Matthews: I'm racing with my heart and trying to get something out of the season
18 August 2018 01:30
All spring, Michael Matthews found himself playing catch-up after falling and breaking his shoulder at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. Come the Tour de France, the Australian had fought his way back into shape, only for a sudden bout of illness to force him out of the race ahead of stage 5 in Lorient. Twelve months on from wearing the green jersey on the Champs-Élysées, Matthews spent the final Sunday of the Tour thrashing his way around the RideLondon-Surrey Classic course in relative anonymity as he looked to right the ship for the final phase of the season. "The illness at the Tour was more of a one-day thing, actually. I was totally 'man down' that day, and then the next day I woke up feeling OK, but still not able to ride my bike," Matthews told Cyclingnews at the BinckBank Tour, where he lies fifth overall ahead of the decisive final weekend.ADVERTISEMENT "I ended up having a total week off after that, and then I tried to recover and think about the next part of the season. It was quite difficult, obviously, after last year's success at the Tour de France. I really had a lot of mental problems after that, which I needed to try to get over and then re-focus for the last part of the season. It was really difficult." After the abrupt end to his Tour, Matthews must have wondered if his season was irretrievably doomed. It would have been understandable had he begun to shift his attention towards next year, but there are still miles to ride and promises to keep in the final weeks of the current campaign. Matthews has just one win to his name in 2018 – the prologue at the Tour de Romandie – but the GP Plouay and the WorldTour races in Canada offer a chance for some redemption. "It's been really difficult this whole season, just getting knocked down and trying to find form again. I'm not exactly sure where I'm at anymore. I'm so confused in my season that I don't even know how my form is. Basically now I'm just racing with my heart and trying to get something out of this season," Matthews said. Chasing the GC at BinckBank
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