Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) is ready to put the 2023 season behind him after illness, untimely mechanicals and crashes disrupted his racing and left him disappointed.
The 33-year-old ended his 13th season in the WorldTour at the Veneto Classic on Sunday after 55 days of racing but with only one win added to his palmares. Matthews won a stage at the Giro d’Italia and took other placings but was not happy with his results.
“It’s been a mess basically and I’m looking forward to shutting it down and forgetting about this year,” said Matthews to WielerFlits in Italy.
“I think form-wise, it was good. Obviously, results-wise, it was not.”
Matthews’ season was plagued from start to finish.
The Tour Down Under was a first big goal but his overall hopes were derailed by a dropped chain after being bumped by other riders in the peloton, causing him to question the respect in the peloton.
Things got worse on his return to Europe.
“We started the season really good in Australia with third at nationals and then Down Under started pretty good until my mechanical on the key stage where I lost the GC,” Matthews said.
“Then came back to Europe, had COVID-19 for Paris-Nice. Had to miss Milan-San Remo and miss all my key goals early on.
“Then I crashed in Flanders which took me out for Flanders and the rest [of the classics] and then came into the Giro with 10 days training.”
Matthews’ build-up for the Giro makes his triumph on stage 3 all the more impressive. He outsprinted Mads Pedersen (Lidl-trek) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in Melfi with a powerful uphill kick.
However, the feat wouldn’t be repeated for the rest of the season, with the rest of his results littered with DNFs and the occasional podium such as at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec. He was well-positioned on the rising finish but lacked the speed to catch Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) and Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) before the line.
Matthews is now hoping to rest-up and reset during the winter before his eighth season with Jayco-AlUla in 2024.
“I’ll take the try and reset mentally and try and take the positives out that I was able to continue mentally, to fight back and get into good form and I’m still enjoying riding my bike,” said Matthews.
“Hopefully I can turn the page for next year and forget about this one.”
Sports director Matthew White looked back similarly on his versatile rider’s season.
“We often had to adjust his program. After the Giro, we gave him plenty of time to rest and recover, but in the first race he rode afterwards, he fell hard on his shoulder,” White revealed.
“We got him back in shape for the two games in Canada, but then he got sick again. It turned out to be difficult for him to get into top condition every time.”
When asked if a return was likely at the Tour Down Under in January, White responded “probably not,” but instead expects a later first appearance back on the continent.
“We will give Michael some more rest and then you will probably see him again in Europe, sometime in February,” White suggested.
