth game and this time Siniakova didn't miss.