Michael Matthews has opened his UCI World Tour account for 2025, sprinting to victory in the Eschborn-Frankfurt one-day race.
The 34-year-old, known to his friends and rivals as “Bling”, ended his impressive campaign of one-day races in Europe by demonstrating his enduring quality with a 43rd career victory in the race known as the German Classic.
Matthews has become the first Aussie to win the race for 40 years since Phil Anderson sealed back-to-back victories in 1984 and 1985.
The win also maintained the Canberra star’s brilliant winning record.
The COVID-plagued 2021 campaign is the only season in the past 16 in which Matthews has failed to reach the top step of the podium after a race.
The win follows impressive results earlier in the season, including finishing fourth in Milan-San Remo and fifth in the Gold Race in the Netherlands.
Matthews has twice finished on the podium in the German Classic, including a third-place finish on his debut appearance in 2011, while his runner-up spot a decade later was his best result in that difficult 2021 campaign.
“I think my shape through the spring was good, I just wasn’t on the top step,” Matthews said.
“It’s nice to finish off this block with a win here in Frankfurt.
“It’s a race that has really suited me for a lot of years and I haven’t been able to win it, so to come here with the team and the way we rode — we rode perfectly — and to execute a performance like we did today it was the icing on top of the cake.”
Matthews is in his fifth season with his Australian-based Jayco AlUla team, and his teammates did the heavy lifting for him on the 198.7km route, particularly on the second big climb when their efforts did much to split up the race and leave a reduced field of 24 for the sprint denouement.
“I didn’t expect my team to go so hard on the second long climb, but we split the bunch a lot and got rid of a lot of the fast guys, which was the goal,” Matthews said.
“The team’s performance was exceptional and to finish it off the way I did, I’m so thankful to my teammates.”
Matthews comfortably outpaced Denmark’s runner-up Magnus Cort Nielsen (Uno-X Mobility) and third-placed Spaniard Jon Barrenetxea (Movistar) for his first individual win since taking the Quebec Grand Prix last September.
AAP
