Michael Matthews recently spoke with Wieler Revue
about what it’s like to train alongside Tadej Pogacar, the triple crown winner.
The two share a strong friendship, and Matthews sees reflections of his younger
self in the Slovenian star.
"A few years ago I saw myself in him," the
Australian explains. "He had the same attitude as I had when I was in my
early twenties. He helped me mentally go back to that time, because the rivals
I was competing against then are now retired."
Now 34 years old, Matthews has enjoyed a decorated career,
winning stages in all three Grand Tours and claiming the green jersey at the
Tour de France in 2017. Training with Pogacar, he says, helps him stay
motivated and engaged with the sport.
"Tadej helps me to stay focused and to keep enjoying
the sport. When you are surrounded by people who love the sport and are
passionate about what they do, it gives you positive energy. Tadej is that kind
of person."
Despite Pogacar’s dominance, Matthews is one of the few
riders who can match him during training. "I'm not the only rider, but I'm
one of the few who can ride at the same speed with Tadej all day long, and talk
at the same time. For me, it doesn't feel like we're training with him."
"That's what makes it so easy. It's effortless. We're
two friends who challenge each other and have fun. Yes, we also do sprints
regularly. Those are the only times I can beat him, so I want to do as many as
possible, haha. I'm a bit faster, but he wants to work on his speed that way.
It helps him, and because I win often, I get more confidence. It's a win-win
situation, haha."
Despite their friendship and training partnership, Matthews
emphasises that they maintain a strictly professional approach during races.
"We have never helped each other in the race, or anything like that. I
don't expect anything from him, and he doesn't expect anything from me. That is
our professional attitude, because we just have to do our job."
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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