Matteo Jorgenson on how he made it in Europe

A brief extract from a chat I had with Matteo Jorgenson earlier this spring…

ST: It’s always been tough for “foreigners” to crack into and gain acceptance in French cycling, how was it for you as an American going to a very traditional French team?

MJ: It was a challenge, for sure. I think right of the bat, I recognised that the big challenge was not the sporting side for me. It was not the training or the racing I had to focus on; I had to integrate with the team well when I was at Chambery. I spoke to a few Australian kids who had been on the team before me, and none of the had lasted more than 6 months there, and the biggest thing with them was that none of them made the effort to learn French or put any emphasis on that. They were there to try and turn professional, obviously, but they didn’t do the extra stuff, like trying to learn the language to become a good teammate to their teammates, or to build relationships with the directors or anything, and so they were basically outsiders in the team.

I went in with that in my head, and I went in knowing I had to learn French first. That was the biggest thing I did there, and I think I went in with that mindset, and when they saw that I wanted to be part of the team, and not just a guy there trying to use their system to turn pro, and I was trying to be part of the group, and I integrated with the team. They appreciated that a lot, and I was given a lot of opportunities, more than they had given other international guys, because I was able to build a relationship with my teammates, and that was pretty important at the time.