“Is that what cycling wants?”: Michael Matthews criticises the race strategies of teams chasing UCI points

Michael Matthews has questioned the way some teams are approaching professional cycling's battle for UCI points, with XDS Astana specifically coming under fire from the Australian. The sprinter believes the current promotion and relegation system is encouraging teams to keep their strongest riders away from the biggest events and instead target smaller races where they can accumulate points more efficiently.

Matthews' criticism comes as XDS Astana Team continues to employ one of the most deliberate points-hunting strategies in the peloton. The Kazakh team has previously acknowledged that its race programme is heavily influenced by the UCI ranking, with its performance staff analysing which races offer the best opportunities to accumulate points and building the calendar accordingly.

That approach is particularly important because the UCI's WorldTour system makes sporting performance central to deciding which teams receive licences for each three-year cycle.

The current 2026-2028 cycle has 18 WorldTour licences available, meaning teams outside the top tier have a powerful incentive to maximise their points haul wherever they can. XDS Astana currently sits sixth in the overall team ranking, and that strategy allowed them to avoid relegation last year.

For Matthews, however, the problem is not just about one team's tactics. The 35-year-old believes the points system is changing the incentives throughout the sport and potentially moving professional cycling away from the confrontations fans actually want to see.

“They [Astana] send their best riders to races where guys like Pogacar or Van der Poel aren't there. Is that what cycling wants?” Matthews said on the Roadman Cycling Podcast.

Matthews fundamentally disagrees with that philosophy. “I try to get better and not give up, but a lot of guys seem to have given up, or they go to Tadej's team to help him win. That allows them to build an even stronger team. I try to compete with those guys.”

That philosophy has defined much of Matthews' long WorldTour career. The Australian has won stages at all three Grand Tours and remains one of the more experienced classics-oriented sprinters in the peloton. He also won the 2017 Tour de France points classification, while his career has stretched across 16 seasons at WorldTour level.

Despite an already substantial palmarès, Matthews insists he has no intention of lowering his ambitions simply because the generation of Pogacar and Van der Poel has made winning major races exceptionally difficult.

“Ultimately, I've had a good career. I'm happy, but I try to push the team every year to get better and support me,” he said. “You need a good team to race against the ‘freaks’.”

For Matthews, having a competitive team is essential when the opposition includes riders who have raised the level of the sport to an exceptional standard.

“I want to be the best I can be and win those dream races that I get up every morning and motivate myself to train for,” Matthews has said. “Maybe there is a guy better than me, but there is still a chance I can win.”