Matteo Jorgenson was signed by Team Visma | Lease a Bike two seasons ago, and last winter the Dutch team brought in Victor Campenaerts. The two riders have significantly increased their level after their move, have fit in absolutely perfectly as Jonas Vingegaard’s right-hand men, and have also became close friends with a lively environment on the team bus on the daily during the big races.
In a video shared by Visma on a day with Jorgenson, the American rider showed a bit of his home, training routes and garage, as well as his cooking. In the light-hearted conversation, revolving around the current off-season period, he talked about Campenaerts, who had daily vlogs during the Tour de France that kept many entertained.
Meeting the Belgian was a good change for Jorgenson within the team, as he explains: “I made a new friend with Victor this year. Initially, though, he was kind of an enemy of mine in the peloton. We didn’t get along well in the past. I simply didn’t know him. And if you don’t know someone and there’s tension between them, you easily make an enemy of them.”
“Once I met him at the first team meeting a year ago, he completely broke down my defenses. Now we’re really good friends. We do the vlogs together. It was just like two guys traveling all year, living their dream together. It’s just a really beautiful and unexpected friendship.”
Story with Ullrich
The two raced together during Paris-Nice, Criterium du Dauphiné, Tour de France and Vuelta a España alongside training camps before the Tour, making it for several months on the road together. The mood that Campenaerts also helps bring to the team is a way to keep others motivated and Jorgenson explains how he enjoys it.
“The best thing about the vlogs was that he didn’t tell me anything beforehand; nothing was scripted. He’d just find me on the bus and surprise me with the camera while I was doing something; it just worked perfectly”.
His favourite story from the year was when Campenaerts told him about Jan Ullrich heating a jar of nutella in the microwave and drinking it, to which the former Tour de France winner did reply. “I’ll never forget that. I was laughing so hard because I thought Victor had made it up. It just sounded so ridiculous. So I asked Ullrich if it was true, and the next day he responded by drinking a jar of Nutella. I’ll never forget how far those vlogs can reach; it’s truly hilarious.”