News this week that Michael ‘Bling’ Matthews will ride the Giro while Matthew Goss, who was heading to Italy, will now ride the Tour of California and Tour de Suisse, poses a major question – has Goss lost his mantle as Orica-GreenEDGE’s No. 1 sprinter?
The obvious answer for now is yes, as Bling is winning races while Goss isn’t even finishing them, but many are wondering whether Goss’ form slump over the past 12 months is irreversible.
Aside from his win at the Bay Series in January, Goss hasn’t scored an individual victory since March last year, when he triumphed in a rain-soaked Stage Two at Tirreno Adriatico. Since then, Goss has just three second places and a surprising 12 DNFs. His Orica-GreenEDGE win total stands at just five.
Those non-finishing stats include some big races: Tirreno Adriatico, Tour of Flanders (twice), Gent-Wavelgem (twice), Milan San Remo and Paris Nice.
Injury, illness, bad luck and superior competition have all played their part, but those are no different to what his rivals face, so how much of an excuse can they really be?
Michael Matthews has failed to finish eight races in the same period but he’s also won six times and picked up four second placings. Now Bling gets a shot to rack up more wins at the sprinter-friendly Giro, while Gossy packs his bags for California and then Switzerland in the hope he can do enough to get a ride at that big race in July.
There’s no doubt that Orica-GreenEDGE can take both of them to France, but Goss needs to regain some mojo in the final year of his contract with the Australian team.
Team Sports Director Matt White told Cyclingnews that their Tour de France line-up hasn’t been decided yet, and form would decide who make the cut. Orica-GreenEDGE must also decide the make-up of their Tour de France team in regards to how many sprinters and opportunists are selected.
Goss is only 27, four years older than Matthews, so in no way should he be considered past it. But after his wins at Tour of the Basque country and last year’s Vuelta, Matthews is making rapid steps towards where Goss looked headed in 2011 when he won Milan San Remo.
Did the rot begin in 2012 when Goss finished second seven times, with six other top-four placings? Matt White suggests they may have played a part.
“Gossy’s had a lot of close calls over the last few years and that’s frustrating for him,” White recently told Europsort’s Southern Spin blog. “I don’t know how many second places he’s had but it must be close to 20. Turn half of those into victories and it makes a big difference.”
For whatever reason Goss has remained stuck on 17 pro wins. Time is now ticking on his contract, and quite possibly his time at Orica-GreenEDGE.
As we saw at the Tour of the Basque country when Simon Gerrans gave him the perfect lead-out in the finale of the only flat stage, Bling’s confidence is growing before our eyes.
Could it be this success plus his own near-misses eating away at the Tasmanian’s confidence?
We won’t know for a while, as Goss isn’t listed to race at Amstel Gold this weekend. Instead, Matthews may get to return the Basque Country favour for team leader Simon Gerrans, who is slowly returning to form after illness derailed his great start to the season.
Goss may have to cool his heels until May 12 when the Tour of California begins. But if he likes a challenge, then Matthews’ rise on top of his contract running out in a matter of months should bring the reaction we all want to see.
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