US rider Matteo Jorgenson wins Paris-Nice

Jorgenson started the final day of racing around the mountainous Nice backcountry in second behind fellow American Brandon McNulty.

McNulty ran out of steam however when Belgian Remco Evenepoel and Jorgenson broke away in the cold and rain on a mountainside he could not follow.

The 24-year-old Californian, who lives in Nice, allowed Evenepoel to take the stage win, celebrating the overall title as he crossed the line just behind him.

Jorgenson joined World Tour giant Visma this season and his teammates Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert are considered by many the best Grand Tour rider and best one-day rider in the road racing scene.

Paris-Nice is his first major outing in Visma colours, a team that won all three Grand Tours last season.

Two other Americans in Bobby Julich (2005) and Floyd Landis (2006) have previously won Paris-Nice known as the 'Race to the Sun'.

Jorgenson took the title by 30 seconds from Evenepoel, due in part to a tactical error from the Belgian on stage five when he under-estimated the American allowing his attack to go undefended and losing around one minute to him that day.