Defending champion Matteo Jorgenson won the eight-day Paris-Nice race on Sunday, crossing the finish line on the French Riviera in second place as another American, Magnus Sheffield, won the stage from a solo attack.
Visma's Jorgenson started out last Sunday as his team's co-leader with two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard who pulled out in midweek due to a hand injury.
"It was stressful, all week, but I did it," said Nice resident Jorgenson. "We knew it would be tough and draining. But everyone worked.
"I'm happy to be on this team and man, I won this race two years in a row."
Jorgenson and Sheffield have been racing together since junior level.
"I'm happy to see him win, I'll try and catch him later," said Jorgenson of Sheffield.
Jorgenson's teammates could barely hide their joy at seeing the Californian wrap up victory.
"Matteo naturally stands out as a leader because he's probably the most committed of all," his French teammate Axel Zingle said.
"He's a perfectionist. He leaves nothing to chance. It's super motivating to evolve with a leader like that. We really want to do everything we can to support him as best we can."
Vingegaard has been the undisputed leader at Visma for the Tour de France for the past three years and Jorgenson does not expect to dislodge the Dane.
"Not at all, that's not the plan at all," insisted Jorgenson, who plans to once again join forces with Vingegaard at the Tour de France this summer in support of a rider "much stronger" than himself.
The 22-year-old Sheffield of Ineos broke at the bottom of the final climb and crossed the summit and the finish line alone.
Up-and-coming German hope Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora was second overall, while Dutch climber Thymen Arensman of Ineos was third, with Sheffield fourth and Australian rider Michael Storer rounding out the top five.
The final stage embarked Sunday under sunny skies from the famous Promenade des Anglais and effected a loop into the low Alps over three climbs.
The peloton swooped back down to the Riviera resort chasing Sheffield after a week dominated by testing, wintry conditions, a long way off the event's tagline of the "Race to the Sun".
Denmark's one-day specialist Mads Pedersen attacked all day to ensure he picked up various bonus points to beat Jorgenson to the green sprint jersey by 62 points to 57.
Lipowitz won the white jersey for best under-25 rider and Ineos ended as the top team.
dmc/jc
