Matthews "feeling better than I did at the Tour" ahead of home World Championships

Michael Matthews has ridden to a second place at the GP de Québec, confirming that he's carrying good form, and giving great signs ahead of the World Championships where he will be a big contender.

In conversation with Velonews in Canada, Matthews has discussed the choice of the team, which has not included Caleb Ewan, a surprise for the 'Pocket Rocket'. “For me, I didn’t have any say in the selection and I’ve not seen the course personally. I can’t really be the person to make that decision when it comes to who is riding. We have a big panel of people who decide," he said. "At the start of the year, when we had a meeting, I thought that me and Caleb would both be there for worlds but we got the call individually and it was announced one week later with the full lineup."

Recently Australia announced their lineup, in which Matthews was revealed to be the sole leader. “That’s when we found out who was in and who wasn’t. I think we were a little surprised Caleb wasn’t going to be there but maybe it’s too hard for him, I don’t know.” Sure enough it is a route that favours the climbers and puncheurs, and the Lotto Soudal had shown very little this year to prove he'd be competitive in a course like this.

“I’m not sure, once we get to Australia and see the course it will be easier for me to say if they made the right call. Then after the race, it will be easy to say if it was the right call or not but, at the end of the day, I’m sure it was a really difficult decision for Cycling Australia. But for me, to say if it’s right or wrong, it’s hard to say," Matthews argued.

He will have however some strong support, with the likes of Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley, Ben O'Connor and teammate Nick Schultz as main support. “With this team, we have more than single leadership. We have Jai Hindley and a lot of climbers who can take their chances in the race. I’ll do my race and I’ll be supported but we have other guys capable of pulling off a result. But I love the pressure, I enjoy it and I love it when people believe in me. It just gives more motivation and confidence to deliver.”

Having finished second in Québec, Matthews confirmed his statements regarding his current form. “Personally, I think that my form is better than it was at the Tour de France. I’ve been training specifically for one-day races, whereas at the Tour I was training to be good for back-to-back days. I was doing 10-minute efforts in training for the Tour and now it’s backed off to around five-minute efforts. It’s different form, but I’m feeling better than I did at the Tour," he concluded.