Michael James Matthews (born 26 September 1990) is an Australian professional road and track cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Team Jayco–AlUla.[5]
He was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder,[6] and in 2010 he became the Under 23 Road Race World Champion.[7]
Matthews left Rabobank at the end of the 2012 season, and joined Orica–GreenEDGE on an initial two-year contract from the 2013 season.[2]
Matthews was selected to ride the 2014 Giro d'Italia. His Orica–GreenEDGE team won the opening team time trial in Belfast. On Stage 2, Matthews finished eighth behind Marcel Kittel in a sprint finish, also in Belfast, to take the pink jersey for the leader of the general classification from teammate Svein Tuft. Matthews won Stage 6, a hill top finish at Monte Cassino. Matthews withdrew from the Giro after Stage 10 after suffering a crash on Stage 9.[8]
In 2015, Matthews won the points classification jersey of Paris–Nice as well as a stage. He finished in third place in Milan–San Remo.[9] He also met success at the opening stage of the Tour of the Basque Country by outsprinting a group of about fifty riders after a hilly day.[10] He then went on to a second place in the Brabantse Pijl, winning the sprint of the group after nearly getting to lone escapee Ben Hermans.[11] At the Amstel Gold Race, Matthews grabbed another notable result, when he came in third of the final dash for the line while being part of a small leading group.[12] At the Tour de Suisse, Matthews won stage 4 after following Peter Sagan's wheel in the sprint and passing him in the final metres.[13] He was named in the start list for the Tour de France.[14]
In the 2016 Tour de France, Matthews out-sprinted a breakaway group of 7 riders to win stage 10, his first stage win in the Tour de France, completing a set of Grand Tour stage victories.[15]
In August 2016, it was confirmed that Matthews would join Team Sunweb for the 2017 season.[16]
Matthews was expected to contend for the points classification at the 2017 Tour de France, and his chances were boosted on Stage 4 after an incident during the final sprint which saw Mark Cavendish forced out of the race through injury and Peter Sagan, winner of the classification in the previous 5 Tours, disqualified.[17][18] Matthews won Stage 14, a reduced peloton uphill sprint finish at Rodez.[19] On Stage 16, the high pace set by Matthews' Team Sunweb dropped the green jersey wearer Kittel; Matthews, who was second to Kittel in points classification, won the stage.[20] On Stage 17, Kittel crashed and withdrew from the Tour, putting Matthews in the green jersey.[21] Matthews retained the jersey to Paris.
In 2018 he won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec ahead of Greg Van Avermaet and Jasper Stuyven,[22] before adding the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal two days later, which he won ahead of Sonny Colbrelli and Van Avermaet.[23] As a result, he became the second rider to win both Laurentian classic races in the same year, after compatriot Simon Gerrans in 2014.[24] In 2019, he won two stages at the Volta a Catalunya,[25][26] before repeating his victory in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec.[27]
He finished 3rd in the 2020 Milan-San Remo and late in the year he took a top 10 in the UCI World Championships road race. A month earlier he won the 2020 Bretagne Classic Ouest–France, which was one of the few races that was run at its normal time during the COVID pandemic.
In August 2020, Matthews signed a two-year contract with Mitchelton–Scott, later renamed as Team BikeExchange, from the 2021 season.[28]
In 2021 he had some strong results but no major wins, including 4th at the Amstel Gold Race, 5th in Gent–Wevelgem and 6th in Milan–San Remo. He rode Le Tour, but did not win any stages. He finished 2nd in the points classification, the second highest finish of his career, losing to Mark Cavendish 337–291.
In 2022 he had top 10 finishes in Brabantse Pijl, the Amstel Gold Race and 2022 Milan-San Remo. He won the first stage at the Volta a Catalunya, his first victory with Team BikeExchange.[29] This victory was overshadowed as it was the stage where one of his primary rivals, Sonny Colbrelli, had a near fatal heart attack after crossing the finish line.[30] In June he won the black jersey during the COVID marred 2022 Tour de Suisse. During the 2022 Tour de France he suffered two defeats in back to back stages; finishing 2nd to his friend Tadej Pogačar, and then the next day to rival Wout Van Aert. On stage 14 he got involved in a breakaway and survived to the final climb outlasting all of the breakaway riders except Alberto Bettiol. It looked as though he was about to be defeated again, when he appeared to suffer from cramps and Bettiol rode away from him on the final climb. Matthews was able to recover, catch and drop Bettiol, and solo to the line for his first Tour win this decade.[31]
In the 2023 Giro d'Italia Matthews won Stage 3 ahead of Mads Pederson in a bunch sprint.[32] It was his first stage win at the Giro since 2015.
In August 2015, he married his Slovak girlfriend Katarína Hajzer.[33]
Points classification
Road race Under-23 road race Under-23 time trial
Time trial, Oceania Under-23 Road Championships (February)
Road race, UCI Under-23 Road World Championships Sprints classification
after Stages 6 &7
Sprints classification
after Stages 2–7
after Stages 2–7
after Stages 6 &7
after Stages 3–5 after Stage 4
Points classification after Stages 2–3 after Stages 1–3 Points classification Points classification
Road race, UCI Road World Championships
Combativity award Stage 5 Tour de France Points classification
Team time trial
Team time trial Road race Points classification Team time trial, UCI Road World Championships
Points classification Combativity award Stage 14
Points classification, Tour de Suisse Road race Team relay
Sprints classification, Tour Down Under| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | DNS-11 | DNS-14 | — | — | — | — | DNS-10 | — | — | 63 |
| Stages won | — | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | 1 |
| Points classification | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3 |
| Tour de France | — | — | 152 | 110 | 69 | DNS-5 | 67 | — | 79 | 77 | — |
| Stages won | — | — | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 1 | — |
| Points classification | — | — | 73 | 3 | 1 | — | 5 | — | 2 | 8 | — |
| Vuelta a España | 110 | 75 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 70 | — | — |
| Stages won | 2 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — |
| Points classification | 9 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | — |
| Monument | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | 107 | — | — | 78 | 3 | 59 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 4 | — | 2 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 6 | — | 21 | 11 | DNF | 11 |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | NH | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | — | 128 | — | — | — | 4 | 63 | 35 | — | 19 | DNF | — | |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Classic | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
| Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | DNF | 12 | — | — | — | — | — |
| E3 Harelbeke | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | NH | DNF | — | — | DNF |
| Gent–Wevelgem | 69 | — | — | — | — | — | 8 | 13 | — | — | 5 | — | — | 62 |
| Brabantse Pijl | DNF | 10 | — | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | — | 4 | — | DNF | 7 | — | 8 |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | — | DNF | 12 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 24 | 16 | NH | 4 | 7 | — | 10 |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | — | 112 | — | DNF | 21 | 67 | 5 | 8 | — | 21 | DNS | — | |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | 55 | — | NH | — | — | — | |
| Bretagne Classic | 134 | 48 | — | — | — | 4 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 1 | — | 27 | 12 | |
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec | — | DNF | — | — | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Not held | 2 | 3 | ||
| Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal | — | 71 | — | — | 19 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 13 | 26 | |||
| 1 | Winner |
| 2–3 | Top three-finish |
| 4–10 | Top ten-finish |
| 11– | Other finish |
| DNE | Did not enter |
| DNF-x | Did not finish (retired on stage x) |
| DNS-x | Did not start (not started on stage x) |
| HD | Finished outside time limit (occurred on stage x) |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| N/A | Race/classification not held |
| NR | Not ranked in this classification |
Matthews has now won stages in all three Grand Tours.
