Michael Matthews: "I think we have a good team to try the breakaways, but I'll also do the sprints"

Michael Matthews, who's been trying to get back into shape after complicated spring that saw the Australian struggle with COVID, will aim for stage wins from breakaways while he'll try to succeed in bunch sprints as well. The 32-year old reminds that he'll keep an eye on Maglia Ciclamino although he isn't very optimistic about his chances.

“I hope to be able to race like I did in the Tour last year," told Matthews in an interview for Spaziociclismo "There are many opportunities, I will aim for stages from breakaways, but I will also do the sprints since we have a good sprint train. We'll see along the way what are our best chances, but I think we have a good team to be able to try and break away in hilly stages. It's a style of racing that allows me to have fun like when I was a kid and I'd like to experience that joy again."

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Mads Pedersen is the leading figure when it comes to the fight for the points classification, featuring a strong climbing and sprinting ability. Many pure sprinters are absent from the race due to it's brutal profile, and GC riders such as Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic could very well also feature in the fight. Matthews will have to contest difficult competition.

“I worked a lot uphill, also to get back in shape," he added. "So I'm not sure what my level is in the sprint at the moment. I hope to find my best legs soon, but we'll see. I think the only pure sprinter is Mark Cavendish, the others I think are more or less at the same rider profile on paper, but to fight for the Maglia Ciclamino, if there is a rider who dominates pure sprints, where there are more points, I think it will be very difficult to compete.“

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