Michael ‘Bling’ Matthews is in outstanding form at the moment, and deserves a shot in the Vuelta a Espana.
I write this on a Monday evening. According to a tweet I received from Orica-GreenEDGE today, the team will be announcing its squad for the Vuelta on Tuesday, so there’s a fair chance that by the time you read this, you’ll know if he’s been selected.
Not only is Matthews in great form, a Vuelta spot would be great for his development.
The 22-year old former world under-23 champion cleaned up in this week’s Tour of Utah, winning two stages and the sprint points jersey. He also wore the race leader’s jersey for a day earlier in the race.
These were Matthews’ first wins for Orica-GreenEdge, after joining from Rabobank at the beginning of the year.
If winning two bunch sprints was a tasty main meal, the points classification provided the sweetest of desserts.
Defeating Belgium’s Greg van Avermaet (BMC) in it took an aggressive and intelligent ride in the final stage’s breakaway, claiming both intermediate sprints to pinch the jersey from under BMC’s nose.
Van Avermaet is no mug: he’s the highest-ranked Belgian on the UCI’s points ladder this season, and was one of the most consistent performers in the spring classics (top ten in this year’s Paris-Roubaix, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgem, and Brabantse Pijl).
Even more impressively, Matthews attempted to win the stage with a solo attack on the day’s final climb – no mean feat for a sprinter, in a stage containing 2326m vertical metres of climbing, at altitudes topping 2,700m.
His attempt failed, but not before he’d shattered the day’s breakaway and briefly dropped climber Francisco Mancebo.
Matthews’ Tour of Utah tells us that he’s in excellent form in the sprints, and is climbing well enough to survive tough days in the mountains of a Grand Tour.
The man himself was deservedly pleased with his performance, according to a statement on the Orica-GreenEDGE website,
“I didn’t expect to come out of the Tour of Utah with two stage wins, one podium and the points jersey. I’ve been training well leading up to this. My mid-season training has been really good this year; it’s been better than in the last few years. I knew I was strong, but I didn’t know I had good race form.”
Was Matthews hinting at a Vuelta call-up?
“I have [some] fair big races coming up, so it’s a good time to be on good form.”
With Orica-GreenEDGE’s top sprinter Matt Goss struggling for form and already having completed the Giro and Tour this year, the Vuelta would be an ideal opportunity for OGE to blood the next generation of Aussie sprinters, of which Matthews is the standout.
Obviously, there is a leap in class from the Tour of Utah, a UCI 2.1 rated race mostly featuring North American pro continental squads, and a Grand Tour. A three-week race through the high mountains of Spain is an altogether different proposition to six days in Utah.
However, this year’s Vuelta has the toughest mountain stages loaded in its final week. There are numerous opportunities for sprinters in the first 10 days, especially if they can get over the small-to-medium mountains as competently as Matthews. He would also be an asset in the team time trial, in stage one.
If Goss sits out of the Vuelta, and I think he should, OGE has other options for sprint leadership. Daryl Impey had a great Tour de France, and probably earned first dibs on the spearhead role, if he’s recovered.
But of the other sprinters in the squad, Matthews is in the best form. Aidis Kruopis hasn’t had a win since April’s Tour of Turkey. Leigh Howard has managed top ten places in stages of the Vuelta a Burgos, the Tour of Poland, and the Giro, but Matthews’ recent results in races of similar standard are better.
Alan Davis has been lucky to get a result with less than three digits all season.
Even if Impey is the designated sprinter, I would still take Matthews to Spain. A Grand Tour start would be great for his development, sure, but I think he’s ready to have an impact at the top level. A wildcard second sprinter is a great thing to have up your sleeve.
Not only that, but Matthews is becoming an impressively versatile rider: his third place in the 2013 Australian time trial championship only reinforces my view that, with time, he could develop into one of the world’s best classics riders. He’s shown he’s able to ride in breakaways and doesn’t rely on a leadout train.
So I don’t know if he’ll be selected, yet. If it were up to me, I would definitely pick him. His results in Utah make a strong case for inclusion. If he isn’t selected, I think it’d be a real shame.
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