MENDE. For several years he was one of the main challengers Peter Sagan in the fight for the green jersey. In 2017, he also benefited from his disqualification and won the points competition.
He posed in a green jersey under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and believed that he could defend this title a year later. However, the opposite was true.
Instead of more achievements on Tour de France disappointments were coming. There were plenty of podium positions, but no stage wins.
He was close to it twice in the 109th edition. He was second twice. In the sixth stage he was beaten by Tadej Pogačar and two days later by Wout van Aert.
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Only in Saturday’s 14th stage Michael Matthews ended his five-year wait. Moreover, he managed to win when he was not one of the favorites.
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Before the stage, the odds for his victory were 61:1.
“I would have guessed that he would win some stage of the Tour de France, but I definitely wouldn’t say that,” admitted the former Czech cyclist and today co-commentator of ČT Sport Stanislav Kozubek.
He also thanked his Slovak wife
Matthews won the stage, in which the cyclists had to climb almost 3,500 meters of altitude. There were five categorized hills on the course, while the last one in particular was a big scare for many.
Although it was only three kilometers long, the average slope was more than ten percent. And although there were better climbers than the Australian in the escaping group, he gave the performance of his life.
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“This victory is like the story of my career, which is like a rollercoaster. I missed a big opportunity yesterday and I was running out of chances. But I showed everyone that I am not just a sprinter, I can ride like I did today,” he said.
Matthews is also close to the country under the Tatras, because his wife Katarína is Slovak. They got married in 2015 in Tuscany.
Today, they have a four-year-old daughter together.
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