“I even thought about quitting cycling” - Michael Matthews ends injury-hit season back in green at Saitama
Cycling
Michael Matthews won the points classification on his Saitama Criterium debut on Sunday, nine years after taking the green jersey at the Tour de France. The Team Jayco AlUla rider had gone to Japan targeting the intermediate sprints, eight months after a collision with a truck left him with both arms in casts and wondering whether he wanted to race again.
“It's a powerful symbol to be wearing the green jersey again, the same one I won at the Tour de France in 2017,” Matthews said in the organisers’ post-race release.
The Tour gave Matthews a reason to come back
Matthews won his opening race at the GP Castellon in January and was building towards Milano-Sanremo, where he had finished on the podium three times. The crash on 5 March wiped out his spring campaign. He needed two operations and spent three months away from racing before returning at the Tour Auvergne - Rhone-Alpes in June. Even then, he was reluctant to get involved in a chaotic bunch sprint.
“I hit a really low point mentally. When I got injured, I even thought about quitting cycling,” Matthews said. “But I held on to the idea of coming back and performing well at the Tour de France. I was there at the start, and while I wasn't quite in a position to win a stage, I was still completely satisfied with my level of performance.”
🥇𝗣𝗔𝗨𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗜𝗫𝗔𝗦 🇫🇷 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗘 𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗨𝗠 𝗗𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗠𝗔 🇯🇵🤯🚀 😱😱 SUREMENT LA PLUS BELLE VICTOIRE DE SA CARRIÈRE, ET EN SOLO À SEULEMENT 20 ANS. 💎 UNE ATTAQUE DE FOU 🥵🥵 👑 VIVE LE JAPON 🇯🇵 ET VIVE LE TOUR 🇫🇷 https://t.co/YrG6pQLlN5
— Le Cyclisme Français 🇫🇷 (@LeCyclismeFRA) November 15, 2026
Matthews finished seventh on stage nine and ninth on stage 17 at the Tour. By September he was racing for a world title in Montreal, where he stayed with the favourites through repeated attacks on the finishing circuit. He beat Mathieu van der Poel in the sprint for silver, 13 seconds behind solo winner Brandon McNulty.
“On a course I knew like the back of my hand, I immediately felt that I was in great shape and capable of fighting for the title,” said Matthews, whose silver was his fourth elite Worlds road race medal. “I finished second, but in the end it still feels like an achievement.”
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Green and gold in Saitama
Matthews had dyed his hair blond before his Saitama debut. “It's like when I was younger and used to do all sorts of crazy things with my hair,” he laughed. On the podium, with the green jersey over his shoulders, he added, “And with my blond hair as well, I'm perfectly dressed in Australia's colours up here on the podium.”
The points competition was decided over four intermediate sprints, the last at the end of lap 14. Paul Seixas went clear with McNulty and two others soon afterwards and won solo. Matthews still had a sprint left at the finish, beating Davide Ballerini to lead the bunch home in fifth.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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