It's like, 'OK, now I'm in Europe I need to win some races to go pro,' and they neglect the parts that are the most important, like actually being comfortable in Europe and learning the language and all that.
I just think that a lot of guys focus on the wrong things when they go to Europe. There have been plenty of Americans who have tried to do the same thing. Well, I don't feel like I'm a trailblazer. That's what I'm looking to do.ĬN: There's been a lot of talk about you kind of taking an atypical path to the WorldTour.
MOVIST LOOP PROFESSIONAL
This year I'm just trying to learn, integrate with the team and structure my lifestyle around a professional cyclist's lifestyle – just get everything a bit more optimised like my diet and my living situation and everything, so that in the future I can just focus 100 per cent on training at my peak. So I'm just looking to adapt and try to just bring myself to a level where next year I'm getting some results. So I don't think we can hold all young guys to that standard. Yeah, we're seeing guys like Remco and Pogačar who are ripping it, but I think these two guys are kind of once in a generation, or once in even a few generations even. Jorgenson: To be honest, I'm super young. So I already had all that.ĬN: What are your goals for your first year in the WorldTour? What are you looking to achieve? We had a calendar set out to do some races, and when they weren't able to offer me anything and I signed with Movistar, they kind of canceled the stagiaire, so I didn't do anything with them. Jorgenson: Look, I signed the stagiaire contract and they were kind of expecting me to come to the team. They contacted me, and AG2R wasn't ready then to give me a hard offer, so I said, 'You know what, I'm ready,' and I just went for it.ĬN: Did the training period with AG2R really help?
They have a big push to internationalise the team, so that's kind of how it came about.
Jorgenson: After l'Avenir I got their attention just by consistency, and also they had been kind of watching throughout the year, they said. I've been enjoying it a lot, and for this race you kind of have to do something beforehand.ĬN: How did your contract with Movistar come about? I was in Medellín a few weeks before this with Carlos Verona, and it's been really good. We had a short training camp in December, but other than that this is kind of my first foray with the team. Jorgenson: Just English, French and I'm learning Spanish.ĬN: Is the Spanish coming along well? You're definitely getting immersed in it.ĬN: How have you been fitting in with the team? That year learning French has probably made it 30 times easier to learn Spanish this year.
MOVIST LOOP HOW TO
I use podcasts and listening and Duolingo to fill in the rest and learn how to conjugate verbs and learn the structure of the language. I just need to sit around guys speaking the language quickly and just kind of soak it in for awhile at first. I kind of know what I need to do like at meals. Jorgenson: That year I kind of made a formula on how to learn a language for myself. It was an amazing year.ĬN: It was impressive that you learned French when you went over so you could avoid being outside the loop with your team and teammates. They respect that race a lot, Rhône-Alpes, and so they gave me a chance, which was super nice. Jorgenson: They're always looking to take on a few international guys to kind of help the French guys learn a bit of English maybe and just generally expand the horizons of the team. They must have been impressed with your results. I'm super thankful to him, and it gave me a great opportunity to race in Europe, which allowed me to eventually come to Europe.ĬN: You got some good results in Tour de l'Avenir and the Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour, and then you emailed Chambéry. He knew that I was trying to race with the national team most of the year, so it was kind of like he was just giving me a bike and I was going to come to camp. Danny had a ride left and he gave me an opportunity when he didn't really know me and I was super young.
I was trying really hard around Worlds time and I couldn't. Jorgenson: I was trying to find a team in Europe, to be honest. How did that come about? Did you contact Danny, or did he contact you? It was great.ĬN: And then you were on Jelly Belly for a year. I was supported by some really amazing people in cycling in the US, like Barney King and Toby of Hot Tubes and then the national team. CN: And then you got onto Hot Tubes, one of the premiere junior teams.