After career-threatening health scare, Michael Matthews set to renew with Jayco AlUla and extend career

Over the past few months Michael Matthews suffered a health scare that jeopardized his career in pro cycling. However, it seems as if the Team Jayco AlUla rider has been to put it behind and is ready to continue his career as a professional cyclist, as a renewal with the Australian team is soon to be announced.

Days after the likes of Alexander Kristoff and Arnaud Démare decided to or have effectively ended their career, another icon of the 2010's Michael Matthews was feared to be heading the same direction after suffering from a pulmonary embolism back in June and still having no contract signed until the 2026 season. According to Gazzetta dello Sport's Ciro Scognamiglio however, the Australian has now signed a contract and only official information remains.

Matthews was set to race the Tour de France this year but put aside after it had been discovered that he had signs of a pulmonary embolism during a pre-Tour training camp. He had to take time off the bike. “I was maybe a week and a half into my three-week training camp, and I couldn't really breathe. I got a sharp, stabbing pain in my chest, and I kept training, thinking it was allergies because they were mowing the lawn, and I have severe allergies,” he had said later on upon his return to racing. 

“After tests, they discovered blood clots in my body. They did scans and discovered they were in my lungs. I was hospitalized for days and took blood thinners for three months [...] The doctors said if I had done the same training at altitude for another two to three days, I probably wouldn't have survived". 

However the 25-year old has really pushed through adversity and quickly found his place back in the peloton, riding to 8th at the Bretagne Classic where he returned to competition, and in the meanwhile winning the Mixed Relay TTT race at the World Championships as well as finishing in the Top10 of the GP de Québec, Gran Piemonte and Coppa Bernocchi.

He's been part of the Australian team since 2021 and with the departing Dylan Groenewegen - who is off to Unibet Tietema Rockets - he could well have more space to be a leader within the team next season.